Here is our weekly round-up on election-related legislation. In it, you’ll find the following information:
- Noteworthy bills: Here, we identify and report on the contents and legislative status of noteworthy bills.
- Recent activity: Here, we report on the number of bills acted on within the past week.
- The big picture: Here, we look at the bills in the aggregate.
- Legislative status: How many bills have been introduced, voted upon, or enacted into law?
- Concentration of activity: What states have seen the highest concentration of legislative activity?
- Partisan affiliation of sponsorship: How many bills have been sponsored by Democrats vs. Republicans?
- Subject: What subjects are most commonly addressed in the bills?
Noteworthy bills
This part of our report highlights recent activity on specific noteworthy bills. A bill is noteworthy if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
- It has been enacted into law.
- It is poised to be enacted into law.
- It is the subject of significant debate in the legislature.
- It is the subject of significant commentary by activists, journalists, etc.
NY S01046: This bill establishes new legal rights of action for vote suppression, vote dilution, voter intimidation, deception, and obstruction and lays out suggested court-ordered remedies (e.g., postponing election dates, extending voting hours, or adding polling locations). This bill authorizes the attorney general to issue subpoenas and hold fact-finding hearings to enforce the provisions of the bill. This bill applies to all elections, with exceptions carved out for school-district and library elections, the conduct of which is governed by the state’s Education Law.
Legislative history and status: On May 31, the state Senate passed the bill 43-20, with Democrats casting all “yea” votes and Republicans casting all “no” votes. On June 2, the state House passed the bill 106-42, also along partisan lines. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the bill into law on June 20.
Political context: New York is a Democratic trifecta, meaning that Democrats control the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
Recent activity
Since June 17, 78 bills have been acted on in some way (a 13.0 percent increase as compared to last week’s total of 69 bills). These 78 bills represent 3.1 percent of the 2,519 bills we are tracking. Of these 78 bills, 35 (44.9 percent) are from states with Democratic trifectas, 19 (24.4 percent) are from states with Republican trifectas, and 24 (30.8 percent) are from states with divided governments.
The bar chart below compares recent activity on a week-to-week basis over the last eight weeks.
- 20 bills were either introduced or saw pre-committee action (e.g., new sponsor added, subcommittee hearing scheduled, etc.).
- Democratic trifectas: 2.
- Republican trifectas: 6.
- Divided governments: 12.
- 3 bills advanced from committee (or saw post-committee action).
- Democratic trifectas: 2.
- Divided governments: 1.
- 34 bills passed one chamber (or saw pre-adoption action in the second chamber).
- Democratic trifectas: 24.
- Republican trifectas: 5.
- Divided governments: 5.
- 10 bills passed both chambers (or were acted on in some way after passing both chambers).
- Democratic trifectas: 5.
- DE HB25: An Act To Amend Title 15 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Elections.
- NY A07933: Includes individuals who do not identify exclusively as a binary gender in eligibility for party positions.
- NY S00253: Relates to ballots where the express intent of the voter is unambiguous.
- RI H6656: Mail Ballots.
- RI S2118: Mail Ballots.
- Republican trifectas: 5.
- AZ HB2710: Registrations; counting procedures; observers; verification.
- AZ HCR2015: Initiatives; supermajority vote; requirement.
- NH HB1174: Relative to election challengers.
- NH HB1567: Relative to the removal of election officials from office.
- NH SB366: Requiring an audit of ballots cast in the 2022 primary and general election.
- Democratic trifectas: 5.
- 9 bills were enacted.
- Democratic trifectas: 2.
- HI SB2162: Relating To Ranked Choice Voting.
- NY S01046: Relates to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York; establishes rights of actions for denying or abridging the right of any member of a protected class to vote; provides assistance to language-minority groups; provides for preclearance of certain voting policies; makes related provisions.
- Republican trifectas: 3.
- Divided governments: 4.
- LA HB1065: Provides relative to notice of changes to polling places
- LA SB144: Provides relative to hand delivery of absentee by mail ballots.
- LA SB283: Provides relative to submission of redistricting plans to the secretary of state.
- WI SJR101: Prohibiting the use of a donation or grant of private resources for purposes of election administration and specifying who may perform tasks related to election administration (first consideration).
- Democratic trifectas: 2.
- 2 bills were vetoed.
- Divided governments: 2.
The map below visualizes the concentration of this recent activity across the nation. A darker shade of yellow indicates a higher number of relevant bills that have been acted upon in the last week. A lighter shade of yellow indicates a lower number of bills that have been acted upon in the last week.
The big picture
To date, we have tracked 2,519 election-related bills. This represents a marginal increase as compared to last week’s 2,518 bills. These bills were either introduced this year or crossed over from last year’s legislative sessions.
Legislative status
The pie charts below visualize the legislative status of the bills we are tracking. The following status indicators are used:
- Introduced: The bill has been pre-filed, introduced, or referred to committee but has not otherwise been acted upon.
- Advanced from committee: The bill has received a favorable vote in committee. It has either advanced to another committee or to the floor for a vote.
- Passed one chamber: The bill has been approved by one legislative chamber.
- Conference committee: Differing versions of the bill have been approved by their respective chambers and a conference committee has been appointed to reconcile the differences.
- Passed both chambers: The bill has cleared both chambers of the legislature.
- Enacted: The bill has been enacted into law, by gubernatorial action or inaction or veto override.
- Vetoed: The bill has been vetoed.
- Dead: The bill has been defeated in committee or by floor vote.
The pie charts below visualize the legislative status of bills in Democratic and Republican trifectas, respectively.
Concentration of activity
The map below visualizes the concentration of legislative activity across the nation. A darker shade of yellow indicates a higher number of relevant bills that have been introduced. A lighter shade of yellow indicates a lower number of relevant bills.
Partisan affiliation of sponsor(s)
The pie chart below visualizes the partisan affiliation of bill sponsors.
The bar chart below visualizes the correlation between the partisan affiliation of bill sponsors and trifecta status (e.g., how many Democratic-sponsored bills were introduced in Democratic trifectas vs. Republican trifectas).
