Pandemic policy was being tested in several states on Tuesday. There, ballots sought to condemn or affirm the actions taken by officials trying to fight COVID-19.
Virus-related measures are among the 20 ballot proposals made in six states, including new constitutional rights for residents to grow their own food and enjoy clean air and water. It is.
In Texas, a constitutional amendment prohibits the government from restricting religious services. This is a reaction to public health orders in some big cities and counties that limited the number of people who could gather indoors at the beginning of the pandemic.
Another Texas amendment constitutionally gives residents of nursing homes and other collective living facilities to designate “essential caregivers” who can continue to visit even if the general public is locked out of the facility. Will create a right. This amendment will weigh on similar legislation passed in Texas earlier this year.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, like elsewhere, banned nursing homes from accepting visitors due to a surge in COVID-19 cases at the facility last year. The precautions that lasted for months were aimed at saving lives. Also, older people are no longer able to connect with family and friends.
“In addition to the tragedy of very sick people and death, the saddest story we’ve heard from our members is that they can’t see their mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, brother or sister. “It really tore our hearts,” said Texas State Senator Lois Colholst, a Republican who sponsored the amendment.
In another pandemic-related issue, Colorado voters decided on a constitutional amendment that would require state legislative approval to use money received from external sources such as the federal government or legal settlements. A conservative group sponsored the initiative after Democratic Governor Jared Polis exercised administrative power in May 2020 to distribute approximately $ 1.7 billion in the Federal COVID-19 Relief Fund.
In New York, voters were deciding whether to make the pandemic voting policy permanent. The State Constitution limits absentee ballots to people who are ill, disabled, or out of town on election day. But last year, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an interim law that allows anyone to vote absentee, rather than risking exposure to the coronavirus at polling stations. In the November 2020 election, nearly 2 million people voted absentee. That’s more than 20% of New York’s total votes.
The amendment removes constitutional restrictions on absentee ballots, and New York already allows absentee ballots without excuses, or two-thirds of states that automatically send ballots to voters. Will match.
Another New York amendment would abolish the constitutional requirement for voters to register at least 10 days before elections. This allows the legislature to approve the registration on the same day as the vote. This is already legal in 20 states.
“The New York Constitution has barriers that prevent the state from keeping elections up to date,” said Patrick Berry, a lawyer for the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program. He said ballots provide “an opportunity to break through these barriers.”
Another constitutional amendment could quickly impact New York’s process of redrawing the US Capitol and state legislature constituencies based on 2020 census data. This fall, the committee responsible for map recommendations split along the lines of the faction. Ballots will, among other things, make it easier for Democrat-led parliaments to pass through the new map.
Maine voters have decided on the first steps of this sort, declaring that individuals have “the inviolable right to grow, grow, harvest, produce and consume their food of choice.” I did. A state legislator who proposed this measure said it was a response to corporate ownership of food supplies and aimed at allowing people to preserve and exchange seeds in their gardens. rice field. Opponents worried that people might try to raise cattle in the city.
New York measures will create rights to “clean air and water” and a “healthy environment.” This marks the revival of the environmental movement dating back to 1970, when Illinois adopted its first constitutional obligation to maintain a “healthy environment.” The Pennsylvania amendment, approved the following year, provided specific rights to “clean air” and “pure water.” Other states with environmental rights to the Constitution include Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, and Rhode Island.
On another issue, Colorado voters are considering raising marijuana sales taxes to fund out-of-school programs such as education, technical skills training, mental health counseling, and art enrichment programs. rice field.
Voters in New Jersey have decided whether to expand sports betting. This is already generally legal, but it was decided whether to include college games in the state or involve colleges in New Jersey.
Voters Consider New Rights on Food, Worship, and Visits to the Elderly | WGN Radio 720
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