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State Ballot Measure Monthly: February 2021
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By Ballot Measures Project staff
This edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly covers certifications and a selection of notable ballot measure news from Jan. 20 through Feb. 17.
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Number of certifications in past years
Odd-numbered years:
- The average number of measures certified for the next odd-year election cycle by this point from 2011 through 2019 was three.
- The average total number of statewide measures ultimately certified for odd-numbered years from 2011 through 2019 was 31.
Even-numbered years:
- The average number of measures certified for the next even-year election cycle by this point from 2011 through 2019 was six.
- The average total number of statewide measures ultimately certified for even-numbered years from 2010 through 2020 was 172.
2021 certifications
From Jan. 19 through Feb. 16, five statewide ballot measures were certified.
Jan. 20:
- New York Redistricting Changes Amendment (2021) - This amendment would make multiple changes to the state's redistricting requirements and processes. The New York Legislature approved the amendment in 2020 and then again in January 2021 to refer it to the Nov. 2 ballot. Each chamber of the New York Legislature must approve a constitutional amendment by a simple majority vote in two successive legislative sessions with an election in between. In the Senate on Jan. 12, 2021, all 42 voting Democrats were for the amendment, and all 20 Republicans were against it. In the Assembly on Jan. 20, most Democrats (99 of 106) voted for the amendment, and seven Democrats and all 43 Republicans voted against it. The amendment would
- (a) change the vote thresholds for adopting redistricting plans when one political party controls both legislative chambers,
- (b) require that incarcerated persons be counted at the place of their last residence for redistricting purposes;
- (c) require the state to count residents, including people who are residents but not citizens, if the federal census doesn't;
- (d) remove the block-on-border requirement for Senate districts;
- (e) cap the number of state senators at 63; and
- (f) move up the redistricting timeline.
Feb. 5:
The Pennsylvania Legislature referred three constitutional amendments to the May 18 ballot. According to the state's default process, both chambers of the legislature must approve constitutional amendments by a simple majority vote in two successive sessions to place them on the ballot. The three amendments passed on Feb. 5 were approved in July 2020. The amendments were voted on together as Senate Bill 2 and were approved largely along party lines. In the Senate, all 26 voting Republicans, the one Independent, and one Democrat were in favor. The remaining 20 Democrats were against it. In the House, all 112 Republicans and four Democrats were in favor, and the remaining 86 Democrats were against it. Two of the measures would alter the governor's emergency declaration powers. Republicans proposed them in response to Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) emergency orders related to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Pennsylvania Emergency Declarations Amendment (May 2021) - This amendment would limit a governor's emergency declaration to 21 days unless the legislature votes to extend the order. It would also require the legislature to pass laws related to how disaster emergencies must be managed.
- Pennsylvania Legislative Resolution to Extend or Terminate Emergency Declaration Amendment (May 2021) - This amendment would allow the Pennsylvania Legislature to pass a resolution by a simple majority to extend or terminate an emergency declaration by the governor. It would also prevent the governor from vetoing such a resolution. In July 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the governor could veto a resolution terminating an emergency declaration.
- Pennsylvania Equal Rights Regardless of Race or Ethnicity Amendment (May 2021) - This amendment would add language to the state constitution prohibiting the denial or abridgment of rights on account of an individual's race or ethnicity.
Feb. 8:
- New York Environmental Rights Amendment (2021) - This amendment would add a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthful environment to the New York Constitution's Bill of Rights. The legislature referred it to the Nov. 2 ballot after approving it in April 2019 and again in 2021. The Senate approved the amendment on Jan. 12. The House approved it on Feb. 8. In both chambers combined, Democrats supported the amendment, and 63% of Republicans opposed it.
2022 certifications
From Jan. 19 through Feb. 16, three statewide measures were certified.
Jan. 22:
- California Proposition 31, Flavored Tobacco Products Ban Referendum (2022) - This veto referendum targets the repeal of Senate Bill 793 (SB 793), which would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products. The California Legislature approved SB 793 in August 2020, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed it on Aug. 28, 2020. The California Coalition for Fairness led the signature petition drive for the veto referendum to put SB 793 before voters. Beth Miller, the communications director for the California Coalition for Fairness, said that manufacturers were sponsoring the campaign.
