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. 

New Jersey: On July 28, 2022, Governor Phil Murphy (D) signed into law seven separate bills making modifications to New Jersey’s election administration laws:

• A1969: Allows minors between the ages of 16 and 18 to serve as election workers from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Election Day.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 37-0.
  • Final state House vote (June 16, 2022): 73-3 (45 Democrats and 28 Republicans in favor; three Republicans opposed).
• A3817: Requires ballot privacy sleeves and privacy equipment at each polling place; fixes the mail-in ballot curing deadline nine days after Election Day; allows voters to request mail-in ballots using the existing online voter registration system; allows voters to change their party affiliation using the existing online voter registration system; requires the creation of an online form by which voters can update their names and residences.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 22-17 (22 Democrats in favor; one Democrat and 16 Republicans opposed).
  • Final state House vote (June 29, 2022): 58-19 (46 Democrats and 12 Republicans in favor; 19 Republicans opposed).
• A3819: Provides for the removal of a voter’s name from the permanent vote-by-mail list if the voter does not vote by mail for four consecutive elections, starting with the 2020 election cycle.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 40-0.
  • Final state House vote (June 29, 2022): 78-0.
• A3820: Prohibits an unaffiliated voter from receiving a mail-in ballot for a primary election; requires election officials to provide unaffiliated voters with political party affiliation forms and information about voting in partisan primaries.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 40-0.
  • Final state House vote (June 16, 2022): 75-2 (46 Democrats and 29 Republicans in favor; two Republicans opposed).
• A3822: Provides that mail-in ballots will be sent to voters starting on the 45th day before an election; requires that all petitions addressed to state or local election officials be filed by 4:00 p.m. on the 71st day preceding a primary election; allows election officials to begin processing mail-in ballots no earlier than five days before an election.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 23-15 (23 Democrats in favor; one Democrat and 14 Republicans opposed).
  • Final state House vote (June 29, 2022): 78-0.
• A3823: Requires that the municipal officers charged with maintaining death records file biweekly reports with voter registration officials in the two months immediately preceding a primary or general election; requires registration officials to remove the names of deceased voters from the voter rolls within 10 days of receiving the aforementioned biweekly report; exempts compensation received by election workers from gross income taxation.
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 40-0.
  • Final state House vote (June 16, 2022): 78-0.
• A3929: Amends definitions related to military and overseas voting “to more closely mirror the selection categories voters must choose from on the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA), which determine the types of elections – local, state, federal, or all – in which the U.S. citizen living outside of the country is permitted to participate.”
  • Final state Senate vote (June 29, 2022): 24-15 (24 Democrats in favor; 15 Republicans opposed).
  • Final state House vote (June 29, 2022): 47-30 (46 Democrats and one Republican in favor; 30 Republicans opposed).

Political context: New Jersey is a Democratic trifecta, meaning that Democrats control the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. 

Recent activity

Since July 29, 17 bills have been acted on in some way (a 13.3 percent increase as compared to last week’s total of 15 bills). These 17 bills represent 0.7 percent of the 2,526 bills we are tracking. Of these 17 bills, 16 (94.1 percent) are from states with Democratic trifectas and 1 (5.9 percent) was from a state with divided government. 

The bar chart below compares recent activity on a week-to-week basis over the last eight weeks. 

• 4 bills were introduced (or saw pre-committee action). 
  • Democratic trifectas: 3.
  • Divided governments: 1.
• 12 bills passed one chamber (or saw pre-adoption action in the second chamber). 
  • Democratic trifectas: 12.
• 1 bill passed both chambers (or was acted upon in some way after passing both chambers). 
  • Democratic trifectas: 1.
    • CA AB2577: Elections: state offices: uniform candidate filing system.

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 2,526 election-related bills. This represents a marginal increase as compared to last week’s total. 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).

Bills by topic

The chart below presents information on the total number of bills dealing with particular topics. The number listed on the blue portion of each bar indicates the number of Democratic-sponsored bills dealing with the subject in question. The number listed on the red portion of the bar indicates the number of Republican-sponsored bills. The purple and gray portions of the bar indicate the number of bipartisan-sponsored bills and bills with unspecified sponsorship, respectively. Note that the numbers listed here will not, when summed, equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.