Author: Victoria Antram
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U.S. District Court ruled that Idaho must allow Reclaim Idaho to collect electronic signatures or put the group’s initiative on the ballot directly
On June 23, 2020, United States District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled that Idaho officials must do one of two things: (a) allow Reclaim Idaho, sponsors of the Idaho Income Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative, to gather signatures electronically, or (b) place the ballot initiative on the November ballot themselves. Judge Winmill concluded that…
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Massachusetts Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative submits second round of signatures ahead of July 1 deadline
On June 17, Voter Choice Massachusetts, which is sponsoring the Massachusetts Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative, announced that it had submitted 25,000 signatures to city and town clerks. For this second round, 13,374 valid signatures are required to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative would enact ranked-choice voting for elections in Massachusetts, excluding presidential electors, county…
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Louisiana parishes to vote on sports betting in November
On June 12, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D) signed Senate Bill 130 (SB 130) that will ask the voters in each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes whether or not to authorize sports betting within the parish. If a majority of voters in a parish support authorizing sports betting, sports betting would be allowed in the…
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Reclaim Idaho filed a lawsuit seeking more time to gather signatures and permission to use electronic signatures
Reclaim Idaho, sponsors of the Idaho Income Tax Increases for Education Funding Initiative, filed a lawsuit against Governor Brad Little (R) and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) seeking a preliminary injunction to grant the campaign 48 more days to gather signatures and temporary permission to use electronic signatures. The campaign announced on March 18…
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Florida Supreme Court rules that the ballot summary for the Ban on Semiautomatic Rifles and Shotguns Initiative is misleading
In 4-1 decision, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the ballot summary of the Ban on Semiautomatic Rifles and Shotguns Initiative was misleading. Ban Assault Weapons NOW is sponsoring the measure targeting the 2022 ballot. The measure would ban possession of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, with certain exceptions involving registration requirements. The measure would define…
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Oregon Psilocybin Program Initiative and Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative campaigns submit signatures ahead of July 2
On May 22, the Yes on IP 34 campaign, which is sponsoring the Oregon Psilocybin Program Initiative, submitted 135,000 signatures, and the Yes on IP 44 campaign, which is sponsoring the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative, submitted 147,000 signatures to the Oregon Secretary of State. Citizen initiative sponsors in Oregon need to collect 112,020…
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Federal judge requires Ohio to accept electronic signatures from initiative campaigns seeking to place minimum wage and voting changes on the ballot
On May 19, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus ordered Ohio to accept electronic signatures from the campaigns sponsoring the Minimum Wage Increase Initiative and the Voting Requirements Initiative. The judge also extended the signature deadline from July 1 to July 31. The judge’s order only applies to the ballot measure campaigns that sued the…
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Missouri legislature sends redistricting, campaign finance, and lobbying measure to voters with changes to 2018 citizen initiative
On Wednesday, the Missouri House approved Senate Joint Resolution 38 that would amend Article III of the Missouri Constitution to change or repeal certain provisions of Missouri Amendment 1 passed in 2018. The House approved the amendment in a vote of 98-56. The Senate approved the amendment in a vote of 22-9 on February 10.…
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Voters in Lincoln and Omaha approve five local ballot measures on Tuesday according to unofficial results
Voters in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, approved five local ballot measures on May 12. Unofficial election results indicate that Omaha voters approved Question 1 and Question 2 with 72.86% and 64.70% of the vote, respectively. Question 1 authorized the city to issue $200 million in bonds to fund street maintenance, and Question 2 authorized the…
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Maryland Sports Betting Expansion Measure will appear on November ballots
The Maryland Sports Betting Expansion Measure, a legislatively referred state statute, was certified for the ballot on May 7. The ballot measure would authorize sports and events wagering at certain licensed facilities. The state revenue generated by such activities would be primarily dedicated to funding public education. On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court…