On the Ballot

On this episode: President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election this afternoon, July 21st. A president-elect has never withdrawn, died, or become incapacitated between the general election and the presidential inauguration in American history. So what happens now?  BP staff writer Ellen Morrissey joins the show to break down Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, how the Democratic National Convention might handle selecting a new nominee, early favorites, and what happens to all of the campaign funding Biden’s raised thus far.  Learn more: https://ballotpedia.org/Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_presidential_election  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Kyle Kondik–the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics–joins the show to discuss the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump (R), Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance (R) as his running mate, and how Joe Biden’s (D) debate performance may affect presidential polling. Plus – more on Senate/House projections, abortion ballot measures, and how plausible it is that Biden actually steps out of the race. Follow Kyle on X: https://x.com/kkondik  Check out Sabato’s latest polling and reporting: https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: An in-depth walkthrough of our mid-year report on election administration legislation. Ballotpedia has tracked 3,735 election-related bills in 2024, more than in all of 2023. For the third year in a row, state legislators considered more election-related legislation in states with Democratic trifectas, but adopted more new election laws in states with Republican trifectas. In Republican-led states, bill topic themes touched on issues such as ballot harvesting/ballot collection, voter registration drives, referring noncitizen voting ballot measures to voters, or preempting efforts to establish ranked-choice voting. In Democratic-led states, bill topic themes included cure provisions for absentee/mail-in voting, new definitions and penalties for voter suppression, and new laws related to election dis- and mis-information. Several topics found support across the partisan spectrum with new laws in several states related to voter list maintenance, protections for officials and workers, presidential electors, and voting by eligible but incarcerated individuals or someone convicted of a felony. Read the report here: https://ballotpedia.org/State_of_Election_Administration_Legislation_2024_Mid-Year_Report  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this Episode: On Friday, SCOTUS overruled the legal doctrine known as Chevron Deference in a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts. For almost 40 years, Chevron served as a legal structure through which courts may review, approve, and reject regulations in the context of statutory intent. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Katanji Brown-Jackson dissented, arguing that deference should be given to agency expertise to clarify ambiguities in statutes. In this special re-release of On the Ballot's coverage from earlier in the year, we unpack Chevron Deference’s history, how the doctrine works, the arguments for and against keeping it around, and what its future might look like after SCOTUS’s decision. An in-depth guide: https://ballotpedia.org/Chevron_deference_(doctrine)  Our Learning Journey: https://ballotpedia.org/Journey:_Chevron_deference  More BP coverage: https://news.ballotpedia.org/2024/06/28/supreme-court-overturns-chevron-deference/  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole. 

On this episode: A conversation with Joe Nguyen, a Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing District 34. Senator Nguyen sponsored WA SB 5838, which established an artificial intelligence task force that’ll explore different use cases, think through how to address developments like deepfakes, and set the standard for where Washington state goes from here.  483 bills have been introduced in just the first six and a half months of this year. It’s not only a huge jump from what we saw last year; it’s more than all of the activity we’ve seen from 2019-2023. As the technology has advanced, lawmakers and advocates are seeking to balance concerns about deepfakes with First Amendment free speech considerations, and beneficial uses of the technology.  Our new Artificial Intelligence Deepfake Legislation Tracker seeks to be a home base for keeping up with the legislative explosion we’ve seen in states around the country. Launching today, you can use the tracker to follow the latest developments in all 50 states. Try the tracker for yourself: https://legislation.ballotpedia.org/ai-deepfakes/home  Read our report here: https://ballotpedia.org/Deepfake_policy_in_the_United_States,_2019_-_Present  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: A conversation with Toni Hasenbeck, a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing District 65. Representative Hasenbeck has sponsored several bills related to artificial intelligence–one of which being OK HB 3642, which updated the state's laws on obscenity and child pornography and broadened what might be considered unlawful.  483 bills have been introduced in just the first 6 and a half months of this year. It’s not only a huge jump from what we saw last year; it’s more than all of the activity we’ve seen from 2019-2023. As the technology has advanced, lawmakers and advocates are seeking to balance concerns about deepfakes with First Amendment free speech considerations, and beneficial uses of the technology.  Our new Artificial Intelligence Deepfake Legislation Tracker seeks to be a home base for keeping up with the legislative explosion we’ve seen in states around the country. Launching today, you can use the tracker to follow the latest developments in all 50 states. Try the tracker for yourself: https://legislation.ballotpedia.org/ai-deepfakes/home  Read our report here: https://ballotpedia.org/Deepfake_policy_in_the_United_States,_2019_-_Present  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole. 

