Billionaire Tax, Voter Access and Transgender Rights Among Key US Midterm Ballot Measures

While the spotlight on the upcoming US midterm elections has been on the balance of power in Congress, several states and cities have ballot measures under consideration that could have ripple effects for years.

Voters in 13 states have ballot initiatives that would affect voter access and rights.

California, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona would impose voter identification laws under a ballot measure.

Nevada voters passed their voter measure with 73 percent of the vote in 2024, however the state constitution requires ballot measure approval in two consecutive elections to pass.

Alaska, Arizona, South Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas and West Virginia have ballot measures that would mandate only US citizens can vote in any elections administered in the state. Noncitizens are not eligible under federal law to vote, but there are few proven cases of this taking place in previous elections.

Two states have proposals that would expand voter access. In Massachusetts, voters will decide whether to implement same-day voter registration on Election Day. A ballot measure in Virginia would restore voting rights to some incarcerated citizens after they are released from prison.

In Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington, voters will decide on ballot measures that would prohibit participants from playing on teams different from their sex assigned at birth. Washington's measure would mandate students who compete on female sports teams provide healthcare documentation verifying their sex.

Voters in Colorado and Missouri are set to vote on measures that would prohibit minors from receiving gender transition surgeries or healthcare professionals from providing the surgeries.

California, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado and Washington will choose how their state's tax laws will change. California has four taxation propositions, with Proposition 40, known as the billionaires' tax, under the most scrutiny. If it passes, the state would levy a 5 percent tax on the wealth of California taxpayers and trusts with assets over $1 billion, with revenue going to state healthcare, food assistance and public education programmes.

Colorado's proposal would remove the state's uniform tax rate requirement and replace it with a progressive tax. Taxpayers making less than $25,000 annually would be taxed 3.7 percent, rising to a maximum of 8.4 percent on anyone earning more than $1 million annually. Washington voters will decide whether to repeal its 9.9 percent tax on taxpayers who make over $1 million annually.

Voters in four states will decide on reproductive laws. Virginia, Idaho and Nevada would enshrine laws giving people the right to make their own reproductive decisions and privacy over those decisions. Voters in Missouri are voting to repeal a 2024 initiative that enshrined a constitutional right for reproductive freedom.