A Brief History of the Death Penalty on the Ballot

The death penalty is a controversial political topic, even if it's hardly discussed by candidates running for office. When the issue is put to a vote of the people, how does the death penalty fare?

The death penalty, also commonly referred to as capital punishment, does not rank high on the list of issues that voters prioritize and often isn’t even included when they’re polled. Multiple times a year, however, the topic flares up in the news due to some sort of controversy surrounding a quickly-approaching execution; this typically involves either an argument that the death row inmate is actually innocent or that they’ve changed as a person and therefore should not be put to death. The execution almost always proceeds, followed by the topic of the death penalty fading out of the news cycle and broader political discourse.

Based on polling from Gallup and Pew Research, the death penalty enjoys somewhere between 53-60% support though that has steadily declined since the 90s.; this is despite a majority of those polled agreeing that there are problems with its application. Support for the death penalty is strongest among Republicans, those without college degrees, people over the age of 49, and both White and Asian voters.

You know what’s better than a poll? Putting an issue on the ballot for people to actually vote on. When it comes to the death penalty, there have been 35 ballot measures on the issue going back as far as 1912. Each of these ballot questions can be described as either “pro-death penalty” (where a ‘Yes’ vote was in support of the death penalty in some way) or “anti-death penalty” (where a Yes vote supported restricting the death penalty in some way). Of the 35 total, 23 were pro-death penalty while 12 were anti-death penalty. Many of these ballot initiatives were about something other than simply abolishing or enacting the death penalty, such as speeding up the appeals process or changing the method of execution.

Of the 35 total ballot measures, the pro-death penalty side has won in 31 (or 91%). The last time the anti-death penalty side won in a ballot measure was in 1964. The death penalty has won on the ballot in a diverse variety of states: usually-liberal coastal states like California and Massachusetts, conservative midwestern/Great Plains states like Nebraska and Oklahoma, and more moderate midwestern/Rust Belt states like Ohio and Wisconsin.

I included below a chronological list (starting with the most recent from 2016) of each states’ death penalty ballot measure election, with its outcome displayed on a county-by-county map (when such results were available to find).

2016

California Prop 62¹

California Prop 66²

Nebraska Referendum 426³

Oklahoma State Question 776⁴

2012

California Prop 34⁵

2006

Wisconsin Advisory Question 2⁶

2002

Florida Amendment 1⁷

1998

Florida Amendment 2⁸

1996

California Prop 196⁹

1994

Ohio Jurisdiction of Death Penalty Appeals Amendment

1992

Arizona Prop 103¹⁰

New Jersey Public Question No. 3¹¹

1990

California Prop 114¹²

1984

Oregon Measure 6¹³

Oregon Measure 7¹⁴

1982

Massachusetts Question 2¹⁵

1978

California Prop 7

Oregon Measure 8¹⁶

1975

Washington Initiative 316¹⁷

1974

Colorado Amendment 2¹⁸

1972

California Prop 17

1970

Illinois Death Penalty Amendment

1968

Massachusetts Question 6

1966

Colorado Referred Law No. 2¹⁹

1964

Oregon Measure 1²⁰

1958

Oregon Measure 4²¹

1933

Arizona Measure Nos. 102-103²²

1931

Michigan Death Penalty Referendum

1920

Oregon Measure Nos. 304-305

1918

Arizona Measure Nos. 306-307²³

1916

Arizona Measure Nos. 300-301²⁴

1914

Arizona Measure Nos. 308-309²⁵

Oregon Measure Nos. 334-335

1912

Ohio Death Penalty Amendment²⁶

Oregon Measure Nos. 366-367²⁷

1. Pages 10-12 (in the PDF): https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-general/ssov/ballot-measures-summary-by-county.pdf

2. Pages 16-18: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2016-general/ssov/ballot-measures-summary-by-county.pdf

3. Page 60: https://sos.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/elections/2016/2016-canvass-book.pdf

4. https://results.okelections.gov/OKER/?elecDate=20161108

5. Page 4: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2012-general/15-ballot-measures.pdf

6. https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ALLOQYOGPLRFLU8A/pages/ADWO3CCAZDFDIP8G

7. https://results.elections.myflorida.com/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/5/2002&DATAMODE=

8. https://results.elections.myflorida.com/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/3/1998&DATAMODE=

9. Pages 3-4: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/1996-primary/ssov/measures-statewide.pdf

10. Page 11: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/102689?keywords=&type=all&lsk=4f501d7724dbab17410a2f3bd240db7a

11. Page 3: https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1992/1992-public-questions.pdf

12. Page 3: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/1990-primary/measures.pdf

13. Page 46: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8411052

14. Page 47: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8411052

15. https://electionstats.state.ma.us/ballot_questions/view/5340/

16. Page 27: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8411046

17. https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/results_report.aspx?e=37&c=&c2=&t=&t2=&p=&p2=&y=

18. https://historicalelectiondata.coloradosos.gov/eng/ballot_questions/view/11622

19. https://historicalelectiondata.coloradosos.gov/eng/ballot_questions/view/12330/

20. Page 14: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8411026

21. Page 13: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8411018

22. Page 4: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/102422?keywords=&type=all&lsk=ddb30293ee4163f81c29d6057e451d47

23. Page 4: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/102399?keywords=1918+General+election+returns&type=all&highlights=WyIxOTE4IiwiR2VuZXJhbCIsImVsZWN0aW9uIiwicmV0dXJucyJd

24. Page 5: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/102396?keywords=1916+General+election+returns&type=all&highlights=WyIxOTE2IiwiR2VuZXJhbCIsImVsZWN0aW9uIiwicmV0dXJucyJd

25. Page 3: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/102393?keywords=&type=all&lsk=66fa9f80b040b122f2b824d14319486c

26. Unavailable at the time of this article being posted: https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qac3c7gH-LJHKeTEGNhewhesRvKd9IyxnsDvOmQlvloVdt9ow28omQrRLJc9HSm-MF4PInGes4gt0AU1I09-5BhNfUa0yNuDkfrUbcVL0pGhvFBTk9Hbjy3UqOMKlyfYSIvLGgaRPgJNYRiKPgr3qcGLCdFNIFluF2aALLm7Xx_jcmm3MTyB8zdy3V7qA7iInc-ZIVNx1caBRd3nY0rZsKlmG_xa-h4HOju7MZGvJXngR7wu4kbYiueV4QefYZ41LlLH-1Cv2E7IKj4rfX8pH6MOJz4gbDsQpQAt1a_cP5qipgvqOxs

27. Page 11: https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/RecordView/8410981