On the Ballot

On this Episode: On Friday, SCOTUS overruled the legal doctrine known as Chevron Deference in a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts. For almost 40 years, Chevron served as a legal structure through which courts may review, approve, and reject regulations in the context of statutory intent. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Katanji Brown-Jackson dissented, arguing that defe...

On this episode: A conversation with Joe Nguyen, a Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 34. Senator Nguyen sponsored WA SB 5838, which established an artificial intelligence task force that’ll explore different use cases, think through how to address developments like deepfakes, and set the standard for where Washington state goes from here.  483 bills have been...

On this episode: A conversation with Toni Hasenbeck, a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 65. Representative Hasenbeck has sponsored several bills related to artificial intelligence–one of which being OK HB 3642, which updated the state's laws on obscenity and child pornography and broadened what might be considered unlawful.  483 bills have been...

On this episode: Unlike for-profit organizations, campaigns are considered nonprofits and are, as a result, not as heavily scrutinized when it comes to privacy practices. What does that mean for your personal data when you visit a campaign’s website?  Kaushal Kafle–a soon-to-be doctoral graduate from William and Mary University–and his colleagues analyzed the privacy practices of political campaig...

On this episode: Earlier this week, voters in North Dakota approved a ballot measure that will establish age limits for the US Senate or US House of Representatives from the Roughrider State. The Congressional Age Limits Initiative, also known as North Dakota Initiated Measure 1, passed with 61% of the vote. It's officially the first American law of its kind to set a cap on how old you can be...

On this episode: Introducing our new tool! The first nationwide resource for state-level administrative state bill tracking, our brand new tracker provides a free, one-stop hub for individuals to follow administrative state legislative reforms in every state legislature, from introduction to enactment.  Check out the Tracker here:  https://legislation.ballotpedia.org/admin-state/home   Learn more...

On this episode: As of May 23, 110 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 35 states for elections this year. In even-numbered years since 2010, the average was 161 statewide ballot measures. With a little over a month until most state legislative sessions come to a close and citizen initiative signature deadlines approaching this summer, our ballot measures team takes a lo...

On this episode: As state legislative sessions begin to wrap up around the country, Ballotpedia has tracked roughly 20 enacted bills related to Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing across 14 states thus far in 2024. What do they have in common?  Leg. Supporting ESG: https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_approaches_supporting_ESG_investing   Leg. Opposing ESG: https:/...

On this episode: On May 21st, voters in Eugene, Oregon, will decide whether or not to replace the existing electoral system with STAR voting for Mayor and City Council Elections. If approved, the city would become the first in the world to utilize this system for electing their political leaders.  Through STAR voting, voters rate candidates for a given office on a scale of zero to five, with zero...

On this episode: An interview with Sophia Voight, a political reporter for The Appleton Post-Crescent, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK in Wisconsin. We came across Sophia’s reporting about a month ago in a story she wrote just ahead of Wisconsin’s state-wide local elections on April 2nd, in which she noticed and documented something that we’ve been following closely here at Ballotpedia: Local electi...

On this episode: This weekend on Saturday, May 4th, Lubbock is looking to become the 6th city or locality in Texas to try and decriminalize the possession of a small amount of cannabis. Ordinances have passed in Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Denton, and Elgin with upwards of 70% in favor in each vote, but have yet to have meaningful implications, as Texas’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton ha...

On this episode: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) just released its biennial update of the Elections Performance Index (E.P.I.) for 2022, and it brought exciting news about the state of American elections: Over the past decade, the EPI has charted the steady improvement of virtually every state in how elections are administered.  Professor Charles Stewart –director of the MIT Ele...

On this episode: The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act–more commonly referred to by its acronym, the REINS Act–is a bill that could cause major changes to the federal rule-making process if it passes into law. If passed, it would require legislative approval of agency regulations with certain financial or economic impacts before the regulations become effective. But what’s tha...

On this episode: Most public school K-12 students in the U.S. attend a school based primarily on their residential address–and that dividing line can often determine the quality of the public education available to them. These boundaries link public education to the many facets of family residential decisions, including wealth, ethnicity, social connection, employment, and status. Ballotpedia’s di...

On this episode: For the 100th episode of On the Ballot(!!), Ballotpedia founder and CEO Leslie Graves joins our social media manager Abby Campbell for a chat about how Ballotpedia can help young prospective voters get informed and empowered in what promises to be an exciting year of elections.  Leslie and Abby discuss weeding through the abundance of news online, how to identify reliable politica...

On this special video episode: All 435 House seats are up for grabs this year, but, as is often the case, the balance of power will come down to around a dozen key races around the country. Republicans are looking to hold onto their slim 221-214 majority, as Democrats seek a net gain of 4 seats to flip the lower chamber.  Nathan Gonzales , the publisher and editor of the nonpartisan ratings outlet...

On this episode: The co-founder and director of the election forecasting website CNalysis joins the show to take a look ahead at some of the most competitive races he’s watching this year at every level of government. Chaz chimes in on Cnalysis’ methodology, why Alaska is his favorite state politically, and how his forecast of the presidential election has been changing over time.  Check out Cnaly...

On this episode: 27 states now have some form of legislation banning or restricting the private funding of election administration. Will we see that trend continue in 2024 as we inch closer to November? And how is private funding supplementing the public funding of our elections?  Learn more about these types of laws: https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_the_private_funding_of_elections   About...

On this episode: 11 gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2024–Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.  Guest: BP Staff Writer Joel Williams An overview: https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_elections,_2024   Battleground states: https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_battlegrounds,_2024 NH: https://ballotped...

On this episode: Sixteen states and one U.S. Territory will head to the polls on what will be the most consequential day yet this year in politics–not just in the race for The White House, but for intra-party primaries across the country. 50% of all Republican delegates and 36% of all Democratic delegates are at stake, while key primaries in California, Alabama, and North Carolina will have major...

On this episode: BP’s Ryan Byrne returns for a broader look at the 11 statewide ballot propositions that have qualified for the ballot in California for elections this year. Learn more about CA’s ballot measures here: https://ballotpedia.org/California_2024_ballot_propositions   Donate to BP: donate.ballotpedia.org/ontheballot2024   Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_...

On this episode: Property taxes are used to fund all sorts of different municipal services. In California, local jurisdictions use parcel taxes–which are a specific type of property tax. Voters get to weigh in on whether or not these taxes get imposed, and many counties will have the chance to do so next week on March 5th when voters head to the polls. BP’s Ryan Byrne joins the show to explain wha...

On this episode:  Many public assistance programs in the United States have long required some form of work requirement in order to access benefits – and legislators across the country are pursuing new strategies and policies for both loosening and tightening restrictions.  More on Medicaid: https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_sues_the_Biden_administration_over_rejection_of_Medicaid_work_requirements_...

On episode #089: Fifty-nine Republican primaries for seats in the Texas House of Representatives will take place on March 5th– the most contested Republican primaries in at least a decade. Forty-five of those primaries involve a challenger facing an incumbent, which is also a decade high. BP staff writer Joel Williams joins the show for a quick preview how competitive these races might be and what...

On this episode: Last month on January 17th, SCOTUS heard oral arguments in a cases that deals with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) interpretation of a federal fishery law. The court’s ruling, one of the most anticipated in 2024, could affect future applications of Chevron deference.   Chief policy editor Caitlin Styrsky joins the show to unpack Chevron Deference’s history, how the...