Tag: BP Analysis
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22 states allow for the recall of school board members
Of the 39 states that allow for the recall of elected officials at some level of government, 22 specifically allow for the recall of school board members. School board recalls are the process of removing school board members from office via a public effort before their term is completed. Six of the states that allow…
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How much did your governor make last year?
Eighteen states paid their governor more last year than in 2019, according to the Council of State Governments’ Book of the States. Gubernatorial salaries in 2020 ranged from a low of $70,000 in Maine to a high of $225,000 in New York, with the average governor making $145,370. In the 18 states where a governor’s…
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Ballotpedia’s mid-year recall report shows school board recalls on the rise
In the first half of 2021, Ballotpedia tracked 164 recall efforts against 262 officials. This was the most recall efforts for this point in the year since the first half of 2016, when we tracked 189 recall efforts against 265 officials. In comparison, we tracked between 72 and 155 efforts by the midpoints of 2017,…
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In four states, no state or federal officials have tested positive for COVID-19
Between the start of the coronavirus pandemic and March 18, 2021, no elected or appointed state or federal officials announced positive COVID-19 test results in four states—Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, and Vermont. In the 46 other states, Ballotpedia has identified at least one COVID-19 positive state or federal official within our coverage scope. State and federal…
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Ballotpedia’s analysis of California’s 2020 local ballot measures
California voters decided 719 local ballot measures across seven different election dates in 2020. Here are some highlights from Ballotpedia’s annual report on local ballot measures in California: • Voters approved 62.4% percent of California’s local measures in 2020, which was 14 and 15 percentage points lower than their approval rates in 2016 and 2018,…
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Trump has appointed second-most federal judges through December 31 of a president’s fourth year
Donald Trump has appointed and the U.S. Senate has confirmed 234 Article III federal judges through December 31, 2020, his fourth year in office. This is the second-most Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidencies since Jimmy Carter (D). The Senate had confirmed 261 of Carter’s appointees at this point in his…
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Ballot measure records and firsts in 2020
2020 was a unique year for statewide ballot measures. Here are 12 ballot measure-related stories from 2020 that either never happened before or hadn’t happened in a very long time. Ballot measure campaign finance records were set nationally and in four states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Alaska. Gig economy policies appeared on a statewide ballot…
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Recall efforts in 2020 rose by nearly 50% compared to 2019
Ballotpedia’s year-end analysis of 2020’s state and local recall efforts found that there were 226 recall efforts against 272 officials this year, compared to 151 efforts against 230 officials in 2019. This was a 49.7% year-over-year increase in recall efforts and an 18.3% increase in officials who faced recall efforts. Over a five-year span, 2020…
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Biden wins all six Reverse-Pivot Counties that voted McCain-Romney-Clinton
Following the 2016 presidential election, Ballotpedia identified six Reverse-Pivot Counties that voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 after voting for John McCain (R) in 2008 and Mitt Romney (R) in 2012. All six of 2016’s Reverse-Pivot Counties voted for Biden in 2020. These counties have a median population of 785,915. Voters there cast 4,015,613…
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30% of seats nationwide were uncontested in the 2020 general election
Ballotpedia covered all federal and state races on November 3, 2020, as well as local elections in America’s 100 largest cities by population. Of the 9,671 seats on the November ballot, 2,900 seats (30%) were uncontested. A race was considered uncontested if the number of candidates who filed for election was less than or equal…