ICYMI: Top stories of the week

North Carolina becomes seventh state to add citizenship requirement for voting amendment to November ballot

Voters in North Carolina will join those in Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin in deciding a ballot measure to prohibit non-citizen voting. These measures would change their respective state constitutions to say that only U.S. citizens can vote in elections. Republican-controlled state legislatures placed all seven ballot questions on the November 2024 ballot.

76% of June’s elections were uncontested

Of the 5,065 June elections we covered in 25 states, 76% were uncontested. In May, 70% of the 5,799 covered were uncontested. We define an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election.

New York had the highest rate of uncontested elections, at 94%. South Carolina had the lowest rate, at 54%. Local judicial elections have had the least competition so far this year. To date, we have covered 170 such elections, 143 (84%) of which were uncontested.

Trifecta changes in 2022 and what to expect in 2024

In our annual trifecta vulnerability report, Ballotpedia projects the chances of state government trifectas breaking and forming. Our 2024 report will be released later this month, so on Tuesday, we featured a look back at the 2022 report.

In 2022, Democrats were defending seven vulnerable trifectas, and Republicans were defending six. The Democratic trifecta in Delaware was highly vulnerable. Arizona was the only highly vulnerable Republican trifecta in 2022.

According to our methodology, four states with a divided government qualified as a possible Democratic trifecta pickup, while Republicans had pickup chances in two states. In three states, both parties had the opportunity to establish a state government trifecta.

Take a look at our election analysis hub, where you can find all of our ongoing research and reporting on the 2024 elections.

Voters have recalled more officials by mid-year than any other year since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2014

Twice a year, Ballotpedia releases reports on recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. From Jan. 1 through June 28, voters recalled more officials than any other year since we began tracking this data in 2014. These 38 recalled officials surpass the second-highest mid-year figure of 29 in 2016. Take a look at our mid-year report at the link below.