Quick roundup of the status of election-related ballot initiatives in 2020

I thought I’d quickly run through some (there are more, check out Ballotpedia!) of the election-related ballot initiatives and their status (subject, of course, to late-breaking changes in vote totals!).

National Popular Vote: Colorado voters had a chance to reject the state’s decision to join the the National Popular Vote Compact to potentially alter how the state awards its presidential electors, but it appears that Prop 113 is headed toward affirming that decision. (There are other challenges to the Compact, of course, but this was potentially a big barrier toward the NPV reaching its goal.)

Redistricting: Virginia’s Question 1 approved a redistricting commission consisting of a mix of legislative leaders and citizens with supermajority requirements within the commission to approve maps. Maps then would go to the General Assembly for an up-or-down vote.

Top-two and top-four primaries, and ranked choice voting: Alaska’s Measure 2 would offer several changes to elections, including replacing the traditional partisan primary with a “top-four” primary (the top four candidates in the primary proceed to the general election, regardless of party), and a ranked-choice voting system. That measure appears (very early!) headed toward defeat. Florida’s Amendment 3 would institute a “top-two” system, but it needed 60% approval to amend the Constitution, and appears, while receiving a majority of the vote, to be headed toward defeat. Masschusetts’s Question 2 on ranked-choice voting also looks like it’ll end up failing.

Voter eligibility: California has a pair of ballot initiatives that look to split. Prop 17 appears headed toward passing, restoring the right to vote to those who finished a prison term but are on parole. Prop 18, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they turn 18 in the general, appears headed toward defeat.