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You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to vote, but Nevada’s ballot questions might make you feel like you need to be one in order to understand them.
A new analysis by Ballotpedia of the 159 ballot measures to be decided by voters across 41 states this November found that Nevada’s questions on average require a higher reading level than ballot questions in all but one other state.
Ballotpedia analyzed readability using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease formulas, which assess readability using the number of syllables, words and sentences. The measures do not analyze the complexity of any idea being presented to voters, but do offer some insight into how easily comprehensible the idea might be to voters, particularly low-information ones.
The national average FKGL score for ballot questions was 16, which correlates with 16 years of schooling (equivalent to a bachelor’s degree). Scores ranged from grade level 7 in New Hampshire to grade level 28 in Alabama.
Nevada’s seven ballot measures averaged to a whopping score of 25. Only one state, Alabama, scored higher, with a grade level 28. A second state, New Mexico, tied with Nevada at 25.
All but one of the ballot questions in front of Silver State voters this year scored above the national average. But the state’s overall score was driven up primarily by two ballot measures — Question 1 and Question 3. Both had readability scores among the most inaccessible in the nation.
Question 1, which would remove the Board of Regents from the state constitution, scored 36, suggesting it takes at least three dozen years of schooling to comprehend. Supporters of the 69-word ballot question have acknowledged that an inability to easily understand what the question is asking may lead to its failure as voters default to a “no” or skip the question altogether.
A similar ballot measure to remove the regents from the constitution narrowly failed in 2020. That question was considered to be written at a grade level 39. For comparison, the ballot measure requiring the highest level of reading in the entire United States was Maine Question 2, which had a score of 42.
Drafters of Nevada’s Question 1 say they attempted to simplify the language but could only do so much.
Ballot questions are typically written by attorneys and must use the same language used in existing state law or the constitution. Ballot questions stemming from an initiative petition are often challenged in court by opponents, and their language can sometimes be altered by the court as part of that process..
Nevada’s Question 3, which would establish an open primary/ranked choice voting system for most statewide races, is written at a grade level 32. Voters were apparently not turned away by the readability in 2022 when the question first appeared before them. Nevadans approved the measure, which must be approved a second time because it changes the state constitution.
Question 6, which would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, came in at a 29 grade level.
On the easier end, Question 5, which would exempt diapers from sales tax, is written at a grade level 15. It was the only Nevada question to score below the national average of 16. (Florida, meanwhile, earned the distinction of having the easiest to read ballot question. Florida Amendment 2’s title is simply “right to fish and hunt” and considered a grade level -2, the lowest score Ballotpedia has recorded in the seven years of analyzing readability. Its summary, which fully explains the proposal, was scored at grade level 14.)
Nevada’s Question 2, which removes antiquated references for people with disabilities from the state constitution, scored 18. Question 4, which removes slavery and indentured servitude from the state constitution, scored slightly worse at 20.
Question 7, which would establish a voter id requirement and require voters to print additional personal information on their mail ballot, scored 23.
Nevadans have the opportunity to weigh in on seven ballot measures this year. Only five states have more questions on their ballots — Colorado (14 questions), Arizona (13), California (11), New Mexico (8), and Missouri (8).
The Nevada Current’s 2024 Voter Guide breaks down all seven ballot measures.