Voters in a handful of states have the possibility to clip their very own electoral wings through ballot questions in search of so as to add hurdles to changing the law via the voting booth.
Opponents say restrictions on citizen initiatives—similar to requiring supermajority approval—are a trend against direct democracy. Supporters argue the general public needs protecting from poorly-thought-through policy.
In Arkansas, where Issue 2 would ditch the straightforward majority and require 60% approval for constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives, turnout could possibly be influenced by a marijuana legalization query on the ballot. Or, it’s possible that voters get turned off by the dimensions of the ballot and don’t vote on every initiative.
Arizona turnout probably can be driven by the highest of the ticket, with tight gubernatorial, US Senate, and other statewide contests. There, Prop. 132 would require that tax measures pass with a supermajority, and Prop. 128, would let the Arizona legislature change or repeal voter-approved measures if a court finds any a part of them to be unconstitutional or illegal.
We’ll be desirous about whether there’s a repeat of what happened in South Dakota, where about 67% of primary election voters in June rejected recent ballot measure obstacles. READ MORE from Brenna Goth.
ARKANSAS: POTENTIAL FRUSTRATION
Touchscreen voting machines utilized in Arkansas trip after five minutes of being inactive, raising the chance that having to read through multiple screens of initiative descriptions could force a number of voters to start out their ballots again and again.
The time-out feature is standard on all the voting machines and is supposed to alert poll employees if a voter leaves the voting booth without completing their ballot, reports the Hearst TV affiliate in Fayetteville. — 40/29 TV
(Was this text forwarded? It’s free! GET YOUR OWN )
OHIO: ELECTION INTEGRITY
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is hopping on a Republican bandwagon by creating his own “Public Integrity” division, and says he desires to hire two experienced investigators to tackle allegations of voter fraud.
Why only two? He said in an interview that fraudulent voting only happens “a couple of dozen times a yr” in Ohio.
“We want to do our job so well that even the loser knows they’ve lost. It’s all the time our work as public officials, especially election officials to create an environment where people can accept the result,” he said. “There’s this really special thing that ought to occur at 10:30 or 11 on election night where the candidate that got here up short calls up the winner and says, ‘You won. We’ll do higher next time.’”
The GOP said the proposed recent division would consolidate campaign finance review and voter list maintenance right into a more cohesive unit. — Alex Ebert
PENNSYLVANIA: NO DATE, NO VOTE
The US Supreme Court has quietly reversed a federal court ruling that would have big implications for the upcoming Senate and governors race in swing-state Pennsylvania.
The court vacated a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that mail-in ballots must be counted even when voters have left the date off the ballot’s outer envelope—the first reason why mail-in ballots are tossed within the state.
Though the case involved fewer than 300 ballots in a county judicial race, the one-paragraph ruling may lead to the spoiling of probably 1000’s of ballots this November within the Senate race between Mehmet Oz (R) and John Fetterman (D), and the governor’s race between Doug Mastriano (R) and Josh Shapiro (D).
Democrats are inclined to vote absentee greater than Republicans, and Oz filed a transient urging the justices to exclude the ballots. Though justices dismissed the case because they said it was “moot,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote a six-page explanation on why he would have reversed the ruling back in June. – Alex Ebert
Razor’s Edge Races
The newest in our series spotlighting close congressional contests after redistricting changes.
Today: Pennsylvania’s seventh District
Where Is It? East – THE Lehigh Valley, including Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton.
Who Drew It? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the map, which was drawn by a special master.
2020 Presidential Vote: Joe Biden 50%, Donald Trump 49%
Demographics: 69% White, 19% Hispanic, 5% Black, 3% Asian
Cook Political Report Rating: Toss-Up
Nominees: Rep. Susan Wild (D), businesswoman Lisa Scheller (R)
What to Watch: It is a rematch of a 2020 election that Wild won by 3.7 percentage points. Redistricting favored Republicans by adding all of Carbon County, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump, and excising a few of Monroe County, which voted for Biden. The changes reduced Biden’s margin of victory within the seventh District to 0.6 percentage points from 4.8 percentage points previously. Wild acknowledged in a TV ad this week that rising consumer prices are “crippling families” and said she’s working to combat price-gouging. Wild and Democratic groups have accused Scheller of outsourcing US jobs to China. Scheller and Republican super PACs link Wild to Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and say the congresswoman has voted with their positions too often.
Next edition: Arizona’s 2nd
Caught Our Eye
- The Nevada ACLU is suing over a rural county’s move to start out hand-counting mail-in ballots two weeks before Election Day. (Latest York Times)
- Tens of millions spent to influence Colorado liquor vote. (Denver Post)
Resources
Add Us to Your Inbox
SIGN UP for Ballots & Boundaries, your check-in on ballot initiatives, state voting laws, and redistricting.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brenna Goth in Phoenix at bgoth@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor accountable for this story: Katherine Rizzo at krizzo@bgov.com
Voters in a handful of states have the possibility to clip their very own electoral wings through ballot questions in search of so as to add hurdles to changing the law via the voting booth.
