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The State and Local Tap: Louisiana Secretary of State announces delayed presidential primary

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March 14, 2020Issue No. 198

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Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in State and local politics last week.

State Politics: The Week in Review

Ballot Measures Update

2020:

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Monday, March 9

Georgia legislature refers constitutional amendment to 2020 ballot concerning dedication of tax and fee revenue

  • The Georgia Legislature voted to send House Joint Resolution 164 to the November 2020 ballot for voter consideration. The measure would authorize the Georgia Legislature to dedicate certain tax or fee revenue to the public purpose for which the taxes or fees were imposed.
  • For example, the measure would allow revenues resulting from taxes or fees regarding hazardous wastes to be dedicated to the "investigation, detoxification, removal, and disposal of any hazardous wastes, hazardous constituents, or hazardous substances at sites where corrective action is necessary to mitigate a present or future danger to human health or the environment."
  • This amendment was introduced as House Resolution 164 on February 7, 2019, by Rep. Jay Powell (R-171). On February 20, 2019, the state House passed HR 164 by a vote of 169-1 with ten Representatives excused or not voting. The single no vote came from Republican Representative Matt Gurtler. The amendment was passed in the Senate as a substitute on March 25, 2019, by a vote of 52-0 with four excused.
  • On March 3, 2020, the House amended and passed the measure by a vote of 164-4 with 12 not voting. The Senate agreed to the House's amendments and passed the bill on March 9, 2020, certifying it for the November 2020 ballot.
  • From 1996 to 2018, 81 measures have been on the ballot in Georgia, of which, 84% (68 of 81) were approved and 16% (13 of 81) were defeated.

Signatures verified for top-four ranked-choice voting ballot initiative in Alaska

  • Alaskans could vote on a first-of-its-kind electoral system in November. On March 9, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer announced that the campaign Alaskans for Better Elections collected 36,006 valid signatures for its ballot initiative. The campaign filed 41,068 signatures, of which at least 28,501 needed to be valid.
  • Next, the Alaska State Legislature has the option to approve the proposal before the end of this year's legislative session, which is expected to adjourn on May 20, 2020. Otherwise, the proposal will appear on the ballot for the general election on November 3, 2020.
  • The ballot initiative would replace partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices. It would establish ranked-choice voting for general elections, in which voters would rank the four candidates that moved on from the primaries. The ballot initiative would also require persons and entities that make contributions that were themselves derived from donations, contributions, dues, or gifts to disclose the sources of the contributions.
  • Alaskans for Better Elections has raised $761,381 through January 7, 2020. Two organizations that have backed ranked-choice voting efforts in other states—Unite America and Action Now Initiative—provided the largest donations, $600,000 and $100,000, respectively. No campaign has organized to oppose the ballot initiative as of March 10, 2020.
  • Currently, one state—Maine—uses ranked-choice voting for some state and federal elections. In 2020, voters in Maine could be asked to expand ranked-choice voting to presidential elections. A ranked-choice voting initiative could also appear on the ballot in Massachusetts.
  • The deadline to file signatures for Alaska ballot initiatives passed on January 21, 2020. Along with Alaskans for Better Elections’ ballot initiative, voters may decide one to increase taxes on three North Slope oil production fields—Alpine, Kuparuk, and Prudhoe Bay. The legislature can also refer constitutional amendments and statutes to the ballot.

Friday, March 13

Six statewide filing deadlines pass in second week of March

  • Six states had major party filing deadlines from Monday, March 9 to Friday, March 13. These were:
    • Montana: March 9
    • New Mexico, Oregon: March 10
    • Idaho, Iowa, Nevada: March 13
  • All six states will hold elections for both chambers of their state legislatures and for seats on their state supreme courts. Montana is the only state holding gubernatorial elections, but it is not holding state appellate court elections like the remaining five states. Idaho is the only one of the six states with no state executive offices on the ballot in 2020.
  • Fifteen states had filing deadlines before March 9; Nebraska and Georgia had filing deadlines in the first week of March. Eight more states have major party filing deadlines between March 16 and March 31.
  • From November 2019 to July 2020, Ballotpedia will cover an average of six statewide major party filing deadlines each month. Sixteen states have statewide filing deadlines in March 2020, making it the busiest month for candidate ballot access deadlines for the 2020 elections. November 2019, February 2020, and July 2020 are tied for the fewest with two each.

Louisiana Secretary of State announces delays presidential primary

  • On March 13, Louisiana postponed its presidential primary elections by more than two months amid public health concerns due to the coronavirus outbreak. The state rescheduled its primaries from the planned date of April 4 to June 20. Its municipal elections are also delayed until July 25. Louisiana is the first state in the nation to postpone its primary elections due to the virus.
  • Louisiana Secretary of State R. Kyle Ardoin made the announcement at a press conference on March 13. He said, “Today I have certified that a state of emergency exists and requested that the governor issue an executive order postponing the elections this spring.”
  • The new date of June 20 is eleven days after the Democratic National Committee’s deadline of June 9 for presidential primary elections. The DNC said in a statement that they will coordinate with states as they adjust primary election processes in advance of the Democratic National Convention, but that Louisiana may lose half its delegates as a result of missing the deadline.
  • At the time of the announcement, four other states planned to hold their primaries as planned the following week, on March 17: Ohio, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. Three other states are scheduled to hold a primary or caucus on April 4—Alaska, Hawaii, and Wyoming—and Wyoming has canceled the in-person element of its caucuses, encouraging voters to submit ballots by mail. At the time of Ardoin’s announcement, Alaska and Hawaii planned to continue with their primary elections on April 4 as scheduled.

