announcer: as we loo back, the nnsylvania senate race between democrat john fetterman and dr. mehmet oz ended up ing the most expensive in the country with approximately $312 million spent. your check, eurozone and nevada were also among the most expensiv this data v open secrets being tweeted out by the philadelphia quirer's jonathan tamari and includes only candidate and outside group spending the general election. announcer: tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, watch c-span's live election night coverage to see which party will control congress. here the results as they happen for house, senate and governors races from around the country. see victory and concession

speeches on c-span, there c-span mobile app and c-span.org. announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. hundred by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that is why charter has invested billions thing infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter is connecting us. announcer: charter communicatio supports c-span as a public service along with these television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. continues. host: next we're are joined by mandy zoch, elections project manager for the national conference of state legislatures here we have been talking a lot about candidates. mandy zoch is here to talk about referendum ballot initiatives on

the ballot across the country. remind us, how do most of these initiatives wind up on a state ballot? guest: it is a good question. two main ways these measures end up on the ballot. the first is that legislatures can put them there, and that is where most of the measures come from. the second way is through a citizen initiative process, which is when voters were interested in an issue can gather signatures and submit that to the state election office, get a qualified, and get that measurement on the ballot. only about half of the states allow the process to happen. we see a number of those year but never quite as many as those for the legislature. host: with the legislature putting an issue on the ballot, it is -- is it generally because they want to change or add to the states constitution? caller: yes, all of the states expect over have to pick constitutional amendments before voters on the ballot.

sometimes states have requirements of certain changes, even if they are just statutory changes, have to go to voters. tax changes or changes to other parts of the state's could have to have voter approval, even if it is not a constitutional change. host: a total of 141 ballot measures on the ballot this election cycle. 46 states will decide 133 measures today. five other valid measures were voted during the primary. louisiana over for three ballot measures in december. one notable ellet measure -- ballot measure was the abortion measure voted on by kansas, correct? caller: yes, voters rejected an antiabortion measure and kansas. it showed that the measure really drove turnout. more people chose to vote on that ballot measure than in either of kansas primaries happening at the same time. so it might drive turnout today. host: it is coming up as an

initiative in a total of what looks to be 5, 6 states? california, montana, kentucky, michigan, and vermont. five states. michigan, the initiative is getting the most attention what are they proposing? guest: it is a proposal to enshrine the constitutional right to abortion in the states constitution. host: in terms of the range of what a measure can -- like an abortion measure can do, we talk about changing the constitution. what are some of the other measures doing? kentucky, montana, california. guest: five are being decided today, three are pro-abortion measures, so that is michigan, vermont, and california. then there are two antiabortion measures, and those are montana and kentucky. so those would either prohibit the right to enshrine abortion in the constitution or make

other changes to limit that abortion access. host: several states are voting on marijuana legalization today. guest: yes, five states today will decide whether marijuana can be legalized, and that is just for adult use, none for medical. host: how does it compare with 2020 in terms of that particular topic, that sort of measure? guest: good question. off the top of my head, i don't remember how many marijuana edgers there were in 2020. the fact that there are five this year, certainly handful but not the most there have ever been. i think eight might be the record. host: in this role of years with the nacht -- national conferences of state legislatures, what sort of struck you as the most unusual ballot measure to come up this year? guest: good question. california is always voting on dialysis. it is the only state that has ever had measures related to dialysis clinics, and it has had

that topic for the past three years. one that is unusual is really alabama this year, it will be certifying or ratifying, i should say, a new constitution, and we do not see that happen everyday. host: so they have written a constitution, the convention there in alabama has approved it, and now it goes to the state voters for approval? guest: yes, really some fine tuning and rearranging, compiling, removing some outdated language. no major significant changes, but voters had to approve the legislature to have that power to begin with with a different ballot measure a couple years ago. host: mandy zoch is with us, we're talking about referenda ballot measures. you may see them in your state. the line for democrats is (202) 748-8000. 748-8001 for republicans, and

independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. we would love to hear about the ballot measures in your state, what you think about them, if you understood them. we will take calls momentarily. a lot of talk about election security. how many states are taking up measures that deal with the ways they conduct this election. guest: about seven election-related measures this year. i had to go back and check because it felt like there were more, but there really are not more election-related measures than in the past, it is just that these measures are getting more attention than they typically have in the past. host: what sort of things do they do? guest: looking at things like voter ids, nebraska and arizona have measures related to that. arizona would add additional identification requirements for balance. nebraska would establish a photo id requirement for voting. states like nevada are voting on

changes to the primary system. if they pass that it is not final. it has to be passed in two elections in a row in nevada for that to take effect. there measures related to keeping noncitizens from voting, early in-person voting in connecticut. every hot button election issue you can think of will have some movement today. host: how does this use 141 measures compare to 2020 and previous years? guest: the numbers are actually a little lower than we typically see for the number of measures. 2020 was lower than this year because of the pandemic. thinking about why this year is lower, especially on the citizen initiative side, some of that might be because signature gathering is still affected by the pandemic. labor issues have kept campaigns from hiring signature-gatherers. so we are seeing far fewer

citizen initiatives this year. the number of legislative measures are pretty much the same. host: first call, kathleen in mississippi, democrats line. tell us what you are seeing there. good morning. caller: good morning. i have not gotten up to go vote yet. but i am seeing on the ballot a lot of nonprofit, and we don't understand what nonprofit means. then on the others, they cut amendments, but we don't know what the amendment is. we see giles, thompson, but we only get one day voting. could you explain what nonprofit means? democrat, republican, we don't know. so we put someone on the ballot

and do not know if it is a democrat or republican, because i'm voting straight up and down democrat because democrat republic is on the mind. host: mandy zoch? guest: i would say that for measures or even for candidates, your state election office and website has information on that. so you can use the internet and find out what they have to say about that. i am not sure quite what you mean by nonprofit on the ballot. i wonder if that is nonpartisan, in which case someone would be running not as a democrat or republican. in that instant, i would encourage you to check out the candidate's webpage and see what they stand for. host: does the organization ever look at this from the voters upon repointing view? in terms of her struggling to understand what the measure means, we all get pamphlets, a voting guide, the voters guide,

and the language is pretty straightforward and pretty legislative, for lack of a better term. guest: yes, ballot measures can be so confusing and hard to read. sometimes laws require them to be a certain length or have a certain kind of reading. but if you can keep something complex and try to make it short, that can be confusing. and they are confusing because i make a lot of changes. most states, especially those with a lot of measures, colorado, california, they actually send out a voter education pamphlet to all registered voters so you can have that information. in colorado, those summaries are written by nonpartisan regicide of staff. host: a call from antioch, california. go ahead. caller: hi, good morning. in the bay area, there are, like, tons of ellet initiatives

-- ballot initiatives, everything from gambling in california, making gambling online legal, which i don't support. there is things about nonprofits in san francisco, so many millions and millions of dollars going into nonprofits in city government. so they want oversight because a lot of that money was supposed to be going to the homeless, and it has not. we have a district attorney race that is real heated up in san francisco with the recall done for bodine, but the woman who took $100,000 and is corrupt, we call her brooke the creek, i don't --

the crook, i don't -- host: sounds like your ballot booklet must be fairly thick to go through. caller: oh, yeah, it is huge. there are tons of things on the ballot initiative. in san francisco, even more. a lot of people are confused about a lot of it. there is the city college in san francisco that has been having a lot of financial problems, so they want to up the funding into the city college so that they can continue to have the kind of programs that people need to adopt, like medical -- host: appreciate your call this morning, brenda. mandy zoch, for the number of measures voters there have to consider? guest: we focus on statewide ballot measures, but so many

cities and local areas will have their own ballot measures, too, which makes the ballot even longer. the caller mention california gambling measures. those are interesting because there have been almost half $1 billion spent on those two measures, the fights between the two competing gambling measures in the california, and that is the most ever spent on that in u.s. history. on that in u.s. history. host: i have been reading amendments across the country. five states -- dealing with enslavement and punishment. guest: state constitutions that allowed slavery or servitude as a crime. three states have already removed that. it is not in all state constitutions but there are a number of states this year, louisiana is one that will be asking voters whether they want

