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Edited by Al Ortiz

It is a busy time in the ballot measure world. The first ballot measure election of 2012 in North Carolina will take place today, where the highly-scrutinized Amendment 1 will be decided by voters. In addition, there were two ballot-certifications and two petition drive deadlines this past week.

The total ballot measure count across the country is 92 statewide questions in 31 states.

The first certification that occurred this week came in Arizona where the state legislature voted in favor of a state sovereignty amendment, paving the way for the proposal’s ballot access. The measure would declare state sovereignty over the state’s natural resources based on the argument of “equal footing.” Natural resources would include land, air, water, minerals and wildlife.

This now leaves Arizona with four measures on the statewide ballot. Citizens can also place statewide measures on the ballot in Arizona, and have until the July 5 petition drive deadline to submit the required amount of signatures needed for their proposal to obtain a spot in the general election.

Illinois joined in on the list of states with ballot measures this week, sending a public pension measure to the ballot. If passed, the measure would require a three-fifths approval by the General Assembly, city councils, and school districts that wish to increase the pension benefits of their employees.

The legislatively-referred constitutional amendment locked a spot on the ballot on May 3 when the Illinois Senate approved it with a 51-2 vote. The State House had previously given its approval.

Ballot measure news out of Illinois wasn’t just limited to the state legislature. On May 7, the state’s petition drive deadline arrived, signaling the end of the petition circulation process.

There were no known active attempts to place a citizen initiative on the ballot this year. However, groups opposing a 2011 law allowing same-sex civil unions have been gathering signatures for an advisory question regarding a referendum on the law. If this question is placed on the ballot it would need to be approved by voters, then approved by the legislature, before finally being sent to voters again as a referendum. No information has been posted on the Illinois Secretary of State‘s website indicating if this effort turned in signatures. Stay tuned for more updates!

Meanwhile, in Missouri, the complicated initiative process situation didn’t discourage supporters from submitting signatures by the May 6 deadline. In all, signatures were submitted for four proposals days before the deadline.

Initiative efforts that turned in signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State‘s office included a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.25 an hour; an initiative to limit the annual rate of interest, fees, and finance charges for payday loans; a proposal to impose an additional $1 tax on each package of twenty cigarettes for cessation programs; and a constitutional amendment to require that all municipal police forces or departments be controlled by the local governing body.

To qualify for the ballot, each initiated state statute effort is required to get signatures from registered voters equal to 5% of the total votes cast in the 2008 governor’s election. This amounts to 91,818 signatures. Constitutional amendments require 146,907 signatures to be placed on the ballot.

The petition drive deadline won’t be the last hurdle for initiative organizers in the state. Read more about this here.

On the west coast, the California initiative process could be just as confusing as Missouri’s. Petition drive deadline laws in the state may raise some questions about ballot access for 2012 initiatives.

Four major proposed statewide initiatives filed their signatures between May 1 and May 4, with the assumption that they had filed in time to qualify for the November 6 ballot.

However, in advance of every even-numbered year, the California Secretary of State publishes a “suggested initiative deadlines” document. The document works backward from the state’s final deadline through the various steps in the qualification process to produce a list of suggested deadlines for the various steps required.

The document is prefaced with a disclaimer, “The following suggested deadlines are not substitutes for California election laws, regulations, or policy. Other factors, such as amending the initiative measure before circulation or the length of time for circulation, will affect the time it takes to complete the process.”

If the set of suggested 2012 deadlines is accurate, then April 20 was the last day by which petition sponsors could submit signatures with the hope of qualifying for the November 6, 2012 ballot.

But how set-in-stone are these “suggested deadlines”? Read more about this here.

North Carolina election day

North Carolina Amendment 1 will be decided by state residents today during the May 8 primary election, where eligible voters will chime in on whether or not marriage should be defined as one man and one woman in the North Carolina Constitution. The proposal would also ban any other type of “domestic legal union” such as civil unions and domestic partnerships.

Same-sex marriage is already illegal in the state of North Carolina. The proposed measure, however, would add the ban to the state constitution.

Election results will be posted when polls close at 7:30 p.m. EST as precincts begin to report their totals. Live election results will be posted here, as well as on Amendment 1′s ballot measure page, and on Ballotpedia’s North Carolina election page under the “Ballot measures” tab. Live tweets on Ballotpedia’s Twitter page can also be followed.

Read Ballotpedia’s election preview of Amendment 1 here.

Quick hits

• Petitions for Oregon casino initiatives subject of criticism: According to the Oregon Secretary of State six people have called the office complaining of the tactics used by petitioners to collect signatures. Fairview City Council member Lisa Barton-Mullins has allegedly been asked twice to sign the petition and neither time did the petitioner use the word “casino.” However, according to the petition company hired by the casino campaign, canvassers must follow a script that does include the word. The measures in question are Initiatives 36 and 38.^[1]

• North Dakota Legislative Assembly backs figures on Measure 2: On Tuesday, May 1, the Legislative Management Committee accepted and approved the $812 million figure submitted by the Tax Department as the amount of money that the state Legislature would need to set aside for local governments if Measure 2 passes. The figure represents the amount of revenue local governments in the state would lose if property tax was abolished by the measure. The measure does stipulate that the state must use state tax revenues to “fully and properly fund the legally imposed obligations of the counties, cities, township and other political subdivisions.”^[2]

• Final poll shows support for North Carolina Amendment 1: The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling on April 27-29, shows that 55%, of the 982 polled, support the amendment while 41% do not. This is a 1% increase on both sides since previous week’s poll. The margin of error was +/-3.1%.^[3]

SPOTLIGHT:Oregon local election next week, wide variety of measures up for vote
Next week, May 15, 2012, Oregon residents in 19 counties will head to the polls to decide on 68 local measures throughout the state, and only a slim number of 7 deal with school bond and tax issues.

The vast majority of measures which will be voted on deal with other issues. Some notable measures include two Jackson Countycharter amendment measures which seek to allow the county to disregard state rules on land use and development. Strong opposition has surfaced around these measures which many deem would be illegal if they do get approved and would end up putting the county in court, costing residents more money. Also notable, in Clatsop County residents led a successful petition drive to get a measure on the ballot which would ban exotic animals in the unincorporated areas of the county, a measure aimed at circuses. The residents who are in favor noted animal abuses and cruel treatment by circus members as the main reason behind the measure. If approved, a fine of up to $500 would be established in the county.

Also, today May 8, Michigan residents will have 123 measures to vote on throughout the state, 93 of those deal with either school bond or tax measures. Six counties in California will also go to the polls today with 8 measures to be decided.

North Carolina Amendment 1, to be voted on in the May 8 state primary, would do what if enacted?Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Colorado kills amendment restriction: A proposed legislatively-referred constitutional amendment has been killed in theColorado Legislature. The amendment would have asked voters to impose a 60% supermajority requirement to pass constitutional amendments. However, it would have allowed voters to repeal amendments passed before 2013 with a simple majority. The bill’s demise came after a co-sponsor of the bill accused a committee member of “hijacking” the legislation. 80 Colorado amendments have been approved in the past 45 years.^[4]

A new update was last released on April 25, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

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Edited by Al Ortiz

In a relatively slow week for measure certifications for the 2012 ballot, the Tuesday Count crawled up by one proposal. The total is now at an even 90 measures in 30 states.

The state with the newly-added ballot question was in Arizona, courtesy of the state legislature who voted in favor of placing a business tax break option in the November 6 election. The legislatively-referred constitutional amendment would give businesses in the state a break on property taxes on newly acquired equipment.

Arizona residents will now face three ballot measures this fall, joining two other legislative referrals. The other statewide questions can be found here.

Although the legislature has the power to place amendments and statutes on the ballot, state citizens can also do the same. As of today, May 1, there are a total of22 ballot initiative efforts circulating petitions in order to submit signatures by the July 6 petition drive deadline. Therefore, the statewide ballot measure total could potentially grow.

Unlike Arizona, signature collection for ballot initiatives in Idaho must cease today. The May 1 petition drive deadline has arrived, as initiative sponsors must submit petitions by the end of the business day.

Initiative supporters must collect at least 47,432 valid signatures from registered voters in order to place their proposals on the ballot. This equals to 6% of the qualified electors of the state at the time of the last general election.

Currently there are three measures that are circulating for ballot access. Since Idaho citizens cannot propose constitutional amendments, all circulating petitions are potential state statutes. Proposed initiatives include a measure to legalize medical marijuana in the state, a proposal to make animal cruelty a felony, and an initiative to cut the sales tax in the state from 6 to 5 percent.

