On the Ballot

On this episode: 34 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election in just a few weeks, with control of the upper chamber of congress bound to come down to just a handful of tight races. Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governor’s editor for The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, joins the show to run through Cook’s current toss up Senate races, which have shifted lately and those that still could, and...

On this episode: All 435 seats of the House or Representatives are up for grabs this election season. Here at Ballotpedia, we’re tracking 53 of those as battleground races  – which means we’re expecting about 13% of these races to be truly competitive. Heading into the election, Republicans have a 220-212 majority, with three current vacancies. Democrats need a net gain of five districts to win a...

On this episode: With a record 11 abortion related measures on the ballot in 10 states, we can expect one of the nation’s most divisive issues to linger in many American minds when they head to cast their votes at the polls in a few weeks. In the first half of the show, you’ll hear Ballotpedia staff writer Nicole Fisher detail the measures, how they’re different, and what polling indicates about t...

On this episode: Bans on noncitizen voting at the state level have become more frequent since 2018, and this year, there are a record number of ballot measures related to the issue.  Eight state legislatures referred constitutional amendments to the ballot to prohibit the state or local governments from allowing noncitizen voting – that’s in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahom...

On this episode: Few voting methods have gained as much traction and been in the spotlight these last few years as Ranked Choice Voting, commonly known as RCV. How it works is right in its name; voters rank candidates according to their preference and ballots are processed in rounds. The candidate in the last place is eliminated during each round and the voters’ second choices get their votes. The...

On this episode: Last night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance took to the stage in New York for the first and only scheduled vice presidential debate, hosted by CBS. Without a second debate on the horizon for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, this might've been one of the last opportunities for each ticket to make their case to voters on the natio...

On this episode: 11 Gubernatorial elections on the ballot this November – in Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia, as well as American Samoa and Puerto Rico. Most of these contests aren’t expected to be competitive – but two – in New Hampshire and North Carolina – are about as close as they can get.  In this...

On this episode: A complete breakdown of our 14th Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report, which analyzes all 5,807 state legislative seats that are up for election on November 5, 2024, in 44 states. Overall, our research found that competitiveness in 2024 was below average for even years from 2010 to 2024. Looking at averages across the last three even-year election cycles: 2024 had fewer...

NOTE: This episode was recorded on Friday, September 20th, BEFORE polling on Monday, September 23rd indicated a bump for former President Donald Trump in the swing states; particularly in Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia, according to a new poll by the New York Times and Siena College (that's how fast this stuff changes!) On this episode: The end of last week saw a deluge of new polling upd...

On this episode : We’re set to see marijuana pop up in some way or another on ballots across the country this November, with potentially seven marijuana-related measures overall. Recreational use of marijuana is currently legal in 24 states and D.C., 13 states from that bunch legalized marijuana through the ballot measures process–and three more will try to do the same this November, with initiati...

On this episode: Ballotpedia’s communication’s team takes over the podcast for a walkthrough of our Voter Toolkit to help get ready to vote this November. Learn how to use the sample ballot tool, read candidate surveys, find out when polls open and close, and more at the link below.  Election ‘24 Voter Toolkit: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Voter_Toolkit    Sign up for our Newsletters: h...

On this episode: Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump took to the stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for their only scheduled debate as presidential hopefuls.  Julia Terruso, a national political reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, joins the show to break down how each candidate fared, their message to voters in Pennsylv...

On this episode: Our Editor-in-Chief is set to lead On the Ballot through what promises to be an action-packed election season. Joined by our longtime host–ballot measures staff writer Victoria Rose–Geoff shares why he's excited to step into the role and what you can expect from us over the next few months. Learn more about Geoff: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:Geoff_Pallay Sign up for ou...

On this episode: Dr. Adam Feldman–a scholar on the Supreme Court, who runs the Empirical SCOTUS blog–joins to break down the recent term and what he’s looking out for in next year’s term, which’ll start in October. Plus – why we’ve seen the court take on fewer cases per year on average since 1988.  Take a look at the most recent term: https://ballotpedia.org/Supreme_Court_cases,_October_term_2023-...

On this episode: Voters in nine states—Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota—will decide on abortion-related ballot measures in Nov. 2024. This is the most on record for a single year. Initiatives are pending signature verification in two additional states—Arkansas and Nebraska. Our ballot measures team breaks down what these measures have in c...

On this episode: Day two at the Democratic National Convention is well underway, with former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama set to speak later this evening.  Today, we’re joined by GQR pollster Anna Greenberg, who’s attending the DNC in Chicago this week, to bring us inside the convention and tell us a little more about the Democrats plans for the upcoming campaign and...

On this episode: New York City–home to the nation's largest public school district–is planning to ban cell phones in classrooms across all of its roughly 16,000 schools. What would such a policy look like at this scale, and how do parents, educators, and students feel about its efficacy? Chalkbeat NYC Bureau Chief Amy Zimmer joins the show to bring us up to speed on where the policy stands and...

On this episode: Many observers of national politics might not have known much about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) before his ascendence over the last few weeks to become Kamala Harris' choice for a running mate, which became official last night. Why'd Harris choose Walz over other front runners like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Arizona Senator Mark Kelly? What's his record...

On this episode: Texans have decided on 708 ballot measures in the nearly 150 years since the state adopted its constitution. Five hundred twenty-eight (528) measures were approved, meaning the constitution has been amended 528 times. One hundred eighty (180) measures were defeated, giving Texas measures a lifetime approval rating of roughly 75%. In the first episode of what will become a recurrin...

On this episode: The first six months of 2024 have already seen the most recall attempts, and successful recalls of politicians, at this point in the year in the last ten years. What’s behind the recent surge in recall activity? In this episode, you’ll hear a full breakdown of BP’s mid-year report on political recalls, including this year’s most common trends, why states like Texas and Wisconsin a...

On this episode: According to BP's annual trifecta vulnerability ratings, eleven state government trifectas are vulnerable in the 2024 elections. Democrats are defending seven vulnerable trifectas and Republicans are defending four. For the Democrats, Oregon’s trifecta status is highly vulnerable, while the Republican trifectas of Texas and New Hampshire are also highly vulnerable.  A state go...

On this episode: The assassination attempt on Donald Trump and President Joe Biden dropping out of the race for the White House–two history-shattering events in the span of eight days–have firmly pushed the minor party presidential candidates out of the conversation for the time being.  What impact might they have as we move closer to election day, and what sort of laws and tactics factor into how...

On this episode: President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election this afternoon, July 21st. A president-elect has never withdrawn, died, or become incapacitated between the general election and the presidential inauguration in American history. So what happens now?  BP staff writer Ellen Morrissey joins the show to break down Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, ho...

On this episode: Kyle Kondik–the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics–joins the show to discuss the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump (R), Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance (R) as his running mate, and how Joe Biden’s (D) debate performance may affect presidential polling. Plus – more on Senate/House projections, abortion ballot measure...

On this episode: An in-depth walkthrough of our mid-year report on election administration legislation. Ballotpedia has tracked 3,735 election-related bills in 2024, more than in all of 2023. For the third year in a row, state legislators considered more election-related legislation in states with Democratic trifectas, but adopted more new election laws in states with Republican trifectas. In Repu...