Category: Ballot measures
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No signatures submitted for Washington Initiatives to the Legislature by Jan 3 deadline
The deadline to submit signatures for Initiatives to the Legislature in Washington (ITL) was January 3, 2020. Initiatives to the Legislature is the name of indirect ballot initiatives in Washington. The Washington Secretary of State’s office confirmed to Ballotpedia on January 3 that signatures were not submitted for any of the 104 filed initiatives. If…
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Gray wolf reintroduction measure is the fourth measure to be certified for the 2020 ballot in Colorado
The office of the Colorado Secretary of State announced on January 6 that the Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative had qualified for the ballot. Proponents submitted 215,370 signatures on December 10, 2019. The office found through a random sample that 65% (around 139,333 signatures) were valid. To qualify for the ballot, 124,632 valid signatures were required.…
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South Dakota to vote on two marijuana initiatives in November
On January 6, the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office announced that an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana had qualified for the ballot. South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws reported submitting more than 50,000 signatures in November, of which 36,707 were deemed valid. To qualify, 16,961 signatures were required. The measure would amend the state…
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Signatures for Florida 2020 initiatives must be certified by February 1st
February 1 is the deadline for initiative petition signatures to be certified by the Florida Secretary of State to qualify initiated constitutional amendments for the 2020 ballot. Since state law gives local elections officials 30 days to verify signatures, petitioners needed to submit signatures on or before January 2, 2020, to guarantee that an initiative…
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Signatures filed for indirect initiative to ban abortion procedure in Michigan
On December 23, 2019, the campaign Michigan Values Life filed 379,418 signatures for a ballot initiative to ban an abortion procedure. The ballot initiative defines the procedure as dismemberment abortion, which is also known as dilation and evacuation abortion. The ballot initiative would define dismemberment abortion as an abortion which uses an instrument, device,…
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South Dakota to vote on medical marijuana in 2020
On December 19, the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office announced that New Approach South Dakota’s initiative to establish a medical marijuana program had qualified for the ballot. The group reported submitting more than 30,000 signatures in November, of which 25,524 were deemed valid. To qualify, 16,961 signatures were required. The measure would establish a…
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Wisconsin’s April 7th Marsy’s Law ballot measure challenged in court
On December 18, 2019, the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization, filed litigation in the Dane County Circuit Court that challenges the Marsy’s Law Amendment, which is on the ballot for April 7, 2020. Marsy’s Law was designed as a type of constitutional bill of rights for crime victims. As of 2019, 13 states had…
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Massachusetts income tax rate decrease takes effect on January 1
In the general election of 2000, Massachusetts voters approved Question 4 with 59 percent of the vote. The initiative enacted a law that would lower the state’s personal income tax from 5.9% in 2000 to 5% by 2003. In 2002, the Massachusetts General Court passed House No. H.5250, which replaced the schedule adopted by Question…
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Ballotpedia’s annual minimum wage increase report: 24 states and D.C. will increase their minimum wages in 2020
Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C. will increase their minimum wages in 2020. The increases range from between $0.10 per hour in Florida to $1.50 per hour in New Mexico, Washington, and New York City for certain employees. In New York and Oregon, state laws provide for regional minimum wages. Eight minimum wages will increase due…
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NJ voters will decide a constitutional amendment to legalization marijuana at the 2020 general election
On December 16, the New Jersey State Legislature passed a resolution placing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana on the ballot for November 3, 2020. New Jersey would be the 12th state and the first Mid-Atlantic state to legalize marijuana. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) campaigned on marijuana legalization in the 2017 gubernatorial election. When Murphy…