On this episode: Unlike for-profit organizations, campaigns are considered nonprofits and are, as a result, not as heavily scrutinized when it comes to privacy practices. What does that mean for your personal data when you visit a campaign’s website?  Kaushal Kafle–a soon-to-be doctoral graduate from William and Mary University–and his colleagues analyzed the privacy practices of political campaigns through their research of 2,060 campaign websites from the November 2020 general election. Kafle shares how his research found gaps in privacy practices, including overcollection of private data, failure to provide privacy disclosures, incomplete privacy disclosures when provided, and the inadvertent sharing of data through shared fundraising platforms. Learn more about Kafle’s research: https://news.wm.edu/2024/02/07/your-personal-data-is-political-wm-computer-scientists-find-gaps-in-the-privacy-practices-of-campaign-websites/  Read the full paper here: https://kaushalkafle.com/assets/conference/kafle-oakland24.pdf  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Earlier this week, voters in North Dakota approved a ballot measure that will establish age limits for the US Senate or US House of Representatives from the Roughrider State. The Congressional Age Limits Initiative, also known as North Dakota Initiated Measure 1, passed with 61% of the vote. It's officially the first American law of its kind to set a cap on how old you can be to serve as an elected official. Now that the law has passed, the million dollar question is…what happens next? Today's Guest is Dr. Mark Jendrysik–a political science professor from the University of North Dakota–who’s been closely following the initiative’s development and the domino effect it could potentially trigger. Learn more about the measure here: https://ballotpedia.org/North_Dakota_Initiated_Measure_1,_Congressional_Age_Limits_Initiative_(June_2024)  Candidate requirements across the country: https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislature_candidate_requirements_by_state  Sign up for our the Daily Brew Newsletter: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Daily_Brew Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole. **CORRECTION: The second time we refer to the results of the ballot measure, the host says it passed with 69% of the vote; this is wrong, as it passed with nearly 61% support.**

On this episode: Introducing our new tool! The first nationwide resource for state-level administrative state bill tracking, our brand new tracker provides a free, one-stop hub for individuals to follow administrative state legislative reforms in every state legislature, from introduction to enactment.  Check out the Tracker here:  https://legislation.ballotpedia.org/admin-state/home  Learn more about the administrative state: https://ballotpedia.org/Administrative_state & https://ballotpedia.org/Administrative_State_Index & https://ballotpedia.org/State_responses_to_judicial_deference  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole. 

On this episode: As of May 23, 110 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 35 states for elections this year. In even-numbered years since 2010, the average was 161 statewide ballot measures. With a little over a month until most state legislative sessions come to a close and citizen initiative signature deadlines approaching this summer, our ballot measures team takes a look at some of the trends that have emerged thus far this year and how state legislative sessions might shape out over these next few weeks. Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at mailto:ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @BP Newsletters. Explore trends and learn more here: https://ballotpedia.org/2024_ballot_measures Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at mailto:ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @BP Newsletters. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: As state legislative sessions begin to wrap up around the country, Ballotpedia has tracked roughly 20 enacted bills related to Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing across 14 states thus far in 2024. What do they have in common?  Leg. Supporting ESG: https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_approaches_supporting_ESG_investing  Leg. Opposing ESG: https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_approaches_opposing_ESG_investing  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: On May 21st, voters in Eugene, Oregon, will decide whether or not to replace the existing electoral system with STAR voting for Mayor and City Council Elections. If approved, the city would become the first in the world to utilize this system for electing their political leaders.  Through STAR voting, voters rate candidates for a given office on a scale of zero to five, with zero indicating no support and five indicating maximum support. The scores for all candidates are then tabulated and the top highest-scored candidates advance to an automatic runoff, at which time a voter's full vote is assigned to whichever of the two candidates he or she scored highest. The candidate whom a greater number of voters gave a higher score in the runoff is declared the winner.  KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk, who's been covering the proposal, and Ballotpedia’s Joe Greaney, join the show to share how Eugene Measure 20-349 got on the ballot, local perception of the proposal, how STAR voting works, and what the arguments for and against the election system are.  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. Learn more about the Ballot Measure here: https://ballotpedia.org/Eugene,_Oregon,_Measure_20-349,_STAR_Voting_for_Mayor_and_City_Council_Elections_Initiative_(May_2024)  Read Wilk’s reporting: https://www.klcc.org/politics-government/2024-04-23/eugene-could-adopt-star-voting-for-city-elections-how-would-this-work :  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.