Marijuana, abortion, noncitizen voting on ballots in 2026

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

Alongside a battle for control of Congress, voters in states across the country will take up ballot initiatives to decide key issues. Citizenship requirements for voting, abortion, marijuana and psychedelic drug measures are among the issues to be considered across multiple states.

Here are some of those ballot measures.

Noncitizen Voting

In Arkansas, voters will consider whether to adopt an amendment to the state constitution that specifically prohibits noncitizens from voting. Currently, Arkansas allows any person in the state who is a citizen and at least 18 years old to vote.

The amendment would restrict voter eligibility to U.S. citizens who meet the “qualifications of an elector.”

“A person who does not meet the qualifications of an elector under this section shall not be permitted to vote in any state or local election held in this state,” the ballot measure reads.

Similarly, Kansas and South Dakota will have measures on the ballot to formalize citizenship requirements in each state’s constitution.

No state constitution in the country explicitly allows noncitizens to vote. Eighteen other states explicitly prohibit noncitizen voting.

Marijuana and Psychedelic Drugs

In Idaho, voters will take up a measure that could give the state legislature authority to legalize marijuana, narcotics, and other psychoactive substances. Additionally, the measure would prevent citizens from initiating state statutes to legalize the substances.

Idaho is one of 11 states where medical and recreational marijuana use is illegal. If voters approve the measure, it would make Idaho the first state to strip voters of the ability for future legalization efforts outside of the legislature.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia passed legalization measures through citizen-led ballot measures

“Too many legislatures across this nation have sat back and just waited as initiative after initiative would come after them, until they finally overwhelm it and overwhelm the legislature,” Idaho Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, said. “We are acting because that’s our responsibility.”

Abortion

In November, Missouri voters will consider a ban on abortion in the state except in the case of medical emergencies, rape, incest and fetal anomaly. The provision would give and exception for abortions in cases of rape or incest after 12 weeks gestation.

If voters in Missouri pass the measure, it would undo a 2024 state initiative that upheld the right to an abortion in the state.

In Nevada, voters will return to the polls to affirm whether the right to an abortion should be included in the Constitution.

In 2024, voters approved a measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. However, state law requires a measure to be approved in two consecutive even-year elections before a constitutional amendment.

Abortions up to 24 weeks are legal in Nevada due to a law passed in 1990. However, the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All urged passage of the ballot measure due to efforts from the Trump administration to restrict abortion.

“We must have state laws in place – like those proposed in Question 6 – that ensure people can access the care they need no matter what the Trump administration does,” Reproductive Freedom for All’s website reads.

Transgender Minors

In the same Missouri ballot measure attempting to restrict abortion access, voters will consider whether to prohibit minors from accessing gender transition surgeries and prescription or administration of cross-sex hormones.

This measure follows similar efforts from states to restrict minors’ access to gender transition hormones, puberty blockers and sex change operations.

In 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Tennessee to prevent health care providers from administering puberty blockers or hormones to minors with the intent of “enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s biological sex.”

“This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. “The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound.”

Missouri voters are set to decide the ban on transgender care for minors alongside proposed abortion restrictions.

Voters will decide all of these issues at the ballot box in November. The midterm election is set for Nov. 3, 2026.