Ballot measures split: abortion rights win in Missouri, Nevada and Virginia, while voter ID and citizenship rules pass in most states that voted on them
NBC's ballot-measure tracker lists every call; the Springfield Daily Citizen has both Missouri campaigns in their own words.
Voters sent mixed signals on statewide measures. On abortion, Missouri rejected Amendment 3, which would have repealed the abortion-rights amendment voters passed in 2024 and allowed abortion only for medical emergencies, rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies; it failed about 55% to 45% in preliminary results, and its constitutional ban on gender-transition care for minors fell with it. Nevada's Question 6 and Virginia's Question 1 passed; Idaho's Proposition 1, which would have created an abortion right, failed with about 44% yes (NBC).
Measures requiring voter ID or proof of citizenship passed in Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia, while Arizona's Prop 144 and California's Prop 39 failed, NBC projects. Arizona and Colorado approved measures tying school sports or facilities to birth sex. Missouri voters rejected Proposition A, the 2025 congressional map; Virginia voters removed the state's same-sex marriage ban and restored voting rights on release from prison. California's billionaire wealth tax (Prop 40) was trailing but uncalled.
Some results were still being counted at the cutoff.
Across the spectrum 2
Libertarian
Liz Wolfe, Reason: Wolfe points to the mismatch between candidate races and ballot initiatives, many of which yielded conservative outcomes, and writes: "People in many parts of the country seem to like conservative policy positions—ballot initiatives that cap certain taxes, for example—but dislike or distrust Republican politicians right now. Count me among them."
Reason ↗Republican
Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz (R-Branson), who handled Amendment 3 in the House: Seitz said the amendment "got caught up in the blue wave" of voter angst over gas prices, called many opposing ads "very disingenuous" on the transgender-care question, and said he will revisit a bill to stop mail-order abortion medication: "We want to protect life."
Springfield Daily Citizen ↗-
Initiatives and referendums in the United States
After exploring Ballot Measures 2026: Live U.S. Midterm Election Results, how these questions reach the ballot in the first place is covered in Initiatives and referendums in the United States.
In many U.S. states, citizens can put legislation on the ballot for a statewide vote, either enacting new laws or voting down existing ones.
Wikipedia · Swim · 30 min
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