Category: Federal
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What happens if a presidential nominee becomes incapacitated before the election?
Political parties set procedures for how to fill vacancies on the national ticket in the event that a presidential or vice-presidential candidate withdraws from the race or becomes incapacitated. The Democratic National Committee outlines the process it uses to fill vacancies in its Charter and Bylaws. In the event of a vacancy on the national…
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Trump has appointed second-most federal judges through October 1 of a president’s fourth year
Donald Trump has appointed and the Senate has confirmed 218 Article III federal judges through October 1, 2020, his fourth year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since Jimmy Carter (D). The Senate had confirmed 260 of Carter’s appointees at this point in his term.…
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President Donald Trump tests positive for the coronavirus
On Oct. 1, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus. In a tweet on Oct. 2, Trump said, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.” To date, Ballotpedia has tracked the following government officials and candidates who have died,…
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U.S. Supreme Court begins 2020 term on October 5
The U.S. Supreme Court begins its 2020–2021 term on Monday, October 5, after being in recess since July. The court announced it would hear oral arguments via teleconference and would provide live audio of the arguments for its October sitting following the same format that was used during its May sitting in the 2019-2020 term.…
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Federal Register weekly update: 2020 page total tops 60,000 pages
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. From September 21 to September 25, the Federal Register grew by 1,510 pages for a year-to-date total of 60,682 pages. Over the same period in 2019 and…
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Ballotpedia to cover general elections in all five permanently-inhabited U.S. Territories
In 2020, Ballotpedia is covering the general elections in all five permanently-inhabited U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The general election in each territory is scheduled for November 3, 2020. Candidates are running in elections for the following federal and territory-level offices: • American Samoa:…
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Percent of U.S. House races contested by both major parties reaches a century high
More than 95% of elections for U.S. House (415 of 435) in 2020 are contested by candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties, according to Ballotpedia’s Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report. This is an increase over the four preceding election cycles and the highest percentage of contested races for U.S. House since at least 1920.…
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Franklin, Hall advance to runoff in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District special election
Robert Franklin (D) and Kwanza Hall (D) will advance to a December 1, 2020 runoff in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District special election. As of 9:25 p.m. EST, The New York Times called the race with 70% precincts reporting. Franklin had received 27.1% of the vote and Hall had received 32.4%. Mable Thomas (D) received 19.7%…
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Presidents lose an average of 81 same-party members of the U.S. House during their first term
On average, presidents from Lyndon Johnson (D) through Donald Trump (R) took office with 241 members of the same political party serving in the U.S. House. An average of 81 same-party members did not run for re-election at the time of the next presidential election, creating an average U.S. House member attrition rate of 33.4…