On the Ballot

On this episode: A brief overview of the 15 races we’re watching including races for U.S. Senate, House, governors, other state executives, state supreme court judgeships, and state legislatures. Our  editorial department selected these elections based on past election results, unique election-specific circumstances, and election race ratings. The final selections include a mix of federal, state, and local races. Briana Ryan, Ethan Sorell, and Lara Bonatesta of our elections team join the show for a lightning round preview of the races that stick out most to them.  Explore our report here: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Top_15_Elections_to_Watch,_2024  Our full list of the 15 elections we're watching includes:  U.S. Senate election in Michigan U.S. Senate election in Ohio California's 13th Congressional District election New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District election New York's 17th Congressional District election Oregon's 5th Congressional District election Washington's 3rd Congressional District election New Hampshire gubernatorial election Attorney General of North Carolina election Alaska House of Representatives elections Arizona State Legislature elections Michigan House of Representatives elections New Hampshire State Senate elections Michigan Supreme Court elections Ohio Supreme Court elections Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Voters in 41 states will decide on 146 statewide ballot measures at the general election on November 5. A few members of our ballot measures team join the show to break down our top 15 to watch across the country, which address issues like abortion, ranked-choice voting, non-citizen voting, criminal justice, wages, and drug-use policies.  Explore our full report here: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Top_15_Ballot_Measures_and_Trends_to_Watch,_2024  Our Top 15 ballot measures to watch next week include: Florida Amendment 4: Right to Abortion Initiative Southwestern Swing States, Arizona and Nevada: Right to Abortion Initiatives Nebraska Initiative 434 and 439: Competing Abortion Initiatives Amarillo, Texas, and San Francisco, California: Local Abortion Measures Alaska Ballot Measure 2: Repeal Top-Four RCV Initiative Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada RCV: Top-Four and Top-Five RCV Initiatives Arizona Propositions 133 and 140: Competing Electoral Systems Amendments Washington, D.C. Initiative 83: RCV Initiative Eight States: Non-Citizen Voting Ban Amendments Ohio Issue 1: Redistricting Commission Initiative California Proposition 36: Drug and Theft Crime Penalties Initiative Florida Amendment 3: Marijuana Legalization Initiative Washington Initiatives 2066 and 2117: Energy Policy Initiatives Colorado and Kentucky: School Choice Amendments Nebraska Referendum 435: Private School Education Scholarships Referendum Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: There might not be anything we take more seriously than our status as one of the leading nonpartisan political outlets in the country. We look out for and identify 25 distinct types of bias when it comes to political coverage — from speech tribe language to cherry-picking favorable sources and parroting the news. Kelly Coyle, who helps lead and craft our approach to bias, joins the show for a little Bias 101 with less than a week to go to the election.  Learn more about how we categorize bias and the 25 distinct types we look out for: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:How_we_categorize_bias Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia.

On this episode: Since 2018, more than 15,000 candidates for political office have completed Ballotpedia’s candidate survey. This tool is a wonderful way to help voters learn more about their candidates, and we’ve processed more than 6,000 for this election cycle alone for federal, state and local elections. Four members of our staff who work closely on the survey every year — Sarah Groat, Ken Carbullido, Spencer Richardson, and Sam Wonacott — join the show to share some of their favorite anecdotes about this year’s results and the impact these surveys can have on races big and small.   Learn more about the survey: https://ballotpedia.org/Survey  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates   Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Democrat Kathy Boockvar and Republican Kim Wyman each served as secretary of state in Pennsylvania and Washington, respectively, during the 2020 presidential election. They’ve come together this year to help educate voters about the electoral process and share insights from their years of experience. Our Editor-in-Chief Geoff Pallay picks their brains about what administering elections was like in 2020, the challenges we’ll see play out over the next few weeks and months, and how to speak across the aisle when it comes to restoring confidence in our system.  OTB will be coming to you DAILY over the next two weeks! Please follow, like, and share the show to help us reach more listeners like you who are looking for unbiased, fact-heavy coverage of election season.  Check out Kathy’s page on BP: https://ballotpedia.org/Kathy_Boockvar  Check out Kim’s page on BP: https://ballotpedia.org/Kim_Wyman  Learn more about your state’s electoral system here: https://ballotpedia.org/Electoral_systems_by_state  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: Ballotpedia founder and CEO Leslie Graves joins our social media manager Abby Campbell for a chat about how Ballotpedia can help young prospective voters get informed and empowered in what promises to be an exciting year of elections.  Leslie and Abby discuss weeding through the abundance of news online, how to identify reliable political information, and share some stories about their first voting experiences.  NOTE: This episode was originally published in April '24. Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole. 

