Welcome to the Monday, March 11, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measures certifications
- Three Mississippi U.S. House primaries are contested this year
- Upcoming voter participation deadlines
Update on this year’s and next year’s ballot measure certifications
So far, last week was the busiest yet for ballot measure certifications in 2024. As of March 7, 73 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in 27 states. An average of 74 measures were certified for the ballot at this point from 2012 to 2020. An average of 157 statewide measures were certified for the ballot during that same period.
Here’s an update on the latest ballot measure activity.
Legislatures put 11 more measures on their respective state ballots:
- Arizona Property Tax Refund for Non-Enforcement of Public Nuisance Laws Measure
- Florida Annual Inflation Adjustment for Homestead Property Tax Exemption Value Amendment
- Florida Repeal Public Campaign Financing Option Amendment
- New Mexico Public Education Bond Measure
- New Mexico Public Libraries Bond Measure
- New Mexico Senior Citizens Facilities Bond Measure
- New Mexico Safety Radio Communications Systems Bond Measure
- South Dakota Medicaid Work Requirement Amendment
- Virginia Property Tax Exemption for Veterans and Surviving Spouses Amendment
- Wisconsin Prohibit Legislature from Delegating Appropriations Power Amendment
- Wisconsin Require Legislative Approval for State Expenditure of Federal Funds Amendment
In Washington, three citizen initiatives were certified for the general election ballot:
- Washington Initiative 2109, Repeal Capital Gains Tax Initiative
- Washington Initiative 2117, Repeal Carbon Cap and Invest Program Measure
- Washington Initiative 2124, Opt-Out of Long-Term Services Insurance Program Initiative
The initiated state statutes in Washington were indirect initiatives, meaning legislators could adopt the initiatives into law or have them proceed to the ballot for voters to decide. Since the Legislature adjourned its session last week, the three measures above will now go before voters. The Legislature already approved the three initiated state statutes below and they will not go before voters. The Legislature approved:
- Washington Initiative 2081, Parental Right to Review Education Materials, Receive Notifications, and Opt Out of Sexual-Health Education Initiative
- Washington Initiative 2111, Prohibit Income Taxes Initiative
- Washington Initiative 2113, Police Vehicular Pursuits Initiative
Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification or another pre-certification action for three initiatives in Alaska and Michigan:
- Alaska Minimum Wage Increase and Paid Sick Leave Initiative
- Alaska Repeal Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative
- Michigan $15 Minimum Wage Initiative
In Maine and Massachusetts, enough signatures were verified for seven indirect initiatives for them to appear before their respective state legislatures.
- Maine Campaign Contribution Limits Initiative
- Massachusetts App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative
- Massachusetts Authorization of State Auditor to Audit General Court Initiative
- Massachusetts Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees Initiative
- Massachusetts Regulated Access to Psychedelic Substances Initiative
- Massachusetts Repeal Competency Assessment Requirement for High School Graduation Initiative
- Massachusetts Unionization and Collective Bargaining for Transportation Network Drivers Initiative
In Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and Michigan, initiated state statutes are indirect or follow a similar process. This means the legislature has the option to pass the initiative outright. Legislators have a certain number of days, depending on the state, to adopt the initiative into law. In Maine and Michigan, when legislators take no action or reject the initiative, the initiative is put on the ballot for voters to decide. In Alaska, the initiative is not automatically introduced into the Legislature, but legislators can pass a substantively similar bill by the end of the session, which renders the initiative void. In Massachusetts, petitioners collect a second round of signatures to place the initiative on the ballot.
The most recent signature deadline for citizen initiatives was Feb. 15, 2024, in Utah, where signatures were filed for one initiative. However, supporters failed to file the required 134,298 signatures.
The next signature deadline is May 1, in Idaho, where two ballot initiatives have been proposed—one to legalize medical marijuana, and another to create a top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) system.
The following chart shows the number of ballot measures certified across each week in an even-numbered year.
Three Mississippi U.S. House primaries are contested this year
Tomorrow, Mississippi will hold congressional and state judicial primaries. Before voters in the Magnolia State head to the polls, let’s look at what they can expect to see on their ballots.
U.S. Senate
Four candidates are running. Incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker (R), first elected in 2006, faces challengers Ghannon Burton (R) and Dan Eubanks (R). The Democratic primary is uncontested, and nominee Ty Pinkins (D) will face the winner of the GOP primary in November.
U.S. House
- Twelve candidates are running for Mississippi’s four U.S. House districts, including four Democrats and eight Republicans. That’s an average of three candidates per district, fewer than in the previous three election years. The state’s U.S. House delegation currently includes three Republicans and one Democrat.
- Incumbents are running in every district. The last time an incumbent didn’t run for re-election in Mississippi was 2018, the only time in this decade when there was an open seat.
- Three primaries—one Democratic and two Republican—are contested this year, tying with 2018 and 2016 as the fewest this decade. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 4.8 primaries were contested.
- Rep. Mike Ezell (R), the incumbent in the 4th District, is the only incumbent facing a primary challenger this year. That’s fewer than in 2022 when four incumbents faced challengers.
- The 3rd Congressional District is essentially guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats will appear on the ballot. Republicans are running in every congressional district, meaning none are guaranteed to Democrats.
Statewide courts
Mississippi voters will also decide primaries for four seats on the Mississippi Supreme Court and two seats on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Incumbents are running for every seat. Jim Kitchens and Dawn H. Beam—two incumbents on the Mississippi Supreme Court—are the only incumbents facing challengers.
State Legislature
Elections for the Mississippi Legislature occur in odd years. The next general election is Nov. 2, 2027.
Upcoming voter participation deadlines
With the 2024 election season well on its way, let’s look at the important deadlines voters need to be aware of over the next two weeks to take part in their state’s primary election.
Fifteen states have voter participation deadlines this month. These include voter registration deadlines, early voting opening and closing dates, deadlines to request absentee/mail-in ballots, and deadlines to return those ballots.
The map below shows the states that have voter participation deadlines scheduled in the next two weeks. The bulleted list below includes every state with deadlines between today and March 25.
- Arizona: Feb. 21 to March 15 (early voting period), March 19 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Connecticut (presidential primary): March 25 (mail-in and online voter registration deadline).
- Florida: March 9 to March 16 (early voting period), March 19 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Georgia (presidential primary): March 12 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Hawaii (Republican presidential primary): March 12 (voter registration deadline).
- Illinois: Mar. 19 (in-person voter registration deadline), Feb. 8 to March 18 (early voting period), March 14 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot by mail or online), March 18 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot in-person), March 19 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Kansas: Feb. 28 to March 18 (early voting period), March 19 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Louisiana: March 9 to March 16 (early voting period), March 19 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot), March 22 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Mississippi: March 12 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Missouri (Democratic presidential primary): March 12 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot online), March 23 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- New York (presidential primary): March 23 (voter registration deadline),
- Ohio: Feb. 21 to March 18 (early voting period), March 12 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot), March 18 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot by mail), March 19 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot in-person).
- Rhode Island (presidential primary): March 12 (deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Washington (presidential primary): March 4 (mail-in voter and online registration deadline), March 12 (in-person voter registration deadline), Feb. 23 to March 12 (early voting period), March 12 (deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot).
- Wisconsin (presidential primary): March 13 (mail-in and online voter registration deadline).
Looking ahead
March is the busiest month for primary elections, with 33 separate primaries and caucuses scheduled across 30 states. We’ll bring you all the information you need to know to vote in the rest of these contests as well, so stay tuned!