Category: State
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Election legislation roundup: General Assembly of North Carolina
As of June 11, members of the General Assembly of North Carolina, which includes the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina State Senate, have passed five bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of those five bills, legislators passed two during the week of June 5-11. This is…
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Election legislation roundup: Texas State Legislature
As of June 11, members of the Texas State Legislature, which includes the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas State Senate, have passed 10 bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of those 10 bills, legislators passed four during the week of June 5-11. This is four more than the…
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Louisiana voters will decide on eight constitutional amendments in 2023 – four in Oct., four in Nov.
The Louisiana State Legislature concluded its legislative session for 2023 on June 8. During this session, a total of seven constitutional amendments were passed, adding to the existing one that was referred to the 2023 ballot in the legislature’s 2022 session. Altogether, there will be eight amendments on the statewide ballot for 2023. Four amendments…
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Voters in Augusta, Maine, will decide on a school budget question on June 13
Voters in Augusta, Maine will decide on Question 1 on June 13, 2023, which would approve the school budget of $36.25 million for K-12 education for the 2023-2024 school year. In Maine, school districts are required to have elections to approve a budget or to issue new bonding and or bond taxes. If a budget…
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297 constitutional amendments were filed during the 2023 Texas legislative session with House Republicans filing the most
Of the 297 constitutional amendments filed during the 2023 regular session, 184 amendments (62%) were filed by Republican senators or representatives, and 113 (38%) by Democratic legislators. Compared to the 2021 regular legislative session, Republicans filed 58 more amendments in 2023, and Democrats filed an additional 21. Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-22) filed the most Republican-sponsored…
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U.S. Supreme Court overturns Alabama’s congressional maps in Allen v. Milligan decision
On June 8, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Alabama’s congressional redistricting plan adopted in November 2021 and used in the state’s 2022 elections violated the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn to include a second majority-Black district. In November 2021, a group of Alabama voters and organizations sued Secretary of…
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Texas set to become ninth state to withdraw from ERIC, Arizona’s possible withdrawal vetoed by Gov. Hobbs (D)
Texas lawmakers sent SB1070 to Gov. Greg Abbot (R) on May 29, 2023, positioning the state to become the eighth to withdraw from ERIC this year, and the ninth overall. Elsewhere, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed SB1135 on May 26, a bill including provisions that would have effectively withdrawn Arizona from ERIC. ERIC is…
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62 candidates filed for federal and statewide offices last week
Sixty-two people declared candidacies for federal or state offices in the past week, the same number declared last week. All of these candidates declared before their state’s official filing deadline. Thirty-six of the 63 candidates are Democrats, while 20 are Republicans. Four candidates are running as Libertarians, and two are running without a party affiliation.…
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May 2023 partisan count: 54.49% of state legislators are Republican, 43.33% Democratic
At the end of May 2023, 54.94% of all state legislatures in the United States are Republican while 44.33% are Democratic. There are 7,386 state legislative seats in the country. Republicans control 56 chambers, while Democrats hold 41. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. Democrats hold 854 state Senate seats and…
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Texas Senate appoints committee to develop rules for upcoming impeachment trial
The Texas Senate appointed a committee on May 29 to develop proposed rules for the upcoming impeachment proceeding against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). The committee, consisting of five Republicans and two Democrats, was directed to propose rules for the trial by June 20. The Senate also adopted a resolution on May 30 calling…