State ballot measure certifications move past 10-year average


Welcome to the Friday, October 6, Brew. 

By: Joseph Greaney

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measure certifications
  2. Filing deadlines upcoming in the early 2024 Republican presidential primary states
  3. #FridayTrivia: How many state presidential nominating contests will be completed by the end of March next year?

State ballot measure certifications move past 10-year average

The ballot measure landscape is set for 2023. ICYMI, check out our final roundup from September 18, 2023. For now, let’s check in on 2024. 

Heading into 2024, 49 statewide measures have been certified in 22 states. An average of 48 measures were certified at this point between 2010 and 2022.

One ballot measure was passed but is awaiting the governor’s signature as of Oct. 3. The California Legislature has approved a bill that would put a measure on the March 5, 2024 ballot: the Behavioral Health Services Program and Bond Measure. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would sign the legislation, which would place the measure on the ballot for March 5, 2024

  • The ballot measure would change the name of the Mental Health Services Act to the Behavioral Health Services Act and expand the act’s purpose to include preventing and treating substance use disorders.
  • It would also restructure how funding is allocated in counties that provide behavioral health services and programs and issue $6.4 billion in general obligation bonds for housing for homeless veterans and individuals with behavioral health needs.

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An average of 164 statewide measures were approved in even-numbered years from 2010 to 2022.

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Upcoming filing deadlines in the early 2024 Republican presidential primary states 

The first filing deadline  of the 2024 presidential election for major party candidates has passed. Candidates had to pay a $20,000 filing fee later than Sept. 30 in order to participate in the U.S. Virgin Islands GOP caucuses that will occur on Feb. 8, 2024

Eight candidates met the deadline:: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (R), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), businessman Perry Johnson (R), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (R), U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and former President Donald Trump (R). Additional candidates may qualify by Jan. 1, 2024, if they pay a $50,000 filing fee.

The next Republican filing deadline is Oct. 15  in Nevada. Republicans are required to file with the state party by Oct. 15 to participate in the Feb. 8, 2024, caucus. After that will be New Hampshire, where Republican candidates will have to file with the secretary of state by Oct. 27 to participate in the primary, which is not currently scheduled as of today, October 6. The South Carolina Republican Party requires candidates to file by Oct. 31 for the Feb. 24, 2024, primary. Candidates are not typically required to file for the Iowa Republican caucus, which will take place on Jan. 15, 2024.

See the table below for an overview of the filing deadlines, primary or caucus dates, and days between these dates in the early Republican primary states in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles. The greatest change in time between filing deadline and nominating event was in Nevada, which had 45 days between these dates in 2016, and will have 116 days between these dates in 2024. The smallest change was in New Hampshire, which had 81 days between these dates in 2016 and 88 days in 2020.

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#FridayTrivia: How many state presidential nominating contests will be completed by the end of March next year?

In the Tuesday Brew we provided an update on the 2024 election calendar, including statewide filing and election dates, as well as presidential filing deadlines and primary and caucus dates.

Since the last presidential election in 2020, a number of states have made changes to their presidential nominating contest dates with the majority moving their dates to earlier in the year. Many of those states are jockeying for national influence, as campaigns and commentators frequently use early primary and caucus contests as leading indicators for competitiveness. 

What hasn’t changed is the importance of Super Tuesday, which will take place on March 5, 2024, when more than a dozen states will hold their primary elections. 

While some state’s nominating contest dates are still subject to change, todays #FridayTrivia question is based on the calendar as it stands today, October 6, 2023.

How many of the 47 currently scheduled presidential nominating contests will be completed by the end of March 2024?

  1. 12
  2. 21
  3. 29
  4. 37