On this episode: Our annual Ballot Measure Readability report explores the complexity of statewide ballot measure titles and summaries to determine the educational level voters might need to fully understand what they’re being asked to weigh in on. We use the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) scales to determine how accessible these texts are based on objective factors, such as the number of syllables, words, and sentences in a text (Note: These scores focus solely on language structure, NOT the complexity of the ideas themselves).  For the 159 statewide ballot measures certified in 41 states for elections this fall, we found that the average FKGL was 16, which correlates with a bachelor's degree. The average FRE for ballot titles was 20, which also corresponds with college graduates.  Is that a big deal? Ballotpedia’s Ryan Byrne runs through a handful of example measures from around the country while unpacking how developing measures works in different states and recent legislation aimed at making measures easier to understand for the average American. Check out the report to see the readability scores for measures in your state: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_measure_readability_scores,_2024  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: 34 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election in just a few weeks, with control of the upper chamber of congress bound to come down to just a handful of tight races. Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governor’s editor for The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, joins the show to run through Cook’s current toss up Senate races, which have shifted lately and those that still could, and to take a deep dive into races for Democrat Jon Tester’s seat in Montana, Republican Ted Cruz’s seat in Texas, and more.   An in-depth guide to the race for the Senate: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_elections,_2024  See Cook’s latest ratings on the Senate: https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings  And check out our other episode from this week, where Cook’s Erin Covey joined the show to help break down the House’s closest contests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izn_bhRk-SQ  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: All 435 seats of the House or Representatives are up for grabs this election season. Here at Ballotpedia, we’re tracking 53 of those as battleground races  – which means we’re expecting about 13% of these races to be truly competitive. Heading into the election, Republicans have a 220-212 majority, with three current vacancies. Democrats need a net gain of five districts to win a majority in the chamber.  This week, we’ll be taking a closer look at the two chambers of congress — the House and Senate — with the help of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Today, we’re joined by Erin Covey, who leads Cook’s coverage of the House of Representatives, to break down the tightest races, which races she’s shifted towards either party in recent weeks, and what winning the majority could mean for either party’s agenda once in power.  - Check out more of Erin’s work: https://www.cookpolitical.com/about/staff/erin-covey  - An in-depth guide to the race for the House:: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2024  - See Cook’s latest on the House ratings: https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings  - Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

On this episode: With a record 11 abortion related measures on the ballot in 10 states, we can expect one of the nation’s most divisive issues to linger in many American minds when they head to cast their votes at the polls in a few weeks. In the first half of the show, you’ll hear Ballotpedia staff writer Nicole Fisher detail the measures, how they’re different, and what polling indicates about their odds of passing.  In the second half, we’ll be joined by Julie Rovner — KFF Health News’ Chief Washington Correspondent and host of their weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?  — to explore how messaging around abortion has evolved post-Roe being overturned, the latest related to IVF treatment policy, how Federal policy makers could try to regain control over the issue from the states, and more.  For a complete breakdown of abortion’s role this Fall: https://ballotpedia.org/2024_abortion-related_ballot_measures_and_state_context  And be sure to check out Julie Rovner’s podcast, ‘What the Health?’ Here’s a recent episode which tackles how abortion is impacting the presidential race and more:  https://kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast/what-the-health-366-harris-trump-vance-election-abortion-october-4-2024/  Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates  Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia.