More than 2,500 election-related bills were introduced in state legislatures this year
Ballotpedia tracked 2,534 election-related bills in 45 states this year. This comes as part of our Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which keeps tabs on the latest election-related legislation nationwide.
Most of these bills—1,714, or 68%—have had no activity, meaning they were introduced, but have not yet been placed before any legislative committees.
We tracked 266 bills that were enacted—11% of the total. Another 10% either failed or were vetoed. The remaining bills are all pending, having advanced out of at least one committee, but without final action so far.
Presenting Ballotpedia’s year-end ballot measure report
Our year-end report covers the 140 statewide ballot measures voters decided across 38 states this year. Voters approved 96 of the 140 ballot questions (69%). Voters defeated forty-four, or 31%. Fewer citizen-initiated measures were on the ballot this year—30—than at any point since 2000. Meanwhile, campaigns spent more on signature gathering: a combined $118.3 million, averaging out to around $4.1 million per campaign.
And your 2022 Cookie Election winner is…
With 32% of the vote, and in a deliciously close race to the finish line, Gingerbread Cookie was elected the 2022 Official Holiday Cookie and immediately sworn into office!
Gingerbread Cookie, a newcomer to the office, narrowly beat out Sugar Cookie, who—first elected in 2020—was ousted in a 2021 recall. Sugar Cookie finished with 30% of the vote, followed by Snickerdoodle with 26%, and several write-ins with 12%.
Here’s the timeline of presidential campaign announcements from 2020 and 2016
Over 500 individuals have already filed to run for president with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in 2024 (for comparison, a combined 2,998 individuals filed in 2016 and 2020—1,786 in the former and 1,212 in the latter). As we wait on more candidates to jump into the race, our Thursday edition of the Brew looked at how presidential campaign launches played out in 2020 and 2016. Click the link below to read more.
SCOTUS January 2023 preview
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will begin hearing arguments for its January 2023 argument sitting on Jan. 9. The court will hear seven cases, concluding on Jan. 18. Click the link below to see what’s on the docket.