In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 12 bills acted on since our last edition.
Legislative highlights
- One bill was approved last week. Three hundred eighty-nine bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 637 in 2023 and 231 in 2022.
- State legislatures acted on 12 bills this week, four more than the week of our Nov. 1 edition.
- The top bill topics this week were:
- Election types and contest-specific procedures (7)
- Ballot verification (5)
- Alternative voting methods (1)
- Audits and oversight (1)
- Offices (1)
- Redistricting (1)
- Voters and voter qualifications (1)
In the news
Here’s a rundown of recent news stories and developments from across the country on election administration.
- On Nov. 15, U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick (R), the Republican National Committee (RNC), and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the Philadelphia City Commissioners, alleging that the commissioners’ decision to count absentee ballots with missing or incorrect dates violated state laws. Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race will head to a recount after Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (R) announced that the unofficial results of the Nov. 5 general election triggered a legally required statewide recount.
- On Nov. 13, a circuit court judge in Calhoun County, Michigan, rejected a lawsuit to halt the recounting of absentee ballots in a state House race. Republican candidate Steve Frisbie (R) filed the suit, alleging that the recount violated the state’s recount laws.
- On Nov. 8, a New York Supreme Court judge struck down the New York Voting Rights Act of 2022, which allowed voters to challenge election practices that affect “the ability of members of a protected class to elect candidates of their choice or influence the outcome of elections, as a result of vote dilution.” Judge Maria Vazquez-Doles said provisions of the law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Recent activity
Enacted bills
One election-related bill was approved over the past week. Four bills were enacted in 2023, and none were enacted in 2022 during the same week. To see all enacted bills, click here.
Massachusetts (Democratic trifecta)
- MA H3728
- Establishes a Townsend Special Act Charter for the town of Townsend.
- Lists the offices to be elected, including the selectboard, town moderator, town clerk, and more.
- Specifies that a vacancy in a body consisting of two or more members, except the selectboard, requires immediate selectboard and public notification, with public notification lasting at least 10 days.
- Outlines voting and notification procedures for filling the vacancy based on when the vacancy occurs in relation to the next regularly scheduled town election.
- Specifies that recall election procedures will follow laws established by the state.
Bills that passed both chambers
No bills have passed both chambers since our last edition. To see all bills awaiting gubernatorial action, click here.
Vetoed bills
There have been no gubernatorial vetoes since our last edition. One bill was vetoed during this period in 2023, and none were vetoed in 2022. Governors have vetoed 37 bills so far this year, compared to 38 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.
Recent activity by state
Of the 12 bills with activity over the previous week, four were in states with Democratic trifectas and eight were in states with Republican 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 389 bills so far this year, compared to 637 bills in 2023 and 231 in 2022. The chart below shows the number of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.
One hundred fourteen 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 53 (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, 1,788 (46.8%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,373 (36%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 657 (17.2%) 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.
