Category: State

  • All 10 states with the largest percentages of open seats since 2010 have term limits

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    Since 2010, Ballotpedia has covered state legislative elections to 44,639 seats across all 50 states over 13 election cycles. During that time, 8,404 of those seats have been open, those where no incumbents ran for re-election. That represents 18.8% of all seats up for election between 2010 and 2022. The key determinant of the magnitude…

  • Citizen initiative related to government borrowing for state entities and electric cooperatives will appear on Maine ballots in November

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    An initiative that would require voter approval of borrowing above $1 billion by state entities and electric cooperatives was certified to the Maine ballot and will go to voters for approval on Nov. 7, 2023. The No Blank Checks PAC is leading the campaign in support of the initiative. On Dec. 27, 2022, 93,000 signatures…

  • Right to Repair initiative will appear on Maine ballots in November

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    A Right to Repair initiative will appear on the Maine ballot on Nov. 7, 2023. The initiative would allow car owners and independent repair facilities to have the same access to onboard diagnostic systems and wireless data that manufacturers and approved repair facilities have access to. According to The Repair Association, an organization advocating for…

  • Election legislation roundup: New Jersey State Legislature

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    As of July 2, members of the New Jersey State Legislature, which includes the New Jersey General Assembly and the New Jersey State Senate, have passed two bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Legislators passed the two bills during the week of June 26–July 2. Democrats sponsored the bills. The…

  • Election legislation roundup: Florida State Legislature

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    As of July 2, members of the Florida State Legislature, which includes the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida State Senate, have passed eight bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of the eight bills passed this year, eight have been enacted. This is five more than this point a…

  • Election legislation roundup: New York State Legislature

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    As of July 2, members of the New York State Legislature, which includes the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, have passed nine bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of those nine bills, legislators passed one during the week of June 26-July 2. Democrats sponsored the…

  • States enact the most new extreme risk protection order laws since 2020

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    So far this year, two states, Michigan and Minnesota, have enacted extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs). They became the first states to enact new ERPOs since New Mexico and Virginia did so in 2020. The new laws in Michigan and Minnesota raise the total number of states with ERPOs to 21. ERPOs are also commonly…

  • State governors issue 53 executive orders from June 19-July 2

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    Nationally, state governors issued 53 executive orders from June 19-July 2. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) led the field with 34, followed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) with three. Governors in 35 states issued the fewest orders with zero. Governors use executive orders to manage executive branch operations. The last two weeks…

  • Ohio could be the fourth state to vote on a state constitutional right to abortion after campaign files signatures for Nov. 2023 ballot

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    Ohio could be the fourth state, following California, Michigan, and Vermont in 2022, to establish an explicit state constitutional right to abortion. On July 5, the campaign Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom submitted more than 710,131 signatures for a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to provide that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s…

  • Governor Ron DeSantis (R) vetoes four bills from June 26-July 2

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    Governor Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed four bills from June 26-July 2. The four bills are below:  SB 284, which would have “required state agencies to buy vehicles that use ethanol and biodiesel blended fuels, as well as natural gas fuel, when possible.” DeSantis did not provide a reason for the veto. As of July 2,…