The report reviewed 164 measures that have appeared or will appear on statewide ballots in 40 states during 2026. Their titles averaged a reading level requiring 17 years of education; summaries, when provided, averaged 15 years. About 42% of U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the most recent Census Bureau data cited in the report.

The measures address topics including abortion, property taxes, voter identification and firearms. Ballot questions can be lengthy and laden with legal terminology, so states often provide shorter titles for voters. But many measures do not have summaries, and Ballotpedia researchers note that voters often make decisions after reading only a title.

Readability differed sharply among states. Kentucky, Massachusetts and Tennessee had the lowest average title score, equivalent to 10 years of education. Colorado had the highest, at 33 years, followed by Hawaii at 31 and Nevada at 26. A Colorado proposal concerning a constitutional right to hunt and fish received a 48th-grade readability score, a measure of exceptionally complex language rather than a conventional education level. An Idaho question asking voters to designate an official state gun scored at a fifth-grade level.

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

Research has found that voters are more likely to skip ballot questions when the language is more complex. About half of states have laws intended to improve ballot measure readability. Maryland adopted a plain-language requirement earlier this year, while Arkansas last year capped ballot titles at an eighth-grade reading level.

Despite such efforts, the average readability score for state ballot measures since Ballotpedia began tracking them in 2017 has been about 18 years of education, roughly equivalent to a second-year graduate student.

Some ballot titles are particularly long. Kansas voters rejected a 927-word constitutional amendment in August that would have authorized the election of state Supreme Court justices and abolished an existing nominating commission. Alaska is set to have a five-word title for a measure that would amend state law to allow only U.S. citizens to vote in elections.

Ballotpedia calculates readability using formulas that consider factors including word and sentence length and syllable counts. The full report includes scores for all 164 measures.