While the spotlight on the upcoming midterm elections has been on the balance of power in Congress, several states and cities around the country have ballot measures under consideration that could have ripple effects for years.

From transgender rights to taxation on high earners, here are some of the major ballot proposals that voters will consider on Election Day.

Voter access

Voters in 13 states have ballot initiatives that would affect voter access and rights.

California, Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina and Arizona would impose voter identification laws under a ballot measure.

Nevada voters passed their voter measure with 73% of the vote in 2024, however, the state constitution requires ballot measure approval in two consecutive elections to pass.

Noncitizens are not eligible under federal law to vote in elections, but most states do not explicitly state this mandate in their constitutions or laws. Alaska, Arizona, South Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas and West Virginia have ballot measures that would mandate only U.S. citizens can vote in any elections administered in the state.

Some Republican leaders have pushed back against noncitizens voting in elections, however, there are few proven cases of this taking place in previous elections. 

Two states have proposals that would expand voter access.

In Massachusetts, voters will decided whether or not to implement same-day voter registration on Election Day. A ballot measure in Virginia would restore voting rights to some incarcerated citizens after they are released from prison.

Gender and sex issues

The debate over gender rights and transgender issues is on the ballot in several states.

In four states — Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington — voters will decide on ballot measures that would prohibit participants from playing on teams that are different from their sex assigned at birth.

Washington’s ballot measure would mandate students who compete on female sports teams provide healthcare documentation verifying their sex.

Voters in Colorado and Missouri are set to vote on measures that would prohibit minors from receiving gender transition surgeries or healthcare professionals from providing the surgeries.

Taxation

As affordability and income inequality have become leading concerns among Americans, some states are seeking to address that through taxation.

In five states, California, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado and Washington, voters will choose how their state’s tax laws will change.

California has four propositions related to taxation with Proposition 40 — also known as the “billionaires’ tax” — being the one that has come under the most scrutiny. If that proposition passes, the state would levy a 5% tax on the wealth of California taxpayers and trusts with assets valued over $1 billion.

The revenue would go to pay for state healthcare programs, food assistance programs and public education.

Colorado’s ballot proposal would remove the state’s uniform tax rate requirement and replace it with a progressive tax that would levy different levels of tax based on income levels.

State taxpayers who make less than $25,000 annually would be taxed 3.7% and those percentage levels would rise with the maximum being 8.4% levied on anyone earning more than $1 million annually.

Washington state voters will decide whether or not to repeal its 9.9% tax on taxpayers who make over $1 million annually.

Reproductive rights

States continue to grapple with the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, leaving laws and regulations around it up to individual states.

In this year’s election, voters in four states will decide on reproductive laws.

Virginia, Idaho and Nevada would enshrine laws that would give people the right to make their own reproductive rights decisions and privacy over those decisions.

Voters in Missouri are voting to repeal a 2024 initiative that enshrined a constitutional right for reproductive freedom.

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A top general at the Pentagon was suddenly removed from his senior post earlier this week and has now retired, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia served in the Joint Staff as the Joint Staff’s Director for Strategy, Plans & Policy, an important office, that handles long-term strategic planning and is known in military jargon as the J-5.

Sylvia was removed from the position for a lack of confidence, according to one of the sources.  With his removal Sylvia retired from the U.S. Army after having served in the role for 11 months.

Sylvia becomes the latest senior military officer to be either fired or sidelined during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure.  However, one source said it was unclear whether Sylvia’s removal was ordered by Hegseth or Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“The Chairman, the Joint Staff, and the Joint Force extend our deepest gratitude to Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia and his family for their 32 years of distinguished service to our nation,” said a Joint Staff spokesperson.

“We wish him and his family the best as they graduate to new opportunities and the next chapters of their lives,” the spokesman added.

Earlier this week, Sylvia was listed as still being the director of the planning office on the Joint Staff’s website, but the website now lists only the name of Vice Director Maj. Gen. Mark H. Slocum.

The J-5 is recognized as one of the Joint Staff’s most important directorates in the Joint Staff along with the directorate for Operations, the J-3, that is responsible for the planning and execution of military operations.

Last year, two prominent Army generals serving on the Joint Staff were sidelined and had to retire early, including Sylvia’s immediate predecessor as the J-5, Lt. Gen. Joseph “JP” McGee, who retired last October. 

McGee had been nominated under the Biden administration to become the director of the Joint Staff, but he was not renominated by the Trump administration.  With no other slots available to him as a three or four star general he had to retire. 

Also retiring early last year was Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, who was widely expected to be on track for a fourth star.

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A federal judge in California has rejected the Justice Department’s push for an emergency order to have California segregate roughly 20,000 ballots belonging to individuals the Trump administration has claimed are “likely” noncitizens. 

“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in his Wednesday order.

Regarding the DOJ request for the order to require California to set aside the ballots of those it alleges are likely noncitizens, the judge said it would “wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.”

The judge wrote: “This request violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections. If Plaintiff’s last-minute request for relief were granted, either party could create chaos for their own political purposes to disrupt the election process. Over 20,000 registered Californians would potentially lose the right that generations of Americans have fought to preserve.” 

