Latest / Best of: Features / Trump’s agenda meets the ballot box as states vote on abortion, redistricting and voter ID mandates

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Trump’s agenda meets the ballot box as states vote on abortion, redistricting and voter ID mandates · Best of: Features

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  Trump's agenda meets the ballot box as states vote on abortion, redistricting,
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  and voter ID mandates. Written by David A. Lieb This article is
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  being read by an automated voice generated by Everlet. Washington, the AP.
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  A battle over abortion rights is playing out in several states Tuesday,
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  as voters decide one hundred and forty five proposed laws and constitutional
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  amendments, including some that could affect voting for future elections. The ballot
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  measures provide a political undercard for a high profile midterm election that
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  will determine which party controls Congress, state legislatures, and gubernatorial offices in
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  many states. Some measures put President Donald Trump's priorities to a public
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  test by gauging support for his attempts to reshape congressional districts, limit
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  transgender athletes in sports, and strengthen voter identification requirements. Abortion
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  ban faces an unusual redo in Missouri. Two years ago, Missouri voters
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  became the first in the nation to pass a ballot measure undoing
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  an existing ban on most abortions. Now voters are deciding whether to
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  repeal the twenty twenty four Abortion rights Amendment and replace it with
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  a new prohibition, this time allowing exceptions for medical emergencies and fetal
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  anomalies, and in cases of rape or incest up to twelve weeks
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  of pregnancy. The proposed ban was place on the ballot by the
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  Republican led legislature. Abortion rights advocates led by national progressive groups
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  have greatly outspent abortion foes in a bid to defeat the measure.
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  In three other States, ballot measures would create a right to abortion,
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  using standards similar to what was in place nationally before the Supreme
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  Court overturned Roe v. Wade in twenty twenty two and opened the
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  door to state bans. Ballot measures in Idaho and Nevada would block
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  bans on abortion before fetal viability, usually considered after twenty one weeks.
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  Nevada voters already approved the measure once, but have to do so
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  a second time for it to become official. In Virginia, an amendment
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  would ensure abortion is allowed for the first two trimesters. Redistricting measures
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  could affect twenty twenty-eight elections. Nine states are using new congressional districts
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  in the midterm elections, after a are spate of mid decade redistricting
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  encouraged by Trump. Missouri's Republican lawmakers also had adopted new house districts
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  designed to help the GOP win an additional seat, but courts ruled
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  they cannot be used unless first approved by voters in a November
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  referendum. If passed, the districts would take effect for the twenty twenty
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  eight election. Voters in Democratic led Maryland are deciding on a constitutional
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  amendment that also could pave the way for new congressional districts in
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  the twenty twenty eight election. Democratic proponents, backed by former President Barack
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  Obama, have urged a yes vote as way to stop Trump’s Some
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  Democrats also want to redistrict in Colorado, but a citizen initiative on
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  the ballot would prohibit any potential twenty twenty eight redistricting from favoring
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  one political party and require approval from both an independent commission and
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  The state supreme court. Transgender restrictions are proposed in several states.
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  Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington are considering measures restricting
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  transgender athletes or medical procedures. That comes as Trump's administration has been
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  pushing for restrictions impacting transgender people, especially youth. Most Republican led
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  states already bar transgender women and girls from female school sports teams.
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  Citizen led ballot initiatives propose similar restrictions in the Democratic led states
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  of Colorado and Washington. The Arizona measure would extend public school sports
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  restrictions to private schools, and Nebraska's measures
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  would add existing restrictions to the state constitution. A second ballot question
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  in Colorado would ban some transgender medical treatments for minors. The Missouri
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  Abortion Amendment also would add existing transgender medical restrictions to the state
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  constitution. Five state measures seek voter ID mandates. Though Trump's push for
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  nationwide voter ID mandates remained stalled in Congress, citizen activists bypassed Democratic-led
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  state legislatures to place new voter ID requirements on the ballot in
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  California, Colorado, and Nevada. Those measures would require government issued identification,
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  like driver's licenses or partial social security numbers, to cast ballots. The
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  Nevada Amendment already won approval in twenty twenty four, but needs a
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  second vote to take effect. Measures referred to the ballot by Republican
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  led legislatures in North Carolina and Ohio would enhance existing voter ID
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  requirements by placing them in the state constitution. Six states consider citizen
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  voting measures. Ballot
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  measure in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, and West Virginia would
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  reinforce current election practices limiting voting to U.S. Citizens. Critics argue the
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  measures are largely symbolic and unnecessary, because voting by non citizens is
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  rare and already forbidden in federal elections, but non citizens are allowed
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  to vote in some local elections in California, Maryland, Vermont, and the
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  District of Columbia. Two years ago, similar citizen voting amendments won approval
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  in all eight states where they appeared on ballots. Elections themselves are
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  up for a vote in some states. A Massachusetts ballot measure would
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  end separate party primaries in favor of open primaries, where the top
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  two vote recipients of any party advance to the general election. In
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  Alaska, voters are deciding for the second straight election whether to scrap
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  their system of open primaries and ranked choice voting. Proposed
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  amendment, in North Dakota and South Dakota would make it harder to
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  amend their state constitutions by requiring sixty percent approval from voters instead
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  of a simple majority. A similar sixty percent threshold is proposed in
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  Utah for citizen initiatives that raise taxes. Meanwhile, a Missouri amendment would
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  make it harder for lawmakers to change voter approved citizen initiatives by
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  requiring revisions to get an eighty percent vote in The state House
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  and Senate. Colorado amendment would aid immigration enforcement. Trump's immigration
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  enforcement efforts could get a boost in Democratic led Colorado under a
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  proposed constitutional amendment that would chip away at state laws restricting cooperation
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  with federal immigration agents. The
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  proposal amendment, placed on the ballot by Conservative activists, would require law
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  enforcement officers to notify the US Department of Homeland Security when someone
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  with an illegal or unknown immigration status is charged with a violent
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  crime or faces a new charge following a prior felony conviction. Arizona
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  measure would limit traffic cameras. Voters in Arizona are deciding on a
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  proposal limiting the use of traffic cameras to catch drivers speeding or
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  running red lights. The Republican led legislator referred the measure to voters
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  after Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a ban on the cameras. Hobbes
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  said the cameras enhance roadway safety, but opponents contend they infringe on
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  people's privacy and point to instances of misuse by certain law enforcement
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  officers. The proposal would bar new contracts for traffic camera systems starting
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  in twenty twenty seven, and require local governments to hold elections on
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  whether to continue existing systems. About half the states, including Arizona, have
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  communities that use cameras to enforce speeding or traffic signal laws, according
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  to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Associated Press writer Jeff Mulvahill
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  contributed to this report.