According to early reports, however, the animal cruelty effort has fallen short of the required amount of signatures. Supporters of the effort, a coalition called Idaho 1 of 3, stated they had collected more than 30,000 signatures as of the deadline.^[1]

According to reports, the details of the law would include: defining the specifics of animal torture, increasing misdemeanor fines to $400 for a first offense, $600 for a second, and would make a third charge in a 15-year span a felony. The punishments for the third offense would be between six months and three years in prison and, at most, a $9,000 fine. Idaho is one of three states that does not consider animal cruelty a felony, hence the name of the supporting coalition. Read more about this measure, and recent legislative action that brought controversy to the subject, here.

Also, stay tuned for updates from Ballotpedia on who filed signatures by the deadline in Idaho.

The next statewide ballot measure petition drive deadline is in Missouri on May 6. Last week’s Tuesday Count report highlighted the dilemma surrounding state ballot initiatives.

In short, on February 28, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum struck down a law that directs the state auditor to prepare fiscal analysis for proposed ballot initiatives.^[2]

According to reports, Beetem stated that the law was in violation of the Missouri Constitution. Specifically, the ruling stated that the 1997 statute conflicts with a constitutional provision that prohibits laws mandating the state auditor to perform duties unrelated to overseeing the spending and receiving of public money. Ballot initiatives must have the official financial summary included with submitted petition signatures, making it unclear as to what will happen to proposed ballot initiatives for the time being.

In other initiative news, California residents could find themselves voting on the state’s “three strikes” law, as sponsors submitted more than 830,000 signatures to theCalifornia Secretary of State‘s office on April 26. Proposed initiated constitutional amendments only need 807,615 valid signatures to make the ballot. Read more about that measure here.

Quick hits

• Tie in State Board of Canvassers keeps emergency manager veto referendum off the ballot: On April 26, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers voted 2-2 on the emergency manager veto referendum. The party line split in the vote means, barring any action by a court, the measure will not appear on the ballot this fall.^[3]

• SC Senate votes on measure requiring gubernatorial candidates to choose a running mate: On April 26, the South Carolina Senate passed the South Carolina Gubernatorial Elections Amendment back to the House with a 34-1 votes. If both the House and the Senate approve the measure without amending it, it will go to voters in November.^[4]

SPOTLIGHT:California election today and Michigan election next week
Next week, May 8, Michigan residents will have their opportunity to vote 123 measures. 93 of those deal with either school bond or tax measures.

Some notable school issues include the Brighton school bond measure which is asking for $88 million to help pay for upgrades to the schools as well as make renovations and improvements to school sites as needed. Proponents note the need to keep the school up to date to remain competitive as well as ensure the safety of students. Opponents on the other hand have stated that the district is asking too much when everything asked for is not necessary. A number of schools are also asking for renewals of non residential property taxes; taxes on properties which are not the main residential home of residents. Along with school issues, 30 measures will also be on the ballot, which deal with other local issues, municipal property taxes or bonds.

Also, today in Riverside County, California, residents in the San Gorgonio healthcare district will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want to renew the district’s property tax for another ten years. The money from the parcel tax goes towards ensuring emergency services offered in the district would continue to be offered to residents.

The death penalty will be the subject of a ballot measure in what state this November?Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Missouri House passes intiative changes: On April 13, the Missouri House passed House Joint Resolution 47 which would lower the state’s Missouri signature requirements but institute a distribution requirement. HJR 47 is a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment and must be approved by the Senate and the voters in order to take effect.^[5]

In addition, on April 26 the House approved House Bill 1869 revising a number of the state’s ballot measure statutes. For a summary of HB 1869, see our recent news story on the bill here.

Lawsuit filed against OK personhood amendment: In late March, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against an Oklahoma initiative that would define personhood as beginning at the moment of conception. The group argued that the law is in violation of the US Constitution. On April 30, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the amendment. Although the court did not find the proposed amendement in direct violation of Oklahoma Constitution, the state constitution forbids amendments that conflict with the U.S. Constitution. The court held that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey governed in the case.^[6][7]

• The order in the case can be found here.

A new update was released on April 25, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

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Edited by Al Ortiz

Two states in the western part of the country have given even more of a boost to Ballotpedia’s Tuesday Count. Alaska and California each had a hand in the elevation of the measure certification total, strengthening the count to 89 measures in 30 states for the year.

Starting with Alaska, a third 2012 measure was added to the state’s ballot, this time via citizen initiative. The measure, a coastal management question, was not enacted by the Alaska Legislature by the end of session, sending it to the August 28 state primary election.

Even though it was categorized as a citizen initiative, the state of Alaska implements an indirect initiated state statute process. This means that if supporters collect enough signatures by their assigned deadline, that state’s legislature can review the proposal and choose to enact similar legislation. If the lawmaking body chooses not to do so, the measure is then placed in front of voters.

Supporters had previously turned in 33,500 signatures on January 17, 2012, the day of the deadline, to the Alaska Division of Elections office. Their total amount of signatures submitted was about 7,000 more than they were required to obtain.

According to reports, if enacted, the initiative would establish a new coastal management program in the state. It was submitted to the Lieutenant Governor’s office during the week of October 5, 2011 by Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho and other supporters of the initiative. Specifically, the management program that would be established would be formally called the Alaska Coastal Zone Management Program.

Alaska is the only coastal state in the country without a federal coastal management plan, according to reports. Coastal programs are established to guarantee state and local participation in federal decisions on coastal issues that could potentially surface.

Meanwhile, big developments are happening in the state of California regarding the other certification this week. Voters will chime in this November on a highly-controversial death penalty proposal, which is also being proposed through the ballot initiative process.

If approved, the initiative will end the death penalty in the state. Currently, California has 725 people on death row. If the death penalty repeal initiative is approved, their sentences will be changed to “life in prison without the possibility of parole”.

These prisoners will also be required to seek jobs within the prison system, and their earnings will go to crime victims.

Supporters of the initiative submitted approximately 800,000 signatures to county election officials on March 1, 2012. Then, on April 23, 2012, the California Secretary of State announced that the initiative had qualified for the November 6, 2012 ballot.

“Show Me” the money?

Initiative news was not limited to ballot certifications this week. In Missouri, legal challenges have lead to bigger implications surrounding the state initiative process. On February 28, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum struck down a law that directs the state auditor to prepare fiscal analysis for proposed ballot initiatives.^[1]

According to reports, Beetem stated that the law was in violation of the Missouri Constitution. Specifically, the ruling stated that the 1997 statute conflicts with a constitutional provision that prohibits laws mandating the state auditor to perform duties unrelated to overseeing the spending and receiving of public money.

What was originally a challenge to a tobacco tax initiative has now grown into a statewide confusion of the initiative process. Events in the Show Me State took another twist this past week when Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich told his staff via e-mail to cease preparation of financial estimates of initiatives, directly because of the recent court ruling.

Two initiatives currently circulating have until May 6 to turn in petition signatures to be considered for the November ballot, however an ongoing appeal of the Cole County Circuit Court ruling may not be cleared up by then. One initiative would replace the state income tax with an expanded sales tax and other would limit payday loans.

Ballot initiatives must have the official financial summary included with submitted petition signatures, making it unclear as to what will happen to those proposals for the time being.

Stay tuned for more developments on this story as developments progress. Also next week, May 1, marks the petition drive deadline for the state of Idaho.

Quick hits

• Petition circulation begins for Oregon Initiative 35: On April 17, the Oregon Secretary of State approved Oregon Initiative 35 for circulation, an initiated constitutional amendment which allocates the corporate income and excise tax “kicker” refund to the state’s General Fund. The measure is sponsored by Our Oregon.^[2]

• Illinois amendment targeting public pensions advances: On April 18, the State House passed the Public Pension Amendment on a vote of 113-0, thus passing it on to the Senate. The measure requires a 60% vote from the Senate to qualify for this year’s ballot.^[3]

• Montana Supreme Court rules on de-certified ballot question: On Thursday, April 12, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a March decision to strike a Supreme Court Elections Question from the ballot, therefore keeping the measure off this year’s June ballot. Senator Joe Balyeat is reportedly considering appealing the case to federal court, although it is probably too late to put the measure back on the ballot.^[4]

• Hearing date set for lawsuit against the Rhode Island Casino Gambling Amendment: The Rhode Island Superior Court has set the date to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Rhode Island Casino Gambling Amendment for May 30. The lawsuit is being brought by the Narragansett Indian Tribe alleging that Twin River is not being held to the same legal standard as the previous efforts by the Narragansett to place a similar measure on the ballot.^[5]

SPOTLIGHT:Clarkston residents upset over city not funding aquatic center
In the city of Clarkston, Washington, residents are up in arms with the city council for the alleged misuse of collected funds and their unwillingness to agree to a proposed petition, reports say.

