Welcome to the Thursday, Aug. 27, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. This week’s noteworthy statewide ballot measures
2. Two police-related local measures added to November ballot in Illinois
3. Comparing stances: Presidential candidates on charter schools

This week’s noteworthy ballot measures

The end of August has been a busy time for our ballot measures team. It seems like every day, another interesting and highly intriguing story comes across our team communication channels. I thought I’d give Brew readers a rundown about some of the news happening in four states. 

Arkansas

On Aug. 21, two Arkansas citizen-initiated measures—one that would establish ranked-choice voting and another that would establish a redistricting commission—were provisionally certified for the ballot. Whether or not votes will be counted for the measures is a question pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court. Secretary of State John Thurston (R) found on July 14 that signatures for the initiatives were insufficient because petition circulators' background check certifications did not comply with state law, which requires that each paid canvasser passes a state and federal criminal background check. The two measures’ campaigns submitted certifications stating that the background checks were acquired but did not say they were passed.

Retired Circuit Judge John Fogleman was appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court on July 24 as a special master to resolve the disputes between the two measure campaigns and the secretary of state concerning petition circulator background check certifications and signature validity. Fogleman's report was submitted to the state Supreme Court on Aug. 10.

Nebraska

On Aug. 25, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) announced that three initiatives that would authorize and tax gambling at racetracks in Nebraska would not make the ballot. The decision came after three Nebraskans—Dr. Richard Loveless and Ann and Todd Zohner—submitted written objections regarding the ballot language of the initiatives. The objections were filed on Aug. 7 after Keep the Money in Nebraska, the campaign behind the three initiatives, submitted over 465,000 signatures on July 2 for the three petitions. Secretary Evnen determined that all three petitions were not legally sufficient, thereby disqualifying them from the November ballot. Keep the Money in Nebraska plans to appeal the secretary of state’s decision.

North Dakota

On Aug. 25, the North Dakota Supreme Court ordered that a constitutional initiative designed to establish top-four open primaries and ranked-choice voting, as well as make changes to redistricting procedures in the state, be removed from this year’s ballot. The court ruled that the measure must be blocked from appearing on the ballot because the text of the constitutional amendment referenced statutory law and that "embedding a statute into the Constitution, which by definition is a law inferior to the Constitution and subject to change by normal legislative procedure, would threaten the sanctity of our fundamental law." 

Maine

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) may not be used in this year’s presidential election in Maine. On Aug. 24, Superior Court Judge Thomas McKeon ruled that the Republican Party gathered enough signatures to put a challenge to the RCV law on the ballot. The ruling means that the voting process won’t be used in a presidential election in the state until at least 2024. Secretary of State Matt Dunlap (D) said his office plans to contest the judge’s ruling.

For more on this and stories like it, subscribe to our State Ballot Measure Monthly newsletter.

       

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Two police-related measures added to November ballot in Illinois

Last week, I wrote about the local police-related measures that will appear on this year’s November ballot. At the time, there were 16 such measures. Since then, two more have been added to that list. The total now stands at 18 measures in nine cities and four counties, spread across six states.

Below are summaries of the two new measures.

• DuPage County, Illinois, Law Enforcement Budget Advisory Referendum

  • This referendum would continue to consider law enforcement and public safety as the county’s top budgeting priority.

• DuPage County, Illinois, Law Enforcement Injury Risk Training Advisory Referendum

  • This referendum would continue to fund and support law enforcement training methods that decrease the risk of injury to officers and suspects.

Both referenda are advisory, meaning their results are non-binding.

For a full list of police-related measures appearing on the November ballot, click the link below.

Know of a local ballot measure missing from this list? Email me at [email protected].

Comparing stances: Presidential candidates on charter schools

Parents across the country are settling into new school routines. In this week’s feature comparing the four noteworthy presidential candidates’ stances on key issues, we’re looking at charter schools.

Joe Biden (D)

Joe Biden opposes federally funding charter schools. He said at a campaign event, "I do not support any federal money ... for for-profit charter schools — period. ... The bottom line is it siphons off money from public schools, which are already in enough trouble."

Howie Hawkins (G)

Howie Hawkins' campaign website states, "I oppose privately-managed charter schools because they drain money from public schools. Charters are no more public schools than Lockheed Martin is a nationalized corporation just because 90% of its revenues come from Pentagon contracts. Student achievement in charters is no better than public schools on average despite charters’ ability and tendency to expel students who perform poorly. No new charters should be established and those that are performing poorly should be closed."

Jo Jorgensen (L)

Jo Jorgensen's campaign website states she supports charter schools "if adding them causes the total cost of education to go down." Her website also says she supports "private forms of education that involve no government funding or control."

Donald Trump (R)

Donald Trump's campaign website states, "President Trump’s proposed budgets have made school choice a priority. The President's FY2018 Budget Request included $1 billion in funding to Furthering Options of Children to Unlock Success Grants for public school choice and $250 million to promote private school choice through the Education Innovation and Research Program. In his FY2019 budget President Trump proposed a $5 billion federal tax credit on donations that fund scholarships to private and vocational schools, apprenticeships programs and other educational opportunities."

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