Ballotpedia covered 12 local ballot measures concerning police policy in 2021. Six of those were decided on Nov. 2. According to unofficial election results, voters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, defeated an initiative that would have replaced the police department with a department of public safety in the city charter. The margin was 56.2% to 43.8%. Supporters…
On Oct. 29, 2021, the Independence Institute of Colorado reported submitting over 216,000 signatures for an initiative targeting the 2022 ballot to decrease the state’s income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.40%. The Independence Institute describes itself as a free-market think tank with a mission to “empower individuals and to educate citizens, legislators and opinion makers…
Voters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Broomfield, Colorado, and Westbook, Maine, approved ballot measures to enact ranked-choice voting (RCV) for mayor and city council elections. Westbrook’s measure also enacts RCV for school committee elections. A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate…
Voters in Detroit, Michigan, decided three ballot measures on Nov. 2, including two citizen-initiated initiatives and an advisory question. Proposal E (decriminalization of entheogenic plants such as psilocybin) and Proposal R (reparations committee creation) were approved. Proposal S was defeated. Proposal E was designed to decriminalize the possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants, including psilocybin mushrooms, peyote,…
A total of 39 statewide ballot measures were certified for the 2021 ballot in nine states. Fourteen were approved, and 10 were defeated. Ballotpedia also covered 156 local ballot measures. Below are Ballotpedia’s top 15 most notable ballot measures on the Nov. 2 ballot: nine statewide measures and six local ballot measures. Statewide ballot measures…
Three initiatives—Amendment 78, Proposition 119, and Proposition 120— were on the ballot on Nov. 2, and were rejected by voters. Proposition 119 would have created the Learning Enrichment and Academic Progress Program, also known as the LEAP Program, and would have increased the marijuana retail sales tax incrementally from 15% to 20% to partially fund…
Voters in New Jersey decided two constitutional amendments on Nov. 2, approving one and rejecting the other. Proposal 1 was rejected by 56.8% of voters. It would have allowed wagering on all college sports competitions. As of 2021, the state constitution permitted sports betting except on games held in New Jersey and on games featuring…
Statewide ballot measures A total of 39 statewide ballot measures were certified for the 2021 ballot in nine states, 24 of which will be decided by voters on Nov. 2. Maine Question 1: Question 1 was designed to stop the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a 145-mile long, high-voltage transmission line project that would…
Maine Question 1, a citizen-initiated measure designed to prohibit the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), could see one of the highest cost-per-vote ratios for a ballot measure that Ballotpedia has recorded. The most recent campaign finance reports, which cover through Sept. 30, show that more than $71.82 million has been raised between supporters and opponents of…
Thirteen ballot measures are on the ballot in Denver on Nov. 2, 2021. The Denver City Council referred eight of the measures to the ballot. The referrals include five bond measures totaling $450 million proposed by Mayor Michael Hancock. Initiative proponents put five measures on the ballot through signature petition drives. Two of the initiatives,…