In 2007 the city council voted to opt into and receive their share of a county wide sales tax of .3 percent. The collected money was supposed to go towards operational costs of the Asotin County Family Aquatic Center, but since its collection in 2008, the money has gone instead towards the city’s general needs. Residents who allege that the city did not follow through with their commitment to support the aquatic center filed a petition and collected signatures for the issue to be put to a vote.

However, the city said that for the petition to be valid it had to be filed seven days after the ordinance was passed, which was several years ago. City officials noted that unless a judge says otherwise, they will not validate the petition. The issue is expected to head to court in the near future.

The City Mayor did note that a specific taxing district would be beneficial for the center and hoped an agreement could be made between the city and upset residents.^[6]

Check back here for results from April 17, 2012′s elections.

One state has two casino gambling measures on the ballot this year. Which state is that? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE
California Senate Leader pushes I&R changes: Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D) is backing a series of changes to the California Constitution, modifying the ballot measure process in California. In total, Steinberg endorsed three changes to the current process. The first would allow the legislature to submit statutes to voters with a simple majority vote of each chamber–the current requirement is a two-thirds majority vote. The change would allow lawmakers to submit tax increases to voters rather than trying to secure the supermajority needed to approve budgets through the ordinary legislative process.

The second would establish an indirect initiative process, and the third would permit lawmakers to repeal initiatives after 10 years. Steinberg implied that the current initiative process constitutes a “shadow government” where outdated initiatives linger for years after their approval, restricting the state’s ability to address changing priorities.^[7]

For Steinberg’s proposals to take effect, they must be referred to voters by a two-thirds majority in each chamber, and then approved by a majority at the polls.

A new update will be released tomorrow, April 25, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

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Edited by Al Ortiz

Last week, four measures were certified for the ballot. This week, three more measures have been tacked on to the Tuesday Count, but under different circumstances. In total, 87 ballot measures are certified for spots across 30 statewide ballots.

A retroactive change occurred in Ballotpedia’s total of certified ballot measures, as two statewide questions in Arkansas and Idaho were certified earlier this year. Both were legislative referrals.

Meanwhile, the state of Rhode Island will have a pair of casino questions ready for voters’ say. On April 11, Governor Lincoln Chafee signed legislation to place the proposal on the ballot. Previously, on April 4, the state Senate voted 35-2 to place the measure on the ballot after the Rhode Island House of Representatives approved the measure.

The measure would authorize casino games at Newport Grand. It is similar to another casino amendment already on the ballot that would authorize casino games at Twin River. That measure will ask voters if they want state-operated casino gambling at the Twin River venue.

The proposal was a part of the $7.7 billion budget signed into law on June 30, 2011. More specifically, it was part of Article 25 of the budget known as H 5894.

Turning to the retroactive changes in the Tuesday Count, an Idaho legislatively-referred constitutional amendment was sent to the ballot on February 8 of this year. The measure, known as Senate Joint Resolution 102 would allow the State Board of Correction control, direction and management of adult felony probation and parole.

The other retroactive change was in Arkansas, where a measure was sent to the ballot before the end of 2012 state legislative session on March 13. The proposal would allow the State Highway Commission to issue bonds for highway needs. It is similar to a question that was on the 2011 statewide ballot.

Down near the bayou, the Louisiana Legislature has been working on a measure of their own. A Right to Bear Arms Amendment is currently being considered. The bill would fortify existing gun rights in the state. Specifically, it adds the rights to acquire, transport, carry, transfer, and use firearms in addition to the existing right to keep and bear them

As legislatures across the country are considering potential ballot questions, a family tandem in Colorado is asking residents to do the same.

A brother and sister tag-team, made up of Samuel Babcock and Elise Van Grinsven, has proposed four ballot measures recently. Each proposal was heard and approved by the Colorado Title Review Board, clearing the way for petition circulation. According to reports, the four ballot initiatives include one to eliminate property taxes, another to allow concealed handgun carrying without permit, a measure to restructure political primary elections, and finally an initiative to tweak state senatorial districts by county boundaries. According to reports, the siblings state they are not affiliated with a political party.

All four measures are initiated constitutional amendments. In order to qualify the initiative for the 2012 ballot in the state, supporters must gather 85,853 valid signatures by the August 6, 2012 petition drive deadline. Valid signatures must come from registered voters in the state.

Quick hits

• Fight not over for Montana Supreme Court Elections Question: On April 6, the Montana Attorney General‘s Office appealed a court decision made in March by Judge James Reynolds to throw out the ballot measure. The state is asking the state Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, arguing that a lawsuit on the subject is “unripe,” stating in a brief, “LR-119 is not presently in effect, and may never become law.”^[1]

• Lawsuit over N.D. property tax measure continues: Shortly after Judge Bruce Romanick threw out a lawsuit filed against opponents of Measure 2, supporters appealed the ruling to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Though he threw the case out, Judge Romanick did not rule on whether or not public officials were guilty of spending public money for political purposes, merely that any illegal spending was not a matter for private citizens to deal with, but rather local prosecutors should handle it. Lynn Boughey, attorney for the plaintiffs, said he would request the Supreme Court to to resolve their appeal before the June 12 primary election.^[2]

• Nevada Casino Tax Amendment thrown out in court: On April 12, 2012, Judge Todd Russell invalidated the petitions being circulated by supporters of the amendment after the Nevada Resort Association filed a lawsuit claiming it was misleading. Supporters have stated they intend to refile the measure with the Nevada Secretary of State‘s office.^[3]

SPOTLIGHT:Eleven British cities may get chance to elect Mayors in the future
On May 3, eleven British cities will get the opportunity to vote on whether or not they would like the position of city mayor to be an elected position starting at the next election.

The eleven cities are: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield.

If residents in these cities approve the referendum, then a vote to elect their new mayor would be held on November 15. Winners would be elected to a four-year term. The referendum question was brought forth in May 2010 by the National government who sought to allow the residents of the eleven largest cities outside of London to have their say on who should govern them. Issues have arisen leading up to the elections. In Bristol the city made and sent out pamphlets informing residents about the vote, but many who were supposed to receive them never did. Claims of bias on the part of the city have made it harder for the city to get its money back for printing the pamphlets. Also, the lack of new faces running for these potential positions has also been brought up.

Though the ability to democratically elect a city mayor has been pushed as a way to increase accountability of the city government, commentators have noted that those running for those positions are just former parliamentary members.

Also today, April 17, residents in Washington will be holding elections on local ballot issues.

Check back here for results from April 17, 2012′s elections.

In less than one month, May 8, which state will have its primary election? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

WI residency requirement challenged: On April 12, a group of Democratic voters filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Government Acountability Board, asking the Board to remove several “phony” Democratic legislative candidates from the recall ballot. The candidates were, admittedly, recruited by the Wisconsin GOP to run in the Democratic recall primaries. The voters charge that in order to run in the Democratic primary, the candidates had to make a series of false statements on official election documents.

In Wisconsin, recall elections are conducted as special elections where the targeted incumbent must campaign to keep his or her seat. Running the “phony” candidates forces the state hold a Democratic primary, delaying the recall election. If no primaries were required, the legislative recall elections would be held concurrent with the May 8 Democratic gubernatorial recall primary. The gubernatorical primary is expected to draw large numbers of Democratic voters, disadvantaging the Republican legislative incumbents targeted for recall.^[4]

• The Democratic complaint can be found here.

Virginia replaces residency requirement: On February 8, Virginia’s in-district residency requirement was overturned in Lux v. Judd. On April 4, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed HB 1133, officially repealing the statute and replacing it with a state residency requirement. A lawsuit has been filed relating to the new requirement, but it remains unclear whether the case will go forward or whether it will directly address the constitutionality of the requirement.^[5]

CA bill to change who writes ballot titles: Sen. Jean Fuller has introduced a constitutional amendment, SCA 19, that would transfer the responsibility for writing ballot titles and summaries from the Attorney General to state legislative analyst. Fuller contends that the process would be better handled by a non-partisan official. Attorney General Kamala Harris has been criticized for her handling of state ballot measures.^[6]

Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

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Edited by Al Ortiz

Although there was a decertification this week, that didn’t hold back the Tuesday Count from growing to 77 ballot measures in 28 states. Montana subtracted a measure from the ballot via legal challenge, while Georgia and Minnesota each chipped by adding their own statewide proposals.

