WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion-rights advocates notched victories in Missouri and Virginia on Tuesday, and voters delivered a double dose of disapproval to President Donald Trump’s redistricting efforts as they decided 145 ballot questions in more than three dozen states.
The ballot measures provided a political undercard for a high-profile midterm election that was determining which party controls Congress, state legislatures and gubernatorial offices
in many states.
Some measures put Trump’s priorities to a public test by gauging support for his attempts to redraw congressional districts, limit transgender athletes in sports and strengthen voter identification requirements.
Voters defeated a proposed amendment to Missouri’s constitution that would have reimposed restrictions on most abortions. The vote Tuesday essentially reaffirmed voters' decision from two years ago, when they became the first in the nation to undo an existing abortion ban by approving an abortion-rights amendment.
The Republican-led Legislature then referred a new, less restrictive version of an abortion ban to this year’s ballot. The measure would have allowed abortions only for medical emergencies and fetal anomalies, or in cases of rape or incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It also would have amended the constitution to prohibit certain medical procedures for transgender minors.
Abortion-rights advocates, led by national progressive groups, heavily outspent abortion foes in a successful campaign to defeat the Missouri ballot measure.
The Virginia measure creates a “ fundamental right to reproductive freedom ” in the state constitution, ensuring that abortions can occur during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. The amendment also creates a right to contraception and fertility care, among other things.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to abortion in 2022, voters in more than one-fifth of the states have passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights.
Ballot measures in Idaho and Nevada would block bans on abortion before fetal viability, usually considered after 21 weeks. Nevada voters already approved the measure once but have to do so a second time for it to become official.
Nine states are using new congressional districts in the midterm elections after a rare spate of mid-decade redistricting encouraged by Trump. But
In Missouri, Republican lawmakers last year adopted new House districts designed to help the GOP win an additional seat in the Kansas City area. Opponents then gathered petition signatures to put the map to a public vote.
The new districts were used in the August primary. But courts subsequently ruled they could not be used again unless first approved by voters in a November referendum. Voters put an end to the new map by rejecting the redistricting legislation on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, voters in Democratic-led Maryland approved a constitutional amendment that could pave the way for new congressional districts in the 2028 election. Democratic proponents, backed by former President Barack Obama, had urged a “yes” vote as a way to “stop Trump.”
Some Democrats also want to redistrict in Colorado. But a citizen initiative on the ballot would prohibit any potential 2028 redistricting from favoring one political party and require approval from both an independent commission and the state Supreme Court.
An amendment passed Tuesday could wipe away a significant amount of taxes for Florida homeowners — and leave local governments scrambling for revenue.
The Florida amendment was one of the nation’s most notable property tax proposals in a year when numerous politicians proposed ways to provide tax relief to residents burdened by high costs.
Florida currently exempts the first $50,000 of the value of a person’s permanent residence from many property taxes. That exemption will triple next year for non-school taxes and rise to $250,000 in 2028.
The measure was referred to the ballot during a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Some local officials warn it could lead to cuts to police and fire departments, public libraries and parks.
Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Washington are considering measures restricting transgender athletes or medical procedures. That comes as Trump’s administration has been pushing for restrictions impacting transgender people, especially youth.
Most Republican-led states already bar transgender women and girls from female school sports teams. Citizen-led ballot initiatives propose similar restrictions in the Democratic-led states of Colorado and Washington. The Arizona measure would extend public school sports restrictions to private schools. And Nebraska’s measure would add existing restrictions to the state constitution.
A second ballot question in Colorado would ban some transgender medical treatments for minors. The Missouri abortion amendment also would add existing transgender medical restrictions to the state constitution.
Though Trump’s push for nationwide voter ID mandates remains stalled in Congress, citizen activists bypassed Democratic-led state legislatures to place new voter ID requirements on the ballot in California, Colorado and Nevada.
Those measures would require government-issued identification — like driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers — to cast ballots. The Nevada amendment already won approval in 2024 but needs a second vote to take effect.
In Ohio, voters approved a measure referred to the ballot by the Republican-led legislature to enhance existing voter ID requirements by placing them in the state constitution. A similar amendment is on the ballot in North Carolina.
Voters in Arkansas and West Virginia approved a constitutional amendment reinforcing current election practices limiting voting to U.S. citizens. Similar amendments are on the ballot in Arizona, Kansas and South Dakota. In Alaska, a citizen voting ballot question is crafted as a law.
Critics argue the measures are largely symbolic and unnecessary, because voting by noncitizens is rare and already forbidden in federal elections. But noncitizens are allowed to vote in some local elections in California, Maryland, Vermont and the District of Columbia.
Since 2018, at least 15 states have adopted similar measures, including all eight states where they appeared on the ballot in 2024 and in Texas last year.
A Massachusetts ballot measure would end separate party primaries in favor of open primaries where the top two vote recipients of any party advance to the general election. In Alaska, voters are deciding for the second straight election whether to scrap their system of open primaries and ranked choice voting.
Proposed amendments in North Dakota and South Dakota would make it harder to amend their state constitutions by requiring 60% approval from voters instead of a simple majority. A similar 60% threshold is proposed in Utah for citizen initiatives that raise taxes.
Meanwhile, a Missouri amendment would make it harder for lawmakers to change voter-approved citizen initiatives by requiring revisions to get an 80% vote in the state House and Senate.
Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts could get a boost in Democratic-led Colorado under a proposed constitutional amendment that would chip away at state laws restricting cooperation with federal immigration agents.
The proposed amendment, placed on the ballot by conservative activists, would require law enforcement officers to notify the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when someone with an illegal or unknown immigration status is charged with a violent crime or faces a new charge following a prior felony conviction.
Voters in Arizona are deciding on a proposal limiting the use of traffic cameras to catch drivers speeding or running red lights. The Republican-led Legislature referred the measure to voters after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a ban on the cameras.
Hobbs said the cameras enhance roadway safety, but opponents contend they infringe on people’s privacy and point to instances of misuse by certain law enforcement officers.
The proposal would bar new contracts for traffic camera systems starting in 2027 and require local governments to hold elections on whether to continue existing systems.
About half the states, including Arizona, have communities that use cameras to enforce speeding or traffic signal laws, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed to this report.
