Voters deciding dozens of election measures affecting life, death, taxes and more – Las Vegas Sun

While electing officials to make and enforce laws, voters in dozens of states also decide on more than 140 ballot propositions affecting how people legally live, work and die.

While 10 states are considering measures related to abortion or reproductive rights on Tuesday’s ballot, about a half-dozen states are weighing legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use. About two dozen measures target future elections, including several that specifically bar noncitizens from voting. Other government measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education.

Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that bypass state legislatures, although others were put before voters by legislators.

Legalization of marijuana

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 two measures that would legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.

Currently, about half of the states allow recreational marijuana use and about a dozen more allow medical marijuana.

In Massachusetts, a ballot measure would legalize the possession and controlled use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state to do so, following Oregon and Colorado.

Immigration

An Arizona measure created 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 controversial law in Texas that the U.S. Department of Justice says violates federal authority.

Choice of school

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.

Most states offer some kind of state program to help defray the cost of private school.

Sports betting

Missouri voters decide whether to become the last to legalize sports betting. A total of 38 states and Washington, D.C. now allow sports betting, which has grown rapidly since the US Supreme Court cleared the way in 2018.

Taxes

Colorado’s proposal would make it the second state after California to impose a sales tax on firearms and ammunition, with the proceeds going primarily to services for victims of crime. The federal government already taxes the sales of guns and ammunition.

Voters in North Dakota are considering a measure to eliminate property taxes. If approved, local governments could need more than $3 billion every two years in replacement revenue from the state.

A measure in South Dakota would repeal the state’s grocery sales tax, a move that has already been taken in most other states.

An Oregon measure would raise the minimum tax on large corporations to fund tax breaks for residents.

Housing

California voters are deciding whether to repeal a 1995 law limiting local rent control ordinances. If approved, it would pave the way for local authorities to extend caps on the rates landlords can charge.

A unique proposal in Arizona links property taxes to responses to homelessness. It would allow property owners to seek property tax refunds if they incurred expenses because the local government refused to enforce ordinances against illegal camping, loitering, panhandling, public use of alcohol and drugs, and other things.

Climate

Voters in Washington state are considering whether to repeal a 2021 law that caps carbon emissions and creates a market for companies exceeding the cap to buy allowances from others. Washington was the second state to launch such a program after California.

Citizen voting

Republican-led legislatures in eight states — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin — have proposed changes to state constitutions declaring that only citizens can vote.

A 1996 US law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws. But Republicans have emphasized the potential for noncitizens to vote after the influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Although noncitizen voting has historically been rare, reviews of voter rolls before the election flagged potential noncitizens registered in several states.

Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, DC allow non-citizens to vote in certain local elections.

Voting methods

Connecticut voters are considering whether to allow absentee voting without an excuse, joining most states that already allow it.

The measures in Montana and South Dakota would create open primaries in which candidates from all parties appear on one ballot, with a certain number moving on to the general election. Measures in Colorado, Idaho and Nevada also offer open primaries featuring candidates from all parties, with a certain number moving to the general election using ranked-choice voting. One Oregon measure would require ranked-choice voting in both the primary and general elections.

Ranked voting is currently used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters are considering whether to overturn provisions of a 2020 initiative that introduced open primaries and optional general elections.

Arizona voters are choosing between competing ballot proposals that would require either open primaries with candidates from all parties or the state’s current method of party primaries. If both conflicting measures are approved, the provision with the most votes goes into effect, but that could be up to the courts.

Redirection

An initiative in Ohio would create a citizens’ commission to handle redistricting in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures, taking the task away from elected officials.

Minimum wage

Ballot measures in Missouri and Alaska would gradually raise minimum wages to $15 an hour while requiring paid sick leave. A California measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for all employers to $18 an hour.

A measure in Nebraska would require many employers to provide sick leave but would not change wages.

A Massachusetts measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers until it matches the rate for other workers. By contrast, a measure in Arizona would allow tipped workers to receive 25 percent less than the minimum wage, as long as the tips push their total pay above the minimum wage threshold.

Assisted suicide

Voters in West Virginia are deciding whether to amend the state constitution to ban medically assisted suicide. The measure would be at odds with 10 states and Washington that allow physician-assisted suicide.