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Ballot measure takeaways: Voters back abortion rights, along with photo ID and citizenship requirements at the polls
Confirmed
In Short: In contrast, voters in Washington State rejected a ballot measure that would have repealed the state’s so-called millionaires tax, a 9.9% tax on annual income over $1 million that Democratic lawmakers enacted just earlier this year, according to NBC News.
Voters in Washington State have approved Initiative 638, which bans males who identify as female from playing on girls' sports teams. As of Wednesday, the 'yes' vote on the initiative led with 57 percent to the 'no' vote of 43 percent, and it seems most likely that once counting is done, the 'yes' votes will prevail, Breitbart reported.
Voters in both states overwhelmingly passed those initiatives by a margin of at least 24 percentage points, NBC News reported.
In Idaho, voters rejected an extreme abortion measure and preserved protections for preborn children, Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, said in a Nov. 4 statement. Since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, voters in most states with ballot measures on abortion in 2022, 2023, and 2024 have supported abortion protections or rejected abortion bans.
The number of abortions nationwide has also risen slightly, according to research firm KFF, a change largely attributed to the accessibility of medicated abortions.
The State Department is assessing how it could grant state and local officials access to federal passport records to verify voters' citizenship status ahead of the midterm elections in November, Fox News reported. The 1974 Privacy Act requires the federal government to provide public notice establishing a new 'routine use' for records maintained in a federal records system.
In Florida, voters approved one of the largest property tax cuts in the state's history, while Virginians wrote a right to abortion into their constitution and Missouri voters turned back a Republican-led effort to repeal the abortion protections they adopted two years ago. According to the secretary of state's ballot language, a 'yes' vote would have repealed that 2024 amendment. It would then have allowed abortion only in medical emergencies, for fetal anomalies, and in cases of rape or incest before 12 weeks. The measure also would have written a ban on gender transition procedures for minors into the constitution.
Armed federal agents are visiting homes across the United States as part of the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on alleged noncitizen voting, asking residents about their citizenship status and whether they have registered to vote. 'It is illegal under Section 611 for noncitizens to vote,' Floyd said, adding that someone who assists another person in illegally voting could also face criminal liability.
What this adds
The facts show that voters in Washington State have approved Initiative 638, which bans males who identify as female from playing on girls' sports teams, while rejecting a ballot measure that would have repealed the state’s so-called millionaires tax.
The Department of Justice sued California to demand officials there set aside mail ballots cast by any of the roughly 20,000 registered voters it identified as 'likely noncitizens,' according to a database compiled by the Department of Homeland Security.
What's confirmed
- Voters in Washington State have approved Initiative 638, which bans males who identify as female from playing on girls' sports teams. As of Wednesday, the 'yes' vote on the initiative led with 57 percent to the 'no' vote of 43 percent, and it seems most likely that once counting is done, the 'yes' votes will prevail, Breitbart reported.
- Voters in both states overwhelmingly passed those initiatives by a margin of at least 24 percentage points, NBC News reported.
- In Idaho, voters rejected an extreme abortion measure and preserved protections for preborn children, Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, said in a Nov. 4 statement. Since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, voters in most states with ballot measures on abortion in 2022, 2023, and 2024 have supported abortion protections or rejected abortion bans.
- The number of abortions nationwide has also risen slightly, according to research firm KFF, a change largely attributed to the accessibility of medicated abortions.
- The State Department is assessing how it could grant state and local officials access to federal passport records to verify voters' citizenship status ahead of the midterm elections in November, Fox News reported. The 1974 Privacy Act requires the federal government to provide public notice establishing a new 'routine use' for records maintained in a federal records system.
- In Florida, voters approved one of the largest property tax cuts in the state's history, while Virginians wrote a right to abortion into their constitution and Missouri voters turned back a Republican-led effort to repeal the abortion protections they adopted two years ago. According to the secretary of state's ballot language, a 'yes' vote would have repealed that 2024 amendment. It would then have allowed abortion only in medical emergencies, for fetal anomalies, and in cases of rape or incest before 12 weeks. The measure also would have written a ban on gender transition procedures for minors into the constitution.
- Armed federal agents are visiting homes across the United States as part of the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on alleged noncitizen voting, asking residents about their citizenship status and whether they have registered to vote. 'It is illegal under Section 611 for noncitizens to vote,' Floyd said, adding that someone who assists another person in illegally voting could also face criminal liability.
What's still developing
- In Washington state, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have repealed the state’s so-called millionaires tax — a 9.9% tax on annual income over $1 million that Democratic lawmakers enacted just earlier this year.
- The subpoenas call for the employees to testify and produce documents related to the Justice Department’s demand that California verify the citizenship of alleged noncitizen voters.
- Earlier this month, the Department of Justice sued California to demand officials there set aside mail ballots cast by any of the roughly 20,000 registered voters it identified as “likely noncitizens,” according to a database compiled by the Department of Homeland Security.
- US President Donald Trump has voted early in his home state of Florida for the November 3 midterm elections, casting his ballot alongside his wife, Melania, as the Republican Party battles to maintain control of Congress.
- For individuals whose "citizenship status cannot be confirmed, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections official to segregate — not cancel — those individuals' vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined," Essayli wrote.
- Concerned Women for America (CWA) found 70% of voters indicated transgender issues were an important factor in deciding their vote.
- The poll similarly suggests the issue was important to 67% of black voters, who awarded Trump an 8 point gain compared to his 2020 record in the demographic.
- Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, is urging Catholics to pray, fast, and vote “no” on two ballot measures that would protect abortion rights and repeal the state’s two-decade-old constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
- Polling on the ballot measures has been limited, although a January survey from Christopher Newport University found that two-thirds of Virginians support or strongly support access to abortion and contraception.
- "We've got two men who have mental disorders who like to dress like women, who think they are females on the ballot this general election," State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle), chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, told the Eastern Shore Republican Women at an October 8 event in Fairhope, Alabama.
- The marriage ballot measure would “affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race,” invoking the landmark Loving v.
- Talwani had temporarily blocked the measure on Aug. 26 and, following a hearing Thursday, agreed to grant a request for longer relief sought by two dozen Democratic-led states and voting rights groups.