On May 6, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to intervene in a lawsuit over a Pennsylvania order curtailing the operations of non-essential businesses, allowing the state supreme court’s ruling, which upheld the order, to stand. On March 24, the plaintiffs (a number of Pennsylvania businesses) petitioned the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to vacate Governor Tom Wolf’s (D) March…
Stay-at-home orders in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island are set to expire tomorrow. So far, 15 states that were previously under stay-at-home orders let those orders expire. Another seven states never implemented stay-at-home orders. After these orders expire, the states with the next expiring orders are Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New…
On Wednesday, Maryland Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon announced that schools in Maryland would be closed to in-person instruction for the rest of the academic year. Online and distance learning will continue for students, however. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) first ordered schools closed on March 12. Maryland has a divided government. The Republican Party holds…
As part of Ballotpedia’s coverage on the coronavirus pandemic, we are compiling a daily summary of major changes in the world of politics, government, and elections happening each day. Here is the summary of changes for May 6, 2020. State stay-at-home orders Read more: States with lockdown and stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus…
On May 5, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a district court judge who ordered modifications to Michigan’s candidate filing procedures had erred in doing so. Although the appeals court agreed that the original requirements were unconstitutional, it found that the lower court had exceeded its authority in mandating…
Candidates interested in running in the special election for Texas State Senate District 14 have until May 13, 2020, to file. The special general election is scheduled for July 14, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Greg Abbott (R) scheduled the election for July instead of May 2, when it would normally have been…
On May 5, Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the New York State Board of Elections to reinstate the Democratic presidential preference primary on June 23, 2020, which the board had previously canceled. The order was the result of a lawsuit filed on April 28 by Andrew Yang,…
On May 4, 2020, Charles Canady, the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, issued a new emergency order extending the suspension of jury trials through July 2. The order also increases the number of proceedings that will be conducted remotely. The list includes non-jury trials, hearings in juvenile delinquency cases, and pretrial conferences. For…