States approved 51 election-related bills since our last edition, compared to 19 in 2023 and three in 2022 during the same week.

By

Ballotpedia staff

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

  • Fifty-one bills have been approved since our last edition. Two hundred fifty-one bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 314 in 2023 and 117 in 2022. 
  • State legislatures acted on 196 bills this week, 29 more than last week. 
  • Democrats sponsored 81 (41.3%) of the bills active over the past week, and Republicans sponsored 89 (45.4%) bills. Twenty-four (12.3%) bills had bipartisan sponsorship. Two (1%) bills had sponsors other than Democrats or Republicans, such as nonpartisan lawmakers or committee sponsorship. 
  • Seventy-eight (39.8%) of the bills active over the past week are in states with Democratic trifectas, 106 (54.1%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 12 (6.1%) are in states with a divided government. 
  • One hundred twenty-nine bills passed one or both chambers or were enacted this week. Thirty-three were in Democratic trifectas, and of those, Democrats sponsored 26. Ninety-two were in Republican trifectas, and of those, Republicans sponsored 69.
  • The top bill topics this week were:
  1. Election types and contest-specific procedures (38)
  2. Election dates and deadlines (17)
  3. Absentee/mail-in voting (14)
  4. Offices (12)
  5. Voter registration and list maintenance (12)

Recent activity

Enacted bills

States approved 51 election-related bills since our last edition, compared to 19 in 2023 and three in 2022 during the same week. States with Democratic trifectas enacted four of these bills, states with Republican trifectas enacted 46, and one of the bills was in a state with a divided government. Since the start of May, 11 state legislatures have adjourned their legislative sessions. To see all enacted bills, click here. 

Alabama (Republican trifecta)

  • AL SB163: Mobile County; firefighting and emergency medical districts, board of trustees fills vacancies
  • AL SB186: Prohibit the use of any ranked-choice voting method in elections except for electors who vote by absentee ballot pursuant to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act

Connecticut (Democratic trifecta)

  • CT HB05308: An Act Concerning Absentee Voting For Certain Patients Of Nursing Homes.

Florida (Republican trifecta)

Georgia (Republican trifecta)

  • GA SB504: Warren County; board of elections and registration; create
  • GA HB1207: Elections; proofing of ballots by local superintendents in certain races; provide
  • GA HB1494: Garden City, City of; mayor and mayor pro tempore and organizational meetings of city council; revise provisions
  • GA SB562: City of Pine Lake; restate the city’s charter
  • GA HB1496: Oconee County; Board of Education; reconstitute
  • GA SB424: West Georgia Judicial Circuit; create
  • GA HB1451: Brooklet, City of; provide new charter
  • GA SB434: Glascock County; board of elections and registration; create
  • GA HB1448: Dodge County; board of elections and registration; create
  • GA HB1447: Statham, City of; provide new charter
  • GA HB1399: White, City of; provide new charter
  • GA HB1400: Damascus, City of; provide new charter
  • GA HB1438: Cordele, City of; transition office of chairperson to at large commission member
  • GA HB1401: Blakely, City of; provide new charter
  • GA SB212: Probate Court Judges; relating to elections; end activities and duties
  • GA SB189: Elections; text portions of ballots shall be counted for vote tabulation and recounts purposes; provide
  • GA HB974: Secretary of State; establish and maintain a state-wide system for the posting of scanned paper ballots; require
  • GA SB382: Gilmer County; board of elections and registration; create
  • GA HB1273: Evans County; board of elections and registration; create

Maryland (Democratic trifecta)

  • MD SB417: Election Administration – State Administrator, Local Boards, and Election Directors
  • MD HB700: Election Law – Election Judges – Revisions
  • MD SB271: Election Law – Revisions

Mississippi (Republican trifecta)

  • MS SB2144: Runoff elections; amend to lengthen the timing requirement.
  • MS SB2232: Newton Municipal School District; require election of board of trustees by population of the school district.

New Hampshire (Republican trifecta)

  • NH SB344: Relative to declarations of candidacy for president of the United States.

Oklahoma (Republican trifecta)

  • OK HB1629: Elections; voter registration; modifying conditions for voter eligibility; effective date.

Pennsylvania (divided government)

  • PA SB945: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals.

South Carolina (Republican trifecta)

  • SC H5168: Kershaw County School District, reapportioned
  • SC S1025: Aiken County School Board, reapportioned
  • SC S0971: Barnwell County voting precincts
  • SC H5231: Bamberg County School District
  • SC H5267: Saluda County School Board, reapportioned
  • SC H4909: Lancaster County Voting Precincts
  • SC H5153: Anderson County School District 2
  • SC S0916: Newberry County School District
  • SC H4937: Pickens County Voting Precincts

Tennessee (Republican trifecta)

  • TN HB0133: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7 and Title 8, relative to elections.
  • TN SB2974: AN ACT to amend Chapter 62 of the Private Acts of 1981; as amended by Chapter 181 of the Private Acts of 1981; Chapter 107 of the Private Acts of 1987; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the Gibson County Special School District Board of Trustees.
  • TN HB2989: AN ACT to amend Chapter 62 of the Private Acts of 1981; as amended by Chapter 181 of the Private Acts of 1981; Chapter 107 of the Private Acts of 1987; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the Gibson County Special School District Board of Trustees.
  • TN HB2994: AN ACT to amend Chapter 320 of the Acts of 1901; as amended by Chapter 163 of the Private Acts of 1984 and Chapter 152 of the Private Acts of 2002; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the Town of Viola.
  • TN HB1830: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16, Chapter 2, relative to judicial districts.
  • TN HB1955: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to voter registration.
  • TN SB0137: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-106 and Section 2-2-141, relative to election integrity.
  • TN SB2855: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 16, Chapter 2, relative to judicial districts.
  • TN SB2587: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2 and Title 5, relative to voting equipment.
  • TN SB1706: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to county election commissions.
  • TN HB1799: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to county election commissions.

Bills that passed both chambers

Sixteen 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.

Alabama (Republican trifecta)

  • AL HB100: Establishing penalties for crimes against election officials
  • AL SB310: City of Jacksonville, Board of Education, election date revised

Connecticut (Democratic trifecta)

  • CT HB05498: An Act Concerning Election Security And Transparency, Various Other Revisions Related To Election Administration And State Elections Enforcement Commission Complaints.

Louisiana (Republican trifecta)

  • LA HB576: Provides relative to justices of the peace in Plaquemines Parish

Maine (Democratic trifecta)

  • ME LD1966: An Act to Allow Candidates for District Attorney to Participate in the Maine Clean Election Act

Mississippi (Republican trifecta)

  • MS HB1406: Absentee voting; revise various provisions of.

New Hampshire (Republican trifecta)

  • NH HB1302: Relative to elected conservation commissions in towns.

Oklahoma (Republican trifecta)

  • OK HR1047: Resolution advocating for amending the Oklahoma Constitution to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
  • OK HB3511: Elections; special elections; modifying timelines for certain elections; effective date.

South Carolina (Republican trifecta)

  • SC S0971: Barnwell County voting precincts
  • SC S1099: Laurens County voting precincts
  • SC S1292: Edgefield County School District Board of Trustees
  • SC S1126: Constitutional amendment

Tennessee (Republican trifecta)

  • TN HB2998: AN ACT to amend Chapter 553 of the Acts of 1903; as amended by Chapter 395 of the Acts of 1905; Chapter 405 of the Acts of 1907; Chapter 468 of the Private Acts of 1917; Chapter 200 of the Private Acts of 1919; Chapter 105 of the Private Acts of 1931; Chapter 460 of the Private Acts of 1931; Chapter 700 of the Private Acts of 1931; Chapter 334 of the Private Acts of 1943; Chapter 252 of the Private Acts of 1951; Chapter 513 of the Private Acts of 1951; Chapter 376 of the Private Acts of 1955

Vermont (divided government)

  • VT H0503: An act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the Town of St. Johnsbury
  • VT H0886: An act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the City of South Burlington

Vetoed bills

Governors have not vetoed any bills since our last edition. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2023, and none were vetoed in 2022. Governors have vetoed 24 bills so far this year, compared to nine at this point in both 2023 and 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.

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 196 bills with activity this week, 78 (39.8%) of the bills active over the past week are in states with Democratic trifectas, 106 (54.1%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 12 (6.1%) 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 252 bills so far this year, compared to 314 bills in 2023 and 117 in 2022. The chart below shows the number and partisan sponsorship of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

Forty-six of the election-related bills passed this year (18.3%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 160 (63.5%) are in states with a Republican trifecta, and 46 (18.3%) 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 3,545 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, 1,045 (29%) are Democrat-sponsored bills in Democratic trifecta states. Republicans sponsored 774 (22%) 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, 1,624 (45.8%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,315 (37.1%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 606 (17.1%) 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.