Special Elections

  • So far this year, 34 state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 16 states. Special elections have been held for 19 seats so far; heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 10 of the seats while Republicans previously controlled nine. One seat has flipped from Democratic control to Republican control. One seat has flipped from Republican control to Democratic control.
    • In special elections between 2011 and 2019, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
    • An average of 55 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, 2014: 40, 2016: 65, 2018: 99).
    • An average of 88 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five odd years (2011: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 88, 2017: 98, 2019: 77).

Upcoming special elections include:

March 17

March 31

Local Politics: The Week in Review

  • In 2020, Ballotpedia is providing comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. This encompasses every office on the ballot in these cities, including their municipal elections, trial court elections, school board elections, and local ballot measures. Ballotpedia is also covering all local recall elections as well as all local ballot measures in California.
    • 2020
      • March 3 - California:
        • On March 3, voters decided 292 local ballot measures. According to results available Monday, at least 111 were approved, at least 146 were defeated, and the remaining measures were too close to call because of the number of ballots left to be processed.
        • Of the 292 total local measures, 236 (81%) were bond or tax measures:
        • Other topics included the following:
          • 10 measures on housing, zoning, land use, and development
          • nine measures on local elections and campaigns
          • five measures on the regulation of marijuana and three marijuana tax measures
        • The 292 local measures on the ballot was the largest number of local measures at a primary election since at least 2010. From 2010 through 2018, primary elections were held in June rather than March. There were an average of 139 local measures on primary ballots from 2010 through 2018.
      • March 3 - Oklahoma:
        • Voters in Oklahoma City rejected a citizen initiative to levy an additional 0.125% sales tax with revenue dedicated to parks.
        • Voters in Tulsa County approved a measure allowing the sale of alcohol on Sundays.
      • March 3 - North Carolina: Voters in Forsyth County approved a 0.25% sales tax.
      • March 10 - Arizona: Voters in Chandler approved a charter amendment to make the city’s charter compatible with state law governing local election dates.
      • March 10 - Michigan: Voters in Wayne County approved a measure to renew the Wayne County Art Institute Authority's existing property tax of 0.2 mill ($20 per $100,000 in assessed value) to provide funding for the Detroit Institute of Arts through 2031.
      • March 17 - Ohio:
        • Voters in Cleveland will decide three charter amendments concerning election procedures, city council salaries, and city council meetings.
        • Voters in Cuyahoga County will decide a measure authorizing the county to continue for eight years a property tax funding health and human services and increase it from $390 to $470 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
        • Voters in the Columbus State Community College District will decide a $300 million bond issue.
        • Voters in South Western School District will decide a measure authorizing the district to renew for 10 years a property tax at the annual rate of $100 per $100,000 of assessed property value to fund Southwest Public Libraries.
        • Voters in Hamilton County will decide a measure authorizing the Hamilton County Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority to impose a 0.8% sales tax to raise revenue for infrastructure improvements and operating the Metro transportation system.
        • Voters in Toledo will decide a measure authorizing the city to increase the local income tax from 2.25% to 2.75% for 10 years from July 1, 2020, through December 31, 2030.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in State and local politics this week.

State Politics: What's On Tap Next Week

Monday, March 16

Filing deadlines approach in Maine, Colorado, and Utah

  • The filing deadlines to run for elected office in Maine, Colorado, and Utah are approaching. Maine’s filing deadline is March 16, Colorado’s is March 17, and Utah’s is March 19.
  • In Maine, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:
    • State Senate (35 seats)
    • State House (151 seats)
  • In Colorado, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:
    • State Board of Education (3 seats)
    • State Board of Regents (3 seats)
    • State Senate (18 seats)
    • State House (65 seats)
    • Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in the following areas:
      • Denver
      • Adams County
      • Arapahoe County
      • El Paso County
  • In Utah, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:
    • State Senate (15 seats)
    • State House (75 seats)
    • Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in the following areas:
      • Alpine School District
      • Canyons School District
      • Davis School District
      • Granite School District
      • Jordan School District
      • Nebo School District
  • The primary in Maine is scheduled for June 9, 2020, while the primary in both Colorado and Utah is scheduled for June 30. The general election in each state is scheduled for November 3, 2020.
  • Maine, Colorado, and Utah’s statewide filing deadlines are the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on March 26, 2020, in Virginia.
  • Maine and Colorado have Democratic state government trifectas, while Utah has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.

States in session

Thirty-seven states—Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin—are in regular session.

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

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