What voters decided on abortion and redistricting ballot measures in 2026

Last updated Nov. 5, 2026, 7:45 a.m. CT. Results are unofficial until each state certifies.

Abortion-rights supporters won three of the four abortion measures on 2026 ballots. Missouri voters rejected Amendment 3, which would have repealed their 2024 abortion-rights amendment, and Nevada and Virginia added abortion rights to their constitutions. Idaho kept its ban. Missouri voters also rejected a Republican-drawn House map, and Maryland approved an amendment Democrats could use to redraw. Results are unofficial.

Key facts (unofficial, as of Nov. 5) - Missouri Amendment 3 (repeal the abortion right): No 55.5%, Yes 44.5%, all 3,214 precincts reporting (Missouri Secretary of State figures) - Missouri Proposition A (the 2025 Republican-drawn House map): No 61.8%, Yes 38.2% - Nevada Question 6 and Virginia Question 1 (abortion rights in the state constitution): approved, per AP - Idaho Proposition 1 (a statutory abortion right): defeated, so the 2022 ban stays - Maryland Question 3 (redistricting rules): For 60.06% (State Board of Elections) - Still pending: a Nov. 13 court hearing on Virginia's Question 1 and Colorado's uncalled redistricting measure

What happened to Missouri's Amendment 3?

It failed. With all 3,214 precincts reporting, 1,173,172 voters (55.5%) voted no and 941,065 (44.5%) voted yes, according to the Secretary of State's figures as reprinted by the Jefferson City News Tribune. The official results page is the Missouri Election Night Results site.

The Republican-led legislature put Amendment 3 on the ballot. It would have repealed the reproductive-freedom amendment voters passed in 2024 and banned abortion with exceptions, allowing it for rape or incest only through 12 weeks. It also would have barred certain medical treatments for transgender minors, Ballotpedia notes.

The Washington Examiner reports it was the first attempt anywhere to repeal an abortion-rights amendment that voters had already approved. The 2024 amendment passed with 52%. Abortion stays legal in Missouri under that amendment.

Did Missouri voters keep the new congressional map?

No. Proposition A, a referendum on the map Republican lawmakers passed in 2025, failed with 1,273,815 no votes (61.8%) to 785,969 yes votes (38.2%), according to the same Secretary of State figures.

The map was drawn to split Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City district and gain Republicans a seat, NPR reports. Courts kept it from taking effect for the midterms so voters could decide on it first. Missouri is now set to use its current map in 2028, though some Republican state leaders have raised the possibility of another redraw in 2027 or 2028, NPR says. Cleaver won re-election Tuesday.

For background on this year's redistricting fight, see our mid-decade redistricting explainer.

Which states added abortion rights to their constitutions?

Nevada and Virginia.

• Nevada Question 6 protects abortion until fetal viability, and afterward when needed to protect the patient's life or health. Nevada requires a constitutional amendment to pass at two elections, and this was the second, NPR explains. It was leading 62.3% to 37.7% with 86% of votes counted when AP called the race, The Guardian reports.
• Virginia Question 1 creates a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom." That covers abortion through the second trimester, later abortion in specified cases, and contraception and fertility care. "Yes" had 62.4% Wednesday afternoon, VPM reports. Virginians also approved Question 2, which replaces the state's 2006 ban on same-sex marriage, and Question 3, which automatically restores voting rights after a felony sentence is complete.

What did Idaho decide?

Idaho voters defeated Proposition 1, according to Ballotpedia. It would have created a statutory right to make reproductive health decisions, including abortion until fetal viability. Idaho's abortion ban, in effect since 2022, stays in place. It was the only one of the four abortion measures that went the way abortion opponents wanted.

What did Maryland's redistricting question do?

Maryland Question 3 changes the state constitution's rules for drawing congressional and legislative districts. The State Board of Elections' unofficial results showed 1,081,731 votes for (60.06%) and 719,399 against (39.94%). That count covered 1,969 of 1,979 election-day precincts, and provisional ballots were not yet reported.

NPR reports that the amendment makes it easier for Maryland's Democratic leaders to redraw congressional districts before the 2028 election. It is unclear whether they will. In Colorado, voters were deciding on an amendment banning maps that intentionally favor one party, and it was still too close to call Wednesday morning, NPR said.

What's still undecided?

• Virginia court challenge: The Founding Freedoms Law Center, the legal arm of the Family Foundation, argues Question 1's ballot language was misleading and has asked Tazewell Circuit Court to block certification. The hearing is set for Nov. 13, VPM reports.
• Colorado: We'll add the redistricting result when it's called.
• Certification: Every figure here is unofficial. See how certification works.

How are the two sides reading the results?

• Left-leaning outlets: The Guardian calls it a largely successful night for reproductive-rights advocates and ties it to Senate wins by candidates who campaigned on abortion. NPR frames the map results as the next round of the redistricting fight Trump started, noting that many Republican-drawn seats went to Democrats anyway.
• Right-leaning outlets: National Review says abortion opponents "joined the rest of the Republican coalition in defeat." It carries criticism of Republican consultants from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and opponents' warnings that Virginia's third-trimester health exception is too broad. The Washington Examiner says Missouri's result could discourage repeal efforts elsewhere and notes that opponents outspent supporters by about $7 million.
• Common ground: Outlets on both sides report Missouri's Amendment 3 failing by about 10 points and Virginia's Question 1 passing easily.

How does 2026 compare with past years?

Four states voted on abortion measures this year. In 2024, voters decided a record 11. From 1970 through 2025, voters decided 65 abortion-related statewide measures, approving 27 and defeating 38, Ballotpedia counts. Across all topics, voters in 39 states, Washington, D.C., and the Northern Mariana Islands decided 146 statewide measures this year, NPR reports.

Sources

• Missouri Secretary of State, Election Night Results (official)
• Jefferson City News Tribune, Missouri amendments and propositions (Secretary of State figures), Nov. 4, 2026
• Maryland State Board of Elections, unofficial statewide question results, refreshed Nov. 4, 2026
• Ballotpedia News, abortion measure results, Nov. 4, 2026
• VPM, Virginia constitutional amendments results, Nov. 4, 2026
• NPR, ballot measures roundup, Nov. 4, 2026
• NPR, Missouri and Maryland redistricting, updated Nov. 4, 2026
• The Guardian, Nov. 5, 2026
• Washington Examiner, Nov. 3, 2026
• National Review, Nov. 3, 2026, updated Nov. 4

Photo: KTrimble, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 public domain dedication (cropped to 16:9). The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, photographed from the air in 2011. File photo.

Drafted with AI assistance from primary sources. Written and edited by The Whole Read newsroom under Monsaur Othman's editorial standards. Read how we use AI, our editorial policy and our corrections policy.