Category: State
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The details of law enforcement union collective bargaining agreements contribute to policy discussions following the shooting of Sonya Massey
In the case of Deputy Sean Grayson’s fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, the details of the relevant police collective bargaining agreements should be reported and analyzed as important context. Did the CBAs make records more difficult to access or require the purging of certain details or reprimands from official disciplinary records? Could CBA provisions have…
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State supreme court vacancy count for July 2024
In this month’s state supreme court vacancy update, Ballotpedia tracked announced retirements, nominations, appointments, confirmations, and swearings in of justices from July 1, 2024, to July 25, 2024. Ballotpedia tracks court vacancies in all 52 state supreme courts. Announced retirements: No justices announced new retirements in the month of July 2024. Candidates nominated, appointed, and…
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Nebraska Attorney General issues opinion declaring laws restoring voting rights to individuals convicted of a felony unconstitutional
On July 17, 2024, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) issued a formal opinion that said that only the Nebraska Pardons Board—which consists of the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state—and not the legislature, has the authority to restore voting rights or shorten the waiting period for the restoration of voting rights for individuals…
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Two Democrats resign from Pennsylvania House, Democrats maintain majority despite numerical minority
On July 17, 2024, Pennsylvania State Reps. Donna Bullock (D) and Stephen Kinsey (D) resigned from the chamber. Both did so to take jobs outside of politics. The resignations meant that Republicans have 101 members in the chamber to Democrats’ 100. Democrats will retain a majority in the chamber, however, due to a rule passed…
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Arizona lawmakers implement a new deadline for certifying results, while Governor Katie Hobbs vetoes other changes
Arizona enacted 10 election-related bills in the first half of 2024, the second most of any state with a divided government. New laws change the deadline for certifying elections, modify rules for hand-counted post-election audits, and add new notification requirements if a voter’s registration is changed: HB 2785 moved up the statewide primary date by one week…
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Republican states adopt more voter list maintenance bills than states with Democratic trifectas and divided governments
Fourteen states adopted new laws related to maintaining accurate voter registration rolls in the first half of 2024. Ten of these bills came from states with Republican trifectas, two from states with Democratic trifectas, and two from states with divided governments. New laws in five states expand data-sharing procedures or create new requirements for reviewing…
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Tennessee and Wyoming passed anti-red flag law legislation in 2024
New laws in Tennessee and Wyoming passed this year prohibiting the use of extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), also known as red flag laws. They are the third and fourth states to adopt such laws after Oklahoma did so in 2020 and West Virginia in 2021. ERPOs authorize individuals, typically a family member or law…
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Republican legislators supported amendments to require citizenship to vote in state and local elections, Democratic support varied by state
Since 2018, ballot measures to amend state constitutions to prohibit noncitizens from voting have appeared in six states. In Nov. 2024, voters in eight more states will decide on ballot measures to prohibit non-citizen voting: North Carolina, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The ballot measures are designed to amend the states’…
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Massachusetts certifies four ballot questions on standardized testing, state legislature audits, transportation network drivers, and psychedelic substances
Secretary of State William Galvin (D) announced that four of the five initiatives that submitted verified signatures on July 3 had qualified for the ballot. The initiatives address standardized testing for graduate high school; auditing the state legislature; unionizing and collective bargaining for transportation network drivers; and providing regulated access to certain psychedelic substances. One…
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New laws related to ranked-choice voting and youth voting among six new approved election bills in Colorado
Colorado lawmakers adopted six election-related bills during the 2024 regular session of the Colorado General Assembly. Included among the approved legislation was an omnibus bill that changed a number of areas of election law and created new requirements related to the adoption of ranked-choice voting (RCV), as well as bills related to voting in detention centers,…