2026 ballot measures are written at a graduate-school reading level, report finds

An analysis of 164 ballot titles across 40 states found readability varies from fifth grade to far beyond a Ph.D.

By Anna Claire Vollers

Stateline

This year’s statewide ballot measures are written, on average, at a graduate-school reading level, according to a new report.

The readability of 2026’s ballot questions — which ask voters to weigh in on issues as varied as abortion, property taxes, voter ID and firearms — varies by state, political data tracking nonprofit Ballotpedia found in its newest Ballot Measure Readability Report.

The report analyzes the level of education voters would need to understand the titles and summaries of the measures put before them. Because ballot measures are often lengthy and full of legal language, states write shorter titles to be published on the ballot for voters to read.

Many of this year’s ballot measures don’t include summaries to supplement the titles. And many voters don’t read beyond a measure’s title before deciding how to vote, Ballotpedia researchers note.

This year, 164 measures have been or will be on the ballot across 40 states. The titles average a reading level requiring 17 years of education, which corresponds to a first-year graduate student. The summaries average a reading level requiring 15 years of education. About 42% of the U.S. adult population ages 25-54 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the most recently available data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Title readability ranges from a fifth-grade level for an Idaho question asking voters to choose an official state gun to a 48^th-grade level for a Colorado constitutional amendment that would establish a right to hunt and fish, Ballotpedia found. No formal education level corresponds to a 48th-grade level, but that rating indicates an extremely advanced language structure.

“The most significant factor driving readability differences isn’t the type or topic of the ballot measure, but which state it’s in,” said Ryan Byrne, managing editor of Ballotpedia’s ballots team, in a statement.

Kentucky, Massachusetts and Tennessee had the lowest average title readability grade level, at 10 years of education, while Colorado had the highest at 33 years, followed by Hawaii at 31 years and Nevada at 26, according to the report.

Research has found voters are more likely to skip ballot questions that have more complex language.

About half of states have enacted laws designed to make ballot measure language easier to read. Earlier this year, Maryland enacted a law requiring ballot questions to be written in plain and clear language. Last year, Arkansas required ballot titles to be written at no more than an eighth-grade level.

But still, the average readability score for state ballot measures since 2017, when Ballotpedia began tracking it, is about 18 years of education, or the equivalent of a second-year graduate student.

This year, Kansas had the longest ballot question title, at 927 words for a constitutional amendment that would have authorized the election of state Supreme Court justices and abolished an existing nominating commission. Voters defeated it in August.

Alaska will have the shortest title, at just five words, for a measure to amend state law to allow only U.S. citizens to vote in elections.

Ballotpedia uses two formulas to calculate readability, which includes looking at the number of syllables, words and sentences in a text.

Readability scores for each of the 164 ballot measures this year can be found in Ballotpedia’s report.

• Stateline is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.