2004 ballot measures: everything but the kitchen sink: there's a host of initiatives and referenda on the ballot this year, but nothing like the highs of the mid-'90s.

• Author: Bowser, Jennifer Drage

The list of measures to go before voters this fall won't finally shape up until later this month, but so far at least 41 citizen-initiated measures and 57 legislative referenda have qualified for the ballot. At least 18 additional initiative petitions have been turned in and are presently undergoing signature verification.

If historical trends hold true, the number of legislative referenda will probably top out somewhere around 130. The number of initiatives is harder to predict this early in the process. Since the mid-1990s, when the initiative experienced a resurgence in popularity, the number of measures on the ballot has tended to be higher in presidential election years than in off years. In 2002, there were 53 citizen-initiated measures on the ballot; expect the number to be roughly the same or slightly higher this year.

The array of issues on the ballot range from some new and controversial measures to some oldies-but-goodies.

GAY MARRIAGE

Same-sex marriage is the big ballot issue this year and probably the most controversial. Measures amending state constitutions to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman are likely to appear on the ballot in 11 states, and that number could climb as high as 13. It's definitely on the ballot in seven states where legislatures referred constitutional amendments to the voters. Initiative proponents in three more states turned in more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and signatures are being verified in three others. All of these states already have laws on the books outlawing same-sex marriage; these measures, however, seek to place the ban in the state constitution.

EDUCATION FUNDING

The puzzle of how to adequately fund public education weighs heavily on the minds of voters in several states this year. The Arkansas legislature is proposing a property tax increase to pay for schools. In Oklahoma, the Legislature is asking voters to approve a new lottery earmarked for education. A South Dakota measure would extend services like transportation, food service and textbook loans to all school-age children. Two competing initiatives mandating certain levels of education funding are on the ballot in Nevada. Measures increasing the sales tax to pay for education are pending in Missouri and Washington. A measure to repeal the state's mandatory school funding levels is still circulating in Colorado, as is a second measure to repeal the state's mandatory student testing program. And...