Ballot
Measure Readability Scores, 2020
CA Easy Voter Guide
Grade Level: 7
BallotPedia: 2020
This
page provides an analysis of the readability scores of the language voters see
on the ballot when deciding their 2020 statewide measures. The ballot
language consists of a ballot title or question and sometimes an
additional summary or explanation.
A
readability score is an estimation of the reading difficulty of a text.
Measurements used in calculating readability scores include the number of
syllables, words, and sentences in a text. Other factors, such as the
complexity of an idea in a text, are not reflected in readability scores.
Voters
in 32 states decided 120 statewide ballot measures on November 3,
2020. Including pre-November election dates, a total of 128 statewide
ballot measures were certified for the 2020 ballot in 34 states.
Voters
in states with ballot measures read questions on their ballots asking them
whether to approve or reject a measure. As the text of ballot measures is often
multiple pages of statute or constitutional law, someone is tasked in each
state with writing a shorter title or question and sometimes an additional
summary to appear on the ballot for the measures.
Readability
index details
Ballotpedia
uses two formulas, the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level (FKGL), to compute scores for
the titles and summaries of ballot measures.
HIGHLIGHTS
The average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level for
the ballot titles (ballot questions) of all 128 statewide 2020 ballot measures
was 17 (first-year graduate school reading level).
The average ballot title grade for all
measures in a single state averaged together ranged from 10 in Rhode Island,
Washington, and Wyoming to 32 in Virginia.
In 2018, the average Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Level for the ballot titles of statewide ballot measures was between 19
and 20, and average state scores ranged from eight to 42.
Ballotpedia identified 67 measures with a
ballot summary that was set to appear alongside the ballot question on the
ballot. The average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level for the ballot summaries was
about 14.
The average ballot summary grade for all
measures in a single state averaged together ranged from 10 in Louisiana and
Maryland to 20 in Arkansas.
The average ballot title grade was highest
for ballot titles written by state legislatures (19) and other state boards and
offices (18).
Initiative proponents wrote the ballot
language for eight of the measures (in some cases, with help from state
officials). The average ballot title grade for those measures was 15.
Attorneys general wrote titles with the
lowest average grade level of 14.
The average ballot title in 2020 contained
about 60 words. In 2018, the average ballot title length was 66 words.
The 2020 ballot measure with the longest
ballot title was Colorado Proposition
118 concerning
a paid family and medical leave program. The ballot question had 270 words.
The states with the shortest ballot titles or questions on average were Florida, California, Iowa, and Alaska; all of these except Iowa did feature additional ballot summaries or explanations.
Title and summary grades
|
State |
Average title grade |
Average # of words |
Number of measures |
|
Rhode Island |
10 |
52 |
1 |
|
Washington |
10 |
42 |
6 |
|
Wyoming |
10 |
36 |
1 |
|
Iowa |
11 |
16 |
1 |
|
Louisiana |
11 |
39 |
7 |
|
Massachusetts |
11 |
26 |
2 |
|
Illinois |
12 |
121 |
1 |
|
New Jersey |
12 |
91 |
3 |
|
Missouri |
13 |
84 |
3 |
|
Nebraska |
13 |
55 |
6 |
|
Oregon |
13 |
93 |
4 |
|
Utah |
13 |
51 |
7 |
|
Wisconsin |
13 |
70 |
1 |
|
Alaska |
14 |
22 |
2 |
|
Maryland |
14 |
65 |
2 |
|
Mississippi |
14 |
41 |
3 |
|
Montana |
14 |
109 |
5 |
|
North Dakota |
14 |
166 |
2 |
|
California |
15 |
16 |
13 |
|
Florida |
16 |
10 |
6 |
|
Oklahoma |
16 |
140 |
3 |
|
Arizona |
17 |
43 |
2 |
|
South Dakota |
17 |
28 |
3 |
|
Alabama |
21 |
83 |
7 |
|
Kentucky |
21 |
45 |
2 |
|
Maine |
21 |
39 |
3 |
|
Michigan |
21 |
36 |
2 |
|
Nevada |
21 |
72 |
5 |
|
New Mexico |
21 |
83 |
5 |
|
Arkansas |
22 |
36 |
3 |
|
Georgia |
26 |
53 |
3 |
|
Idaho |
26 |
53 |
1 |
|
Colorado |
30 |
101 |
11 |
|
Virginia |
32 |
68 |
2 |
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