Opponents say restrictions on citizen initiatives—similar to requiring supermajority approval—are a trend against direct democracy. Supporters argue the general public needs protecting from poorly-thought-through policy.
In Arkansas, where Issue 2 would ditch the straightforward majority and require 60% approval for constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives, turnout could possibly be influenced by a marijuana legalization query on the ballot. Or, it’s possible that voters get turned off by the dimensions of the ballot and don’t vote on every initiative.
Arizona turnout probably can be driven by the highest of the ticket, with tight gubernatorial, US Senate, and other statewide contests. There, Prop. 132 would require that tax measures pass with a supermajority, and Prop. 128, would let the Arizona legislature change or repeal voter-approved measures if a court finds any a part of them to be unconstitutional or illegal.
We’ll be desirous about whether there’s a repeat of what happened in South Dakota, where about 67% of primary election voters in June rejected recent ballot measure obstacles. READ MORE from Brenna Goth.
ARKANSAS: POTENTIAL FRUSTRATION
Touchscreen voting machines utilized in Arkansas trip after five minutes of being inactive, raising the chance that having to read through multiple screens of initiative descriptions could force a number of voters to start out their ballots again and again.
The time-out feature is standard on all the voting machines and is supposed to alert poll employees if a voter leaves the voting booth without completing their ballot, reports the Hearst TV affiliate in Fayetteville. — 40/29 TV
(Was this text forwarded? It’s free! GET YOUR OWN )
OHIO: ELECTION INTEGRITY
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is hopping on a Republican bandwagon by creating his own “Public Integrity” division, and says he desires to hire two experienced investigators to tackle allegations of voter fraud.
Why only two? He said in an interview that fraudulent voting only happens “a couple of dozen times a yr” in Ohio.
“We want to do our job so well that even the loser knows they’ve lost. It’s all the time our work as public officials, especially election officials to create an environment where people can accept the result,” he said. “There’s this really special thing that ought to occur at 10:30 or 11 on election night where the candidate that got here up short calls up the winner and says, ‘You won. We’ll do higher next time.’”
The GOP said the proposed recent division would consolidate campaign finance review and voter list maintenance right into a more cohesive unit. — Alex Ebert
PENNSYLVANIA: NO DATE, NO VOTE
The US Supreme Court has quietly reversed a federal court ruling that would have big implications for the upcoming Senate and governors race in swing-state Pennsylvania.
The court vacated a Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that mail-in ballots must be counted even when voters have left the date off the ballot’s outer envelope—the first reason why mail-in ballots are tossed within the state.
Though the case involved fewer than 300 ballots in a county judicial race, the one-paragraph ruling may lead to the spoiling of probably 1000’s of ballots this November within the Senate race between Mehmet Oz (R) and John Fetterman (D), and the governor’s race between Doug Mastriano (R) and Josh Shapiro (D).
Democrats are inclined to vote absentee greater than Republicans, and Oz filed a transient urging the justices to exclude the ballots. Though justices dismissed the case because they said it was “moot,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote a six-page explanation on why he would have reversed the ruling back in June. – Alex Ebert
Razor’s Edge Races
The newest in our series spotlighting close congressional contests after redistricting changes.
Today: Pennsylvania’s seventh District
Where Is It? East – THE Lehigh Valley, including Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton.
Who Drew It? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the map, which was drawn by a special master.
2020 Presidential Vote: Joe Biden 50%, Donald Trump 49%
Demographics: 69% White, 19% Hispanic, 5% Black, 3% Asian
Cook Political Report Rating: Toss-Up
Nominees: Rep. Susan Wild (D), businesswoman Lisa Scheller (R)
What to Watch: It is a rematch of a 2020 election that Wild won by 3.7 percentage points. Redistricting favored Republicans by adding all of Carbon County, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump, and excising a few of Monroe County, which voted for Biden. The changes reduced Biden’s margin of victory within the seventh District to 0.6 percentage points from 4.8 percentage points previously. Wild acknowledged in a TV ad this week that rising consumer prices are “crippling families” and said she’s working to combat price-gouging. Wild and Democratic groups have accused Scheller of outsourcing US jobs to China. Scheller and Republican super PACs link Wild to Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and say the congresswoman has voted with their positions too often.
Next edition: Arizona’s 2nd
Caught Our Eye
- The Nevada ACLU is suing over a rural county’s move to start out hand-counting mail-in ballots two weeks before Election Day. (Latest York Times)
- Tens of millions spent to influence Colorado liquor vote. (Denver Post)
Resources
Add Us to Your Inbox
SIGN UP for Ballots & Boundaries, your check-in on ballot initiatives, state voting laws, and redistricting.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brenna Goth in Phoenix at bgoth@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor accountable for this story: Katherine Rizzo at krizzo@bgov.com
