Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including nationwide trends, legislative activity, and updates on notable lawsuits and policy changes.
Legislative highlights
Highlights:
- No bills have been approved since our last edition. No bills were enacted in the same period in 2023, and in 2022, two bills were enacted.
- One bill had been enacted by this point in 2023, while five bills had been enacted by this point in 2022.
- Democrats sponsored 59 (49.2%) of the 120 bills active over the past week, and Republicans sponsored 38 (31.7%) bills. Seventeen (14.2%) bills had bipartisan sponsorship. Six (5.0%) bills had sponsors other than Democrats or Republicans, such as nonpartisan lawmakers or committee sponsorship.
- Fifty-eight (48.3%) of these bills are in states with Democratic trifectas, 55 (45.8%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and seven (5.8%) are in states with a divided government.
- Democrats sponsored 44 of the 58 bills that moved in states with Democratic trifectas. In 2023, Democrats sponsored 30 out of 44 bills in states with Democratic trifectas. In 2022, Democrats sponsored 24 of 49 bills in states with Democratic trifectas.
- Republicans sponsored 27 of the 55 bills that moved in states with Republican trifectas this week. In 2023, Republicans sponsored seven out of 15 bills in states with Republican trifectas. In 2022, Republicans sponsored 45 out of 70 bills in states with Republican trifectas.
- The bill topics with the most legislative activity this week were election types and contest-specific procedures (20), voter registration and list maintenance (16), absentee/mail-in voting (14), audits and oversight (12), and election dates and deadlines (12).
Recent activity and status changes
Here is the current status of this year’s election-related bills:
- 0 enacted bills
- 3 that have passed both chambers
- 90 that have passed one chamber
- 1,382 introduced bills
- 0 dead bills
Enacted bills
States have not approved any election-related bills in 2024. One bill had been enacted at this point last year, and five bills had been enacted by this point in 2022. To see all enacted bills, click here.
Bills that passed both chambers
Three bills have passed both chambers and are awaiting gubernatorial action, compared to no bills awaiting gubernatorial action at this point last year and seven bills at this point in 2022. To see all bills that have currently passed both chambers, click here.
The bill passing both chambers since our last edition, with its official title, is below.
New Jersey (Democratic trifecta)
- NJ S4130: Special legislation to change name of “Township of South Orange Village” to “South Orange Village”; changes titles of certain municipal officials; permits nonpartisan municipal elections to be moved to November; permits stipend for governing body members.
Vetoed bills
Governors have not vetoed any bills this year, nor any at this point in 2023 or 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.
Enacted bills by topic and sponsorship
The table below shows the topics and partisan sponsorship of enacted bills this year and at this point in 2022 and 2023.
Recent activity by topic and sponsorship
The chart below shows the topics and partisan sponsorship of the bills with legislative activity since our last edition. Click here to see a full list of bill categories and their definitions.
* Note: Contest-specific procedures refer to primary systems, municipal election procedures, recall elections, special election procedures, and other systems unique to a particular election type.
All 2024 bills by topic and sponsorship
The chart below shows the topics of a sample of the 1,476 bills we’ve followed this year. Note that the sums of the numbers listed do not equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.
Enacted bills by state and trifecta status
Recent activity by state and trifecta status
Of the 120 bills with activity this week, 58 (48.3%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 55 (45.8%) are in a state with a Republican trifecta, and seven (5.8%) are in states with a divided government.
The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.
All 2023 bills by state and trifecta status
Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 860 (43.2%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 362 (43.0%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 254 (13.9%) are in states with divided governments.
New York legislators have the most active election-related bills in 2024 (356) and 2022 (343). Texas was the most active state at this point in 2023, with 107 bills.
The map below shows the number of election-related bills introduced by state and trifecta status this year.
Recent news
District judge dismisses challenge to Ohio voter ID law
On Jan. 8, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging an Ohio law requiring voters to show a photo ID, among other provisions. Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed HB458, an omnibus election policy bill on Jan. 6, 2023. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, Union Veterans Council and Civic Influencers, and other groups sued Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) the same day. Plaintiffs alleged the law disenfranchised young voters, senior citizens, Black voters, and military service members. The plaintiffs specifically challenged the requirement that voters must present one of four types of photo ID when casting a ballot in person. Plaintiffs said the law “will severely restrict Ohioans’ access to the polls—particularly those voters who are young, elderly, and Black, as well as those serving in the military and others living abroad” and “imposes needless and discriminatory burdens on Ohioans’ fundamental right to vote.” U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent, a President Bill Clinton (D) appointee, ruled that “changes to Ohio election law brought about by HB 458 are each very small changes to Ohio’s voting laws – laws that apply equally to all Ohioans.” Nugent added that, “Ohio’s generous voting law regime appears to rise well above the constitutional floor for voting.” LaRose said the “ruling is a victory for the voters of Ohio, and it validates the work we’ve done to make our elections the gold standard in the nation for accountability and integrity.” The plaintiffs have not said whether they intend to appeal the ruling.
Nevada GOP drops presidential primary challenge
The Nevada Republican Party dropped a lawsuit against state officials that sought to prevent the state from holding a Republican presidential primary. In 2021, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed a bill mandating a state-run presidential primary. Nevada previously used a party-run caucus system. Republican National Committeewoman Sigal Chattah sued Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) in May 2023. Chattah alleged the law violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that individuals have “the right to organize themselves into political parties, parties which are self-governed and not subject to state interference.” A Nevada district court rejected the request to block the primary election in July 2023. The state GOP appealed the ruling to the state supreme court, which declined to hear the case. Nevada Republican Party Chair Michael McDonald said, “We’re going to spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money and it’s not going to matter. We’re literally going to waste millions of dollars on a primary that’s going to silence people’s voices.” Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) said, “A [presidential primary] election would simplify the process. Caucuses can be hard for voters to understand, especially for those with a language barrier, but an easier process would encourage voters to participate.” The state will hold both a primary (Feb. 6) and a caucus (Feb. 8), though the Nevada GOP is not legally obligated to accept the results of the primary. For more on election dates and voting and Nevada, click here.