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Iowa ballot · Nov. 3, 2026Checked Oct. 20, 2026

1 statewide measure on the ballot.

One statewide question is on Iowa's Nov. 3, 2026 ballot: Statewide Public Measure 1, a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the legislature for income-tax rate increases and new state income taxes. Iowa's legislature refers amendments only after two successive General Assemblies pass them (H.J.R. 2006 in 2024, S.J.R. 11 on May 3, 2026); citizens cannot put measures on the statewide ballot. The Story County sample ballot and the Woodbury and Cerro Gordo County postings show this as the only statewide public measure. The automatic constitutional-convention question is not on the 2026 ballot: Article X, Section 3 sets it for 1970 and every tenth year after (last 2020, next 2030). S.J.R. 9 (passed April 17, 2025; right of the accused to confront child and other witnesses) is a first passage being published before this election and is not on the 2026 ballot. The ballot language below is the official text: the summary is the Secretary of State's (published for comment as RA 26-93) and the full text is the amendment as passed in S.J.R. 11; both match the county ballots word for word.

Statewide Public Measure 1 · Legislatively referred constitutional amendment (passed by two successive General Assemblies: H.J.R. 2006, 90th G.A., and S.J.R. 11, 91st G.A.; adds Article XIII, Section 1)

Requirements Certain State Tax Law Changes

Measure 1 would write a supermajority rule into the Iowa Constitution: any bill that raises the state's individual or corporate income tax rate, raises the rate of another tax based on income or on 'legal and special reserves', or creates a new state tax of that kind would need yes votes from at least two-thirds of the members elected to both the Iowa House and Senate, with local-option taxes left out. Lawsuits claiming such a bill was not passed properly would have to be filed within one year of enactment, each covered bill would have to say that the rule applies to it, and the legislature would have to pass laws to carry it out.

Passes with: simple majority of the votes cast on the measure (Iowa Constitution, Article X, Section 1: "by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, voting thereon").

Official ballot summary (the state’s text)

Statewide Public Measure 1 Shall the following amendment to the Constitution be adopted? Summary: Provides that any bill to increase the individual income tax rate or the corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves, shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature for passage. Further, the two-thirds majority vote requirement applies to the passage of a bill to establish a new tax on any type of income or legal and special reserves imposed by the state. The requirement excludes taxes imposed at the option of a local government. A lawsuit challenging the proper enactment of a bill under this section must be filed no later than one year following the enactment. Full Text: The Constitution of the State of Iowa is amended by adding the following new section to new Article XIII: Passage of a bill that increases the individual income tax rate or the corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves, shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly. This requirement does not apply to taxes imposed at the option of a local government. Passage of a bill that establishes a new tax on any type of income or legal and special reserves imposed by the state shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the general assembly. A lawsuit challenging the proper enactment of a bill under this section must be filed no later than one year following the enactment. If such a lawsuit is not filed within the one-year limit, the bill shall be considered properly enacted under this section. Each bill to which this section applies must include a separate provision describing the requirements for enactment prescribed by this section. The general assembly shall enact laws to implement this section. YES NO

Committees for and against: not yet checked.

Sources: Woodbury County Auditor (Elections), 2026 Public Measure 1: Constitutional Amendment - Full Language, Oct. 12, 2026 (saved: raw/woodbury-county-public-measure-1-full-language-2026-10-20.html); Full text.

What is not here yet

  • No Secretary of State page listing the 2026 ballot measure or its final certified summary was found on sos.iowa.gov (the General Election page lists offices only). The summary is from the Secretary of State's own proposed-rule notice (RA 26-93) and matches the county ballots word for word; the Secretary of State's final certification itself was not opened.
  • Committees for and against: not yet checked. The Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board's registered-committee dataset lists no statewide ballot issue committee; a news report (KCRG, Sept. 9, 2026, read as a lead only) names an opposing coalition, 'Fair Taxes for Iowa's Future', which does not appear in the dataset; the Board's web reporting system (webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov) could not be searched from the workspace.
  • Court challenges: none found in a web search on Oct. 20, 2026; no court docket was searched.
  • The legislature's page gives S.J.R. 11's final passage as May 3, 2026; Ballotpedia's news item (read as a lead only) says the House approved it May 2, 2026. The legislature's date is used.

Gaps in the ballot records as of the date checked.