Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) appointed Dr. Tommie Stewart to represent District 5 of the Alabama State Board of Education on January 7, 2020. Stewart’s appointment was effective immediately and filled the vacancy left by former Board member Ella Bell, who died in November 2019. Stewart previously served as the dean of Alabama State University’s…
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann ruled that South Dakota House Bill 1094 violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The bill was designed to do the following: • require a paid petition circulator to register with the secretary of state and provide certain information; • establish a paid petition circulator registration fee…
Signatures filed for Alaska initiative that would enact ranked-choice voting, top-four primaries, and campaign finance changes The campaign Alaskans for Better Elections filed 41,068 signatures on Thursday for a three-pronged ballot initiative to change the state’s election laws. At least 28,501 (69.4 percent) of the signatures submitted need to be valid for the ballot initiative…
The Mississippi Medical Marijuana Amendment has officially qualified for the ballot and was filed with the Mississippi State Legislature on January 7, the first day of the 2020 legislative session. The legislature must act on the measure within four months. The measure will appear on the 2020 ballot regardless of whether the state legislature adopts,…
On January 6, the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office announced that an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana had qualified for the ballot. South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws reported submitting more than 50,000 signatures in November, of which 36,707 were deemed valid. To qualify, 16,961 signatures were required. The measure would amend the state…
In this month’s federal vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from December 3, 2019, to January 2, 2020. Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count at the start of each month. HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There have been three new judicial vacancies since the November 2019 report. There are 72 vacancies out of 870 active Article…