Election Reforms Making Voting More Accessible: The Connecticut Voting Age Measure would allow state residents to vote in primaries at the age of 17, while the Maryland Early Voting Measure would authorize the state legislature to implement in-person early voting the two weeks preceding an election. Three designated polling places in each county would be opened for the 10 days before Election Day.

Redistricting:California Prop. 11, the Voters FIRST Act , would create a non-partisan redistricting commission in the state. No other initiative this year has created such strife between usually allied groups. The measure has strong support led by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and the Governor. Yet many civil rights organizations such as Mexican American LDF and NAACP LDF, and Senator Boxer and Speaker Pelosi, think that voting rights will be diminished under the proposal and are actively opposing the measure.

Utah Amendment 4 would prevent mid-census redistricting by clarify that the Legislature’s division of the state into districts must occur no later than the next annual general session following results of the United States enumeration.

Oregon Measure 55 is designed to prevent situations where State Senators whose seats are not up in the next cycle following a redistricting are forced to move to their new district.

Term Limits: South Dakota Amendment J would repeal legislative term limits.

Other Measures: Nevada Question 1 would eliminate an unconstitutional requirement that a person must reside in Nevada for 6 months prior to an election in order to be eligible to vote in that election, lowering the residency requirement to 30 days.

Oregon Measure 65 would institute top two primary elections where all candidates for an office would compete against each other regardless of party, and the two candidates with the most votes would then advance to the general election. This statute would also allow independent voters to participate in primary elections for US Senator or Representative, Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, state Senator or Representative, and any other local partisan office.