The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration, March 29, 2024

By

Ethan Rice

States approved 26 election-related bills since our last edition, compared to 40 in 2023 and nine in 2022 during the same period. 

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 and recent legislative activity.

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Legislative highlights

  • Twenty-six bills have been approved since our last edition. Seventy-six bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 124 in 2023 and 69 in 2022. 
  • State legislatures acted on 266 bills this week, 38 fewer than last week. 
  • Democrats sponsored 80 (30.1%) of the bills active over the past week, and Republicans sponsored 138 (51.9%) bills. Twenty-one (7.9%) bills had bipartisan sponsorship. Twenty-seven (10.2%) bills had sponsors other than Democrats or Republicans, such as nonpartisan lawmakers or committee sponsorship. 
  • Seventy-nine (29.7%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 142 (53.4%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 45 (16.9%) are in states with a divided government. 
  • One hundred thirty-six bills passed one or both chambers or were enacted this week. Twenty-four were in Democratic trifectas, and of those, Democrats sponsored 14. Seventy-three were in Republican trifectas, and of those, Republicans sponsored 50.
  • The top bill topics this week were:
    • Election types and contest-specific procedures (65)
    • Voter registration and list maintenance (34)
    • Ballot access (27)
    • Absentee/mail-in voting (22)
    • Election dates and deadlines (20)

Recent activity

Enacted bills

States approved 26 election-related bills since our last edition, compared to 40 in 2023 and nine in 2022 during the same period. To see all enacted bills, click here. 

Alabama (Republican trifecta)

  • AL SB1: Absentee voting; prohibit assistance in preparation of; exceptions provided

Connecticut (Democratic trifecta)

  • CT HJ00216: Resolution Proposing A State Constitutional Amendment To Allow Individuals Who Have Attained The Age Of Sixteen To Apply For Admission As Electors And To Be So Admitted Upon Attaining The Age Of Eighteen.

Florida (Republican trifecta)

Idaho (Republican trifecta)

  • ID S1235: Amends existing law to change library board elections from once every six years to once every four years.
  • ID S1244: Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding electioneering activities near polling places, to provide certain qualifications, and to revise penalties for violations.
  • ID H0477: Amends existing law to require a certain percentage of qualified electors of the district to sign a petition for a vote to repeal the district.

Oregon (Democratic trifecta)

  • OR SB1533: Relating to elections.
  • OR SB1538: Relating to election law; declaring an emergency.
  • OR HB4019: Relating to presidential electors; and prescribing an effective date.

South Dakota (Republican trifecta) 

  • SD SB99: Modify provisions pertaining to applying for an absentee ballot application and to declare an emergency.
  • SD SB182: Repeal and revise certain provisions regarding the petition circulation process to comply with federal court decisions.
  • SD SB199: Revise provisions pertaining to the consolidation or boundary changes of counties.
  • SD HB1244: Provide a process to withdraw a signature from a petition for an initiated measure, constitutional amendment, or a referendum on a law in certain situations and to declare an emergency.
  • SD SB146: Revise and repeal provisions related to threatening persons holding statewide office, judicial officers, and elected officers and to provide a penalty therefor.

Tennessee (Republican trifecta)

  • TN SB1768: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to election officials.
  • TN SB1836: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 3, Part 1, relative to elections.
  • TN SB1838: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16, Chapter 2, relative to judicial districts.

Utah (Republican trifecta)

  • UT SB0258: Municipal Incorporation Amendments
  • UT HB0515: Election Administration Modifications
  • UT HB0538: Protection of State Official or Employee Personal Information

West Virginia (Republican trifecta) 

  • WV SB624: Canceling voter registration records for individuals no longer WV residents
  • WV SB542: Amending procedure for filling vacancies in certain county offices having more than three commissioners
  • WV SB166: Updating contested elections procedures
  • WV SB623: Requiring DMV to provide images of certain individuals to Secretary of State for voter identification purposes
  • WV HB4552: To ensure party affiliation is consistent with candidate’s voter registration

Wisconsin (divided government)

  • WI AB330: The number of signatures on nomination papers.

Bills that passed both chambers

Nineteen bills have passed both chambers since our last edition and await gubernatorial action. To see all bills that have currently passed both chambers, click here.

Idaho (Republican trifecta)

  • ID H0561: Amends existing law to provide for a canvass report after votes are cast for elected offices.
  • ID H0521: Amends, repeals, and adds to existing law to revise provisions regarding tax rates, school facilities funding, and school district bond and tax levy elections.

