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Daily Brew: April 12, 2019

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April 12, 2019

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Today's Brew highlights how requiring constitutional amendments be approved in multiple legislative sessions results in fewer of them + Honolulu’s special election tomorrow  
The Daily Brew

Welcome to the Friday, April 12, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Requiring constitutional amendments be approved in two legislative sessions results in fewer amendments
  2. Special election on Saturday will determine governing faction of Honolulu City Council
  3. How you can help us improve our articles for the nation's voters

Requiring constitutional amendments be approved in two legislative sessions results in fewer amendments

In 49 states, legislatures place proposed state constitutional amendments on the ballot for voter consideration. Most of the states—36 of 49—require legislatures to approve the amendments during one legislative session. Nine states require legislatures to approve amendments twice—once during one legislative session, and then again during the next. Four states allow amendments to be passed during one or two successive sessions, depending on how many lawmakers vote in favor. Delaware does not require constitutional amendments passed by the legislature to be referred to voters.

The nine states that require that a constitutional amendment be approved in two successive state legislative sessions in order to go before voters have seen fewer such amendments on the ballot. Since 2010, these states have averaged one constitutional amendment every two years.

The 36 states that place constitutional amendments before voters if they are approved during a single legislative session have had an average of three constitutional amendments on the ballot every two years during the same period.

The two-session requirement means that a legislature can approve an amendment, and then, during the following session, reject it or exclude it from a floor vote.

Having a two-session requirement also means political variables—such as party control of legislative chambers and leadership—can change between sessions. These changes can influence whether an amendment fails to make the ballot despite receiving initial approval.

From 2010 through 2018, 62 constitutional amendments were approved during one legislative session in those states with two-session vote requirements. However, 21 of these potential constitutional amendments (33.9%) were not approved during the second session and thus were not placed before voters.

When there was a change in party control of the legislature from one legislative session to another, 90% of the constitutional amendments approved during the first session in two-session states were not approved during the second. When the same party kept control of the legislature between legislative sessions, 23.1% of the constitutional amendments approved during the first session in those states were not approved during the second session.

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Special election Saturday will determine governing faction of Honolulu City Council

On Tuesday I brought you the story of a Georgia state House district that held its third election in 11 months after a judge ruled that the results of the previous two were invalid due to voters casting ballots incorrectly. That election was decided Tuesday, as Chris Erwin defeated the former incumbent, Dan Gasaway, with 75.5% of the vote. Erwin had finished first in the two previous elections, winning by 67 and two votes, respectively.

There is another unresolved election from 2018, this one for the District 4 seat on the Honolulu City Council. A special election to decide that race will be held on Saturday. The race will also determine the governing coalition of the Honolulu City Council.

Final results from November 6, 2018, showed incumbent council member Trevor Ozawa defeated former state Representative Tommy Waters by 22 votes out of over 36,000 ballots cast, a margin of 0.06 percent. Waters subsequently challenged the results, arguing that some mailed absentee ballots were received after the 6 p.m. deadline on Election Day and should not have been counted.

On January 25, 2019, the Hawaii Supreme Court unanimously invalidated the results of that election and ordered a new election. The court determined that 350 absentee mail-in ballots were received after the deadline and that those ballots “were subsequently commingled with other ballots and then counted in determining the outcome of the election.”

The court ruled, “These 350 ballots exceed the 22-vote margin by which the election was decided and, because they have become commingled with other ballots that were validly cast, it is now impossible to exclude the late-received ballots and determine the correct election result.”

Saturday’s election will determine the prevailing governing majority of the council. Four of the council’s nine members generally support incumbent Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Four have opposed Caldwell and his policies. The winner of Saturday’s election will determine which of those two groups will be in the majority. Ozawa has been a vocal critic of Caldwell, who has campaigned for Waters.

In 2014, Ozawa beat Waters for the same District 4 seat by 47 votes, a margin of 0.15 percent.

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