Tag: state
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Sponsors of South Dakota medical marijuana initiative propose alternative implementation schedule after Gov. Noem proposed a 1-year delay
In November, South Dakota became the first state to vote on recreational and medical marijuana at the same election. Voters approved Initiated Measure 26 by a vote of 70% to 30% and Constitutional Amendment A by a vote of 54% to 46%. IM 26 was designed to establish a medical marijuana program in South Dakota…
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Maine secretary of state verifies sufficient signatures for ballot initiative to prohibit electric transmission corridors in state’s Upper Kennebec Region
Voters in Maine could decide a ballot initiative designed to stop a 145-mile long, high-voltage transmission project, known as the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), that would transmit hydroelectric power from Quebec to utilities in Massachusetts and Maine. The ballot initiative would also require a two-thirds vote of each state legislative chamber to approve future high-impact (defined)…
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Heather Steans resigns from Illinois State Senate
Sen. Heather Steans (D) resigned from the Illinois state Senate on Jan. 31. She represented District 7 from 2008 to 2021. Steans ran uncontested for re-election on Nov. 3, 2020. According to ABC 7, Steans said she was resigning because “it’s time for fresh faces and new energy…I’ve benefited tremendously from the many perspectives of…
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Voters approved changes to campaign finance, election dates, election systems, redistricting, suffrage, and term limits in 2020
In 2020, 12 states approved 13 ballot measures related to election policy including changes to campaign finance, election dates, election systems, redistricting, suffrage, and term limits. The measures are listed below according to topic. Campaign finance: Oregon Measure 107: Measure 107 authorizes the state legislature and local governments to (1) enact laws or ordinances limiting…
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Three-hundred and forty-four elected officials at the state and federal levels sought another office in 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia tracked 344 officials in Congress and state legislatures who ran for a different office than the one to which they were elected. Of those 344 officials, 162 (47%) won election to a new position. Fourteen members of the U.S. House and eight members of the U.S. Senate sought election to a different office. Four…
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Ballotpedia publishes state court partisanship study
Each state has at least one supreme court, or court of last resort. Oklahoma and Texas each have two such courts, one for civil appeals and one for criminal appeals. Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship—a culmination of eight months of research and compilation of raw data—supplies Partisan Confidence Scores for 341 active state supreme court justices on all…
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How much debt does your state’s government have per person?
The average per capita debt across all 50 states in 2018 was $3,600. Nineteen states were above this per-capita average, with 31 states below. In 2000, average state debt per capita was $1,942. In 2018, the states with the least debt per capita were: Tennessee ($929 per capita) Nebraska ($1,068) Nevada ($1,135) Georgia ($1,266) Florida…
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Democrats, Republicans each defending eight vulnerable trifectas this year
Sixteen state trifectas are vulnerable in 2020, according to Ballotpedia’s trifecta vulnerability rating system. Both major parties will be defending eight trifectas. A state government trifecta occurs when one party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. There are currently 21 Republican trifectas and 15 Democratic trifectas. The remaining 14 states…
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When do election winners take office?
With the 2020 election cycle coming to a close, voters may be wondering how quickly those they elected will take office. At the federal level, members of Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2021, and the president will be sworn in on January 20, 2021. Wondering about state-level offices? Check out Ballotpedia’s page,…
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Candidates advance from Democratic and Republican conventions in Michigan
In Michigan, the Democratic Party and Republican Party both held their nominating conventions for state supreme court and state executive offices on August 29, 2020. Candidates were nominated to advance to the general election scheduled for November 3, 2020. Candidates were selected for nomination to the following offices: • Michigan Supreme Court (2 seats) •…