On November 23, 2011, a lawsuit to strike the Montana Supreme Court Elections Question from the June 5 primary election ballot was filed by a group state voters which reports say included a handful of 1972 Constitutional Convention delegates. According to the lawsuit, the measure would illegally amend the Montana Constitution. The lawsuit specifically stated: “The referendum is illegal, unconstitutional and void, in that it deprives (voters) of their right to vote for certain Supreme Court candidates.”

On March 20, those who filed the lawsuit got their wish. Judge James Reynolds struck the measure from the ballot saying that adding the new candidate requirements for Supreme Court justices, those which required that candidates live inside proposed regional districts, conflict with what is already in the state constitution.

Requests by supporters to simply remove the offending language were denied, with Judge Reynolds saying, “Without clear judicial legislation, this court cannot rewrite the remaining parts of this referendum. To do so would entail completely rewriting the title, the ballot statement, the statements of implication, and the text of the referendum itself. There is no constitutional or statutory authority for such a revision.” Reportedly, both sides expect an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, an amendment will appear on the ballot in November that would allow the state to set up charter schools. Sent to the ballot by the Georgia Legislature, the measure developed following a May 2011 ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court. The court ruled that the state’s involvement in the establishment of public charter schools – the Georgia Charter School Commission – was unconstitutional. Specifically, the court ruled that the commission was illegal because it approved and funded charter schools despite objection by local school boards. For another major development regarding this measure, read the section of this report.

Minnesota legislators have been fast at work sending a second constitutional amendment to the statewide ballot after their May 2011 decision to refer a same-sex marriage measure to state voters. On Friday, March 23, the Minnesota Senate passed a voter identification amendment with a 36-30 vote. This action passed the amendment to the November ballot since the bill was previously approved by the Minnesota House of Representatives.

The proposal would require that all voters in the state show photo identification before voting. Legislation to enact similar laws without a constitutional amendment passed both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature, but were vetoed by Governor of Minnesota Mark Dayton.

Health care developments

This week, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments to decide whether or not the “Affordable Care Act”, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, is unconstitutional.

However, since 2010, states across the union have seen opponents of the legislation fight back via statewide ballot measures, through both the legislature and by citizen initiative. These measures, proposed for statewide public votes and known as “health care freedom” measures, bar any rules or regulations that would mandate state residents to participate in a health-care system.

Given the historic implications of this week’s events, here’s a review of statewide ballot measures that were proposed or voted on since 2010:

• In 2010, four “health care freedom” measures were on the ballot in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma, with three being approved and the lone citizen initiative being defeated in Colorado.

• In 2011, one “health care freedom” measure made the ballot, this time in Ohio. The measure was approved with a vote of 65.63% to 34.37%. That measure was proposed via citizen initiative.

• The 2012 elections have yet to occur, but four measures are on the ballot regarding the national health care legislation. All four are legislative referrals.

• In all, since 2010, at least 17 states saw proposed measures that later failed to make the ballot. Note: not all measures categorized under “health care” pertain to the national legislation.

Quick hits

• UND hockey team takes the ice with no nickname for first time: Saturday, March 24, marked the first time the the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team played a game wearing jersey’s bearing neither the ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname nor the accompanying logo. Though this is the first sign of the NCAA’s actions against the school have taken effect, the fight for the nickname is far form over. North Dakota Measure 4, a referendum on laws repealing the mandated use of the nickname, is set to appear on the state’s June 12 ballot.^[1]

• Judge rules on part of challenge to Montana Taxpayer Dividend Measure: On Wednesday, March 14, Jeffrey Sherlock threw out one of the measure’s opposing arguments, ruling that the ballot measure does not represent an illegal appropriation of money by ballot issue. However, the challenge to the measure is not over yet, Judge Sherlock still has to rule on whether or not the measure constitutes an illegal delegation of power.^[2]

• Georgia Senate approves bill for funding charter schools: On March 26, the Georgia Senate approved HB 797, sending it back to the House for final approval. The bill essentially creates a system for funding charter schools in the state, and also recreates the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. The bill is intended build on state laws regarding charter schools and will be mostly relevant if the Charter Schools Amendment passes the public vote in November.^[3][4]

SPOTLIGHT:School and city taxes dominate Missouri April election
Next week on April 3 in the state of Missouri an estimated twenty-three counties will hold elections. Those twenty-three counties are the sole counties, at this time, to have posted election information that will be voted on by residents. (See how Missouri counties fared in the most recent “County website election information” study)

According to those counties, there are twenty-two measures that relate to school bond and tax issues.

• Most notably, in the Joplin school district area, approval is being sought for a $62 million bond in order to help pay for tornado damaged facilities and to build a storm shelter for potential future disasters.
• In the St Joseph school district, they are asking for a bond in the amount of $42 million in order to allow for renovation projects in the district including building a new elementary school.
• In Christian County, a levy renewal and addition are being asked to further support the law enforcement services in the county. Opponents have noted the jail is only 10 years old and there should not be a need for additional money.
• Greene County is also seeking an additional tax for law enforcement services in the county, though this tax would increase the county sales tax rate by 1/8th of a percent.

Colorado, Florida and Wisconsin will also have issues decided on April 3. Stay tuned for results!

Click here for a full list: March 20, 2012 ballot measures in Illinois

An Ohio Constitutional Convention question is on the ballot in 2012. When was the last time a question like this was on the Buckeye State’s ballot? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE
CA Court upholds recall signatures: On March 12, a California Superior Court allowed a recall election to move forward against a Shasta Lake city council member. The target of the recall had sued to block the election, alleging that a resident of another district assisted in the signature collection. California has an in-district residency requirement on the books for local signature campaigns. However, the judge held that, independent of the circulator’s residency, the election should go forward. The judge noted that the circulator, not the signer, is accountable under California law. The in-district requirement is currently being challenged, and the state maintains that the law is not enforced.^[5]

• The full decision can be found here.

Ruling in Mukilteo Traffic Cam Case: On March 8, 2012, the Washington Supreme Court ruled against a Mukilteo initiative aimed a blocking traffic enforcement cameras. The Mukilteo initiative qualified for the ballot and was approved by a large margin. However, a citizen’s group (Mukilteo Citizens for Simple Government) challenged the initiative, arguing that the traffic camera program was not subject to the local initiative process. A lower court held that the case must wait until after the 2010 election–that decision was appealed to the Supreme Court. The High Court ultimately agreed with the plaintiffs, arguing that the state statute authorizing the cameras gave local officials sole discretion over their use. The Court cited City of Sequim v. Malkasian which held that:

A grant of power to a city’s governing body… means exclusively the mayor and city council and not the electorate.

Prior to the ruling, the Mukilteo City Council chose to treat the question as advisory and remove the cameras voluntarily. The ruling is expected to apply to similar cases around the state.^[6]

• The majority opinion can be found here.
• The dissenting opinion can be found here.

A new update will be released on March 28, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

Edited by Greg Janetka

This week’s tracker features an update on what was accomplished (and not accomplished) in those state legislatures that adjourned for the year last week and a look at special sessions in Florida, Virginia and Washington.

Sessions

This week 35 out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session. One state - Louisiana - convenes this week, while no states are scheduled to adjourn.

Ten states have adjourned for the year, while four states - Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas - will not hold regular sessions in 2012.

Regular sessions

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

The following states convened their regular legislative sessions:

• January 3: Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

• January 4: California, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York

• January 9: Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Washington

• January 10: Arizona, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin

• January 11: Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

• January 17: Alaska, New Mexico
• January 18: Hawaii
• January 23: Utah
• January 24: Minnesota
• February 1: Oregon
• February 5: Oklahoma
• February 7: Alabama
• February 8: Connecticut
• February 13: Arkansas, Wyoming

The following states have ended their regular session:

• February 16: New Mexico
• March 6: Oregon
• March 8: Utah, Washington
• March 9: Arkansas, Florida, Wyoming
• March 10: Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia

Click here to see a chart of each state’s 2012 session information.

Special sessions

Special sessions were a widespread occurrence in the state legislatures in 2011, in particular due to the necessity of states to conduct the redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts. Overall, in 2011 there were 45 special sessions in 28 states.

Washington is currently in special session. Virginia formally began a special session last Saturday, but adjourned until March 21, while Florida is scheduled to begin one on Wednesday.

In recess

As of today, March 12, 1 states’ session is currently in recess:

• North Carolina - Mid-term recess June 18, 2011 through May 12, 2012^[1]

Sessions spotlight

So far ten states have adjourned their regular session for the year – at least three of those will be holding special sessions to finish up their work.

