Elections, Redistricting and Campaign Finance on 2010 Statewide Ballots

Nov. 3, 2010

Voters in 13 states considered measures relating to elections, redistricting or campaign finance in the Nov. 2, 1010, election. Key issues are summarized below the map.

Hot Issues

• Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol
• Legislatures
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• Budgets, Taxes and Revenue
• Hunting, Fishing and Animal Rights

More Resources

• 2010 Ballot Measure Results
• 2010 Ballot Measures: Pre-Election Overview
• Ballot Measure Database 

Skip ahead to Redistricting / Initiative Process / Campaign Finance

Elections

Voters in 10 states considered ballot measures dealing with elections on November 2.  Two of the highest profile among these ten were the Illinois proposal to implement a recall process for governors, and Oklahoma's voter ID proposal.  Both were approved by voters.

• Illinois:  With the approval of HJRCA 31, Illinois becomes the 19th state to provide for the recall of elected officials at the state level.  The process in Illinois will be unique among the other recall states, as it requires bipartisan support from members of both chambers of the legislature before a petition can be circulated.  No other recall state requires the legislature to sign off on a recall effort.
• Oklahoma:  Oklahoma has become the 27th state to implement a requirement that voters show identification at the polls, and among those 27, it is the ninth to specify that the ID must include a photograph of the voter.  The Oklahoma legislature passed a bill requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls in 2009, only to see it vetoed by the governor.  When they passed it a second time in 2009, they avoided that problem by referring it to the voters for their approval instead of sending it to the governor.  

Expansion of Voting Rights

Vermont voters have approved a question from the legislature that will allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by the date of the general election.  At least 11 states already extend that right to 17-year-olds.  Amendment 2 in Kansas (APPROVED) repeals the constitutional authority of the legislature to exclude people who are mentally ill from voting.  This isn't a new issue on state ballots -- Maine voters weighed in on voting by the mentally ill in 2000, Nevada in 2004, and Iowa in 2008.  New Mexico's Amendment 3 (APPROVED) modernizes the state constitution's language on voter qualifications in part by changing the phrase "idiots and insane persons" to "persons restricted by statute...by reason of mental incapacity."

Secret Ballot

In South Dakota and Utah, voters approved the idea of guaranteeing the right to vote by secret ballot both in candidate elections and labor union elections.  Two other states, South Carolina and Arizona, approved secret ballot amendments that pertain only to labor union elections.

Candidate Qualifications

In Michigan and North Carolina, questions approved on November 2 prohibit certain felons from holding certain elective and appointed offices.  In Michigan, any person convicted of a felony in the past 20 years involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust in relation to the person's official capacity as an elected officer or government employee is now barred from holding any elected state or local office and certain state and local government jobs.  In North Carolina, a new amendment to the constitution bars felons from serving as sheriff.

Local Elections

Amendment 1 in Missouri requires that the assessor in charter counties be an elected position.  An exception applying to counties with a population of 600,001 - 699,999 exempts Jackson County from this requirement.

Redistricting

Initiative Process

The initiative process itself was the topic of ballot questions in just two states this year.  Both questions were referred to the ballot by state legislatures.  In Arizona, Proposition 112 would move the deadline for submitting completed initiative petitions to election officials for verification from four months to six months before the date of the election in which they will be considered.  Prop. 112 is currently too close to call, with 49.93% of voters saying "yes" and 99% of the ballots counted.  The Arizona legislature proposed something similar in 2004, when Proposition 104 would have required petitions to be submitted seven months before the election.  Voters rejected that idea.   Voters don't always take a negative view toward that idea, however:  Missouri voters approved a change in the deadline from four to six months before the election in 1998, and in 2008 Ohio voters approved moving the deadline from 90 to 125 days before the election.

Oklahoma's Question 750 (APPROVED) changes the way the number of signatures required on an initiative petition is calculated.  Presently, Oklahoma bases the calculation on the number of votes cast in the office receiving the highest number of votes in the last state election.  Since elections for the office of President of the United States and governor alternate every two years in Oklahoma, that means the signature requirement is bumped up after a presidential election for the next two years, then declines for two years after a gubernatorial election.  Instead, Question 750 bases the requirement on the number of votes cast in the last general election for the office of governor, thereby smoothing out the signature requirements across election cycles.

Campaign Finance

Just one state -- Florida -- considered a campaign finance reform measure this year.  Amendment 1 (REJECTED), proposed by the legislature, would have repealed the state's public campaign financing program.  The program is available to candidates for statewide office and provides state grants to candidates who agree to abide by campaign spending limits.  Florida is one of 25 states with a public campaign financing option.  (Note that Florida requires that constitutional amendments receive 60% of the vote in order to be approved.  Therefore, even though Amendment 1 received what appears to be a passing vote of 52.5%, it actually fails.)

Chart Key

a) Type:  L = legislative referendum; I = citizen-initiated

b) CA = constitutional amendment; S = statutory

NCSL Contact

• Contact Jennie Drage Bowser in NCSL's Denver office for more information on ballot measures, campaign finance reform, initiative process and elections administration.
• Contact Tim Storey in NCSL's Denver office for more information about redistricting and elections administration.