to remove that language from the constitution. host: from michigan, arlene is on the line, republican. go ahead. caller: yep, i am from the state of michigan, and one of the biggest things in this state is abortion. and what i don't like about what they are trying to pass is it is either absolutely no abortion or abortion up until -- what they call a partial birth abortion. i don't understand why they can't have it written differently, because i do not believe that partial-birth abortion should be ok. and i believe that right now people are using abortion as

birth control, not for the mother's health. host: mandy zoch, on that michigan initiative, is that a legislature-produced initiative or a citizens initiative? guest: that is a citizens initiative. it is a good moment to remind peoples that sometimes legislatures do not like citizens initiative. they are drafted without the legislative process. so sometimes or can be unintended consequences that even the initiative sponsors are those who wrote the measure did not think of because of how the law was written. always something to keep in mind with those measures. host: does that sort of thing lend more possibility for those types of initiatives, if they pass, to be challenged in court? guest: that is possible, certainly. those measures can typically be challenged in court. they are also often laws around whether or not the legislature

can change them or revise them, sometimes within a certain period. sometimes it gets passed and stays that way for a long time. host: let's hear from john in orange county, california come independent line. caller: good morning. yeah, you know, i think abortion that was just brought up as a perfect example of not having a conversation about an issue and only defending it from the dissemination of information. when i looked at the proposals, and we have been seeing them, prop 30, gavin newsom, a welfare giveaway, and i support gavin newsom, but i am second thinking he prop 30 measure on the counter television ad. but the way i made my decision was to look at the pamphlet and see the argument for and

against. i saw that on that proposition that the moneys were already there in the coffers and it was being addressed about electric vehicles and all of that and it was going to be taking a way from other moneys that were going to worthwhile propositions . we also have a couple of measures concerning the indian tribes in gambling, one was 26 and one was 27. and those commercials write it looked like it was bad for the tribes -- those commercials made it look like it was bad for the tribes. i voted yes on 26 ultimately because it is what the indian tribes rely on for income. but there's outside interests and influences coming in around gambling. yeah, if i look at it further, i

don't want gambling opened up to kids who have a cell phone in a casino. i think those pamphlets -- it is sort of the environment that we are in were some parts of the country or just dominated with either far right or religious and you get nothing else if you are going to rely on the tv. host: we will hear from our guest. as he said, talking about the money involved in all of this campaign measures, contributions top $1 billion. is that a lot or a litter question -- or a little? guest: it is certainly a lot. some of these issues, there's very little spinning on them. citizen initiatives, often because they are brought by voters, there's more spending, but millions and millions of

dollars, half $1 billion, that is a lot of money for these measures. that is another criticism of the citizen initiative process, that it is not always a citizen come alike it says in the measure. sometimes it is an organization with a lot of money, sometimes even outside of the state. another criticism leveraged at that process, but i have to add a positive, i guess, because i feel like i have been negative, that citizen initiatives are also a way for voters to address topics legislatures are not addressing right now so we can see where their interests lie. host: another call from california. ruth in oxnard, california. caller: good morning. i would like to comment on a few of the initiatives. but the first one is the dialysis initiative, because i

remain unclear on what is wrong with having better -- dialysis is dangerous, i guess you should say, or people who need dialysis are vulnerable. and the measure asks for more accountability and more on-site medical presence of medical professionals. the argument against it, which is overwhelming, is from the patient and the doctors and the nurses and medical associations, etc., saying it will further

take people away from already burdened people who work in health care. so i don't know why it isn't better. apparently, you know, it is profitable to run these companies, you know, that do the dialysis. so i am confused about that and remain confused about it, and i'm not going to fill in yes or no because i don't know what is right. host: thanks for bringing that up. you mentioned the dialysis issue in california. explain more about the initiative. this is the latest of a couple initiatives in california? guest: this is the third in a row, measures on dialysis. 2020 and now this year. it relates to different requirements for dialysis clinics.