Florida

Following the Florida Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to reject the state’s new Senate maps, the Senate will reconvene in special session starting Wednesday in order to redraw its map.^[2]

In Florida, if the Court finds a plan unconstitutional, the Governor must call a new session within five days to correct the district lines — this session may last no longer than 15 days. The revised plan is again submitted to the court for evaluation. The court approved the new state House districts.

Virginia

The Virginia General Assembly ended their regular session on Saturday. The 60-day session was full of heated debate over bills regarding abortion restrictions and gun laws, but never included passing a new state budget. Thus, the same day that the Legislature adjourned, they also formally started a special session then adjourned until March 21.

Following the 2011 legislative elections, which left the Senate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, Republicans claimed power in the chamber using the tie-breaking vote of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R). The Lt. Governor, however, can not break ties on appropriations bills. In exchange for a compromise on the budget, Democrats are seeking a power-sharing agreement in the Senate.^[3]

Washington

Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) called for a special session on Thursday after it was clear the Legislature was going to end its 60-day regular session without passing a supplemental budget plan. HouseDemocrats passed a budget agreement by a 53-45 vote, but it included a delayed payment for schools, something that has previously failed in the Senate. While Democrats hold the majority in the Senate, three members broke from the party ranks to vote for a Republican plan that got rid of the delayed payment and focused instead on more spending cuts.^[4]

The special session got under way today at noon, but the first two days are only “pro forma,” meaning legislators are not required to be at the Capitol until Wednesday. Gregoire said it could last up to a month.^[5]

Issues spotlight

Nine states concluded their regular session for the year last week. Three of those will be holding special sessions (see above). Here is an update on major topics that were addressed in the other six:

• Arkansas – Arkansas’ second-ever fiscal session focused mainly on the passage of a $4.7 billion budget. Legislators attempted to get non-budget items passed, including a $4 million tax break for truckers, but those items will have to wait until next year. The House also voted to elect Darrin Williams as the first black Speaker of the House in state history.^[6]

• Indiana – Legislators ended their session by passing a spending package that includes $6 million for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and $80 million for full-day kindergarten. They also agreed to decrease the state inheritance tax beginning next year until it is completely phased out after 2021. In perhaps the most controversial move, legislators passed a bill which mandates that citizens are protected by the state’s self-defense law if they reasonably believe force is necessary in order to protect themselves from unlawful actions by a police officer.^[7]

• Oregon – The Legislature held its first-ever annual session this year, which was created by a voter-approved ballot measure passed in 2010. Lawmakers were able to pass a balanced budget to deal with a $200 million budget gap and largely deemed the session a success.^[8]

• Utah – The Legislature’s 45-day session was fairly uneventful, with the controversial issue of immigration avoided entirely. The most attention was given to what is being called the “Sagebrush Rebellion 2.0″ as legislators sought to claim 30 million acres of state land that is owned by the federal government.^[9]

• West Virginia – Legislators passed 213 bills this session, including 112 on the last day. One thing they did not accomplish, however, was passing a new budget. To that end, the session was extended, with work on the budget getting under way again yesterday. Some are predicting a special session will have to be called later in the month.^[10]

• Wyoming – The Legislature finished on March 8, a day early. During that time legislators passed a $3.2 billion budget for the next two years. It keeps spending more or less flat but gives the governorauthority to spend up to $150 million in reserve funds if necessary. They also passed a new state wolf management plan that aims to end protections for wolves under the federal Endangered Species Act.^[11]

Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2012 and State legislative elections results, 2012

A total of 86 of the 99 chambers will hold state legislative elections on November 6, 2012.

1,267 (64.3%) of the country’s 1,971 state senate seats are up for re-election in November 2012, and 4,712 (87.05%) of the country’s 5,413 state house seats are up for re-election. Altogether, 5,979 (81.0%) of the country’s 7,384 state legislative seats will be up for re-election during the presidential election year.

• 43 of the 50 state senates are holding elections.
• 43 of the 49 state houses are holding elections.

The 5,979 seats up for election is 146 fewer than the 6,125 that were contested in 2010.

Filing deadlines

See also: Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state government elections and 2012 Elections preview: Comparing state legislative filing deadlines

This week five states have signature filing deadlines for candidates running for election - Montana, Maine, Iowa, Nevada and Utah.

So far, deadlines have passed in 13 states:

States with upcoming deadlines:

• March 12: Montana
• March 15: Maine
• March 16: Iowa
• March 16: Utah
• March 16: Nevada
• March 27: Missouri
• March 27: South Dakota
• March 30: South Carolina

Primaries

See also: 2012 election dates

The first state legislative primary elections of 2012 took place last week in Ohio. There are no state legislative primaries this week. The next will take place in Illinois on March 20, where all 59 Senate seats and 118 House seats will be on the ballot.

States with upcoming primaries:

• March 20: Illinois
• April 3: Maryland
• April 24: Pennsylvania
• May 8: Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia
• May 15: Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon
• May 22: Arkansas, Kentucky
• May 29: Texas

Note: Texas was originally scheduled to hold their primary on March 6. However, with newly drawn state legislative maps being fought in the courts, the date was moved to May 29.

Recalls

Currently, 18 states permit the recall of state officials. Between 1913 and 2008, there were just 20 state legislative recall elections in five states. Of the 20 state legislative recall elections, 13 out of 20 resulted in the state legislator being recalled. In 2011, there were 11 state legislative recalls in three states, 4 of which resulted in the legislator being recalled.

Michigan

2011 saw a wave of recall attempts in Michigan. While most of those efforts dried up, at least two campaigns are continuing on (the recall of Paul Scott was successful on November 8, 2011). Organizers of the campaigns to recall Bruce Caswell (R) and Phil Pavlov (R) are aiming for the August 2012 ballot.

Wisconsin

Democrats in Wisconsin filed recall petitions on November 15, 2011 against four Republican state senators - Pam Galloway, Scott Fitzgerald, Terry Moulton and Van Wanggaard.^[12] Campaign organizers turned in more than the necessary number of signatures in each of the four races on January 17, 2012.

On February 9, all four senators for recall submitted signatures challenges, and the recall committees submitted rebuttals to the challenges.^[13] A statement issued by GAB staff on Friday said they won’t be able to finish reviewing all of the signatures by the deadline and requested the board to ask for an extension to March 30. The statement also recommends the board dismiss all of the petition challenges, a move which would automatically trigger recall elections.^[14] GAB director Kevin Kennedy has said primaries could take place on May 15 with the recalls on June 12.

The full board met today and voted unanimously to order recalls against all four Republican state senators.^[15]

Special elections

See also: State legislative special elections, 2012

There are no special elections scheduled to take place this week.

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

• March 20: New York Assembly District 93
• March 20: New York Assembly District 100
• March 20: New York Assembly District 103
• March 20: New York Assembly District 145
• March 20: New York Senate District 27
• April 3: Oklahoma House of Representatives District 71
• April 3: Oklahoma Senate District 20
• April 10: Minnesota Senate District 20
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 22
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 134
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 153
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 169
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 186
• April 24: Pennsylvania House District 197

Edited by Geoff Pallay

Florida has become the 15th state in the nation to have its redistricting maps altered by judicial action. Today, the Florida Supreme Court issued a 234-page decision rejecting the state’s new Senate maps–approved by lawmakers on February 9. The decision also upheld the new state House districts and provided extensive interpretation of the state’s 2010 redistricting reform amendment.

While details are still emerging, the Court found eight districts unconstitutional and also ruled that district numbers had been assigned as to favor particular incumbents over others. The Florida Constitution requires the Court to review legislative redistricting plans. If the Court finds a plan unconstitutional, the Governor must call a new session within five days to correct the district lines — this session may last no longer than 15 days. The revised plan is again submitted to the court for evaluation.

A number of official responses to the decision have already been issued. House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford (R) issues a statement praising his colleagues and commending the court’s affirmation of the House map. Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich (D) said the ruling validated her warnings about the fairness of the Senate maps.

• The full redistricting ruling can be found here.

State news

Arizona

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has said it will run out of money by March 16 if state officials do not appropriate additional funding. A bill passed by the Arizona State Senate will send an additional $1 to the commission. Senate GOP leaders have been opposed to the commission’s maps. In fact, on March 1, senators approved a measure that would eliminate the commission and return the power of drawing maps to the legislature. If the commission shuts down before the fiscal year ends, then there is a chance that it could delay the implementation of maps for the 2012 elections. Commission members have said they may need to take the funding issue to the courts.

