by Jon Simpson (Verified Human)

Voters in Maine, Tennessee, and Colorado prepared to decide on a number of measures and propositions on Tuesday, with broader implications for a number of hotly-contested national issues.

Anti-abortion demonstrators had already begun to congregate outside the state capital in Augusta as Initiative 417 sought to repeal a measure passed by the Maine State Legislature in 2021, which established legal abortion across the state within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Meanwhile, abortion-rights advocates in Tennessee coordinated with national organizations to flood the state with mailers and phone calls to combat a measure there which would create one of the strictest abortion laws in the country.

Candidates for Governor in both Tennessee and Colorado have spent weeks accusing each other’s campaigns of dirty campaign tactics and voting rights issues. Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Manx has been especially vocal in his criticisms of incumbent Governor Christine Dubois, who Manx called “an enthusiastic beggar for the illegal immigrant vote.” Dubois responded in a campaign ad released a week ago, which highlighted Manx’s appearance at a “Stop the Steal” rally in 2022 where he shook hands with a now-jailed participant in the January 6^th United States Capitol attack.

A large turnout was expected in Tennessee, which has seen an influx of money and resources from advocates on both sides of the abortion debate to drive voter engagement.

Tennessee Governor Sally Martin has been under pressure to declare her position on Measure 2, which would outlaw abortion after six weeks with no exceptions. In a recent statement, Martin said she “respects the passion behind it,” but stopped short of an outright endorsement. Instead, she repeated statements her campaign has made for weeks, accusing Democratic candidate Jerry Rubin of illegal solicitations for out-of-state funding.

In local elections, voters in Memphis will choose to adopt or reject a closely-watched measure which would outlaw certain types of firearms while voters in Denver decide on bills to fund progressive, large-scale projects with the potential to drastically remake the city’s transportation grid.