Earlier this month, the DOJ filed suit against California accusing the state of failing to review a list of alleged noncitizens that the Trump administration claimed were sent mail-in ballots for next month’s midterm election. 

In a court hearing earlier this week, Bill Essayli, a controversial Trump-installed leader of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, argued the administration was simply pushing for the state to be in compliance with federal law barring noncitizens from casting votes. 

But state officials and other legal advocates opposing the DOJ lawsuit countered that the litigation violated longstanding Constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections — and could have chaotic consequences for the state in tabulating final vote counts in the weeks ahead. 

In court papers filed last week, Los Angeles officials said a preliminary analysis of 200 of the names on the 20,000-person list, included a “high percentage” of individuals who say they were born in the U.S. and many more who have no voting history at all. 

Earlier this week, in a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court panel also rejected a DOJ request for an immediate order demanding California segregate the roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots. 

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With less than a week to the midterms elections, an ABC News analysis of the early vote in the key states of Texas and Georgia shows signs of more enthusiasm among Democrats, who are getting slightly higher turnout among those who don’t vote regularly — particularly in Texas — compared to what they got in 2022.

More than 39 million Americans have voted early as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Much of the apparent surge in turnout is among voters who likely would have voted later in the pre-election period or on Election Day, the analysis shows. Less-habitual voters who are voting early, while a much smaller number compared to regular voters, appear to be more likely to vote for the Democrat.

The data from voter records firm L2 that ABC News’ analysis is based on does not indicate who someone might have voted for and does not say anything about who might yet turn out on Election Day.

The analysis also uses L2’s models for whether a voter is likely to vote Democratic or Republican, as neither Texas nor Georgia register voters by party. The modeling uses available information like turnout in primaries and other factors to predict which party people are likely to support.

The early vote in Texas

More than 5 million voters had cast early ballots in Texas as of Wednesday, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, more than 20% of the state’s registered voters.

There are closely watched races for Senate and governor in the Lone Star state; Democrats hope to flip both despite not having won a statewide race since 1994. President Donald Trump rallied there twice on Tuesday and Republicans say the president’s swings through red-leaning states are meant to turn out his base and motivate Republicans who otherwise might have sat out this midterm.

As of Monday, 51% of the early vote in Texas is from voters modeled as likely to vote for Democrats while 45% is from voters modeled as likely to vote for Republicans, the analysis shows — a 14 percentage point swing for Democrats from 2022 when they were behind Republicans by around 8 percentage points when early voting was finished. Donald Trump won Texas by 14 points in 2024.

In Texas, regular voters who voted in four out of the last four federal elections made up a greater share of the turnout as of Monday than they did in the complete early vote in 2024 and 2022, according to the analysis. This doesn’t necessarily mean that more habitual voters have shown up, just that fewer less-regular voters have. The habitual voters make up 60% of the early vote this year, as of Monday; this group made up 47% of the total early vote in 2024 and 44% of the total early vote in 2022

The early vote data shows that Democrats are getting far higher turnout among the less frequent voters in Texas who likely prefer Democrats, in comparison to the less frequent voters who likely prefer Republicans. Whether it be during the remaining days of early voting or on Election Day, Republicans will need to mobilize their less enthusiastic supporters.

Among voters who did not vote in any of the last four federal elections but who have voted early in Texas as of Monday, 64% of them are modeled as likely to vote for a Democrat and 21% as likely to vote for a Republican. In the total early vote in 2022, 50% of these voters were modeled as likely Democratic voters and 39% were estimated to be likely Republican voters.

In the early vote to date, there are far fewer less-habitual voters compared to high-turnout ones and they take up a smaller share of the early vote overall. Still, close elections are decided at the margins and polling in Texas has shown the Senate and governor’s races being close.

The early vote in Georgia

More than 2.1 million voters had cast early ballots in Georgia as of Wednesday morning, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, where the Senate and governor’s races are also being closely watched.

In the Senate race, GOP Rep. Mike Collins is trying to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Democrats are trying to flip the governorship as Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms faces Republican businessman Rick Jackson in a race both parties see as competitive.

According to ABC News’ analysis, 54% of the early vote in Georgia is from voters modeled as likely to vote for Democrats while 38% is from voters modeled as likely to vote for Republicans.

In Georgia, habitual voters who voted in four out of the last four federal elections comprised a greater share of the turnout as of Monday than they did in the early vote one week out from the 2022 midterms.

Habitual voters made up 67% of the early vote in 2026 as of Monday while they comprised 55% of the total early vote one week from Election Day 2022.

Among voters who did not vote in any of the last four federal elections but who have voted early in Georgia as of Monday, 52% of them are modeled as likely to vote for Democrats and 12% are modeled as likely to vote for Republicans. In the early vote at this time in 2022, 51% of those voters were modeled Democratic and 27% were modeled Republican

Meanwhile, among voters who voted in two out of the last four federal elections who had voted early in Georgia as of Monday, 56% are modeled Democratic and 24% Republican. In the early vote at this point in 2022, 54% of those voters were modeled Democratic and 35% Republican.

Early voting ends in both states on Friday.

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