Utah voters passed Amendment C allowing the Legislature to call itself into a special session.

This came after Gov. Gary Herbert refused to call lawmakers to set a special election to fill the vacancy created by the departure of U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz.

Amendment C will allow legislators to convene if two-thirds of the House and Senate agree it is necessary because of a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster or emergency.

The amendment also allows the Legislature to hold a special session outside the Capitol if the building isn’t available.

Voters appear headed to approve Amendment C as unofficial vote totals show it winning 63.2 percent to 36.8 percent.

The City of Long Beach, California voted to establish a city ethics commission.

Measure CCC creates an independent ethics commission charged with administering and implementing rules concerning campaign financing, lobbying, conflicts of interest and governmental ethics.

The commission will also develop an educational program for candidates and lobbyists with the city.

The city’s agreement with the Fair Political Practices Commission to assist in the enforcement of local ethics laws remains in place.

A majority of city voters endorsed Measure 2E, banning corporations and labor organizations from donating directly to political campaigns for city offices and lowering the cap on donations for mayor, City Council, and other government posts.

Beginning January 1, 2020, mayoral candidates will be prohibited from accepting more than $1,000 per donor, as opposed to $3,000.

Individual donations for at-large council members will drop from $2,000 to $700, and donations to district candidates will be capped at $400 instead of $1,000.

Voters in Phoenix overwhelmingly passed Proposition 419, an amendment to the Charter of the City of Phoenix requiring any person, association of persons or entity making expenditures to influence the result of a city election to disclose and identify expenditures and contributions including original and intermediary sources of major contributions.

This is the latest in a nationwide trend to limit the influence of so-called dark money.

Proponents for the proposition argued Proposition 419 was a critical step to restoring the public’s trust in our elections.

The proposition passed 86.1 percent to 13.89 percent.

North Carolina voters defeated a constitutional amendment to establish an eight-member Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.

In defeating the amendment, voters validated a previous North Carolina Supreme Court ruling that struck down a 2017 law establishing the eight-member board because it reduced the governor’s executive authority and failed to provide representation for unaffiliated voters.

Currently, the governor appoints eight of nine members of the board from nominees provided by the two largest political parties.

The governor appoints the ninth member from nominations provided by the other eight members.

Republicans retained control of the Iowa House, Senate, and governor’s office in Tuesday’s election.

However, Iowans flipped two U.S. House seats from Republican to Democrat.

Democrats Abby Finkenauer defeated incumbent Rod Blum for the District 1 seat and Cindy Axne narrowly defeated incumbent David Young for the District 3 seat.

Voters passed Amendment 10 proposing four changes to state and local government structure and operation.

The first proposal changes the regular sessions for the Legislature from March to January on even-numbered years.

The measure also created the Office of Domestic Security and Counter-Terrorism within the Department of Law Enforcement and requires the Legislature to provide for a Department of Veterans Affairs within the executive branch.

The last proposal passed by the measure ensures elections for the county offices of sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, and clerk of the circuit court.

The changes relating to the election of county officers will take effect January 5, 2021, except for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties which will take in January 7, 2025.

North Dakota Voters passed a constitutional measure to establish an ethics commission.

Initiated Constitutional Measure 1 addresses the transparency of funding sources, lobbyists, conflicts of interests, and the establishment of an ethics commission.

The measure further restricts lobbyists ability to give gifts and campaign contributions.

The legislative assembly is directed to pass laws that provide electronically accessible public disclosure of funding that attempts to influence state-wide elections and ballot measures.

Voters approved Amendment 12, titled Lobbying and Abuse of Office by Public Officers.

The amendment expands restrictions on lobbying for compensation by former public officers, former justices, and judges.

Effective December 31, 2022 the measure bans state and local officials from lobbying for a period of six years after leaving public office.

The prohibition includes individuals serving as a statewide elected officer, member of the Legislature, a county commissioner, school superintendent or board member, elected municipal officer, and the agency head of an executive branch department of the state government.

The measure also prohibits abuse of a public position to obtain a personal benefit.

The Legislature will establish penalties for violations of the prohibition against abuse of a public position to take effect December 31, 2020.

State Republicans are celebrating a victory today following a successful gubernatorial election.

Mike Dunleavy, a former state senator from Wasilla, was elected governor, defeating Democratic candidate Mark Begich and current governor Bill Walker, whose name remained on the ballot despite a late withdrawal from the race.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Dunleavy triumphed over opponent Begich with about 52 percent of the vote.

After four years of having an Independent in office, this is a win for the Alaska Republican Party. The last Republican governor of Alaska was Sean Parnell, who was elected in 2010.

In Tuesday’s election, Arizona passed Proposition 306, placing limits on the state’s Clean Elections Commission’s rulemaking ability among other things.

The voter created Arizona Clean Elections Commission was established in 1998 and runs a public-financing system for candidates and enforces financial-reporting rules for campaigns and groups that spend money in elections.

Proposition 306 requires the Commission’s rules to be approved by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council comprised of political appointees. Opponents argued it was a way to limit the Commission’s ability to police dark money spending in Arizona.

The measure also prohibits candidates who receive public financing from paying money to political parties or private tax-exempt groups that try to influence elections.

Proposition 306 passed with 56 percent of the vote.

On November 6, voters gave Democrats the majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives while keeping Republicans firmly in control of the Senate.

With early elections results in, it appears clear Democrats have gained at least 26 seats, giving them more than the 218 seats required in the House for a majority.

In the Senate, Republicans gained two seats, ensuring their control of the Senate.

Republicans may possibly increase their majority in the Senate when the final votes are counted.

On November 6, Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown handily won re-election for a third term as U.S. Senator from Ohio.

Brown faced off against three-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci. Before becoming a member of the U.S. House, Renacci was the mayor of Wadsworth, Ohio.

Renacci originally was campaigning to be the next governor of Ohio. However, after being asked by the White House to run against Brown for the U.S. Senate, Renacci left the governor’s race and began his campaign for senate.

Brown won with 53.2% of the vote compared to Renacci’s 46.8% of the vote, according to the New York Times.

Campaign Finance

Federal: “House Dem Candidates Snag Free Office Rent” by Scott Bland for Politico

Canada: “Alberta Tables Bill Proposing Changes to Municipal Elections” by Charles Lefebvre for Chat News Today

Alaska: “As Alaska’s Elections Come Down to Wire, Ads Test Limits of Campaign Finance Laws” by Zachariah Hughes for Alaska Public Media

Elections

National: “Forget the Russians. On This Election Day, It’s Americans Peddling Disinformation and Hate Speech.” by Craig Timnberg and Tony Romm for Washington Post

Florida: “Before Going to Prison, Former Opa-locka Commissioner Worked on Political Campaigns” by Jay Weaver and Maya Kaufman for Miami Herald

Ethics

Federal: “Newly Released Emails Suggest Zinke Contradicted Ethics Pledge” by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) for MSN

Federal: “China Greenlights Large Batch of Ivanka Trump Trademark Applications” by Gary Shih for Washington Post

Lobbying

National: “Industries Turn Freedom of Information Requests on Their Critics” by Elizabeth Williamson for WRAL