Category: State
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Hawaii extends stay-at-home order
On April 25, 2020, Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) announced he was extending the statewide stay-at-home order through May 31. The order was originally scheduled to expire on April 30. The order states that Hawaii residents can only leave home for essential purposes, such as buying food or receiving medical care. Outdoor activity is permitted…
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Mississippi executive order extends eviction suspension
On April 24, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) issued executive order 1477, extending his “safer-at home” order through May 11. As part of the order, the governor extended the suspension of evictions in the state through May 11. Prior to the order, the suspension on evictions was set to expire on April 24. Ballotpedia is tracking…
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Arkansas Voters First, redistricting initiative sponsors, file lawsuit seeking relief from signature petition requirements
Arkansas Voters First, sponsors of an initiative to create an independent redistricting commission, filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State John Thurston (R) on April 22. To qualify for the November ballot, sponsors need to submit 89,151 valid signatures by July 3, 2020. Signatures for Arkansas initiatives must be collected in person. Currently, none of…
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Rhode Island schools closed to in-person instruction for rest of academic year
On Thursday afternoon, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced that schools across the state would remain closed to in-person instruction for the rest of the academic year. Prior to the announcement, schools in the state were scheduled to be closed through April 30. Rhode Island became the 41st state in the country to close…
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Candidate filing periods end in Michigan and Florida
Major party filing deadlines passed to run for elected office in Michigan on April 21 and Florida on April 24. In Michigan, candidates filed for the following state offices: Michigan House of Representatives (110 seats) Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in Wayne County Michigan’s filing deadline was extended from April 21 to May 8,…
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Illinois and North Carolina extend stay-at-home orders
On April 23, 2020, Illinois and North Carolina became the latest states to extend stay-at-home orders into May. At a press conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced that he would extend the state’s stay-at-home order through May 30. The new order includes some modifications to the original stay-at-home order. Beginning May 1, anyone over…
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39 states have closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year
As of Wednesday, April 22, school districts in all 50 states have closed to in-person instruction in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Thirty-nine states have announced that schools would remain closed to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year, though many states and districts are conducting lessons online. At least 41,115,475 students attend…
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Ohio primary election preview
Ohio will hold a statewide primary on April 28. The primary was originally scheduled to be held on March 17, but polls were closed by the order of the state health director due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 197 into law on March 27, extending absentee voting in the…
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6,705 major party candidates filed for 2020 state legislative elections
Every week, we compile the latest numbers on state legislative candidates across the country. As of April 22, we’ve collected post-filing deadline data in 25 states. In 2020, 3,166 state legislative seats are up for regular election in those states, compared to 3,102 in 2018. 6,705 major party candidates—3,259 Democrats and 3,446 Republicans—have filed to…
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Montana announces plans to lift stay-at-home order
Gov. Steve Bullock (D) announced that the state’s stay-at-home order would be lifted effective April 26. Bullock first issued a stay-at-home order on March 26 (effective date March 28) and extended it to April 24 on April 7. Schools in the state had been closed to in-person instruction since March 16. Bullock said that places…