Year: 2025
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Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for April 2025
In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from March 2, 2025, to April 1, 2025. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month. HIGHLIGHTS New vacancies There were 45 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.2%,…
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Four out of five elections were uncontested in Illinois, Wisconsin on April 1
Illinois and Wisconsin held a combined 18,641 elections on April 1, primarily local elections to school boards, city councils, and other special districts. But, in both states, it was clear who the winners would be in a majority of those elections since more than four out of every five elections were uncontested. An uncontested election…
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SEC ends defense of climate reporting rules
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced last week that it voted to end its defense of the Biden-era corporate emissions reporting rules. The decision indicates the majority of current SEC commissioners do not support the implementation of the rules. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said the commission wanted to end its “defense of the…
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39% of last March’s elections were uncontested
Throughout March, Ballotpedia covered 194 elections in 22 states, 39% of which were uncontested. That’s up from February when 32% of the 345 covered were uncontested. Ballotpedia defines an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. This analysis does…
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Kentucky Legislature overrides veto on Medicaid work requirements bill
On March 27th, the Kentucky Legislature voted to override Gov. Beshear’s (D) veto of House Bill 695, which requires the state to seek work requirements for able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients. Kentucky has a divided government with a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor. Kentucky is one of six states that require a simple majority vote…
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President Trump has yet to appoint any federal judges 72 days into his first year of his second term
President Donald Trump (R) had not nominated any Article III federal judges as of April 1, 2025, his first year of his second term in office. The average number of federal judges appointed by previous presidents through April 1 of his first year in office is also zero. By April 1 of his first term…
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Maryland voters to decide on changes to vacancy procedures for Judicial Disabilities Commission in 2026
The Maryland State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot that would change how vacancies are filled on the Judicial Disabilities Commission. The amendment would allow the chair of the Commission on Judicial Disabilities to appoint former members to temporarily fill vacancies or allow the governor to appoint a…
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Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including nationwide trends and recent legislative activity.
In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 650 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week. Weekly highlights The big takeaways from the past week’s legislative actions. Lawmakers in 44 states acted on 650 bills over the last week, 196 fewer than last week. Note: In some states, legislators are able to file hundreds…