Amid the sweeping change to the balance of Congress on Nov. 3, midterm voters opted to pick up or reject a number of ballot measures affecting policies local to their states.
Initiatives ranged from gun rights to voter ID requirements to boys playing on girls sports teams. For example, Colorado rejected a proposal granting a constitutional right to use natural gas for cooking and heating in homes and businesses.
Here’s how some of those ballot measures turned out.
California’s Billionaire Tax
Voters in the Golden State are on track to reject a one-time 5 percent tax on anyone who has net worth of more than $1 billion. The money was to be deposited in the 2026 Billionaire Tax Reserve Fund and earmarked for healthcare programs, food assistance, and public education.
With 60 percent of votes counted, voters have so far rejected the measure 55 percent to 44 percent.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed the measure, warning that billionaires would flee the state and take their money with them. Instead, he called for a national billionaire’s tax.
Property Taxes
North Carolina
North Carolinians approved a measure ordering the legislature to pass laws limiting the amount local governments may increase property taxes.
Florida
In Florida, voters approved of a measure to raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 by the year 2028. The exemption applies to non-school property taxes only.
That amendment also lowers the cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead property, from 10 percent to 5 percent, and directs the collected funds to public safety, education, and infrastructure, among other concerns.
Georgia
Georgians opted to raise the cap on the amount of land covered by a tax exemption that applies to agricultural, timber, or wildlife conservation acres.
Abortion
Idaho
Voters in Idaho rejected a proposal that would have limited the state’s power to regulate abortion before the fetus can survive outside the womb.
The Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act Initiative would also clarify that the state has no power over contraception or fertility treatments. Nearly 56 percent of voters said no to the measure.
Missouri
Amendment 3 in Missouri would have repealed the statewide right to abortion until fetal viability that was passed in 2024, and would have prohibited abortions except in cases of medical emergency, rape, or incest if the pregnancy was less than 12 weeks along. The measure would have also banned gender-transition treatments and surgeries for minors. The initiative was rejected by 55 percent of voters, keeping the status quo.
Nevada
The Right to Abortion Initiative passed in Nevada with nearly 63 percent support. In that state, amendments need to pass twice; the measure already passed in 2024.
There is now a state constitutional right to abortion, up to the time of fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant woman.
Virginia
The Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment passed in Virginia, with 62 percent support.
The law gives women “the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one’s own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.”
Abortion is legal until the third trimester, with exceptions for medical emergency or the mental health of the mother. The measure also allows for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive.
Guns
Massachusetts
A series of restrictions on gun ownership in Massachusetts will continue, after voters adopted a proposal to keep them in place.
The original provisions, including an electronic gun registry, serial number requirements, and safety certificate requirements, were enacted in 2024.
Arkansas
Voters in Arkansas overwhelmingly (by nearly 71 percent) passed a measure to add language to its constitution saying that the right to bear arms is “a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed.”
The previous language said citizens could bear arms “for their common defense.” The change clarifies that they can own guns for hunting and recreation. This includes ammunition and firearms accessories and components.
Idaho
The state asked voters which gun should be the official state firearm. The Winchester Model 1873 won with a little more than 31 percent support, beating out the Winchester Model 1894 (25 percent support), the 1873 Colt Single Action Army “Peacemaker” revolver (15 percent), the Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle (12 percent), the Colt M1911 .45 automatic Colt pistol (nearly 8 percent), and the M1 Garand rifle (7 percent).
A separate vote is still needed to ratify the winner.
Noncitizen Voting
Six states had ballot measures that would prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections. Five of those—Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, and West Virginia—passed those initiatives.
Arizona rejected a proposed measure, with 53 percent voting no.
North Carolina
The state has passed, with 59 percent support, a constitutional amendment requiring voter ID for all forms of voting, not just in-person voting. It passed a similar law in 2024 that required mail-in voters to attach a photocopy of their ID.
Nevada
In Nevada, voters will also have to present a photo ID when voting in person, or provide the last four digits of their Social Security number when voting by mail. The state previously used signature verification.
The Require Voter Identification Initiative got strong support, with 62 percent of residents voting yes.
Ohio
As in North Carolina, Ohio state law already required photo ID to vote. It has now approved, with two-thirds support, a constitutional amendment mandating ID.
California
California voters rejected (59 percent to 41 percent) a measure that would require ID to vote, and that would have directed election officials to keep accurate voter registration lists and verify citizenship.
Virginia
Voters in Virginia passed a measure that gave back convicted felons their voting rights upon being released from incarceration.
Maryland
Voters adopted a measure that said redistricting criteria, such as “contiguity, compactness, and equal population,” will only apply to legislative districts, not congressional ones. It also gives the state Supreme Court jurisdiction to review those maps.
Missouri
Missouri voters struck down a measure that would have allowed the state to adopt its new congressional districts map passed by state lawmakers in 2025.
Colorado
Voters in Colorado passed on a measure that would make it harder to redraw district lines outside normal redistricting years. Such changes would have required approval from the Colorado Supreme Court and the state’s independent redistricting commission.
It would also prohibit maps drawn to give one party an advantage.
Colorado
Colorado voters rejected a measure (55 percent to 45 percent) that would have required law enforcement to notify the Department of Homeland Security if a person charged with a violent crime, or who has a previous felony conviction, is an illegal immigrant.
Tennessee
Voters approved a law in Tennessee that said victims of violent crime have to be notified if the perpetrator is released from custody. It also allows the victim to be present at trial, and to have a voice during plea deals and probation or parole hearings.
Colorado
Voters in Colorado approved a measure (52 percent to 48 percent) requiring athletes in school to participate only in sports matching their biological sex.
Another measure prohibiting gender surgery for minors also passed. That initiative also stops federal funds from being used to pay for such procedures.
Arizona
Students in Arizona will have to use restrooms, locker rooms, and other private spaces that match their biological sex, following the passage of Proposition 318.
The measure also requires schools and athletic associations to designate teams as male, female, or coed. The designation will exclude males from participating in female-designated sports, and vice versa.
Washington State
Voters in Washington opted (57 percent to 43 percent) to exclude boys from competing against girls in sports, whenever teams are separated by sex. To enforce that rule, student athletes will require a note from a healthcare provider verifying their sex.
Missouri
Missouri’s Amendment 3 contained a provision to prohibit gender surgeries or cross-sex hormones for minors. That provision sank along with the abortion ban.
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