Ballot measure signature costs, 2020

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This Ballotpedia report is an in-depth look at the total signature gathering costs and the cost-per-required-signature (CPRS) for measures that qualified for 2020 state ballots through a citizen signature petition drive.

Of the 26 states with a process for statewide citizen-initiated measures, 16 states had a ballot initiative, veto referendum, or both on the ballot. A total of 43 citizen-initiated measures were certified for 2020 ballots, including three pre-November measures and 40 on the November 3 ballot. A total of $87.23 million was spent to collect the 11,178,353 valid signatures required to qualify the 42 measures with signature cost data available for the ballot.^[1]

On this page you will find the following:

• how we measure signature costs and our methodology
• maps showing average signature costs across the U.S. in 2020
• a summary of the variables leading to higher or lower signature costs
• analysis, averages, and highlights
• a breakdown of according to petition company
• a breakdown of signature costs by the topic addressed by the measures
• data and analysis for each state
• the raw data used for this report
• historical context

Measuring the cost[edit]

See also: Analysis of signature costs in past years

This report uses two ways to measure the cost of an initiative or veto referendum petition drive.

1. According to the total cost of gathering the required signatures to put the initiative or veto referendum on the ballot
2. According to the total cost divided by the number of signatures required to qualify the measure for the ballot or Cost Per Required Signature (CPRS)

Total cost:

The total cost depends on all of the factors that can make a petition effort more or less expensive, including the population of the state and the state's signature requirements. This measurement does not necessarily indicate how difficult it is to run a signature petition campaign in a state relative to other states or how hard and expensive it is to collect a given valid signature. It takes into consideration the population and signature requirements for a state. For example, the average total cost of a successful initiative petition drive in California in 2016 was just over $2.9 million, while in Oklahoma the average total cost was about $870,000. Initiatives in California, however, require over four times as many signatures and affect 10 times as many people.

Cost Per Required Signature (CPRS):

The cost per required signature cuts out the variable of a state's signature requirements and shows the cost for each signature needed to qualify the measure for the ballot. This second measurement is a better indication of how difficult it is to run a signature petition campaign in a given state relative to other states. For example, the average CPRS in California in 2016 was $6.20 while the average CPRS in Oklahoma was $9.59, but the average total petition cost was $2.9 million in California and about $870,000 in Oklahoma.

From the perspective of a national organization or proponents of a national agenda, this means that a lower CPRS generally means that a campaign could potentially affect more people and achieve more political influence per dollar spent, while the total petition cost might dictate in which states the campaign could actually afford to launch a successful petition drive.

The cost of a petition campaign[edit]

There are many factors that determine how much it costs to gather signatures for a ballot initiative or veto referendum petition.

Rules and regulations[edit]

See also: Laws governing the initiative process

The cost of getting an initiative before voters varies widely by state and by initiative proposal. The requirements and restrictions imposed by state law form a major factor in the expense of an initiative signature petition effort.

Higher signature requirements are a straightforward example of a reason an initiative petition campaign might be more expensive in one state than in another. Other restrictions that can make a difference in the cost of a petition campaign include:

• Distribution requirements - It is easier and less expensive to collect a lot of signatures in one very populous area than a small number of signatures from lots of smaller, less-populated areas.
• Pay-per-signature bans - Paying signature gatherers by signature is one of the most cost-efficient ways to fund signature gathering efforts.
• Restrictions on circulators - Restricting who can collect signatures limits competition between petition companies and professional signature gatherers.
• Initiative petition circulation periods - If proponents have less time to collect signatures, the process can be more expensive.

Petition companies[edit]

The number of professional signature petition companies in the state and the way those companies operate can also make a difference in the CPRS. If more petition companies are active in a state, there will be more competition. Likewise, if more petitions are being circulated, demand could be higher in some years than in others.

Issue topic[edit]

Another factor is the topic of the proposed initiative or referendum. Some laws are more compelling to voters and easier to collect signatures for than others.

