SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER

Kicking off our 2020 holiday cookie election

‘Tis the season for holiday cookies. What cookies make it onto your winter table? I’ll refrain from giving any endorsements of the sweets appearing on my cookie plates because it’s time to elect this year’s official holiday cookie!

Ballotpedia held its first-ever holiday cookie election in 2019. Now the term for our incumbent, Chocolate chip cookie, is coming to an end and voting in the 2020 election begins today!

Following the structure of the races we’re currently watching in Georgia, the top two vote-getters in the holiday cookie election will advance to a runoff election if no cookie receives a majority.
Georgia's legislature passed a law implementing this system in the 1960s; Ballotpedia adopted it this year, after an exciting nine-round ranked choice voting election in 2019.

Make sure to vote soon! The polls will close on Wednesday. If no candidate receives a majority, we’ll open voting for the runoff election, and the winning cookie will be announced on Wednesday, December 23.

This year’s candidates are:

Chocolate chip cookie (incumbent)
Sugar cookie
Gingerbread cookie
Snickerdoodle
Chocolate peppermint bark cookie
Peanut butter blossom

Learn more about each cookie, and why they think you should vote for them over their counterparts, here. Once you have fully immersed yourself in the land of cookies, head to the polls!

> VOTE

Electoral College votes today

Electors in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., will meet to cast each state’s electoral votes for president and vice president today—Dec. 14. But how does this process work? Here’s a quick explainer:

The Electoral College is the process by which the states and District of Columbia elect the president of the United States. The number of each state’s electors is equal to the size of its congressional delegation. The number of electoral votes allocated to each state can change every 10 years or so when the number of U.S. House members are reapportioned after the census.

There are 538 electors in total. To win the Electoral College, a candidate must receive a majority—at least 270—electoral votes.

Presidential candidates in each state select a slate of electors that are pledged to support him or her should they win the state. These electors are typically selected by the state party through conventions or a committee vote. When a candidate wins the popular vote in a state, their slate of electors represents that state in the Electoral College. The only exceptions to this are in Maine and Nebraska, which assign two at-large electors to the statewide winner and one elector to the winner of the popular vote in each congressional district.

Each state’s electors meet separately in their respective states and cast paper ballots for president and vice president. The electors then sign and seal six certificates of the vote, as specified by federal law. These certificates will be posted to the website of the National Archives as they are received and must be delivered by Dec. 23 to the president of the U.S. Senate, the state secretary of state (two copies), the archivist of the United States (two copies), and the judge of the U.S. district court in the district where they met. Congress will count the electoral votes in a joint session on Jan. 6 and declare a winner—subject to any objections to an individual state's electoral votes.

Below is an image of North Carolina’s Certificate of Vote of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Electors from 2016:

North Carolina certification

> KEEP READING

Pennsylvania voters could decide as many as eight constitutional amendments in 2021 or 2022

Although runoffs associated with this year’s elections continue even this week in Texas, we’re already looking at the electoral landscape next year and beyond. For example, our ballot measures team identified some interesting information about my new home state of Pennsylvania.

Keystone state voters could decide as many as eight ballot measures over the next two years. Topics include electoral and voting policies, legal language and actions, and the governor's emergency powers.

Between 1995 and 2019, a total of 17 legislatively-referred constitutional amendments appeared on statewide ballots in Pennsylvania, with a maximum of three appearing in any odd-numbered year during that time. During that time, voters approved all 17.

Constitutional amendments make the ballot in Pennsylvania if the legislature approves it during two legislative sessions. Pennsylvania has had divided government—with a Democratic governor and Republicans controlling both chambers of the legislature—since 2014. During the 2019-2020 session, the legislature passed eight constitutional amendments. Legislators would need to pass the amendments again during the 2021-2022 legislative session for them to go before voters.

An amendment must receive a simple majority vote in each chamber and can appear on the ballot at either the spring primary election or the general election. The governor is not required to approve nor is able to veto state constitutional amendments. Citizens do not have the ability to initiate statewide initiatives or referendums in Pennsylvania.

The eight amendments are measures that would:

Eliminate the requirement that judicial retention elections appear on a separate ballot (or in a separate column on voting machines) from other elections.
Amend constitutional language requiring voters to physically appear at a polling place on election day and remove the list of excuses related to receiving an absentee ballot.
Create a two-year period in which persons can file civil suits arising from childhood sexual abuse that would otherwise be considered outside the statute of limitations.
Allow a political party's candidate for governor to choose their own candidate for lieutenant governor, rather than having them elected in party primaries.
Add language to the constitution stating that, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the race or ethnicity of the individual."
Change the method of electing Pennsylvania supreme, superior, and commonwealth court judges from statewide to from districts.
Define the governor's power to use executive orders to declare emergencies, allow the state legislature to pass laws related to how emergencies must be managed, and limit a governor-issued emergency declaration to 21 days unless extended by legislative vote.
Allow the legislature to pass a resolution extending or terminating a governor’s emergency declaration.

> KEEP READING

Everything on Ballotpedia is free to read

But it isn't free to produce. We depend on people like you to ensure that access to neutral and accurate information about American politics stays available to all. Donations to Ballotpedia are tax deductible and go directly toward producing great content like this newsletter.

Please consider donating today!

> DONATE TO BALLOTPEDIA

BALLOTPEDIA NEWS

STAY CONNECTED

GET OUR APP

BALLOTPEDIA

8383 Greenway Blvd | Suite 600 | Middleton, WI 53562

Decide which emails you would like to get from Ballotpedia

Update your preferences | Unsubscribe