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Welcome to the Monday, April 6, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Four Arizona ballot measure campaigns seek approval to collect signatures electronically
- Coronavirus update: The latest on coronavirus, government, and politics
- Federal Register exceeds 19,000 pages so far in 2020
Updates on stories related to the coronavirus outbreak are current through Sunday afternoon. Click here for the latest news.
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Four Arizona ballot measure campaigns seek approval to collect signatures electronically
As we’ve covered in the Brew, the coronavirus outbreak—and the stay-at-home orders governments have issued in response to it—continue to affect how candidates and campaigns are conducted across the country.
Four ballot initiative campaigns filed a petition April 2 asking the Arizona Supreme Court to allow them to gather signatures through E-Qual—the state's online signature collection platform—during the coronavirus pandemic. E-Qual is currently available for federal, statewide, and legislative candidates in Arizona, but not ballot initiatives.
The campaigns’ legal petition stated, "The Novel Coronavirus 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic changed, quite literally, everything. ... Although this new reality is essential for public health, it is catastrophic to the Initiative Proponents’ exercise of their fundamental constitutional right. ... In short, signature gathering will halt, and the Initiative Proponents’ hard work and investment is in jeopardy. ... This Petition presents an important legal question of first impression: whether the fundamental constitutional rights of the Initiative Proponents are violated by their exclusion from an online petition signature gathering system maintained by the Secretary in the middle of a public health emergency that severely limits (or outright bars) their ability to otherwise collect initiative petition signatures.”
The four ballot initiative campaigns that filed the petition are:
- Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety, which is behind the Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative.
- Smart and Safe Arizona, which is behind the Marijuana Legalization Initiative.
- Invest in Education, which is behind the Tax on Incomes Exceeding $250,000 for Teacher Salaries and Schools Initiative.
- Save Our Schools Arizona, which is behind the Limits on Private Education Vouchers Initiative.
The Arizona Republic reported that the office of Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), who was named as the defendant, was reviewing the petition and did not comment as of April 5.
At least 15 statewide ballot initiative campaigns in eight states had suspended their signature drives by April 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic. No states currently allow ballot initiative campaigns to collect signatures electronically.
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Coronavirus update: The latest on coronavirus, government, and politics
Here are some other notable coronavirus-related updates since Friday's Brew:
- South Dakota state Rep. Bob Glanzer (R) died April 3, according to a social media post by his family. Glanzer, who was 74, is believed to be the first public official in the U.S. confirmed to have lost his life in the pandemic.
- Glanzer tested positive for coronavirus on March 22. He was first elected to the state legislature in 2016 and was serving his second term in office.
- Michigan State Representative Isaac Robinson (D) died March 29. His family stated that it was suspected that he died from coronavirus, although he had not been formally diagnosed with the disease. Robinson was 44 and was serving his first term.
- The Supreme Court of the United States postponed the oral arguments scheduled for its April sitting. The court was scheduled to hear eight cases from April 20 to April 29.
- A series of events unfolded impacting the upcoming Wisconsin elections. As of send time, the elections are scheduled to proceed tomorrow.
- Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) called the state legislature into special session on April 4 to consider modifications to the April 7 election, including eliminating in-person voting and extending the deadline to receive ballots to May 26. The state legislature adjourned the special session without voting on Evers’ proposals.
- Judge William M. Conley, of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, ordered officials to withhold the results of the April 7, 2020, election until the extended deadline for receiving ballots on April 13, 2020.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the Wisconsin absentee ballot request and receipt extensions ordered on April 2 by Judge Conley.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.) announced that she was creating a special House committee to oversee the implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.
- Kentucky’s legislature passed a bill that would allow the secretary of state and governor to jointly change the “manner” in which elections are held during a state of emergency. Current law only allows state executives to alter the time and place of elections.
- South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed legislation allowing local governments to delay any elections scheduled between April 14 to May 26 to any Tuesday in June. The law does not apply to the state’s upcoming June 2 presidential and downballot primaries.
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Federal Register exceeds 19,000 pages so far in 2020
We regularly feature coverage of the Federal Register here in the Brew, and I wanted to provide our first update on this aspect of government since President Trump declared a national emergency March 13.
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity. We monitor page counts and other information about the Federal Register each week as part of our Administrative State Project.
Last week, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,604 pages, bringing the year-to-date total to 19,076 pages. During the same period in 2019 and 2018, the Federal Register reached 13,794 pages and 15,018 pages, respectively. As of April 3, the 2020 total led the 2019 total by 5,282 pages and the 2018 total by 4,058 pages.
This week’s Federal Register featured the following 559 documents:
- 443 notices
- eight presidential documents
- 50 proposed rules
- 58 final rules
Our Administrative State Project includes information about the administrative and regulatory activities of the United States government as well as concepts, laws, court cases, executive orders, scholarly work, and other material related to the administrative state. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.
Are you interested in expanding your understanding of the administrative state? We have 13 Learning Journeys you can take to increase your knowledge of some of these principles. If you’ve never taken one, we send you a series of emails with information, examples, and exercises to help you broaden your knowledge of a particular concept.
It’s a great way to take something complicated and break it down into smaller pieces of information that are more fun to read and easier to follow. You set how frequently you receive these emails—daily, weekly, or in-between. Best of all, it's free! Click here to browse the Learning Journeys we have available and to get started today.
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The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns.
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