Lawmakers voted to schedule a special election on August 8, with the adoption of Senate Joint Resolution 2.

The special election is for a ballot issue proposing a constitutional amendment to require approval by 60%  of voters to approve any constitutional amendment which would be effective immediately upon voter approval. The current requirement is for a majority vote.

The constitutional amendment also modifies procedures for an initiative petition proposing a constitutional amendment by prohibiting any additional signatures to be filed for the initiative petition, if found to be insufficient.

If a referendum petition or an initiative petition proposing a law is determined to be insufficient, ten additional days will be allowed for the filing of additional signatures.

The amendment also changes the signature requirements for an initiative petition proposing an amendment to the constitution to require from each county of the state petitions bearing the signatures of not less than five per cent of the electors of the county, while for all other initiative, supplementary, and referendum petitions the signature requirement remains unchanged, requiring petitions from one-half of the counties bearing signatures of one-half the percentage of electors in the county.

These changes would be effective January 1, 2024, if approved by voters.

Henderson voters have approved ballot question 1, amending the city charter to require that a candidate for city council be voted upon by only the registered voters of the ward that candidate seeks to represent.

Before today, all voters in Henderson voted for each ward representative.

The question was on the ballot after a mandate passed in the state legislature requiring Henderson to put the matter to a vote.

Voters have approved Proposition H.

Proposition H changes city elections to even-numbered years.

The Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, and Treasurer will have their terms end on January 8, 2025, rather than in 2024 to accommodate for the new even-numbered year elections.

Voters in Nevada have passed ballot question 3, which establishes open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for all congressional, gubernatorial, state official, and state legislative elections.

An open primary is a nonpartisan primary, from which the top five candidates, regardless of party, are sent to the general election.

Ranked choice voting allows people to vote for multiple candidates for each office, ranked in order of their preference.

Once the votes are tallied, if no candidate wins the majority vote, the lower performing candidates are eliminated until a clear winner is produced.

On June 22, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he will convene a special session of the Legislature on July 8.

Agenda items for the special session have not been released yet but will be available prior to its start. Among the list of topics, Gov. Abbott promised to address is election integrity.

Last week, Abbott vetoed a portion of the state budget that funds the Texas Legislature. The move came weeks after House Democrats walked off the state House floor, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill, SB 7, before a midnight regular legislative session deadline.

Republicans in Texas have sought to join states such as Florida and Georgia that have adopted restrictions making it harder for some residents to vote.

It is not clear whether Republicans will enter the special session set on approving SB 7 as it’s currently drafted or will seek to make further changes.

The measure would have made mail-in voting more difficult by requiring voters to supply more information, prohibiting local elections officials from sending out absentee ballot applications to anyone who has not requested one or from working with get-out-the-vote groups that are encouraging Texans to vote by mail.

The Nevada Legislature adjourned sine die June 1.

In the last day of the session, the Legislature passed bills to license cannabis lounges; overhaul state voting policies; change the date of the state’s presidential primary; and mandate all active voters be sent a mail-in ballot in future elections.

Earlier in the year, Nevada passed a bill changing the definition of lobbyist to remove the provision requiring an appearance in person in the Legislative Building or any other building in which the Legislature or any of the standing committees hold meetings.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

The July 10 lobbyist activity report for activity in June, must be filed before the termination and final report due July 1.

The Alabama Legislature adjourned sine die on May 17.

Among the measures passed were the $2.4 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, legalization of medical marijuana, and a ban on curbside voting.

Additionally, a bill requiring all campaign finance reports to be filed electronically was passed earlier in the session.

This requirement goes into effect in August 2023.

Gov. Mike DeWine has delayed Ohio’s in-person voting by order of the state’s Health Department after a day of uncertainty about the status of the presidential primary election.

DeWine indicated earlier in the day at a press conference he did not have authority to unilaterally delay the primary and a lawsuit would be filed to move the election to June 2 over concern about COVID-19.

On Monday evening, Judge Richard A. Frye of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas rejected the request.

After the court ruling allowing the election to proceed and an evening of conflicting information, DeWine ended speculation with a tweet at 10:11 p.m.

The Health Department ordered all polling places not to open for Tuesday’s primary elections to protect voters and poll workers from the coronavirus outbreak.

Mayor Ethan Strimling announced he will propose changes to city elections, seeking public funding for local campaigns and new lobbyist disclosure rules.

Strimling’s new initiatives will demand elected officials disclose meetings with lobbyists and other influencers.

The initiatives will also reiterate calls to allow noncitizens living in the city legally the right to vote in local elections, as well as urge the city to implement ranked-choice voting in City Council and school board races.

Strimling said he plans to work with the City Council and other stakeholders to develop the details of his proposals over the year.

This week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced what he called a 21st century voting reform plan. This announcement follows an ethics reform plan announced by Gov. Wolf earlier this month.

The voting reform plan includes creating an independent commission to draw electoral maps, expanded voting rights through simpler voter registration, and campaign finance reform.

The proposed campaign finance reform could include restrictions on contributions from political action committees and contribution limits.

Both Democratic and Republican legislators will be working to introduce bills towards the Governor’s efforts.

The City Council will begin voting next week on existing city-funded demolition contracts worth over $25,000.

Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration discovered the existing contracts have never sought required City Council approval during a review of purchasing ordinances. Going forward, officials have committed to a council vote on all contracts valued over $25,000, as required by law.

The city is still investigating the number of contracts performed without proper council approval since Duggan revamped the demolition program in 2014.