Sponsors paid an average of 70 cents per required signature to put initiatives on the ballot this year — the lowest of any odd-year since at least 2013

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, Brew. 

By: Lara Bonatesta

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Sponsors paid an average of 70 cents per required signature to put initiatives on the ballot this year — the lowest of any odd-year since at least 2013
  2. Four seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools board are up for election 
  3. This week, On the Ballot – Oklahoma’s Historical Ballot Measures

Sponsors paid an average of 70 cents per required signature to put initiatives on the ballot this year — the lowest of any odd-year since at least 2013

Citizen initiatives are unique in that campaigns have to gather signatures to qualify their initiatives for the ballot. Sometimes this can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year, there are two citizen initiatives on statewide ballots: Maine Questions 1 and 2. The first would require voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot. The second would establish a process for obtaining an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) to restrict an individual’s access to weapons.

Campaigns had to gather 67,682 signatures to put these measures on the ballot, and the average cost per required signature was $0.70 — the lowest of any odd-year since at least 2013. 

This year, only one campaign reported spending money on signature gathering. Safe Schools, Safe Communities, the campaign in support of Question 2, reported spending  $93,829 on signature collection, resulting in a cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) of $1.39, based on the requirement of 67,682 valid signatures. Voter ID for ME, the campaign in support of Question 1, relied entirely on unpaid volunteers and reported no expenditures to collect signatures.

The CPRS is the total amount spent on gathering signatures divided by the number of signatures needed to qualify the measure. CPRS allows for comparisons of signature-gathering costs across states. For example, if a campaign spends $1 million on a petition drive in a state requiring 100,000 signatures, its CPRS would be $10. If the same amount was spent but 200,000 signatures were required, the CPRS would be $5.

Ballotpedia has calculated and maintained a list of signature costs for ballot initiative campaigns since 2013. The average cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) was $14.87 in 2024, $9.38 in 2023, and $2.69 in 2019. In odd-numbered years between  2013 and 2025, there were a total of 27 initiatives on the ballot. Campaigns for these initiatives spent a cumulative $33 million on signature-gathering drives. The average CPRS was $7.25.

In odd-numbered years, ballot initiatives can appear on the ballot in only four states—Colorado, Maine, Ohio, and Washington—except in cases of special elections.

Campaign finance overview

Through Sept. 30, campaigns for and against the two ballot initiatives on Maine’s Nov. 4, 2025, ballot have raised a combined $3.3 million.

Supporters of Question 1 raised $602,231, and opponents raised more than $1.7 million. The top donor supporting the committees was the Republican State Leadership Committee, which is a national 527 group that aims “to elect down-ballot, state-level Republican officeholders.” The committee contributed $500,000, accounting for 83% of the campaign’s total funds. The top donor to opposition committees was the Democratic Governors Association, Maine Chapter, which contributed $154,899.

Supporters of Question 2 raised $843,708, while opponents raised $64,594. The top donor to support committees was the Global Impact Social Welfare Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization “that supports philanthropic funding for social impact.” The organization donated $75,000. The group also contributed to the campaign supporting a veto referendum in Missouri that seeks to overturn the state’s new congressional district map. The top contributors to opposition committees were the Gun Owners of Maine and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, which each contributed $5,000.

Click here to read more about Maine’s 2025 ballot measures, and here to learn more about ballot measure signature costs this year. Plus, click here to learn more about our cost-per-required-signature analysis.

Four seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools board are up for election 

Four seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools school board in New Mexico are up for election on Nov. 4.

This election could affect the balance of power on the seven-member board. Currently, three members are affiliated with the business community, and three are affiliated with the teachers’ union. One is not affiliated with either.    

Albuquerque Journal‘s Noah Alcala Bach wrote, “Historically, the local teachers union, the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, and the metro’s business community power players, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and the local chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate organization, have been key organizations in the battle for power on the APS board.”

Eight candidates are running in the four districts: 

To read more about each candidate, click here.

The candidates disagree about the performance of the district’s superintendent, Gabriella Blakely, who was appointed in 2024. Gonzales, Jackson, Ams, and Martinez all expressed varying degrees of support for Blakely. Betzen, Bowman, and Wood-Hegner were more critical of her tenure. Laurent said it was too early to judge her performance, but that the board’s decision to extend her contract in 2025 was made too quickly.

In 2021, three candidates aligned with the business community and one candidate backed by the teachers’ union won. 

The Albuquerque Public Schools district covers Bernalillo County and Sandoval County. In the 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris (D) won both counties with 59% of the vote and 52% of the vote, respectively.

In addition to school board elections, Albuquerque is holding elections for mayor, city council, and municipal bonds on Nov. 4. To read more about other Albuquerque elections, click here.

This week, On the Ballot – Oklahoma’s Historical Ballot Measures

In this week’s episode of On The Ballot, Ballotpedia’s Geoff Pallay and Victoria Rose will discuss Ballotpedia’s Historical Ballot Measures Factbook and our 117 years of comprehensive ballot measure coverage in Oklahoma.

Our comprehensive inventory of all Oklahoma ballot measures spans from 1907—the year the state adopted its constitution—to 2024. During that time, Oklahoma voters decided on 454 measures, approving 232 (51.1%) and defeating 222 (48.9%).

Our Historical Ballot Measures Factbooks document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort provides an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they have covered, and their role in our civic life.

To listen to this episode and more, click here. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to On the Ballot on YouTube or your preferred podcast app.