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Other state measures affected wages, taxes and education, including school choice measures defeated in Kentucky and Nebraska.

Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that sidestep state legislatures, though others were placed before voters by lawmakers.

Marijuana legalization

The fell short of the 60% supermajority needed to approve constitutional amendments. It would have allowed recreational sales of marijuana to people over 21 from existing medical marijuana dispensaries, with the potential for the Legislature to license additional retailers.

The campaign was funded predominantly by Florida’s largest medical marijuana operator, Trulieve, which had provided almost $145 million of the $153 million campaign through the end of October. The measure was opposed by the Florida Republican Party and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said it would reduce the quality of life by leaving a marijuana stench in the air.

Measures to legalize recreational marijuana also were trailing in North Dakota and South Dakota. The election marks the third vote on the issue in both states.

In Nebraska, voters approved a to legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.

Heading into the election, 24 states and the District of Columbia — representing 53% of the nation’s population — already had for adults. A total of 38 states and the District of Columbia had laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. Possessing or selling marijuana remains a crime under federal law, punishable by prison time and fines.

In Massachusetts, voters were weighing a ballot measure that would legalize the possession and supervised use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state to do so, and .

Citizen voting

Constitutional amendments declaring that won approval in all eight states where they went before voters — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin. All the measures were referred to the ballot by Republican-led legislatures.

A 1996 U.S. law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws. But the potential of noncitizens voting after an influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. Though noncitizen voting historically has been rare, voter roll reviews before the election registered in several states.

Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, D.C., allow noncitizens to vote in certain local elections.

Immigration

Arizona voters approved a measure making it a state except through official ports of entry. The measure authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to arrest violators and state judges to order their deportations. It also makes it a state crime for someone already in the U.S. illegally to apply for public benefits using false documents.

Within the past year, Republican lawmakers in , and also have passed immigration laws. In each case, federal courts have halted the states’ efforts to enforce them. The Arizona measure won't take effect immediately, because it stipulates that violators can’t be prosecuted until a similar law in Texas or another state has been in effect for 60 consecutive days.

Crime

Voters in California took , a decade after relaxing them. A measure approved Tuesday makes shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders again and increasing penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It also gives judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

The measure partly rolls back a law passed by voters in 2014 that downgraded several nonviolent crimes to misdemeanors, including theft under $950 in value and some drug offenses.

Climate

Voters in Washington state seeking to slash carbon pollution. Tuesday’s vote defeated an attempt to repeal a 2021 state law that caps carbon emissions and requires major polluters to pay for the right to do so by buying “allowances.� Washington was the second state to launch such a program, after California.

School choice

Voters sided against school choice in both Kentucky and Nebraska. Kentucky voters defeated an that would have allowed lawmakers to use state funds for private schools. , voters repealed a new state law that funds private school tuition with state dollars.

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In Colorado, where sports betting launched in 2020, voters approved a measure allowing the state to keep more than the original $29 million limit on sports betting tax revenue.

Missouri voters, meanwhile, are deciding whether to become the latest to . A total of 38 states and Washington, D.C., already , which has expanded rapidly since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.

Redistricting

In Ohio, voters defeated an a 15-member citizens commission to handle redistricting for U.S. House and state legislative seats and required the share of districts favoring each political party to reflect the proportion of votes won in previous statewide elections.

Ohio’s districts were created after the 2020 census by a Republican-led commission of elected state officials and were repeatedly deemed by courts to be be unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans.

Supporters of the defeated constitutional amendment asserted that it would “ban partisan gerrymandering.� But the ballot title presented to voters — approved by a Republican-led board — stated it would have done the opposite via a commission “required to gerrymander� districts to favor political parties.

Taxes

defeated a proposal that would have . A legislative panel estimated it could have cost the state over $3 billion biennially — about half the amount of the state’s two-year general fund budget passed last year.

In Oregon, voters defeated a measure that would have raised the minimum tax on large corporations to fund a tax rebate for residents.

South Dakota voters defeated a proposed repeal of the state’s sales tax on groceries.

In Colorado, voters are weighing a proposal that would make it the second state to impose a sales tax on firearms and ammunition, with revenue going primarily to crime victims’ services. The federal government already taxes sales of guns and ammunition.

Voting methods

Connecticut voters passed a measure , joining most states that already allow it.

Ranked choice voting received mixed results from voters. A measure allowing ranked choice voting passed in Washington, D.C. But in Oregon, voters defeated a measure that would have required ranked choice voting in both primaries and general elections. And Missouri approved a measure banning ranked choice voting.

Ranked choice voting is currently used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters also are considering provisions of a 2020 initiative that instituted open primaries and ranked choice general elections.

Voters in Idaho and Nevada defeated proposals to use open primaries featuring candidates from all parties, with a certain number advancing to a general election using ranked choice voting. A similar measure was being considered in Colorado.

In South Dakota, voters defeated a measure to create open primary elections in which candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot, with a certain number advancing to the general election. A similar measure is on the Montana ballot.

Arizona voters also defeated a measure that would have required open primaries with candidates of all parties on the same ballot.

Minimum wage

Missouri voters approved a measure to gradually raise the minimum wages to $15 an hour while also requiring paid sick leave. A similar measure is on the ballot in Alaska. A California measure would incrementally raise the minimum wage for all employers to $18 an hour.

Voters in Arizona rejected a measure that would have let tipped workers be paid 25% less than the minimum wage, so long as tips pushed their total pay beyond the minimum wage threshold. In Massachusetts, voters defeated the minimum wage for tipped employees until it matches the rate for other employees.

Nebraska voters approved a measure to require many employers to provide sick leave, but it would not change wages.