Analysis, averages, and highlights[edit]

• A total of 43 citizen-initiated ballot measures were certified to appear on the 2020 ballot in 16 states.
• $85.82 million was spent in total on signature gathering for the 41 measures with signature cost data available.^[1]
• Of the 43 measures, three— (Colorado Propositions 113 and 115 and Washington Referendum 90)— were qualified for the ballot using volunteer signature gatherers, resulting in a cost per required signature of $0.
• The average total cost for gathering signatures to qualify a citizen-initiated measure for the ballot in 2020 was $2.1 million^[2][1]
  • The average total cost for qualifying a citizen-initiated measure for the ballot in 2018 was between $1.1 million and $1.2 million.^[3]
• The average CPRS for the 41 citizen-initiated measures on the ballot in 2020 that had signature cost data available, including the three volunteer campaigns, was $8.29.^[1]
• The average CPRS for the 38 measures on the ballot in 2020 that used paid signature gatherers was $8.95.
  • The average CPRS across all the initiatives that were on the ballot in 2018 was between $6.19 and $6.85. In 2016, the average total cost was $1.03 million, and the average CPRS was $5.60.
  • From 2010 through 2018, the average total signature gathering cost per initiative in even-numbered years was $871,468, and the average CPRS was $4.7. Citizen-initiated measures were on the ballot in between 14 and 21 states from 2010 through 2018.

Highest and lowest average total cost by state[edit]

• The states with the highest average total cost for initiative petitions in 2020 were Florida ($6.75 million), California ($4.36 million), and Arizona ($2.7 million).

• The states with the lowest total cost for initiative petition signature gathering were Washington, where sponsors of Referendum 90 used volunteers to collect 129,811 signatures, resulting in a CPRS of $0; Maine ($108,358); and Alaska ($199,792).

Highest and lowest average CPRS by state[edit]

• The states with the highest average CPRS for initiatives that were on the ballot were Montana ($24.02), South Dakota ($16.22), and Nevada ($12.46).

• The states with the lowest average CPRS initiative petition signature gathering were Missouri, where sponsors of Missouri Amendment 2 on the August 2020 ballot spent $207,880 to collect 160,199 signatures, resulting in a CPRS of $1.30; Maine, where $108,358 was spent by sponsors of Maine Question 1 to collect 63,067, resulting in a CPRS of $1.72; and Washington, where sponsors of Referendum 90 used volunteers to collect 129,811 signatures, resulting in a CPRS of $0.

Most expensive petition drives[edit]

• The top five most expensive individual initiative petition drives in 2020 were Florida Amendment 4 ($8.8 million); Florida Amendment 1 ($7.9 million); California Proposition 22 ($6.5 million), Florida Amendment 3 ($6.3 million); and California Proposition 15 ($5.99 million). Florida initiatives required 766,200 valid signatures. California Proposition 15 required 997,139 valid signatures and California Proposition 22 required 623,212 valid signatures.

• The top two individual initiative petition drives with the highest cost per required signature in 2020 were Montana CI-118 and Montana I-190, where New Approach Montana, sponsor of I-190 and CI-118, spent $1,839,471.54 to collect 25,468 valid signatures for I-190 and 50,936 valid signatures for CI-118. Ballotpedia divided the total amount spent in proportion to the number of required signatures to determine the CPRS of $23.83 for I-190 and $24.20 for CI-118. The next top highest initiative petition drives with the highest cost per required signature were Colorado Proposition 118 ($17.88); South Dakota Constitutional Amendment A ($17.55); and Arizona Proposition 208 ($16.83).

According to total cost[edit]

According to CPRS[edit]

Petition company breakdown[edit]

By petition company[edit]

By state[edit]

Below are the 16 states featuring statewide initiatives or veto referendums in 2020 and the petition companies used in each state:

Petition costs by issue[edit]

Signature costs by state[edit]

Alaska[edit]

See also: Alaska 2020 ballot measures

Arizona[edit]

See also: Arizona 2020 ballot measures

California[edit]

See also: California 2020 ballot measures

Colorado[edit]

See also: Colorado 2020 ballot measures

Florida[edit]

See also: Florida 2020 ballot measures

Massachusetts[edit]

See also: Massachusetts 2020 ballot measures

Mississippi[edit]

See also: Mississippi 2020 ballot measures

Mississippians for Compassionate Care (Medical Marijuana 2020), sponsors of Initiative 65, did not return Ballotpedia's request for signature gathering cost information.

