Voters Back Abortion Rights, Veto Trump Map
US Midterms 2026
Published Wednesday, 4 November, 5:25 a.m. ET (5:25 a.m. Washington) · Source: state election results, unofficial state results tallies, Virginia Department of Elections
Key Facts
- Abortion. Virginia and Nevada voters wrote abortion protections into their constitutions; Missouri defeated a measure to restore limits.
- Redistricting. Missouri voters rejected a Trump-backed congressional map by roughly 62% to 38%.
- Idaho. Voters turned down a measure to create abortion rights in state law, about 44% to 56%.
- Caution. All figures are unofficial; counts were still incomplete in Nevada and Maryland early Wednesday.
This story is part of our coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections. Dates, times and how to follow it are in our guide.
Americans went to the polls on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, to pick a Congress, and in several states they also settled two of the country’s loudest fights directly. Voters backed abortion rights in three of the four states that put it to a vote, and Missouri voters tore up a congressional map that President Donald Trump had backed, according to unofficial tallies early Wednesday.
The results come from state ballot measures, a quieter side of the 2026 US midterm elections.
In plain English
A ballot measure lets voters decide a law or a constitutional change themselves. On Tuesday the biggest ones covered abortion and how congressional districts are drawn, and the early results favoured abortion rights and rejected one party-drawn map.
Abortion Rights Win Where It Counted
Virginia approved Question 1, a numbered statewide ballot measure, with about 62% of the vote, and it writes a right to “reproductive freedom” into the state constitution, covering decisions on pregnancy care, contraception, abortion, miscarriage care and fertility care. Nevada approved Question 6 with about 63%.
Nevada requires voters to approve a constitutional change twice, and this was the second vote after the first approval in 2024. Missouri went the same way from the other side.
Amendment 3 would have restored restrictions on most abortions and also limited certain gender-transition care for minors, and it failed with about 44% in favour and 56% against.
Idaho was the exception. Voters there defeated Proposition 1, which would have created abortion rights in state law, with about 44% in favour and 56% against, so the state’s existing ban stays in place.
Why Missouri’s Map Mattered
Missouri’s Proposition A was a referendum, meaning a public vote to approve or cancel a law already passed. The law was a new congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers in 2025 and backed by Trump, designed to help the party win another US House seat.
Opponents collected signatures to force the vote, and the Missouri Supreme Court, the state’s highest court, ruled unanimously on 3 September that the petition was valid and the new map never took effect. The August primary had already been run on the 2025 map, but the November race for the US House of Representatives used the older 2022 districts.
Voters rejected it by about 62% to 38%. Maryland voters moved the other way on a related question, approving Question 3, a constitutional amendment that removes a rule requiring congressional districts to be compact and connected and so lets lawmakers redraw them, with about 60% in favour while counting continued.
What It Means for US Readers
For readers following the House battle, the Missouri result removes a map built to favour one party for the years ahead. It also shows that voters, at least in this case, were willing to veto mid-decade redistricting, the practice of redrawing districts between censuses, even in a state that Trump carried.
The abortion results are a clearer signal. Where the question is put directly to voters, the pattern from Virginia, Nevada and Missouri is support for abortion rights, with Idaho the lone defeat in this group.
Our US midterms 2026 dossier tracks which seats and states move next.
What Is Not Known
Counts were still incomplete early Wednesday, with Nevada at about 83% of the expected vote and Maryland at about 77%. Several other measures, including some in Colorado and California, were not yet called when we checked, and no state has certified results.
Legal challenges and reactions from Trump or the campaigns had not been confirmed when this report was published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states backed abortion rights on Nov. 3, 2026?
Virginia and Nevada approved constitutional protections, with about 62% and 63% of the vote in unofficial tallies. Missouri voters also defeated a measure that would have restored restrictions.
What happened to Missouri’s congressional map?
Voters rejected the Republican-drawn map in Proposition A, about 62% to 38% in unofficial tallies. Missouri’s November House race was already being run on the older 2022 districts.
Sources: Virginia Department of Elections; unofficial state results tallies as of 4 November 2026; Missouri Supreme Court ruling of 3 September 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error