California

On February 24, 2012, the California Secretary of State‘s office announced that the measure to repeal the new California State Senate map had qualified for the November 2012 ballot. The commission-drawn map will still be used in the 2012 elections.

Hawaii

Yesterday, the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission approved new legislative districts for the state. The first set of legislative maps approved by the Commission were invalidated by the Hawaii Supreme Court. The Commission released draft maps on February 15. However, two further rounds of revisions were made to those drafts, one reunifying communities on Oahu and another addressing concerns that the plan favored House leadership. Opponents of the plan (who prompted the second round of revisions) were not entirely satisfied and hinted at the possibility of more legal action.

• Hawaii’s new legislative redistricting maps can be found here.

Kansas

Last Friday, Kansas lawmakers submitted a slew of proposed congressional maps to the House Redistricting Committee. In total, 18 have been submitted. The Kansas State Senate already approved a bi-partisan congressional map on February 9, 2012. However, conservatives in the House worry that the plan favors Democrats. Most of the plans submitted divide either Topeka or Kansas City and reunify Lawrence. A meeting to narrow down the proposals was held on Monday, March 5. The committee plans to adopt one of the proposals outright, rather than working from scratch.

Kansas has yet to complete and approve its legislative maps.

• Congressional proposals and drafts can be found here.

Missouri

Last Friday, a federal lawsuit was filed challenging Missouri’s tentative Senate redistricting maps. The maps in question are a revision of earlier maps already struck down by state courts. The lawsuit argues that the revised maps discriminate against rural areas by placing too many voters in several rural districts, thus reducing the number of districts alloted to rural Missouri.

The lawsuit also contends that changes to district numbering will disenfranchise voters by making them wait longer to vote in the state’s staggered Senate elections. Only half of Missouri’s senators are up for election at each biennial election–odd numbers in 2012, evens in 2014. As a result, some voters who have already waited four years to elect senators may be forced to wait another two if they’re moved from an odd-numbered to an even-numbered district.

The bipartisan redistricting commission heard testimony on the preliminary maps on Thursday, March 8. One of the lawyers for the lawsuit was present to testify. In addition, several senators–includingJane Cunningham (R), Jim Lembke (R), and Eric Schmitt (R)–have expressed opposition to the plan. A final vote on the maps is scheduled for Monday, March 12.

Meanwhile, the Missouri State Senate has approved a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment to subject the redistricting commissions to the state’s open meetings laws. House approval is still required.

• The preliminary state Senate proposal can be found here.

New Hampshire

This week, the New Hampshire Senate’s plan for new chamber districts won House approval by a vote of 253-91. The Senate passed the bill along party lines by a vote of 19-4 on February 1. The plan includes changes to 18 of the chamber’s 24 districts. It now goes to Gov.John Lynch (D) for final approval. The Senate is expected to vote on the House’s plan sometime this month.

Meanwhile, a new map for the state’s two congressional districts remains elusive. The seats are held by Republicans Frank Guinta andCharlie Bass, and while the task of redistricting technically falls to the Legislature, they unofficially leave the decision up to the congressmen. Both men are concerned that making one district safer would endanger the other, and neither want to be put in a more vulnerable position.

New Mexico

On February 29, 2012, Democrats and Republicans came to an agreement over a court-drawn map. Analysis indicates that the map creates a better election environment for the GOP than the map originally passed by the legislature. The state Supreme Court will still need to lift the stay that was holding up elections.

New York

U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann, who has been appointed as special redistricting master, held a public hearing on Monday to collect information on the various proposals she received last week. Lawyers for Republican and Democratic leaders both urged Mann to defer to the legislative proposals and to avoid drawing incumbents into the same districts. Mann asked why she should put those considerations before the guidelines set out in the state Constitution, which, she noted, calls for contiguous and compact districts while not mentioning incumbency at all.

The following day, nearly a week before the deadline, Mann released her proposed map. Her plan closely resembles the geographically compact lines proposed by Common Cause and other good-government groups. In order to reduce the number of districts from 29 to 27, it eliminates Maurice Hinchey‘s district, as proposed by both Democrats and Republicans, and gets rid of Bob Turner’s (R) district in Queens. The GOP has objected to the move against Turner’s district, saying it would disenfranchise Russian and Jewish neighborhoods and break up traditional communities.

The legislature has until March 15 to come to an agreement on their own plan, otherwise Mann’s will be put into effect. There are currently ongoing negotiations between Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and legislative leaders, but a deal has yet to be reached.

Pennsylvania

Following the state Supreme Court’s rejection of new legislative district maps on January 23, Republican leaders spoke of quick action in order to get new maps approved for the 2012 elections. Since then, however, all the public has seen from the Legislative Reapportionment Commission is a series of delays. The first meeting of the commission following the rejection of the maps was on February 22. It was speculated that new maps might be proposed and a vote taken, but the meeting lasted five minutes and saw no vote. The next meeting was scheduled for February 28, but a press release issued the day before announced that it had been rescheduled for March 2 without giving any reason why. Another press release on March 1 announced that the meeting would be delayed once more. Again a reason was not given, and a new date has not yet been set.

In a letter sent Wednesday, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) asked Commission chairman Stephen McEwen to hold a vote next week. McEwen said that is simply not possible as talks have been unproductive and holding a meeting would be useless. He said he hopes a vote will be held the week of March 19.

South Carolina

A trial continued this week for a lawsuit concerning the new state house and congressional districts. The suit accuses Republican leaders of drawing districts to dilute minority representation. Republican lawyers said the maps were drawn to keep communities together and race was not a factor. Judges are expected to make a decision today.

Virginia

The Virginia General Assembly has approved a bill conditionally delaying the state primary if the new congressional redistricting plan is notpre-approved by the DOJ by April 3. The primary would move from June 12 to August 7.

West Virginia

Senate Majority Leader John Unger (D) has proposed a bill instructing the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the possibility of creating an independent redistricting commission. The bill is known as SCR 69 — the text and bill history can be found here.Sen. Unger was an opponent of the congressional plan recently overturned by a panel of federal judges.

Wyoming

Last Thursday, the Wyoming State Legislature gave final approval to the state’s legislative districts. A House amendment to the bill preserving the seat of Sen. Curt Meier (R) was retained. On Tuesday, March 6 Governor Matt Mead (R) signed the bill into law.

• The approved plans can be found here.

March 6, 2012

Newsletter Signup

Edited by Al Ortiz

Consistency is reigning supreme on the Tuesday Count. For the fourth consecutive week, not only has the total of certified ballot measures grown, but it has grown by multiple measures, leaving the count at 72.

South Dakota voters will have a full plate on their ballots come November 6. Recently, the state legislature sent four legislatively-referred constitutional amendments to the ballot during session, adding to the two that were already up for a public vote.

The four measures that were added to the ballot include one that would modernize language dealing with corporations, a proposal to strike from the state constitution a travel reimbursement provision for state lawmakers, a measure make clear in the state constitution that the state budget must be balanced, and a question on whether or not to change how much money is taken from the state’s cement-plant trust fund each year.

The four freshly-certified measures etched onto the fall ballot join Referred Law 14 and Initiated Measure 15 on the ballot.

The six measures on the South Dakota 2012 ballot hits the exact average of measures found on the statewide ballot since 2000. The year with the most measures on the ballot in that state was in 2008, when 15 measures were decided by registered voters. Only three were approved.

Elsewhere, in California, the highly-scrutinized issue of the death penalty is boiling over. Supporters of the initiative effort to end the death penalty handed over signatures to the California Secretary of State for verification.

Over 800,000 signatures were submitted on March 1 to qualify the measure for the state’s November 2012 ballot. 504,760 valid signatures are required for qualification purposes. As of today, March 6, signatures have not yet been verified for the ballot.

Check this article for any updates on the verification process.

California has 714 people on death row. Seven of them have exhausted all appeals and are therefore eligible for execution, although legal challenges to California’s lethal injection procedure must be resolved before any of them could be executed. The last execution in California took place in 2006.

Initiative news in the west is not just limited to California, as two Nevada anti-abortion petitions have been approved for circulation following a long legal duel.

The two measures, one filed by Personhood Nevada and the other by ProLife Nevada, chalked up a win recently when opponents of the proposals decided to cease legal challenges to language and descriptions of the petitions. Previously, both initiatives were struck by District Judge James Wilson Jr. in two separate lawsuits for each measure. Both lawsuits challenged that the language of the proposals were vague and misleading. After rewriting the language, supporters then gained permission to circulate petitions.

Initiative organizers have until June 19 to gather more than 72,000 signatures to qualify the proposed constitutional amendments for the November ballot.

