Here is our weekly round-up on election-related legislation. In it, you’ll find the following information: 

• Noteworthy bills: Here, we identify and report on the contents and legislative status of noteworthy bills. 
• Recent activity: Here, we report on the number of bills acted on within the past week. 
• The big picture: Here, we look at the bills in the aggregate. 
  • Legislative status: How many bills have been introduced, voted upon, or enacted into law?
  • Concentration of activity: What states have seen the highest concentration of legislative activity?
  • Partisan affiliation of sponsorship: How many bills have been sponsored by Democrats vs. Republicans? 
  • Subject: What subjects are most commonly addressed in the bills? 

Noteworthy bills

This part of our report highlights recent activity on specific noteworthy bills. A bill is noteworthy if it meets one or more of the following criteria: 

• It has been enacted into law. 
• It is poised to be enacted into law. 
• It is the subject of significant debate in the legislature. 
• It is the subject of significant commentary by activists, journalists, etc. 

Michigan HB5783: This bill requires the secretary of state to notify the speaker of the state House, the state Senate majority leader, and each county, city, and township clerk responsible for election administration before sending any election-related mailing to 20 percent or more of registered electors in a given precinct. This bill also requires the secretary of state to report annually to the general government appropriations subcommittee and the state budget office on the total number of electors who corrected their voter registration forms after being notified by the secretary of state and the total number of possible improper voters cast at the preceding primary and general elections that were referred to law enforcement.

Legislative history and status: The state House approved the final version of the bill on July 1 by a vote of 97-9. The state Senate unanimously approved the bill on the same day. The governor signed the bill into law on July 20.

Political context: Michigan has a divided government. Republicans control majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The governor, Gretchen Whitmer, is a Democrat. 

Recent activity

Since July 15, 11 bills have been acted on in some way (a 31.3 percent decrease as compared to last week’s total of 16 bills). These 11 bills represent 0.4 percent of the 2,524 bills we are tracking. Of these 11 bills, 10 (90.9 percent) are from states with Democratic trifectas and 1 (9.1 percent) was from a state with divided government. 

The bar chart below compares recent activity on a week-to-week basis over the last eight weeks. 

• 10 bills passed one chamber (or saw pre-adoption action in the second chamber). 
  • Democratic trifectas: 10.
• 1 bill was enacted. 
  • Divided governments: 1.
    • MI HB5783: Appropriations: general government; appropriations for fiscal year 2022-2023; provide for. Creates appropriation act.

The map below visualizes the concentration of this recent activity across the nation. A darker shade of yellow indicates a higher number of relevant bills that have been acted upon in the last week. A lighter shade of yellow indicates a lower number of bills that have been acted upon in the last week. 

The big picture

To date, we have tracked 2,524 election-related bills. This represents a marginal decrease as compared to last week’s total. These bills were either introduced this year or crossed over from last year’s legislative sessions. 

Legislative status

 

The pie charts below visualize the legislative status of the bills we are tracking. The following status indicators are used: 

• Introduced: The bill has been pre-filed, introduced, or referred to committee but has not otherwise been acted upon.
• Advanced from committee: The bill has received a favorable vote in committee. It has either advanced to another committee or to the floor for a vote. 
• Passed one chamber: The bill has been approved by one legislative chamber.
• Conference committee: Differing versions of the bill have been approved by their respective chambers and a conference committee has been appointed to reconcile the differences. 
• Passed both chambers: The bill has cleared both chambers of the legislature. 
• Enacted: The bill has been enacted into law, by gubernatorial action or inaction or veto override. 
• Vetoed: The bill has been vetoed. 
• Dead: The bill has been defeated in committee or by floor vote. 

The pie charts below visualize the legislative status of bills in Democratic and Republican trifectas, respectively. 

Concentration of activity

The map below visualizes the concentration of legislative activity across the nation. A darker shade of yellow indicates a higher number of relevant bills that have been introduced. A lighter shade of yellow indicates a lower number of relevant bills. 

Partisan affiliation of sponsor(s)

The pie chart below visualizes the partisan affiliation of bill sponsors.

The bar chart below visualizes the correlation between the partisan affiliation of bill sponsors and trifecta status (e.g., how many Democratic-sponsored bills were introduced in Democratic trifectas vs. Republican trifectas).

Bills by topic

The chart below presents information on the total number of bills dealing with particular topics. The number listed on the blue portion of each bar indicates the number of Democratic-sponsored bills dealing with the subject in question. The number listed on the red portion of the bar indicates the number of Republican-sponsored bills. The purple and gray portions of the bar indicate the number of bipartisan-sponsored bills and bills with unspecified sponsorship, respectively. Note that the numbers listed here will not, when summed, equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.