Data dictionary: Ballot Measures
name
The name or title of this ballot measure, including year
short_name
Abbreviated name of measure
district
Ballotpedia's unique district ID that this ballot measure covers
district_name
Name of district (typically a State)
district_type
Type of district
ocdid
election_date
Date on which this measure will be on the ballot
status
Options:
Proposed
Gathering signatures
Signatures submitted
Certified to the legislature
Qualified for the ballot
On the ballot
Approved
Defeated
Not on the ballot
Pending official review
Pending judicial ruling
Too close to call
type
The type of this ballot measure
Options:
Advisory question
Amendment
Automatic ballot referral
Bond issue
Bond question
City charter amendment
Combined initiated constitutional amendment
Commission-referred ballot measure
Constitutional amendment
Indirect initiated state statute
Initiated amendment
Initiated amendment and statute
Initiated constitutional amendment
Initiated state statute
Initiative
Initiative to the Legislature
Initiative to the People
Legislative referral
Legislatively referred constitutional amendment
Legislatively referred state statute
Local
Referendum
Referral
Referred ordinance
Statute
State statute
Veto referendum
topics
One or more (semicolon-separated) topics this ballot measure covers
summary
A summary of the measure
yes_vote
A custom explanation of what a YES vote means
no_vote
A custom explanation of what a NO vote means
yes_votes_total
The number of YES votes this ballot measure received
no_votes_total
The number of NO votes this ballot measure received
ballot_question
Text of the question to appear on the ballot.
source
A URL to the source of election results
url
The URL to a Ballotpedia page about this ballot measure
Ballot measure status definitions
Pre-Certification
Proposed - The ballot measure has been proposed.
Pending official review - The ballot initiative has been filed with election officials but has not yet been cleared for signature gathering
Cleared for signature gathering - The ballot initiative has been cleared for signature gathering (campaigns can collect signatures).
Pending judicial ruling pre-election - Courts need to decide a case about the ballot measure before it can be certified for the ballot.
Signatures submitted - Signatures have been submitted for a ballot initiative and they are pending verification.
Not on the ballot
Not on the ballot - The proposed ballot measure has failed to make the ballot.
Indirect initiatives
Approved by the legislature - This is an indirect initiative that legislators approved. In other words, the initiative was enacted by the legislature, rather than voters.
Certified for Ballot
On the ballot - The ballot measure has been certified for the ballot.
Qualified for the ballot - This is a technicality. The ballot measure hasn’t been certified for the ballot but has qualified for the ballot. In California, for example, citizen-initiated ballot measures qualify for the ballot after enough signatures have been verified. However, the secretary of state doesn’t declare they’re on the ballot until 131 days before the election.
Post-Election Results:
Approved - Voters approved the ballot measure.
Defeated - Voters rejected the ballot measure.
Too close to call - The election has happened, but we have not called the measure approved or defeated. Like candidate elections, when results are close, sometimes you need to wait for 100% of precincts to report results and/or absentee ballots to be received.
Pending judicial ruling post-election - There are cases in which voters decide a ballot measure but whether the ballot measure results will be certified or not is dependent on a court ruling. In 2019, for example, a majority of voters approved Marsy’s Law in Pennsylvania. However, results were never certified pending a court ruling (and the court ultimately ruled that votes could not be certified).
Overturned - Voters approved the ballot measure, but courts later overturned the measure as unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
Last updated