Here is our weekly round-up on election-related legislation. In it, you’ll find the following information:
- 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?
Recent activity
Since January 20, 275 bills have been acted on in some way (representing a 16.9 percent increase as compared to last week’s total of 236 bills). These 275 bills represent 27.2 percent of the 1,013 bills we are currently tracking in 2023. Seventy of these bills are from states with Democratic trifectas, 135 are from states with Republican trifectas, and 70 are from states with a divided government.
The bar chart below compares recent activity on a week-to-week basis over the last eight weeks.
- Two-hundred and fifty-seven bills were introduced (or saw pre-committee action).
- Democratic trifectas: 68
- Republican trifectas: 123
- Divided governments: 66
- Six bills advanced from committee.
- Democratic trifectas:1
- WA SB5082: Encouraging electoral participation and making ballots more meaningful by abolishing advisory votes.
- Republican trifectas: 3
- Divided governments: 2
- Democratic trifectas:1
- Twelve bills passed one chamber (or saw pre-adoption action in the second chamber).
- Democratic trifectas: 1
- Republican trifectas: 9
- AR HB1025: To Amend The Law Concerning Circulation Of Petitions; And To Limit Petition Circulation At Polling Places.
- ID H0001: Amends existing law to provide requirements for post-election audits ordered by the Secretary of State.
- IN HB1035: Township assessors.
- IN HB1040: Requirements for elected officials.
- MT SB143: Allow for a referendum to terminate citizen-initiated zoning district
- MT HB172: Revise laws related to post-election audits
- UT SB0017: Voting and Voter Residency Amendments
- UT SB0043: Public Notice Requirements
- WY SF0086: Voter identification-concealed carry permit.
- 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 1,013 election-related bills in 2023. 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).