The developments in Nevada join a growing “personhood” movement across the country as 11 states have seen versions of the proposal for 2012. Three have already faced, or are facing, court battles.

Included is the most recently proposed measure, this time out of Oklahoma, which has seen proposals from both the legislature and via citizen initiative, organized by Personhood Oklahoma.

Quick hits

• Lawsuit over the Alaska Parental Notification Initiative comes to an end: Closing arguments were heard on March 2 in a lawsuit regarding Ballot Measure 2 from 2010. The 14 day trial began on February 13 and Judge Suddock is expected to rule on the case within 2-3 weeks from closing arguments.^[1]

• North Dakota University threatened with new wave of NCAA sanctions: According to a letter from Bernard Franklin, an NCAA executive vice president, the school must forfeit any post-season games if it does not “take measures to minimize or eliminate the presence of the imagery or nickname brought to an NCAA championship venue.” Some, such as Brian Faison, the university’s athletic director, think that this new threat will help to convince supporters of the “Fighting Souix” nickname that they are facing a real threat.^[2]

• Unions prepare to fight “Right to Work” legislation in Michigan: On March 1 Bob King, president of the UAW, announced that a coalition of unions would be supporting an initiated constitutional amendment to ban any “Right to Work” legislation being considered by the state. The effort will focus on getting the amendment on this year’s November ballot.^[3]

SPOTLIGHT:Oregon hosts small local election next week
On March 13 Oregon residents will go to the polls to decide on a few local issues. Only four counties decided to have local measures on this special election date for a total of 11 measures up for a vote.

Of those measures, eight seek to amend city charters, two call for annexation approval and one deals with local drinking water. The city of Philomath is asking residents if they want to allow the city to resume adding fluoride to the local water supply. The city had been adding fluoride to the water supply since the 1980s but concerns were raised and now the city is seeking voter approval to continue. Those in favor of fluoride note that it helps with children’s teeth, those opposed say there are more dangers to the addition. Another notable measure is in Estacada which has two competing urban renewal proposals up for a vote. Residents had petitioned for a change in urban renewal to be put to a vote, but the city countered their proposition with one that would instead place urban renewal proposals in line with the state.

Today, March 6, Ohioans in 76 counties in the state will vote on local measures in addition to the presidential primary and elections for U.S. House, U.S. Senate, State Senate and State House. Issues vary from school proposals to alcohol and city taxes.

Marijuana made the ballot this past week in what state? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Missouri fiscal impact ruling: Last Thursday, Missouri Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled that the state’s fiscal review process for ballot measures violates the Missouri Constitution. In Missouri, the state auditor is responsible for drafting a statement of each proposed measure’s impact on state finances. However, the state constitution requires that:

• “No duty shall be imposed on [the state auditor] by law which is not related to the supervising and auditing of the receipt and expenditure of public funds.”

Since evaluating proposed measures concerns potential impacts, Beetem ruled that the task falls outside the auditor’s supervisory role. In addition, he ordered the statement to be removed from the ballot title in question.

Since the official ballot title must be included on statewide petitions, the legality of petitions with the offending statement is now in question. Some worry that the ruling could force the Secretary of State to exclude numerous signatures already collected for several statewide ballot measures. State Auditor Tom Schweich plans to appeal the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court. A similar ruling in 1996 found that the Joint Committee on Legislative Research could not evaluate proposed initiatives.^[4][5]

• The relevant state statute can be found here.

• The relevant constitutional provision can be found here.

A new update was released on March 28, 2012. Click here for this and other Ballot Law Update reports!

Edited by Al Ortiz

As of today, February 28, the Tuesday Count crawled up by two more ballot measures. We are now up to 68 proposals. A new state has also jumped into the mix as momentum is picking up for ballot question certifications.

Colorado is the new addition to the states with measures on the ballot, as persistent efforts to put marijuana legalization up for public vote came to fruition. The proposal will be on the November 6, 2012 ballot in Colorado as an initiated constitutional amendment. The measure would legalize marijuana in the state, asking whether or not to legalize the use and possession of, at most, an ounce of marijuana for residents who are 21 and older.

The road was bumpy for organizers of the effort, as the initiative was filed eight different times with the Colorado Attorney General around the date of May 20, 2011, hoping for circulation approval of one of them. The proposal was filed multiple times, with some differences, in order increase the chances of passing the Title Setting Review Board, and allowing for circulation of petitions.

Supporters submitted more than 155,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State‘s office on January 4, but on February 3, the Colorado Secretary of State announced that the initiative effort had fallen short about 2,500 signatures. Sponsors then had until February 15 to submit the additional signatures required to make the ballot. Petitions with the additional signatures were then turned in around that date.

On February 27, the Colorado Secretary of State verified the signatures, placing the measure on the 2012 ballot.

A similar measure was on the 2006 ballot in the state, where it was defeated.

Since 2008, a grand total of 30 statewide ballot measures relating to the issue of marijuana have been proposed for or have been on the ballot in 15 states. The last statewide vote on marijuana to take place was on Arizona’s Proposition 203, which was approved.

The second of the pair of ballot certifications comes from California, which dives into the ever-present issue of legislative redistricting. The measure is an attempt to use California‘s veto referendum process to nullify the California State Senate redistricting plan approved by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Sponsors of the initiative needed to collect 504,760 signatures by November 13, 2011 to qualify the measure for the ballot. Its supporters turned in 710,924 signatures in 57 of California’s 58 counties by the deadline.

On February 24 the California Secretary of State‘s office announced that the measure had qualified for the ballot.

In other state legislature-related ballot measure news, Nebraska and South Carolina lawmakers saw ballot proposals introduced recently about term limits for state legislators. However, one state proposal deals with expanding term limits, while two others are about shrinking them.

The latter two proposals were found in South Carolina, where one measure would ask if State Representatives‘ terms should be at most eight two-year terms, while the other would ask if State Senators‘ terms should be at most four four-year terms. According to reports, the measure was introduced by State Representative Bakari Sellers.

A legislatively-referred amendment can go on the ballot if approved by a 2/3rds vote of each house of the South Carolina State Legislature.

In Nebraska, the proposed term limit amendment would raise state legislative term limits to three consecutive terms, whereas the current limit is two. The proposal was introduced by state Senator Tom Carlson.

In order to qualify a proposed measure to the statewide ballot, 60% of the members of the Nebraska State Legislature must vote in approval.

On Thursday, February 23, the state legislature passed the amendment through it’s first round of debate on a 30-12 vote.

Quick hits

• Lawsuit filed against Nevada mining tax cap amendment: The Nevada Mining Association filed a lawsuit in state court in Carson City during late-February 2012, attempting to block the measure from the ballot. The association stated that the Mining Tax Cap Amendment was misleading and failed to describe the consequences to Nevada’s overall tax structure if enacted by voters.^[1]

• New poll shows Ohio voters in favor of election law referendum: A poll was released by Lake Research Partners showing a slight opposition to the election law targeted by a veto referendum. It was concluded that 54% of respondents were opposed to the law, therefore favored repealing it. The margin of error of the poll was +/- 3.7 percentage points.^[2]

• Bill legalizing gay marriage in Maryland to be signed this week: After the bill’s passage last week in the Maryland State Senate it was sent to Governor Martin O’Malley, who has vowed to sign it. The legislation is scheduled to be signed by the governor on Thursday, March 1. A day after the senate approved the bill, opponents began the petition process to get a veto referendum on this year’s ballot.^[3]

SPOTLIGHT:Ohio voters to decide on taxes, electrical aggregation and more
On March 6 residents in Ohio will have their chance to head to the polls to decide on a wide variety of local issues. Nearly all 88 counties in Ohio will have issues to be decided, from school bonds and taxes to city income taxes and electrical aggregation questions. Several school districts are asking for tax renewals or bond approvals, including the Parma & Strongville school districts, which are asking for renewals of their local property taxes and the Wyoming and Ridgemont school districts that are asking for bond money to help with renovating and adding on to school facilities. Counties are also asking for continued levies for Senior and Health programs, including in Clinton County where both a Senior and Health levy are up for renewal which would cost residents $0.65 per $1.00 of assessed value combined for an additional five years. These levies help continue county services for those who are unable to afford the services on their own, according to reports.

Also, on February 28, Michigan is having its primary election with several local issues also being decided by voters. Take a look at the measures here and stay tuned for results.

