Voters in Crook County, Oregon, to decide on an advisory measure to secede from the state
Voters in Crook County, Oregon, will decide on an advisory measure on May 21 asking whether they support negotiations to incorporate the county into the state of Idaho. While the measure itself is advisory and would not change any state boundaries upon approval, Crook County will be the 15th Oregon county since 2020 to vote on a measure to secede from the state and join neighboring Idaho.
Preemption plays out with marijuana in Texas – our latest episode of On the Ballot
In this week’s episode of On the Ballot, Ballotpedia’s weekly podcast, we looked at the May 4 vote to decide Lubbock Proposition A. The ballot measure will determine whether Lubbock, Texas, will decriminalize Class A or Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses for adults, with certain exceptions.
Ballotpedia Podcast Producer Frank Festa interviewed the Texas Tribune’s Jayme Lozano about her reporting on the measure, including how five Texas cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Denton, and Elgin — passed similar decriminalization measures in 2022. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued all five cities in 2024.
Ballotpedia Marquee Team Lead Joel Williams then joins Festa to discuss preemption conflict both nationally and in Texas. Preemption conflict is when law at a higher level of government is used to overrule authority at a lower level.
71% of the more than 4,500 local elections Ballotpedia covered in April were uncontested
Of the 4,596 local elections in 21 states we covered in April, 71% were uncontested. That’s less than March, when 77% of the 6,995 covered were uncontested. We define an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election.
In April, we covered the most elections in Wisconsin, where 72% of the 3,621 elections were uncontested. We also covered more than 100 elections in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Utah. Of those four states, Pennsylvania had the highest uncontested election rate, at 90%, while Oklahoma had the lowest, at 14%.