Missouri[edit]

See also: Missouri 2020 ballot measures

Montana[edit]

See also: Montana 2020 ballot measures

Nebraska[edit]

See also: Nebraska 2020 ballot measures

Nevada[edit]

See also: Nevada 2020 ballot measures

Oklahoma[edit]

See also: Oklahoma 2020 ballot measures

Oregon[edit]

See also: Oregon 2020 ballot measures

South Dakota[edit]

See also: South Dakota 2020 ballot measures

Washington[edit]

See also: Washington 2020 ballot measures

Sponsors of Referendum 90 used volunteers to collect signatures, resulting in a cost per required signature of $0.00.

Signature costs data for all measures[edit]

The charts below list citizen-initiated measures, the costs associated with collecting signatures to qualify the measures for the ballot, and the company or companies hired to collect signatures. The charts are broken out by type, with initiated constitutional amendments in the first chart, initiated state statutes in the second, and veto referendums in the third. Some citizen initiatives can be designed to change both state statutes and the state constitution. Such combined initiatives will be listed twice below, once in each type's section.

Initiated constitutional amendments[edit]

See also: initiated constitutional amendment

Initiated state statutes[edit]

See also: initiated state statute

Veto referendums[edit]

See also: Veto referendum

Comparison to previous years[edit]

In 2020, 12 states with citizen-initiated measures had higher average total petition costs and higher average CPRS than averages from 2010 through 2018. Four states—Washington, Nebraska, Missouri, and Maine—had lower petition costs as compared to the averages from 2010 through 2018.

The following three states had the highest signature costs compared to the averages^[4] in those states from 2010 through 2018:

• South Dakota's average CPRS and average total cost in 2020 were $16.22 and $423,926, respectively. Averages from 2010 through 2018 were $2.6 and $69,682.23, respectively, largely due to volunteer petition drives.
• Montana's average CPRS and average total cost in 2020 were $24.02 and $919,735.77, respectively. Averages from 2010 through 2018 were $5.27 and $164,393.16, respectively.
• Arizona's average CPRS and average total cost in 2020 were $11.36, and $2,700,000, respectively. Averages from 2010 through 2018 were $5.27 and $1,049,131.65, respectively.

California and Florida represented over two-thirds of the petition drive spending in 2020. In those states, average petition costs were up 52% and 130%, respectively, over the averages from 2010 through 2018.

2018:

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2018

• A total of between $74.4 million and $78.8 million was spent on the signature petitions for the 68 citizen-initiated measures that were on the ballot in 2018.^[5] A combined total of 11,110,180 valid signatures were required to qualify the measures for the ballots across the 21 states with citizen-initiated measures.^[6]
• The average total cost for qualifying an initiative or veto referendum for the ballot in 2018 was between $1.1 million and $1.2 million.^[7]
• The average CPRS across all the initiatives that were on the ballot in 2018 was between $6.19 and $6.85.

2016:

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2016

• In 2016, a total of $78.12 million^[8] was spent on signature gathering efforts across 17 states to put 76 citizen-initiated measures on statewide ballots—more than in any year from 2006 through 2016. A total of 13,677,856 valid signatures were required to qualify 2016's initiatives and veto referendums for the ballot.^[9]
• The average cost of a successful initiative or veto referendum petition drive was $1,027,890.77 across the 17 states featuring such measures in 2016.
• The average CPRS across the 17 states with initiatives or referendums was $5.6.

2014:

See also: 2014 ballot measure petition signature costs

• In 2014, a total of $16.9 million was spent on signature gathering across 15 states to put 40 citizen-initiated measures on statewide ballots.
• The average total cost of a successful initiative or veto referendum petition drive was $608,516.
• The average CPRS across the 15 states was $3.2.

2012:

See also: 2012 ballot measure petition signature costs

• In 2012, a total of $51.9 million was spent on signature gathering across 17 states to put 61 citizen-initiated measures on statewide ballots.
• The average total cost of a successful initiative or veto referendum petition drive was $850,936.
• The average CPRS across the 17 states was $4.30.