Kentucky (divided government)

  • KY SB143: AN ACT proposing to amend Sections 145 and 155 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to persons entitled to vote.

Massachusetts (Democratic trifecta)

  • MA H3959: Amending the charter of the city of Easthampton
  • MA H4097: Increasing the membership of the select board of the town of Merrimac from 3 members to 5 members

Maine (Democratic trifecta)

  • ME LD1578: An Act to Adopt an Interstate Compact to Elect the President of the United States by National Popular Vote

Nebraska (Republican trifecta)

  • NE LB894: Change provisions relating to county sheriffs and allow individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status to receive law enforcement officer training and certification and participation in retirement programs as prescribed

Tennessee (Republican trifecta)

  • TN HB2980: AN ACT to amend Chapter 333 of the Private Acts of 1953; as rewritten by Chapter 54 of the Private Acts of 1991; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the City of Cottage Grove.
  • TN SB2284: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18, Chapter 6, relative to office qualifications.

Virginia (divided government)

  • VA SB428: Elections; ranked choice voting, locally elected offices.
  • VA HB904: Voter registration; list maintenance activities, cancellation procedures, required record matches.
  • VA SB364: Elections; protection of electors and election officials, penalty, civil action.
  • VA HB939: Elections administration; prohibits possession of a firearm within 100 feet of certain locations.
  • VA HB623: Rights of voters; covered practices, civil cause of action, standing, jurisdiction, and venue.
  • VA SB188: Election of certain governing bodies; conversion to single-member districts.
  • VA SB300: Voter registration; list maintenance activities, cancellation procedures, required record matches.
  • VA SB131: Primary elections; candidates for nomination, withdrawal of candidacy.

West Virginia (Republican trifecta)

  • WV HB5298: Relating to prohibiting a candidate who failed to secure the nomination of a political party in a primary election from seeking the same elected office as an affiliate with a different political party in the subsequent general election
  • WV HB4350: Relating to appointment of candidates after filing period

Vetoed bills

Four bills have been vetoed since our last edition. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2023 or 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.

On March 21, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) vetoed four Republican-sponsored election-related bills. Wisconsin has a divided government in which Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of the legislature.

Wisconsin (divided government)

  • WI AB543: Election observers and providing a penalty.
  • WI SB736: Postelection audits by the Legislative Audit Bureau and providing a penalty. (FE)
  • WI AB570: Certain kinds of election fraud, defects on absentee ballot certificates, returning absentee ballots to the office of the municipal clerk, appointment of election officials, allowing an employee of a residential care facility or qualified retirement home to serve as a personal care voting assistant during a public health emergency or an incident of infectious disease, and providing a penalty. (FE)
  • WI AB572: Absentee voting in certain residential care facilities and retirement homes and court determinations of incompetency and ineligibility to vote.

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. 

Recent activity by state and trifecta status

Of the 266 bills with activity this week, 79 (29.7%) bills are in states with Democratic trifectas, 142 (53.4%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 45 (16.9%) 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 legislation

Enacted bills by sponsorship and trifecta status

States have enacted 76 bills so far this year, compared to 124 bills in 2023 and 69 in 2022. The chart below shows the number and partisan sponsorship of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

Nineteen of the election-related bills passed this year (25%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 52 (68.4%) are in states with a Republican trifecta, and five (6.6%) are in states with a divided government. The table below shows the number of enacted election-related bills introduced by trifecta status this year compared to 2023 and 2022.

All bills by topic and sponsorship

The chart below displays the topic and sponsorship of a sample of the 3,403 total 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.  

All bills by sponsorship and trifecta status

Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1008 (29.6%) are Democrat-sponsored bills in Democratic trifecta states. Republicans sponsored 739 (21.6%) bills in states with Republican trifectas.

The chart below shows the percentage of all election-related bills by sponsorship and trifecta status.

All bills by state and trifecta status

Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,559 (45.8%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,253 (36.8%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 591 (17.4%) are in states with divided governments. 

Of all active bills in 2023, 42% were in states with Democratic trifectas, 43.8% were in states with Republican trifectas, and 14.2% were in states with divided governments. In 2022, 37.8% of bills were in states with Democratic trifectas, 30.4% were in states with Republican trifectas, and 31.8% were in states with divided governments.

The map below shows the number of election-related bills introduced by state and trifecta status this year.