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 27 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week.
Weekly highlights
The big takeaways from the past week's legislative actions.
Lawmakers in nine states acted on 27 bills over the last week, two more than last week. Nine state legislatures are still in regular or special sessions.
- One bill was enacted this week. Two were enacted during the same week in 2024, none were enacted in 2023, and none were enacted during the same week in 2022.
- Legislators acted on four bills in 2024 and 36 bills in 2023 during the same week.
- Eight of the bills acted on this week are in states with Democratic trifectas, 12 are in a state with a Republican trifecta, and seven are in states with a divided government.
- The most active bill categories this week were election types and contest-specific procedures (18), election dates and deadlines (12), and voter registration and list maintenance (6).
- We are currently following 4,898 bills. At this time in 2023, the last odd year when all states held legislative sessions, we were following 3,173 bills.
In the news
A glance at what's making headlines in the world of election law.
- On Oct. 29, the Louisiana Legislature passed two bills that would change the state's election dates. SB1 changes the spring primary election from April 18, 2026, to May 16, 2026, and the spring general election from May 30, 2026, to June 27, 2026. SB2 changes the election date for proposed constitutional amendments approved during the 2025 legislative session from April 18, 2026, to May 16, 2026.
- On Oct. 28, a federal appeals court upheld redrawn county commissioner districts in Tarrant County, Texas. A group of Texas voters filed the lawsuit in June, arguing that the districts discriminated against minorities and violated the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.
- On Oct. 28, the North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause, and six voters filed a motion to amend their lawsuit challenging North Carolina's congressional districts to include the new boundaries for Districts 1 and 3. Plaintiffs allege that the redrawn districts dilute the voting power of Black voters. On Oct. 22, the North Carolina Legislature passed a bill that redrew the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts.
- On Oct. 27, four New York voters filed a lawsuit against the state election board challenging the boundaries of the state's 11th Congressional district. Plaintiffs argue that the district as it is currently drawn unconstitutionally lessens the power of Black and Latino voters.
Key movements
A look at what bills are moving and where.
One bill was enacted in the past week. No bills were enacted during the same week in 2024, three were enacted in 2023, and none were enacted in 2022. To see all enacted bills, click here.
- North Carolina (divided government)
Three bills passed both chambers of a state legislature. To see the full list of all bills awaiting
gubernatorial action, click here.
- Massachusetts (Democratic trifecta)
No bills were vetoed in the past week. Seventy-one bills have been vetoed so far this year. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2024, 2023, or 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.
The big picture
Zooming out to see the macro-level trends in election policy so far this year.
Enacted bills
One bill was enacted this week. The chart below shows the number of enacted bills in 2025 compared to previous years.
The chart below shows the number of bills enacted over the first 44 weeks of each year.
All bills
We are following 4,898 election-related bills this year, including bills carried over from the previous year.
- Trifecta status
- Democratic: 1,793 (36.6%)
- Republican: 2,269 (46.3%)
- Divided: 838 (17.1%)
- Partisan sponsorship
- Democratic: 1,903 (38.9%)
- Republican: 2,360 (48.2%)
- Bipartisan: 411 (8.4%)
- Other: 226 (4.6%)
We were following 3,173 bills at this point in 2023. Below is a breakdown of those bills by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.
- Trifecta status
- Democratic: 1,590 (50.1%)
- Republican: 1,071 (33.8%)
- Divided: 512 (16.1%)
- Partisan sponsorship
- Democratic: 1,455 (45.9%)
- Republican: 1,178 (37.1%)
- Bipartisan: 361 (11.4%)
- Other: 179 (5.6%)
See the charts below for a comparison of total bills between 2023 and 2025 and a breakdown of all 2025 legislation by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.
