A Look At Key Ballot Questions Across The Nation

Today is the day. Election Day is finally upon us.

As you know, today many will be voting for will win the presidency, seats in the US Congress and other political offices, but many voters will consider a wide range of ballot questions this Election Day. For example some top issues on the ballot includes abortion, marijuana, Puerto Rico statehood vote and more. According to CNN,

Marijuana legalization:

Eleven US states have legalized recreational marijuana. Voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota will consider efforts to legalize marijuana, allow cannabis sales and make drug-related criminal justice reforms.

Arizona’s Proposition 207 allows adults 21 or older to possess, use, or transfer up to one ounce of marijuana and cultivate no more than six plants for personal use, but bans smoking the drug in public. It would allow retail sales of marijuana while imposing a 16% excise tax that would fund public programs in the state. A “yes” vote on the proposition would also permit courts to vacate and expunge certain arrests, charges, convictions and sentences for marijuana.

Montana will vote on two initiatives related to marijuana. Initiative 118 would amend the state constitution to allow for establishing the legal age for purchasing, consuming or possessing marijuana. Initiative 190 would make recreational marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. If approved, marijuana would be sold in the state commercially and taxed at 20%. The initiative also would allow for an individual currently serving a sentence for marijuana-related offenses to apply for re-sentencing or an expungement of their conviction.

New Jersey’s Public Question No. 1 is a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for personal, non-medical use by adults 21 and older. The state has already created a commission to oversee the medical market that — if the amendment is passed — would regulate the personal market.

Abortion:

Colorado’s Proposition 115would ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy and provide penalties for doctors who perform the procedure after. The state currently has no restrictions on when a woman can get an abortion. The measure, if passed, has exceptions when the mother’s life is in danger, but not in cases of rape and incest.

Louisiana’s Proposed Amendment No. 1would declare that no provision in the state Constitution protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.

Statehood, ride-sharing and more:

Puerto Rico, as a US territory, cannot vote in the US presidential election, but the question of statehood will again be on its ballot. Voters on the island will be asked, “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?” The nonbinding referendum would need Congress’ approval to establish Puerto Rico as the 51st state.

California’s Proposition 22would allow ride-share and delivery apps, like Uber and Lyft, to classify their drivers as independent contractors with some benefit concessions, instead of employees.

California’s Proposition 16would restore affirmative action, which was outlawed in the state 24 years ago, by repealing an amendment passed in 1996. The measure would clear the way for the consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in education and employment in California.

Criminal justice

Oklahoma’s State Question 805 asks voters if they want to end “repeat sentence penalties” or “sentence enhancements” for nonviolent offenders. Under the measure, an individual’s prior felony conviction could not be used to increase their punishment for a subsequent conviction. The measure would also allow those incarcerated with sentence enhancements to seek a modification to their sentence. It does not apply to those convicted of a violent felony.

Kentucky’s Constitutional Amendment 1asks voters to again consider enacting Marsy’s Law, which would establish constitutional rights for crime victims, including notification of all proceedings and the right to be heard during release, plea, and sentencing among other proceedings. It would require victims be paid full restitution as determined by the court. The measure passed in 2018 with the support of nearly 63% of voters, but the Kentucky Supreme Court later ruled it invalid because the entire text of the amendment was not on the 2018 ballot, according to The Courier Journal.

California’s Proposition 25 would allow a 2018 law ending cash bail to take effect. Under the measure, defendants would no longer be required to pay in order to be released before trial, but their release would instead be “based on a determination of public safety or flight risk.”