Wisconsin 2018 ballot measures

Elections in Wisconsin, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 17 (online or mail), or Nov. 2 (in-person)
• Early voting: Varies by locality
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Voter ID: Photo ID required
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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2018 Wisconsin Ballot Measures
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2018 U.S. State Ballot Measures
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In 2018, one statewide ballot measure was certified to appear on the ballot in Wisconsin on April 3, 2018. The measure was defeated.

HIGHLIGHTS

Voters in Wisconsin considered one measure, Question 1, on April 3, 2018. The measure was designed to eliminate the position of state treasuer. The measure was rejected.

The Wisconsin State Legislature referred Question 1 to the ballot. Most legislative Republicans supported putting the amendment on the ballot. Most legislative Democrats opposed referring the amendment. Republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature and had trifecta control of the state government.

On the ballot

April 3, 2018:

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Question 1	State Exec	Eliminate the position of state treasurer	d

Summary of campaign contributions

See also: Ballot measure campaign finance, 2018

The following chart illustrates how much support and opposition committees had amassed in campaign contributions for each measure on the ballot:

Ballot Measure:	Support contributions:	Opposition contributions:	Outcome:
Wisconsin Question 1	$0.00	$87,722.97	d

Getting measures on the ballot

As of 2017, Wisconsin did not did not provide for citizen initiatives or referendums; therefore, all statewide ballot measures are referred by the Wisconsin State Legislature. The state Legislature may send a constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration if it received a majority vote of state legislators in each chamber over two successive legislative sessions.

As referring a constitutional amendment requires a simple majority vote over two successive sessions of the Wisconsin State Legislature, a political party in control of both chambers over two successive sessions can refer an amendment without any votes of the minority party. As of 2018, Republicans had controlled both chambers of the state legislature since 2011.

See also: Party control of Wisconsin state government

Historical facts

See also: List of Wisconsin ballot measures

• A total of 15 measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1995 and 2017.
• From 1995 through 2017, an average of one measure appeared on the ballot during even-numbered years in Wisconsin.
• The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots for even-numbered years between 1995 and 2017 ranged from zero to two.
• Between 1995 and 2017, 80 percent (12 of 15) of statewide ballots were approved, and 20 percent (3 of 15) were defeated.
• All three of the amendments that were rejected between 1995 and 2017 were on the ballot in 1995.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2017
Years	Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual median	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
Even years	6	6	100.00%	0	0.00%	0.55	0.00	0	2
Odd years	7	4	57.14%	3	42.86%	0.64	0.00	0	3
All years	13	10	76.92%	3	23.08%	0.59	0.00	0	3

State profile

This excerpt is reprinted here with the permission of the 2016 edition of the Almanac of American Politics and is up to date as of the publication date of that edition. All text is reproduced verbatim, though links have been added by Ballotpedia staff. To read the full chapter on Wisconsin, click here.

Heading into the 2016 presidential election, Wisconsin was considered one of the Democrats' "blue wall" states – a supposed bulwark against Republicans in the Electoral College. But that ignored that the state had turned somewhat to the right after the 2010 gubernatorial election of Scott Walker. As it turned out, Hillary Clinton had an unhappy surprise in store, as Donald Trump won the state, albeit by less than 23,000 votes, or about eight-tenths of a percentage point.

Wisconsin has long been one of America's premier "laboratories of reform," in Justice Louis Brandeis' phrase -- a state developing new public policies, debating them vigorously and even tumultuously, observing whether they worked, and serving as an example for other states. North of the dominant westward paths of migration, the state was sparsely settled first by New England Yankees and then by waves of immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia. The German language is seldom heard now, but German place names and ...(read more)

Demographic data for Wisconsin
	Wisconsin	U.S.
Total population:	5,767,891	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	54,158	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.3%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	86.5%	73.6%
Black/African American:	6.3%	12.6%
Asian:	2.5%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,357	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Wisconsin

Wisconsin voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 23 are located in Wisconsin, accounting for 11.17 percent of the total pivot counties.

More Wisconsin coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Wisconsin
• United States congressional delegations from Wisconsin
• Public policy in Wisconsin
• Influencers in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin fact checks
• More...

See also

• 2018 ballot measures
• List of Wisconsin ballot measures
• Laws governing ballot measures in Wisconsin
• Campaign finance requirements for Wisconsin ballot measures

External links

• Wisconsin Elections & Election Results
• Wisconsin Campaign Finance