Author: Ryan Byrne
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Voters approve $130 million bond issue for Fort Wayne, Indiana, Community Schools
In Allen County, Indiana, voters approved a $130 million bond issue for the Fort Wayne Community Schools district, which is the second-largest school district in the state. The measure was approved 74 percent to 26 percent on June 2. The ballot measure allowed the school district to issue bonds to fund repairs and renovations to…
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Kansas City, MO, voters approve a ballot measure to increase the sales tax for fire department operations
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Kansas City Question 1 was approved on June 2. The measure received 55 percent of the vote. Question 1 was designed to increase the sales tax by 0.25 percentage points, bringing the total city-levied sales tax to 3.25 percent (in addition to county and state sales taxes). Under Question…
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Voters in the West Ada School District, Idaho, rejected a ballot measure to renew a $14 million property tax levy
Voters in West Ada School District, located in Ada and Canyon Counties, Idaho, rejected a ballot measure to renew a $14 million per year supplemental property tax levy for the period between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022. According to results released on June 2, 54 percent of voters rejected the ballot measure. The…
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Philadelphia voters approve two charter amendment ballot measures
Voters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approved two amendments to the city’s charter on June 2. Question 1 created a Philadelphia Department of Labor, along with a Board of Labor Standards, to administer and enforce citywide labor laws and collective bargaining agreements. According to election night results, Question 1 had 80 percent of the vote. Question 2…
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Second version of California split roll tax initiative qualifies for November ballot
On May 29, the office of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that enough signatures were deemed valid for the second version of a ballot initiative to require commercial and industrial properties to be taxed based on their market value. In California, the proposal to assess taxes on commercial and industrial properties at market…
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In November, Alaskans will decide two ballot initiatives, one to establish top-four ranked-choice voting and one to increase taxes on North Slope oil fields
At the general election on November 3, 2020, Alaskans will decide at least two citizen-initiated ballot measures. The campaign Alaskans for Better Elections is supporting a ballot initiative that would make changes to Alaska’s election policies, including (a) requiring additional disclosures for campaign finance contributions, (b) replacing partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state…
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The League of Women Voters of Michigan sues Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) over implementation of Proposal 3’s absentee ballot provision
The League of Women Voters of Michigan sues Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) over implementation of Proposal 3’s absentee ballot provision In 2018, voters approved Michigan Proposal 3, a citizen-initiated measure that added no-excuse absentee voting to the Michigan Constitution. Before Proposal 3, statute required an excuse related to age, travel, religion, arraignment or…
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Campaign behind Michigan LGBTQ nondiscrimination initiative files signatures below requirement while challenging the requirement in court
Update: This article has been updated in response to Judge Stephens’ order extending the signature filing deadline for the campaign Fair and Equal Michigan. On May 26, the campaign Fair and Equal Michigan announced that they would file 177,865 signatures by the deadline on May 27, 2020, for a ballot initiative to add gender, sexual…
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In November, Californians will decide whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors
At the election on November 3, 2020, Californians will decide a ballot initiative that addresses whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors. In September 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 5, which established criteria to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Uber, Lyft, and Doordash proposed a ballot…
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Puerto Rico to vote on statehood referendum at November general election
Puerto Rico will vote on a statehood referendum at the general election on November 3, 2020. The ballot measure will ask, “Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state?” Congress has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and would decide if and how to respond to the election results. Should the ballot measure…