The Texas primary was originally delayed from March 6 to April 3, but with that date now looking highly unlikely, party officials are discussing dates in what month? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Georgia signer ID requirement: Last Wednesday, a Georgia bill (SB 377) died in committee. The bill would have required citizens to show a state-issued ID upon signing a candidate petition. Georgia does not have statewide initiative and referendum.^[4]

Walker to let recall count stand: After unsuccessfully seeking a second extension to the signature review period, Wisconsin GovernorScott Walker (R) has announced that he will not challenge the recall signatures filed against him. Walker contends that the first, 20-day extension did not provide his team enough time to review the signatures. Wisconsin does not have a central voter registration database. More than 1 million signatures were submitted.^[5]

However, Walker’s legal team won a victory in early January that forced the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to examine recall signatures more thoroughly.^[6] In a press release, Walker’s campaign expressed confidence that this ruling would guide the GAB in verifying the signatures.

A new update will be released on February 29, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

Edited by Geoff Pallay

During the 2011 legislative session, Minnesota lawmakers failed to establish new congressional and legislative districts. The Republican-controlled legislature managed to pass maps, but these were vetoed by Democratic governor Mark Dayton. And so Minnesotans waited for court maps to be released, dictating the next 10 years of district lines.

On Tuesday, February 21, the judicial panel in charge of drawing Minnesota’s new legislative and congressional districts completed its work. In total, the legislative maps pair a staggering 46 incumbents. In the House, the plan pairs 30 incumbents or 1 in 5 state representatives — this leaves 15 open House seats. In the Senate, the plan pairs 16 incumbents or nearly 1 in 4 state senators — this leaves 8 open Senate seats.

The congressional districts show fewer significant changes. Most notably, the plan moved conservative and former presidential candidate Rep.Michele Bachmann (R) into District 4 with Rep. Betty McCollum (D). However, Bachmann has already announced that she will again run in the6th District. No other incumbents were displaced. However, partisan control in both Democratic District 4 and Republican District 2 has been somewhat weakened.

• Interactive versions of the new maps can be found here.

• The court order establishing the new maps can be found here.

• A breakdown of the pairings and open seats can be found here.

State news

Florida

Oral arguments in the Florida Supreme Court’s review of the state’s new legislative districts have been scheduled for February 29th. Counsel for the state will have 90 minutes to make arguments in favor of the House and Senate maps. So far the court has denied opponents the opportunity to file alternative maps and requested the addresses of incumbent lawmakers. Florida law requires the court to review state redistricting maps but not congressional maps.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Supreme Court heard arguments today in the appeal of a County Circuit judge’s ruling that overturned the state’s new legislative districts. Since county precinct maps are based on the state maps, counties may be forced to revise their plans if the decision is upheld.

Maryland

Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s (D) plan for new legislative districts became law today after the House and Senate declined to vote on it. Under state law, the governor submits a plan to the Assembly, who can then either adopt it or an alternative plan if they so chose. If they do not act on the plan at all it becomes law after 45 days. At least eight alternative plans were put forth in the House, but committee leaders decided against giving any of them a hearing. The plan creates two additional African-American majority districts and a new Hispanic majority district.

The fight is not yet over, however. The state Republican party and the Fannie Lou Hamer political action group said they intend to file a lawsuit against the plan, alleging it violates the Voting Rights Act as well as the state Constitution.

Maryland will not hold legislative elections in 2012. All of the seats in the legislature will be up for election in 2014.

Missouri

The bi-partisan panel tasked with redrawing Missouri’s Senate districts approved a new plan yesterday, redrawing the 34-district map. The plan now faces a 15-day public comment period before the plan can be officially approved by the panel. Backlash over the plan was swift. Senate Republicans denounced the plan and blocked an extension to the candidate filing period, complicating matters for potential candidates. Most notablely, the plan weakens Republican districts around St. Louis and pairs incumbent Senators Jane Cunningham (R) and Brian Nieves (R).

Montana

The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission met last week to take a first look at the proposed legislative maps. The five-member commission is composed of two Democratic and two Republican appointees, as well as one member chosen by the State Supreme Court. The commission will now take the drafts to gather public input across the state. The maps won’t go into effect until the2014 elections. This fall’s races will be conducted using the maps drawn after the 2000 Census. This is the standard timeline used inMontana. In the last redistricting cycle, the commission was controlled by Democrats, 3-2. Republicans contend that that map was drawn with a partisan slant in favor of Democrats.

New Hampshire

Republican leaders in the House are standing together in an attempt to quash dissension in their party regarding the new map. The House delegation from Manchester said they oppose the plan as they believe it could cost the city two representatives. To that end, they agreed to sustain a veto by Gov. John Lynch (D) that they believe will occur. In response, a five-page letter blasting critics of the plan and signed by over 40 Republican House members was sent out to all members of the chamber. The House previously passed the bill by a vote of 205-68, but it must now pass the Senate, who is not expected to vote on it until next month.

On the congressional side, U.S. Reps. Frank Guinta (R) and Charlie Bass (R) must have their districts balanced–their two districts are about 200-300 individuals apart. That has reportedly led to a long internal party fight behind-the-scenes. Republican leaders and Guinta are said to want minimal changes, while Bass is seeking to add a number of Republican towns to his district, including Merrimack, Hampstead and Plaistow.

New Mexico

After the state Supreme Court rejected initial state House plans drawn by retired judge James Hall, two new verisons have appeared this week. Hall has altered the map to comply with the high court’s directives. One proposal would pair current House speaker Ben Lujan Sr.with fellow Democrat Nick Salazar (Lujan is not running for re-election). The other proposal would pair Salazar with Thomas Garcia. The proposals can be seen here and here.

New York

This week the three-judge panel appointed in the case of Favors v. Cuomo rejected calls from legislative leaders seeking to dismiss the case and instead appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann as special master. The panel ordered all parties to appear before them and Mann on Monday. Mann will then prepare a report and make recommendations to the panel. The case was brought last November by a group of civic leaders who asked for a special master to take over redistricting as the legislature showed itself incapable of the job.

Meanwhile, aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said that, despite comments by Cuomo last Friday, he is still prepared to veto the new legislative districts. The governor had said he would consider withholding the veto if three steps are taken – redraw the lines in a fairer manner than those in the first draft, work to pass a constitutional amendment that would put an independent system in place for the next redistricting cycle, and rework the current redistricting law in case the amendment fails. On Wednesday, 22 Senate Democrats signed a letter to Cuomo, urging him to veto the plan and ensuring him that they would be able to block a potential veto override.

On the congressional map front, Assemblyman John McEneny (D), who serves as co-chair of the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, said on Monday that Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans had both drawn up maps but had not yet met to compare them. The last two rounds of redistricting in 1992 and 2002 saw the Assembly and Senate pass separate plans, leading to court involvement.

Pennsylvania

The Legislative Reapportionment Commission was expected to issue revised maps this week, and, while it met on Wednesday, it did not release any maps or hold a vote. The next meeting is scheduled for February 28. The commission was forced to get back to work following the state Supreme Court’s decision to throw out the maps in January. The court ordered this year’s elections to take place in the districts drawn following the 2000 census, but some had still hoped there would be time to put new maps in place prior to the April 24 primary.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R) initially said the legislature might consider moving the primary back, but this week said he expects them to be held on schedule. Without new districts, Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R) has been reluctant to call special elections for six vacant seats in the chamber. Residents of those districts called on the court to force Smith to schedule them but Smith says he can’t act until the Commission passes a new plan and the court approves it. Smith and Secretary of State Carol Aichele (R) have asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.

Wisconsin

A federal trial seeking to determine the constitutionality of new legislative and congressional districts was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but the three-judge panel hearing the case said redistricting was better left to Wisconsin lawmakers than the court. To that end they asked attorneys in the case to meet with legislators and ask them to consider altering the maps. Republicans said they would be willing to do so but that the law would not allow them. The court rejected this argument and asked them to reconsider a second time, but again they declined.

With their refusal, the court began the trial on Thursday. If they do find problems with the map, it is unclear if the court will chose to redraw them or if they will order lawmakers to do so. The plaintiffs argue that the maps violate the United States Constitution and Federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Latino voting power and making some 300,000 citizens wait six years between voting in state Senateelections–rather than the normal four.

Wyoming

Last Friday the Wyoming House of Representatives passed a legislative redistricting bill for the state. Following a modification last week to prevent pairing incumbents Sen. Curt Meier and Wayne Johnson, the bill is expected to pass the Senate. The state saw marked growth over the past decade, but this growth left behind many of state’s counties, especially those along its eastern border. The plan was approved 49-9. Although the chamber is split 50-10 in favor of the GOP. Seven of the nine votes came from Republicans.