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 16 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week.
Weekly highlights
The big takeaways from the past week's legislative actions.
Lawmakers in five states acted on 16 bills over the last week, 11 fewer than last week. Seven state legislatures are still in regular or special sessions.
- Five bills were enacted this week. One was enacted during the same week in 2024, four were enacted in 2023, and none were enacted during the same week in 2022.
- Legislators acted on 12 bills in 2024 and 55 bills in 2023 during the same week.
- Nine of the bills acted on this week are in states with Democratic trifectas, three are in a state with a Republican trifecta, and four are in states with a divided government.
- The most active bill categories this week were election types and contest-specific procedures (6), alternative voting methods (2), and voter registration and list maintenance (2).
- We are currently following 4,900 bills. At this time in 2023, the last odd year when all states held legislative sessions, we were following 3,178 bills.
In the news
A glance at what's making headlines in the world of election law.
- On Nov. 5, Republican state legislators in California filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D) over Proposition 50, a constitutional amendment to allow the state to use a new congressional district map for elections from 2026 through 2030. Voters approved the amendment 64% to 36% on Nov. 4.
- On Nov. 4, voters in New York, New York rejected Question 6, a measure that would have moved the city’s primary and general elections to coincide with federal presidential election years when permitted by state law. Voters rejected the measure 53%-47%.
- On Nov. 4, Maine voters rejected Question 1, a statewide referendum that would have required voters to present a photo ID for both in-person and absentee voting. The measure also would have removed a provision allowing for municipalities to request additional drop boxes and required voters to submit a written application to the registrar of their municipality to request an absentee ballot. Voters rejected the measure 64%-36%.
- On Nov. 3, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that a Huntington Beach measure requiring voters to present identification when casting their ballots violates state election laws. Voters approved the measure on March 5, 2024. California law does not require voters to present photo identification.
- On Oct. 30, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed two bills into law changing the state's election dates. SB1 changes the spring municipal and party primaries from April 18, 2026, to May 16, 2026, and the spring municipal general election and party primary runoff 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.
Key movements
A look at what bills are moving and where.
Five bills were enacted in the past week. One bill was enacted during the same week in 2024, four were enacted in 2023, and none were enacted in 2022. To see all enacted bills, click here.
- Wisconsin (divided government)
No bills passed both chambers of a state legislature. To see the full list of all bills awaiting
gubernatorial action, click here.
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
Five bills were 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 45 weeks of each year.
All bills
We are following 4,900 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 3,178 bills at this point in 2023. Below is a breakdown of those bills by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.
- Trifecta status
- Democratic: 1,593 (50.1%)
- Republican: 1,073 (33.8%)
- Divided: 512 (16.1%)
- Partisan sponsorship
- Democratic: 1,456 (45.8%)
- Republican: 1,180 (37.1%)
- Bipartisan: 363 (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.
