Voters are deciding dozens of state ballot measures in the 2024 election. While 10 states settle measures on abortion and reproductive rights, Tuesday’s ballot also features measures legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use.
While electing officials to make and enforce laws, voters in dozens of states are also deciding on more than 140 ballot proposals affecting the way people legally live, work and die.
As 10 states consider measures related to abortion or reproductive rights on Tuesday’s ballots, about a half-dozen states are weighing the legalization of marijuana for either recreational or medical use. About two dozen measures are focused on future elections, including several specifically barring noncitizens voting. Other state measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education.
Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that sidestep state legislatures, though others were placed before voters by lawmakers.
Voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota are deciding whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The election marks the third vote on the issue in both North Dakota and South Dakota. In Nebraska, voters are considering a pair of measures that would legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.
About half the states currently allow recreational marijuana and about a dozen more allow medical marijuana.
In Massachusetts, a ballot measure would legalize the possession and supervised use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state to do so, following Oregon and Colorado.
An Arizona measure crafted amid a surge in immigration would make it a state crime to enter from a foreign country except through official ports of entry, and for someone already in the U.S. illegally to apply for public benefits using false documents.
The border crossing measure is similar to a challenged Texas law that the U.S. Justice Department says violates federal authority.
A proposed amendment to the Kentucky Constitution would allow lawmakers to use state funds for private schools. A Colorado measure would create a constitutional right to school choice for K-12 students.
In Nebraska, voters are deciding whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with state dollars.