but i agree, it is a hard question. a lot of these pellets are -- a lot of these ballots are hard questions, and sometimes the measures do not fall into the same bucket. so i asked a voter to be -- so to ask a voter, they have to understand the position. host: this issue has had a lot of special interest behind it, spending on advertising? guest: yes, i do not think nearly as much as prop 26 and 27 in california, but it does have organizational or institutional support, groups behind it. host: next call is from tennessee, frank on the independent line. caller: yes, i was going to say that in tennessee, we always have the right to work for less amendment and also to abolish slavery language with regards to our constitution. also, i want her to talk about

what they had done in florida with regards to allowing felons to vote. and then the florida legislature decided to change it. could you talk about that? guest: sure, so there was a measure that changed enfranchisement laws in florida that allowed formerly incarcerated people to be able to vote sooner than they previously had been. i cannot remember the specific details on whether it was simply after serving a sentence or probation, something like that. but there were challenges to that law, kind of responses. again, the end result is perhaps a little different than what the initiative sponsors had hoped for. host: in the case of florida, some of the folks who had backed legal fees, etc., were further prohibited from voting, as i understand it.

guest: yes, that is right. that is kind of the most essential piece of that law, that you had to be able to pay all of your fees before you could vote. the symptoms the challenge was whether or not you had fees remaining and had to pay them. host: is that kind of a case of where the language in the referendum is one thing, what is on the ballot is one thing, but how it is interpreted by the state government, this case the state executive, and the duchenne so -- judicial system is not different, certainly adds another layer of interpretation? guest: yes, absolutely. that happens not with every measure but with enough of them that states have sometimes developed more processes for an initiative to go through so it can be reviewed to make sure the language is fully legal and in accord with the constitution or other state laws. but every state process for initiatives are different. host: let's hear from missy in

arkansas, republican line. caller: thank you. good morning. happy voting today. in arkansas, we are having four initiatives, one allowing the legislature to call an extra session, one to make sure there are 60 votes -- 60% to change any local constitutional amendment, one to create religious freedom so no state or federal law can interfere with religious freedom, the way you worship, and the fourth one is kind of surprising for arkansas, to legalize marijuana. i will probably vote straight republican after what our own justice department did to trump, the four years, the lies, the hoax, everything the justice department did illegally under trump's term.

i don't know if i could vote democrat. the last democrat i voted for was jimmy carter, was not a good decision. and you cannot have a console carry and a pot card at the same time. thank you. host: mandy zoch, any thoughts on that? guest: yes, arkansas is one of the states with a marijuana measure. there is also states asking legislatures, asking voters to allow them to call themselves into a special session. so a lot of states let that power only reside with the government. because of the 2020 pandemic and responses to it, some legislatures wanted to take action and cannot call themselves into special session. so we are seeing, i think, three

measures related to that this year. kind of interesting for voters to weigh in on. host: one final thought, you mentioned voters in alabama voting to approve a new state constitution. how often is it that amendments to state constitutions through this referendums sort of call for a state to really revisit their constitution more broadly, saying instead of this process of amending it every two years, we need to look at the constitution itself? and is guest: florida has a measure related to a constitutional review commission on whether or not it should be abolished. i think that meets every 20 years to propose eminence to the constitution. maybe keep it up-to-date. generally, states are not revisiting the constitution as a whole. what is happening in alabama is interesting. fairly certain alabama had the

longest state constitution before this. it was perhaps 24 a cleanup. it is the next measure to end on. bipartisan support, very little opposition. host: and it seems shorter this time around. mandy zoc announcer: polls will be closing at differe times depending o the state, county or town. in parts of indiana and kentucky, polls will close this evening at 6:00 eastern as for the key battleground states in this mterm election, polls will close at 7:00 p.m. in georgia, 8:00 p.m. in pennsylvania, 9:00n wisconsin and arizona, and 10:00 p.m. in nevada. all po closing times mentioned are in eastern time, via the washington post in -- and associated press. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, watch c-span's live election

night coverage to see which party will control current -- control congress. hear the results as they happen from house, senate, and government -- governor races from around the country. see victory and concessions beaches on c-span and at c-span.org -- speeches on c-span and at c-span.org. c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> homework can be hard. squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder. that is why we are providing lower income students access to affordable internet. so homework can just be homework. x connect to compete. announcer: cox, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. next, a conversation about the voting habits and overal