Elections, Campaigns and Redistricting Issues Overview
NCSL tracks election and campaign issues in six major categories:
redistricting, election laws and procedures, election results and
analysis, term limits, initiative and referendum, and campaign finance.
NCSL provides comprehensive 50-state research and analysis on a wide
variety of election and campaign issues. See the NCSL About State
Legislatures summary for information on the NCSL projects and staff
who work on these issues.
Redistricting
is the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional
district boundaries every 10 years by state legislatures following the U.S.
Census. Redistricting litigation rages on that will determine the
rules for the next round of line drawing. NCSL publishes the definitive
work on redistricting
law every ten years and collects data about how
states do redistricting as well as the outcome of the process
including the number of
residents in each district.
Election
Laws and Procedures have come under increased scrutiny
since the drawn-out presidential election of 2000. States are taking a
closer look at issues such as voter registration, voting machines and
technology, and provisional voting, since the federal government stepped
in and mandated many changes in state law with the Help America Vote Act
of 2002. NCSL conducts 50-state research on many election law and
procedural issues, and maintains a comprehensive database of
election legislation.
Election Results
and Analysis are available through NCSL's StateVote
project which provides comprehensive and in-depth data and analysis
covering state elections. Each election year, NCSL is the primary source
for news and information on state elections. Visit the StateVote 2004 site
for an early look at what's coming up in November. Archived data for
legislative and ballot measure elections, including turnover and partisan
control, is also available.
Term
Limits for legislators exist in 16 states. NCSL is part of
a major national study of the effects of term limits on the legislative
institution. NCSL also maintains current information on the specifics of
the limits, counts of the number of legislators termed out, lists of term
limits-related legislation, and more.
Initiative,
Referendum and Recall The initiative process has come under
increased scrutiny in recent years, as more and more initiatives appear on
ballots and affect state policies and budgets. NCSL took a closer look at
the initiative process in 2002 with its I&R Task
Force. NCSL also maintains data on the specifics of the process in all
24 states, and a database of measures that have appeared on the ballot. A
comprehensive overview of the recall process is also available.
Campaign
Finance laws are intended to reduce the potential for
corruption, or even the appearance of corruption in campaigns for public
office. A number of states have set Contribution
Limits to regulate the money involved in campaigns.
NCSL's Elections staff conduct research on key issues regarding
legislative elections, and may be reached at 303-364-7700 or elections-info@ncsl.org. |
