Welcome to Brew on Wednesday July 14th. This is what awaits you at the start of the day:
- Compare this year’s national polls to previous odd years
- The California judge ruled that Governor Newsom will not have a party designation in the recall vote
- The Texas Democrats are leaving the state ahead of the expected vote on election-related laws
Compare this year’s national polls to previous odd years
Now that we’ve moved into July I thought it would be a good time to review the number of certified statewide polls this year and how they compare to previous years. So far, voters have voted 11 measures – four in Pennsylvania and seven in Rhode Island – and voters in at least five states will vote on 20 measures in October and November. Here is a quick summary of what lies ahead of you.
Louisiana voters will pass two constitutional amendments to the constitution on October 9th.
- One measure would remove the requirement that voters approve property tax assessment in Louisiana dike counties, created since 2006. Dyke districts represent areas along the major Louisiana waterways, and the boards of those districts take action to control and prevent flooding in these areas.
- The other measure would increase the limit on funding changes the state could make during a projected budget deficit.
Voters in four states – Maine, New Jersey, New York and Texas – will vote on 18 measures on November 3rd.
Ballotpedia is tracking potential nationwide voting actions that could be carried out before voters this year. This includes proposed initiatives that have been tabled, are under review, or have started collecting signatures in order to get a place on the ballot. It also contains potential legislative measures that have gone through at least half of the legislative process.
I spoke to our editor for Ballot Measures, Josh Altic, about deadlines for states to certify additional measures. In Washington, supporters have until July 24 – 90 days after the legislature’s adjournment – to hand in signatures for possible veto referenda. Colorado supporters have until August 2 to submit signatures for three potentially initiated state statutes. And lawmakers in several states could still certify legal measures. For example, the Texas legislature is in a special session adjourned on August 7th.
The graph below shows the number of nationwide measures that have appeared on the ballot paper in every odd year since 1987. Nationwide, voters passed 27 measures in 2017, the lowest number of certified measures in seventy years. In 2019, voters decided on 36 measures.
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The California judge ruled that Governor Newsom will not have a party designation in the recall vote
James P. Arguelles, Superior Court Justice of Sacramento County ruled July 12th that California Governor Gavin Newsom, D’s party affiliation will not appear on the state’s recall vote on September 14th. Here’s a quick recap of how we got here:
- Newsom signed a bill in October 2019 that lays down certain procedures related to recalls. Among other things, the law allows a civil servant who is subject to dismissal to indicate his party preference on the ballot.
- Orrin Heatlie filed a recall motion against Newsom on February 13, 2020.
- In its official response to the February 20, 2020 recall, Newsom did not submit a form specifying its party preference.
- Newsom sued Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) on June 28, 2021 after Weber ruled that Newsom’s party affiliation would not be listed on the recall ballot.
- Judge Arguelles held a hearing on the lawsuit on July 9, 2021.
In his ruling, Arguelles wrote: “Governor Newsom’s failure to determine party preference will not result in him being identified in a vote as ‘Party Preference: None’. Rather, there will be no reference to party preferences next to his name either way. Instead, the recall vote is simply asked whether he should be recalled. “
When re-elected, voters will be asked two questions. The first will ask whether Newsom should be removed from office of governor. The second will ask who should succeed Newsom when he is called back.
The deadline for submitting certain forms for candidates, such as five-year tax returns, personal financial information, nomination signatures, and a candidacy statement, is the July 16th website on July 17th.
California passed law earlier this year authorizing counties to send postal ballot papers to all voters for all elections in 2021. District election officials will begin sending ballots to voters on August 16.
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The Texas Democrats are leaving the state ahead of the expected vote on election-related laws
In case you didn’t find it on your regular newsletters, here is a recap of what happened at the special session of the Texas Legislature.
At least 51 of 67 Democratic state officials in Texas left the state on July 12 and traveled to Washington DC before the expected votes on election-related laws were expected. Proponents say the legislation includes updates to improve electoral integrity. Opponents say the bills are tantamount to voter suppression.
It’s the second time the Texas House Democrats have been on strike this year. The first took place on May 30, when all 67 members of the Democratic Group left the Chamber to discuss another package of election-related laws. This prevented the House from passing the bill before the midnight deadline of the regular session.
The Texas House of Representatives requires 100 members – two-thirds of the 150 MPs – to be present for a quorum. A quorum is the minimum number of members required to conduct official business. Democrats control 67 of the 150 seats in the US state of Texas.
Ballotpedia has identified seven other notable legislative failures since 2000 – where lawmakers left the state for at least a week or received significant national media attention – including the following:
- 2021 (Oregon): All 11 republican state senators were absent from the legislature and sent a letter to Governor Kate Brown (D) saying the governor had ignored their proposals related to COVID-19. These senators returned on March 2nd.
- 2011 (Wisconsin): Fourteen Democratic members of the state Senate failed to attend a scheduled meeting to prevent the passage of the law on the right to work. The strike ended after five weeks when Republicans removed tax provisions from the measure, lowering the quorum required for a vote.
- 2003 (Texas): Eleven Democratic members of the Texas Senate and 51 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives failed to come to a scheduled legislature to prevent a redistribution plan from being passed that they claimed would benefit Republicans. This strike lasted 43 days.
For more information on state quorum requirements and other notable work stoppages by state lawmakers, see the link below.
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