Tag: ballot
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California to vote on realtors-backed property tax transfers and exemptions initiative in November
On April 23, 2020, the office of Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that a random sample of signatures projected that enough were valid for the California Association of Realtors’ (CAR) initiated constitutional amendment to appear on the ballot for November 3, 2020. Some of the ballot initiative’s provisions are similar to CAR’s 2018 ballot…
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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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Signatures filed for California ballot initiative related to dialysis clinic requirements
Californians could vote on a ballot initiative related to dialysis clinics for the second general election in a row. In 2018, 59.9 percent of voters rejected a proposal, titled Proposition 8, to require dialysis clinics to issue refunds to patients or patients’ payers for profits above a defined threshold. The SEIU-UHW West, a labor union…
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U.S. Supreme Court overturns Oregon ballot measure from 1932 that enacted non-unanimous jury verdicts
On April 20, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an Oregon ballot measure from 1932 in its ruling on Ramos v. Louisiana. In 2016, Evangelisto Ramos was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on a 10 to 12 jury verdict. He appealed his conviction to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, arguing his…
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Kentucky voters to decide constitutional amendment changing the terms and requirements for certain judicial offices
On the last day of its legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly certified the Terms of Judicial Offices Amendment for the November ballot. The amendment would make the following changes to the Kentucky Constitution: increase the terms of circuit court clerks and commonwealth’s attorneys from six years to eight years starting in 2030; increase the…
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Mississippi voters will decide between two versions of a medical marijuana amendment in November
Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A, two versions of a medical marijuana amendment, will appear on the ballot in Mississippi on November 3, 2020. Initiative 65 was sponsored by the Medical Marijuana 2020 campaign and put on the ballot through a citizen initiative signature petition. The state legislature voted in March 2020 to refer Alternative 65 to the ballot alongside Initiative 65…
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Kentucky Legislature puts Marsy’s Law amendment for November ballot
On April 14, 2020, the Kentucky Legislature approved a constitutional amendment that would add to the Kentucky Constitution specific rights for crime victims, together known as Marsy’s Law, for the November ballot. The specific rights include: to be treated with fairness and due consideration for the victim’s safety, dignity, and privacy; to be notified about…
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Wisconsin voters approve Marsy’s Law crime victims constitutional amendment
On April 7, 2020, voters in Wisconsin approved Marsy’s Law—a type of constitutional amendment addressing the rights of crime victims. With 96% of precincts reporting, the measure was ahead by 75% to 25%. The Wisconsin State Legislature referred the constitutional amendment to the ballot on May 15, 2019. Voters in 12 other states have approved…
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Wisconsin’s absentee ballot rejection rate averaged 1.14% for spring elections since 2012
Wisconsin voters went to the polls April 7 for the state’s annual spring election. This year, in addition to presidential primaries, a seat on the state Supreme Court and a ballot measure proposing an expansion of rights for victims of crime were on the ballot. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the deadline for voters to…
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Gov. DeSantis signs Florida initiative process restrictions into law
The Florida legislature approved a bill April 9 regarding the state’s ballot initiative process. Senate Bill 1794, which Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law the same day, included the following provisions: increases the signature requirement threshold to trigger a review of the initiative petition by the Florida Supreme Court—changing it from 10% to 25%…