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Samuel Wonacott

A preview of Louisiana’s Dec. 10 elections

Welcome to the Monday, November 28, Brew. 

By: Samuel Wonacott

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Here’s what is on the ballot in Louisiana’s Dec. 10 elections
  2. What Democratic control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives could mean for future constitutional amendments
  3. Subscribe to Hall Pass to learn how the Nov. 8 elections will affect education 

Here’s what is on the ballot in Louisiana’s Dec. 10 elections

Welcome back! We hope you had a restful Thanksgiving holiday. 

The stretch between Thanksgiving and the new year tends to be a comparatively quiet time in politics, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Throughout December, runoffs will happen in several states (and at least one territory) to decide unresolved elections from Nov. 8, including the U.S. Senate election in Georgia and a mayoral race in Austin, Texas

Louisiana, the subject of today’s story, will also hold general elections on Dec. 10.  

Louisiana’s voting system is unique. Under the Louisiana majority-vote system, all candidates running for local, state, or federal office appear on the same primary ballot regardless of their partisan affiliations. Those primary elections happened on Nov. 8, the same day the rest of the country was voting in general elections. Louisiana candidates who won a simple majority of votes cast on that day won their elections outright. However, in races where no candidate won a majority, the top-two finishers advanced to a Dec. 10 general election. 

Around 27% of the Nov. 8 primary elections within our coverage scope will be resolved in the general elections. Here’s a sample of those races.

State elections

Local elections

Ballot measures

Voters decided eight legislatively referred constitutional amendments on Nov. 8 (three of which passed), and they will decide three legislatively referred constitutional amendments on Dec. 10. Here’re the three:

  • Amendment 1: Adds a section in the Louisiana Constitution that says, “No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to register and vote in this state.”
  • Amendment 2: Amends the constitution to require senate confirmation of State Civil Service Commission appointees. 
  • Amendment 3: Amends the constitution to require senate confirmation of State Police Commission appointees. 

Voting information

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Dec. 10. The absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline is Dec. 6 for in-person or online requests. Mail requests must be received no later than Dec. 6. Early voting is available to all voters, and the window for early voting in the Dec. 10 election is from Nov. 26 through Dec. 3.

Click below to read more about Louisiana’s Dec. 10 runoff and to check your sample ballot.

Keep reading

What Democratic control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives could mean for future constitutional amendments

Democrats won control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the Nov. 8 election for the first time in 12 years, with 102 seats called for Democrats and 100 seats called for Republicans. One of the downstream effects of the chamber changing party control is that it could stop a number of legislatively referred constitutional amendments from reaching the ballot.

On July 8, 2022, the Republican-controlled House and Senate in Pennsylvania passed a package of five constitutional amendments. 

  • An amendment that would allow a political party’s candidate for governor to choose their own candidate for lieutenant governor
  • An amendment that would say that constitution grants no right to an abortion
  • An amendment that would require voters to present a voter ID when casting their ballots
  • An amendment that would provide for the auditing of elections and election results by the Auditor General or, when the Auditor General stands for election, an independent auditor
  • An amendment that would allow the legislature to pass concurrent resolutions, which the governor cannot veto, to disapprove of regulations

In a majority of states, those amendments would next appear on ballots for voters to decide in a future election. In Pennsylvania, however, the state legislature can only refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot after that amendment has received a simple majority vote in each chamber of the legislature over two successive sessions. This is known as a two-session requirement (13 states have a two-session requirement, but in four of those states, an amendment that receives a supermajority in the first round can bypass the second). 

What this means is that, unlike last time, the five constitutional amendments passed in July will need to clear a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-controlled Senate. 

Historically, the two-session requirement has made it less likely an amendment will appear on the ballot. Between 2010 and 2022, for example, 66 constitutional amendments were referred to the ballot in the 13 states that require two legislative sessions or a supermajority. But 40 constitutional amendments did not make it through the second session in these states, meaning that 37.7% of these constitutional amendments did not make the ballot because they failed during the second legislative session.

When there was a change in party control of the legislature between legislative sessions in this same time period (as happened on Nov. 8 in Pennsylvania), 79% of these constitutional amendments (11 out of 14) failed in the second legislative session. In 2015, for example, the Republican-controlled Nevada legislature approved five constitutional amendments for the first time. Democrats controlled the legislature during the next legislative session in 2017, and four of the five constitutional amendments did not even receive a floor vote. In 2009 and 2010, Democrats controlled the Wisconsin legislature and approved three constitutional amendments. Republicans controlled the legislature during the next legislative session in 2011, and none of the constitutional amendments received a floor vote.

In Pennsylvania, between 2010 and 2022, half of the 14 constitutional amendments failed in the second session.

Currently, the Pennsylvania Senate consists of 28 Republicans, 21 Democrats, and one independent. The House consists of 113 Republicans and 88 Democrats (with two vacant seats). Next year, in the new legislative session, the Senate will consist of 28 Republicans and 22 Democrats, while the 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House will consist of 102 Democrats and 100 Republicans (one seat has still not been called).

You can learn more about two-session requirements for legislatively referred constitutional amendments here, or click below to read about Pennsylvania’s proposed constitutional amendments.Keep reading 

Subscribe to Hall Pass to learn how the Nov. 8 elections will affect education 

Hall Pass is a weekly newsletter designed to keep you informed about the conversations driving school board politics and education policy. New editions reach your inbox on Wednesday afternoons. Today, let’s take a look at a story from the Nov. 23 edition on the seven education-related ballot measures voters decided in the Nov. 8 elections. 

Click here to subscribe to Hall Pass

Voters approved six of the measures and rejected one in West Virginia. Here’re the unofficial results. 

Click below to subscribe to Hall Pass for weekly updates and insight into school board politics, education policy, elections and recall efforts, and more. 

Keep reading

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