New York voters approved Proposal 1 in 2024, expanding the state's Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment now prohibits the denial of rights based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.

The 2024 approval builds on a previous Equal Rights Amendment added to the state constitution in 1975. The 1975 amendment prohibited discrimination based on sex.

Voters have decided on 430 statewide ballot measures since 1821. Of these measures, 316 were approved and 114 were defeated. The state legislature holds the authority to refer measures to the state ballot, as citizens do not initiate statewide ballot measures.

347 of these measures were constitutional amendments referred by the legislature. The state Constitution also mandates an automatic constitutional convention question every 20 years. Additionally, 23 constitutional convention referrals and 13 constitutional convention questions have been decided by voters.

Amendments to the Forever Wild clause occurred in 1941, 1947, and 1987. These amendments allowed for the construction of ski trails and infrastructure while still maintaining protections for forest preserve lands. The Forever Wild clause ensures that state-owned land in the Adirondack and Catskill State Parks remains wild forest and cannot be leased, sold, or exchanged.

In 2014, voters approved an amendment that established an independent redistricting commission and changed the state redistricting process. However, in 2021, voters defeated an amendment that would have removed the higher vote threshold for adopting redistricting plans under single-party legislative control.

The state has averaged 20 ballot measures per decade since 1821. The highest number of ballot measures in a single decade occurred in the 1960s, with 58 measures. Voters approved 40 of these 58 measures. The 1970s recorded the lowest approval rate, with voters approving 19 out of 41 measures, while the 1820s, 1830s, 1880s, and 1900s all had a 100% approval rate for ballot measures.