Jan. 28:
- Iowa Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment (2022) - This amendment would add a right to own and bear firearms to the Iowa Constitution and require strict scrutiny for any alleged violations of the right brought before a court. Both chambers of the Iowa Legislature must approve a constitutional amendment by a simple majority vote to place it on the ballot. The legislature approved the amendment in March 2019 and January 2021. The votes were along party lines. All Republicans were in favor. All Democrats were opposed in 2019, and all but one were opposed in 2021.
- Amendment sponsors originally intended to pass the bill during the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 sessions to place the question on the 2020 ballot. But when the secretary of state failed to publish the amendments the legislature approved during 2018 as required by the constitution, the legislature needed to start the amendment process over again.
- Kansas No State Constitutional Right to Abortion and Legislative Power to Regulate Abortion Amendment (August 2022) - This amendment would state that nothing in the Kansas Constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for abortion and that the legislature has the authority to pass laws regarding abortion.
- The amendment was a response to the Kansas Supreme Court ruling in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt (2019) in which the court held the Kansas Bill of Rights does guarantee a right to abortion. During the debate over the amendment, Rep. Tory Arnberger (R) said, "Kansas has over 20 (laws regulating abortion) and we could lose all of them due to this ruling." If approved, the amendment would overturn the ruling in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt.
Federal court blocks enforcement of Maine's residency requirement for initiative and referendum petition circulators
On Feb. 16, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock enjoined the state from enforcing provisions of the Maine Constitution and a 2015 law requiring petition circulators to be registered voters, and, therefore, state residents. Woodcock ruled that "the First Amendment’s free speech protections trump the state’s regulatory authority." Secretary of State Shenna Bellows could appeal the ruling to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling also said, "The Court framed its opinion as a prelude to a challenge to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for a more authoritative ruling."[1]
The ruling makes it possible for proponents of a 2022 ballot initiative that would amend the state's voter qualification statute to state that a person must be a citizen to vote to qualify the measure for the 2022 ballot. Rep. William Faulkingham (R-136) initially filed the ballot initiative in 2019.[2] On Oct. 12, 2019, Faulkingham announced that the campaign was suspended due to a lack of funds.[3][4] However, the campaign later relaunched targeting the 2022 ballot.
Proponents used professional out-of-state petition circulators along with volunteers and paid in-state petition circulators starting on Nov. 3 to collect signatures. The We the People PAC, Faulkingham, the Liberty Initiative Fund—which is providing funding for signature gathering—and Nicholas Kowalski—a petition circulator from Michigan—filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against Maine's residency requirement on Dec. 30, 2020.[5]
The plaintiffs said they competed with No CMP Corridor, the campaign behind an initiative concerning approval of certain electric transmission lines, for in-state professional circulators. Plaintiffs said they were able to find no more than six available professional circulators that were Maine residents. The campaign reported gathering 38,000 signatures by Jan. 25, 2021, and said that 90% of the signatures were collected by the 49 out-of-state professional circulators. The remaining 10% were gathered by six in-state professional petition circulators, 24 volunteer circulators, and 42 paid in-state circulators. As of Feb. 17, Faulkingham said the campaign had gathered 88,000 signatures. A total of 63,067 valid signatures are required by Feb. 26, 2021, to qualify the measure for the 2022 ballot.[3][5]
Similar measures explicitly requiring citizenship to vote were approved by voters in Alabama, Colorado, and Florida in 2020 and in North Dakota in 2018.
As of February 2021, seven states had residency requirements for ballot initiative petition circulators. An additional three states—Colorado, Maine, and Mississippi—had requirements in their laws, but federal courts had invalidated or blocked the enforcement of the laws.
See also
- 2021 ballot measures
- 2022 ballot measures
- List of ballot measures by state
- List of ballot measures by year
- Ballot initiatives filed for the 2021 ballot
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2021
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2022
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2021
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2022
Related articles
Footnotes
- ↑ Bangor Daily News, "Federal judge puts key Maine referendum law on hold amid GOP lawsuit," February 17, 2021
- ↑ Maine Secretary of State, "Citizens Initiatives & People's Veto," accessed September 3, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bangor Daily News, "Maine conservatives suspend 2020 referendum drive to bar noncitizens from voting," October 16, 2019
- ↑ Facebook, "Maine Citizen Elections," October 12, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 U.S. District Court of Maine, "We The People PAC v. Bellows," February 16, 2021
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