The Sixth Circuit denied Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for a stay pending appeal of a case relating to ballot signature requirements. Proponents of a criminal justice reform initiative say the combination of the governor’s stay-at-home order and the signature requirements create an unconstitutionally severe restriction on their access to the ballot.
Read moreOver 182,000 Nebraskans have signed a petition to put a medical marijuana initiative on the November ballot.
Read moreOklahoma primary voters Tuesday narrowly approved an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, rejecting arguments by Republican state leaders that the measure will result in deep budget cuts for state agencies.
Read moreA federal judge denied Michigan’s emergency motion for a stay of an injunction preventing the state from keeping an initiative off the ballot that would allow prisoners to earn time off their sentences.
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The Supreme Court declined Thursday to disturb signature rules for Ohio ballot initiatives, dealing a blow to marijuana advocates who say the pandemic has made such rules unworkable.
Read moreAn effort to reinstate affirmative action to California colleges and government agencies moved one step closer to the November ballot Wednesday after clearing a key legislative hurdle.
Read moreAlaska Lieutenant Governor Kevin Meyer improperly denied certification of a proposed ballot initiative that seeks to change the state’s election laws in several ways, including by replacing the state’s current party-based primary system with a nonpartisan primary and establishing ranked-choice voting in general elections, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.
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The coronavirus pandemic and California’s shattered finances have injected urgency into an initiative that qualified for the November ballot Friday which — if passed — would reform the state’s landmark property tax code to raise billions for cash-strapped schools and counties.
Read moreDespite revenue shortfalls record-high unemployment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a ballot initiative to tax the wealthiest individuals and biggest businesses to address the homelessness crisis sailed to victory in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday.
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The Oakland City Council called Tuesday for further review of a proposal that would dramatically enhance the powers of a civilian commission overseeing the city’s police force.
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Pork producers’ challenge to a voter-approved law requiring pigs raised for consumption and sold in California to have space to move around before they are slaughtered was struck down by a federal judge Monday.
Read moreA federal court in Arizona dismissed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to require the Secretary of State to allow, during the current pandemic, the electronic submission of signatures required to put certain proposals on the ballot for the November election. The court rules that the people of the state should make the decision about how to draw signature samples and whether to treat signatures obtained through an electronic system as valid, and such a decision should not be made “on the fly” as part of a temporary restraining order proceeding.
Read moreArizonans for Fair Elections et al. sued Arizona and all of its counties in federal court, claiming its law that signatures for citizen initiatives must be “gathered in the presence of a circulator” is an unconstitutional burden during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Posing hypothetical questions about the “slippery slope” California’s voter-approved ban on gun magazines with over 10 rounds of ammunition could have on gun owners’ rights, the Ninth Circuit Thursday considered whether Proposition 63 was unconstitutional.
Read moreThe Supreme Court of California ruled that Proposition 47, which reclassified felony offenses of theft of property worth less than $950 as misdemeanors, extends to the unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle. The ruling resolves a question as to whether there is a distinction that would grant sentencing relief to defendants who took vehicles permanently but deny relief to defendants who took vehicles temporarily, finding there is not.
Read moreThe Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sued California’s governor and several of its science agencies for refusing to place carcinogenic processed meat such as hot dogs and bacon on its Proposition 65 list to warn the public, in Sacramento County Court.
Read moreEighty-one people filed a class action against 80 California cities and water districts, claiming they charge water rates that exceed the cost of service, in violation of voter-approved Proposition 218, of 1996, in Santa Clara County Court.
Read moreValley Direct Marketing et al. sued California in federal court, claiming Assembly Bill 5, on independent contractors, is unconstitutional, as its signature-collectors for ballot initiatives are obviously independent contractors.
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