Category: State

  • Absentee/mail-in voting witness requirements in the 2020 general election

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    Heading into the Nov. 3 general election, six states are expected to require absentee/mail-in voters to obtain the signature of a witness or notary in order to have their ballots counted. They are: Alabama: Two witnesses or one notary Alaska: One witness Mississippi: Notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths Missouri: Notary or other…

  • More than $80 million raised by campaigns surrounding Illinois graduated tax amendment

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    There is one state constitutional amendment on the ballot in Illinois for November 3, 2020. The constitutional amendment would repeal the requirement that the state’s personal income tax is a flat rate across income. Instead, the amendment would allow for legislation to enact a graduated income tax. Contributions to the campaigns surrounding the amendment have…

  • Two Nevada Supreme Court seats are up for nonpartisan election in November

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    The seats of Nevada Supreme Court Justices Mark Gibbons and Kris Pickering will be up for nonpartisan election on November 3, 2020. Pickering is seeking re-election while Gibbons is not. Pickering is unopposed for the November election to reclaim her seat. Ozzie Fumo and Douglas Herndon will face each other in an effort to fill…

  • Kansas’ state legislative Republican primaries alter the ideological makeup of GOP caucus

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    On August 4, 12 of the 28 Republican state legislative incumbents facing primary challenges in Kansas lost their primaries. These results could alter the makeup of the Republican caucus in 2021. Local media sources like The Wichita Eagle, Shawnee Mission Post, and The Kansas City Star identified nine incumbents whose primaries and defeats were representative…

  • Special election to be held Sept. 29 in Texas state Senate district

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    A special election is being held on September 29 for District 30 of the Texas State Senate. Jacob Minter (D), Craig Carter (R), Andy Hopper (R), Shelley Luther (R), Drew Springer (R), and Christopher Watts (R) are running in the special election. A general election runoff will be scheduled if no candidate receives a majority…

  • Delaware primary review: less than 25% of offices up in November appeared on primary ballot

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    Delaware held its statewide primary on September 15, 2020. Candidates competed to advance to the general election scheduled for November 3. In Delaware, unopposed primary candidates automatically advance to the general election. Consequently, only 13 state-level offices were on the primary ballot even though 55 seats are up for election in 2020. There were 15…

  • Delaware holds congressional primaries

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    Delaware held its statewide primary election on September 15. Races for two congressional seats were on the ballot—one for a U.S. Senate seat and one for Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat. Both incumbents filed for re-election and won their respective primaries, advancing to the general election on November 3. In the race for Delaware’s Class…

  • Support and opposition committees for Massachusetts Question 1 (“Right to Repair Law” initiative) reported $34.8 million in combined contributions

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    Updated on Sept. 19, 2020 Massachusetts voters will decide Question 1 on Nov. 3. The initiative would require manufacturers that sell vehicles with telematics systems in Massachusetts to equip them with a standardized open data platform beginning with model year 2022. The platform would need to allow vehicle owners and independent repair facilities may access…

  • Where electoral systems are on the ballot in 2020

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    Voters in five states will decide ballot measures related to electoral systems on November 3, 2020. Policies that are on the ballot include ranked-choice voting, top-two and top-four primaries, the national popular vote interstate compact, and runoff elections. Most (4 of 5) of the ballot measures came through the citizen-initiated petition process.   In Colorado,…

  • Florida governor appoints Grosshans to state supreme court

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    Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Jamie Grosshans to the Florida Supreme Court on September 14, 2020. She was appointed to succeed Justice Robert Luck, who was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in November 2019. Grosshans will join two other DeSantis nominees on the seven-member court. The governor had originally…