Category: State

  • Voters in 18 states have decided 41 death penalty ballot measures since 1912, approving 91% of measures to permit or expand it and 27% of measures to abolish it

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    Since 1912, voters in 18 states have decided 41 total ballot measures related to the death penalty. Measures that would permit the death penalty were more common than measures that would abolish it. Out of the 41 measures, 11 were designed to abolish the death penalty, while 22 measures proposed reinstating, permitting, or requiring the…

  • Texas enacted a new congressional map for the 2026 U.S. House elections

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    Texas enacted new congressional district boundaries on Aug. 29, 2025, the first state among many that are considering map redraws ahead of the 2026 U.S. House elections. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the new map into law in a video posted to X, saying, “I’m about to sign the law that creates the One Big…

  • Utah district court rules legislature unconstitutionally repealed Proposition 4, strikes down 2021 congressional map

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    Judge Dianna Gibson of the Utah Third District Court ruled on Aug. 25 that the state’s congressional districts map, adopted in 2021, violated the state constitution. Gibson ordered that a non-politician redistricting commission, in accordance with the requirements of Proposition 4, draft new maps. The ruling followed legislative changes to Proposition 4 in 2020, and…

  • Utah ordered to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 elections

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    Utah joined a growing number of states where congressional district boundaries may change before the 2026 elections. A federal district court judge struck down Utah’s congressional map on Aug. 25, 2025, ruling that the Utah State Legislature violated voters’ right to reform their government when it overrode voters’ chosen redistricting rules. The judge gave the…

  • A look at voter registration forms by state

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    Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia require prospective voters to register to vote before casting a ballot. North Dakota, which abolished voter registration in 1951, is the only state that does not require voter registration. While 42 states and the District of Columbia have online voter registration systems, all states (except North Dakota) have…

  • California voters to decide Proposition 50, a constitutional amendment to allow for a new congressional district map, in a November special election

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    The California State Legislature passed a constitutional amendment, titled Proposition 50, to allow the state to use a new congressional district map for 2026 through 2030. Voters will decide on the measure in a special election on Nov. 4, 2025. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed allowing the Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts…

  • Three justices are up for a retention vote in Pennsylvania on November 4, 2025

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    Three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices—Christine Donohue (D), Kevin M. Dougherty (D), and David N. Wecht (D)—are up for retention elections on November 4, 2025. WHYY’s Carmen Russell-Sluchansky wrote, “State judicial elections typically garner little attention, but Pennsylvania’s 2025 state Supreme Court races are shaping up to be the next major political battleground,” and Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s…

  • California legislature reconvenes Aug. 18 with redistricting proposal on the agenda

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    The California State Legislature is set to reconvene on Aug. 18 following its summer recess with proposed changes to the state’s redistricting process on the agenda that would go before voters in November. The legislature has until Aug. 22, according to the California Secretary of State, to vote to place a constitutional amendment on the…