2010:

See also: 2010 ballot measure petition signature costs

• In 2010, a total of $36 million was spent on signature gathering across 14 states to put 50 citizen-initiated measures on statewide ballots.
• The average total cost of a successful initiative or veto referendum petition drive was $720,000.
• The average CPRS across the 14 states was $3.7.

See also[edit]

• 2020 ballot measures
• Ballot measures cost per required signatures analysis

Other petition cost reports[edit]

• 2012 ballot measure petition signature costs
• 2013 ballot measure petition signature costs
• 2014 ballot measure petition signature costs
• 2015 ballot measure petition signature costs
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2016
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2017
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2018
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2019
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2021
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2022
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2023
• Ballot measure signature costs, 2024

Footnotes[edit]

v • e Statewide ballot measures State A • Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • C • California • Colorado • Connecticut • F • Florida • G • Georgia • H • Hawaii • I • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • K • Kansas • Kentucky • L • Louisiana • M • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • N • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • O • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • P • Pennsylvania • R • Rhode Island • S • South Carolina • South Dakota • T • Tennessee • Texas • U • Utah • V • Vermont • Virginia • W • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming By topic A • Abortion • Admin of gov't • Affirmative action • Alcohol • Animal rights • Assisted death • B • Bonds • Budgets • Business regulation • C • Campaigns • Civil rights • Constitutional conventions • Constitutional language • County government • D • Daylight Saving Time • Death penalty • Direct democracy • E • Earthquakes • Education • Elections • Eminent domain • English • Environment • Executives • F • Federal constitutional issues • Firearms • G • Gambling • Government accountability • H • Healthcare • Housing • Hunting • I • Immigration • Insurance • J • State judiciary • L • LGBT • Labor • Law enforcement • Legislatures • M • Marijuana • Marriage • Minimum wage • Mottos • Municipal government • N • Natural resources • P • Pensions • Property • Public finance • R • Recall • Redistricting • Race and ethnicity • Religion • Rules about Sunday • S • Salaries of elected officials • Smoking bans • State budgets • State executives • State judiciary • State legislatures • Stem cells • Supermajority requirements • Sundays • T • Taxes • Tobacco • Transportation • U • Unions • Utilities • V • Veterans • W • Wages • War and peace • Water • Welfare By type Advisory vote • Automatic referral • Bond measure • Commission referral • Constitutional amendment (by initiative) • Constitutional amendment (referred by legislature) • Grand Jury Panels • State statute (by initiative) • State statute (referred by legislature) • Veto referendum Forms of direct democracy in the American states By year 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000 • 1999 • 1998 • 1997 • 1996 • 1995 • 1994 • 1993 • 1992 • 1991 • 1990 • 1989 • 1988 • 1987 • 1986 • 1985 • 1984 • 1983 • 1982 • 1981 • 1980 • 1979 • 1978 • 1977 • 1976 • 1975 • 1974 • 1973 • 1972 • 1971 • 1970 • 1969 • 1968 • 1967 • 1966 • 1965 • 1964 • 1963 • 1962 • 1961 • 1960 • 1959 • 1958 • 1957 • 1956 • 1955 • 1954 • 1953 • 1952 • 1951 • 1950 • 1949 • 1948 • 1947 • 1946 • 1945 • 1944 • 1943 • 1942 • 1941 • 1940 • 1939 • 1938 • 1937 • 1936 • 1935 • 1934 • 1933 • 1932 • 1931 • 1930 • 1929 • 1928 • 1927 • 1926 • 1925 • 1924 • 1923 • 1922 • 1921 • 1920 • 1919 • 1918 • 1917 • 1916 • 1915 • 1914 • 1913 • 1912 • 1911 • 1910 • 1909 • 1908 • 1907 • 1906 • 1905 • 1904 • 1903 • 1902 • 1901 • 1900 Other State Ballot Measure Monthly reports • Features of official voter guides • Ballot measures cost per required signatures analysis • 2024 ballot measure campaign finance • 2024 ballot language readability analysis