Each week, The Weekly Brew brings you a collection of the most viewed stories from The Daily Brew, condensed. Here are the top stories from the week of September 21 - September 25.
States are recruiting poll workers for November. Here's what they require.
With the Nov. 3 general election approaching, states across the country are recruiting poll workers to serve on Election Day and during the early voting period.
Poll workers perform a variety of functions. They may help set up or break down polling places, greet and check in voters, issue and transport ballots, and perform other tasks to support the election.
- 42 states require poll workers to be registered to vote
- 45 states have a residency requirement for poll workers, including 13 states where poll workers must reside in the precinct they work at
- 44 states require poll workers to go through some type of training
Ohio leads states in number of local ballot measures on data centers for 2026
Voters in eight states — Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, California, Michigan, Nevada, and Florida — will decide on 38 data center-related local ballot measures in 2026. The measures span 35 jurisdictions in 30 counties.
Ohio accounts for 20 measures across 17 jurisdictions, more than half of the total. Illinois has seven measures, including four in Madison County. The remaining 11 measures are in Wisconsin and Kansas, with three each; California, with two; and Michigan, Nevada, and Florida, with one each.
Most measures, 34 of 38 (89%), are scheduled for the Nov. 3 general election. The other four appeared earlier in the year, and voters in each case favored greater restrictions on data center development, either by approving a restriction or rejecting a measure that would have facilitated development.
2026 had the fewest ballot initiatives filed since 2014, with 692
In 2026, petitioners filed 692 ballot initiatives in the 26 states that have the initiative and referendum process — the fewest since 2014, when 616 were filed. Of the measures filed this year, 53 initiatives (7.6%) qualified for the ballot, in line with the average of 53 for even-numbered years from 2010 to 2024.
Fifteen of the 26 initiative and referendum states have or will have a ballot initiative. The number of initiatives filed in the 26 states ranged from none in Illinois and New Mexico to 190 in Colorado. Colorado’s 13 certified initiatives are the most of any state this year.
The initiatives’ subjects include income taxes (six measures), campaign finance (four measures), and LGBTQ issues (four measures). Other notable topics include abortion, drug crime policy, voter ID, the initiative and referendum process, housing, and firearms.
This year's congressional primaries drew the most candidates since 2014
More candidates ran in primaries for the U.S. Congress this year than in any election cycle since 2014. There was also a record share of open seats and a record number of contested primaries.
The driving factor behind the record number of candidates who ran for the U.S. Congress (2,497) was a record number of U.S. House candidates (2,232).
Voters in three cities will decide on ballot measures to implement ranked-choice voting in local elections on Nov. 3
On Nov. 3, voters in Irvine, California, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Longmont, Colorado, will decide on ballot measures that would require ranked-choice voting (RCV) in mayoral and city council elections. The measure in Honolulu would also require RCV to elect the city’s prosecuting attorney.
RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. All three measures would institute a system where if a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, they win. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. Ballots that ranked a failed candidate as highest choice are then counted as first-preference ballots for their next-highest-ranked candidate. The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority.