All 10 of the bills with activity this week were in states with Democratic trifectas.

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. 

In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 10 bills that advanced since our last edition.

Legislative highlights

• Five bills were approved last week. Three hundred eighty-eight bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 606 in 2023 and 229 in 2022. 
• State legislatures acted on 10 bills this week, three fewer than last week. 
• The top bill topics this week were:

1. Election types and contest-specific procedures (7)
2. Redistricting (4)
3. Election dates and deadlines (2)
4. Ballot verification (1)
5. Counting and certification (1)
6. Offices (1)
7. Voter registration and list maintenance (1)

In the news

Here’s a rundown of recent news stories and developments from across the country on election administration.

• The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Election Board on Oct. 3. Plaintiffs allege the board is illegally allowing non-residents living abroad to vote under the state’s Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA).
• On Oct. 1, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo, alleging her decision not to offer drop box locations for mail-in voters violates state law.
• On Sept. 29, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill prohibiting local governments from requiring residents to provide ID to vote. Legislators introduced the bill after the City of Huntington Beach passed Measure 1, requiring voter identification for elections. California is one of 14 states that does not require voter ID at the polls. 
• Wisconsin state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R) filed a lawsuit last month against the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), challenging the state’s participation in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

Recent activity

Enacted bills

Five election-related bills have been approved since our last edition, compared to three bills in 2023 and no bills in 2022 during the same week. Click individual bills below to see their full summaries. To see all enacted bills, click here. 

California (Democratic trifecta)

• CA SB1174
  • Prohibits a local government from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted unless required by state or federal law.
• CA SB904
  • Authorizes the levy of a retail transaction and use tax in Sonoma and Marin counties via a qualified voter initiative to be held on a special election date to provide for the local rail transit system.
• CA AB1807
  • Prohibits the County of Riverside Citizen Redistricting Commission members from communicating with individuals or organizations about redistricting-related matters outside of public meetings, with exceptions for certain staff members, commissioners, legal counsel, and consultants retained by the commission.
  • Requires the commission to follow existing law that complies with state and federal statutes and the U.S. and state constitution when mapping single-member supervisorial districts.
• CA SB1328
  • Authorizes the secretary of state to impose additional requirements for the approval of an electronic poll book as the secretary deems necessary.
  • Specifies that the secretary of state must certify (instead of approve) each ballot printer before the printer manufactures or finishes ballot cards and before the manufacturer solicits or accepts orders, and stipulates that the secretary of state may impose additional conditions of approval as he or she deems necessary.
  • Reduces the timeline for a ballot manufacturer or finisher to notify the secretary of state and local election officials upon discovering a defect or flaw in its process or in the finished cards, reducing the deadline from within two business days of the discovery to within 24 hours of the discovery.

New York (Democratic trifecta)

• NY S09145
  • Provides that every registered fire district voter is allowed to cast one vote for each vacant position on a board of fire commissioners at the first annual fire district officer election. Previously, the candidate with the highest number of votes would fill the vacancy with the longest remaining term. 

Bills that passed both chambers

No bills have passed both chambers since our last edition. Click individual bills below to see their full summaries. To see all bills awaiting gubernatorial action, click here.

Vetoed bills

There have been three gubernatorial vetoes since our last edition. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2023, and none were vetoed in 2022. Governors have vetoed 37 bills so far this year, compared to 37 at this point in 2023 and 17 at this point in 2022. Click individual bills below to see their full summaries. To see all vetoed bills, click here.

Between Sept. 27 and 29, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed three election-related bills. 

• One bill (CA SB299) required the secretary of state and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to determine the registration status of a person applying for a driver’s license for the purpose of registering, pre-registering, or updating their voter registration. 
• Another (CA SB907) would have modified election procedures for the Orange County Board of Education. 
• The third (CA AB2724) would create requirements for preregistering prospective voters in high schools. 

Newsom said SB299 “would place the DMV in the role of determining voter eligibility, a function more suitable for elections officials.” In his veto message of SB907, Newsom said, “State circumvention of these local procedures, especially with respect to a single county board of education, should be avoided absent extraordinary circumstances.” Of AB2427, Newsom said he had “concerns about creating an additional school mandate for this purpose at this time. Schools already have the ability to fulfill the requirements of this bill without creating a new mandate.”

California (Democratic trifecta)

• CA SB299
  • Requires the secretary of state and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to develop a way to determine whether a driver’s license applicant is already registered or pre-registered to vote using the statewide voter registration database (VoteCal). The secretary of state can satisfy this requirement by providing a copy of the statewide voter registration database to the department on a daily basis.
  • Requires the DMV to transmit certain information to the secretary for the purpose of registering or pre-registering a person depending on if the person is registered or pre-registered already. 
• CA SB907
  • Establishes that the Orange County Board of Education will consist of seven members (instead of the option of five or seven members) and requires elections for the members of the Orange County Board of Education to align with the statewide November general election date in even-numbered years.
• CA AB2724
  • Authorizes the administrator of a public or private high school to appoint one or more students who are enrolled at that high school to be voter outreach coordinators.
  • Requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, or a charter school to ensure that each of its students receives, at least once before the student completes grade 11, information on how to properly preregister to vote.
  • Requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, or a charter school to, upon request of a student or a parent or guardian, ensure that a paper copy of a voter registration card is provided for that pupil and that any information shared with parents, guardians, and students is handled according to state and federal privacy laws and regulations.

Recent activity by state

Of the 10 bills with activity over the previous week, all 10 were in states with Democratic trifectas.

The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.

All legislation

Enacted bills

States have enacted 388 bills so far this year, compared to 606 bills in 2023 and 229 in 2022. The chart below shows the number of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

One hundred twelve of the election-related bills passed this year (29%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 222 (57.5%) are in states with a Republican trifecta, and 52 (13.5%) are in states with a divided government. The chart below shows enacted election-related bills by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.

All bills 

Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,768 (46.7%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,370 (36.2%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 645 (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 chart below shows election-related bills introduced by partisan sponsorship and trifecta status this year.