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State of Election Administration Legislation 2023 Mid-Year Report: Tracking trends
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Absentee/mail-in voting • Early voting • Electoral systems • Voting rights for convicted felons • Private funding • Primary systems • Redistricting • Voter identification |
June 29, 2023
By Ballotpedia staff
Tracking trends
Thanks to our bill tagging system, we are able to analyze trends in election administration legislation in more than 20 broad election policy areas. Here are a few highlights of trends we’ve tracked this year:
More RCV bans considered in 2023 legislative sessions than previous years
While state legislatures have considered a similar number of bills related to ranked-choice voting (RCV) in 2023 as they did in 2022, the number of measures prohibiting RCV has nearly doubled, from nine bans or repeals introduced in 2022 to 15 such bills introduced as of May 31, 2023.
By May 31, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota had enacted RCV bans—joining Florida and Tennessee, which became the first states to do so in 2022. All five states had Republican trifectas when these laws were adopted. Similar Republican-sponsored bills advanced in other states, as well: Arizona HB2552 (vetoed), Montana HB598, North Dakota HB1273 (vetoed), and Texas SB921 (passed one chamber).
Republican lawmakers in Alaska and Maine, where ranked-choice voting has been implemented for some federal and state-level elections through statewide ballot measures, have introduced legislation that would repeal RCV.
More bills introduced in 2023 than in 2022 that would make ballot access more difficult for political parties
Lawmakers have introduced more bills this year than last year that would make it more difficult for political parties to have their candidates placed on election ballots.
This year, we’ve tracked 25 bills related to ballot access for political parties that were introduced as of May 31. Of those, we determined that nine bills—introduced in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, and Texas—would make it more difficult for parties to qualify for ballot access, while seven—in Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Montana, New York, and West Virginia—would ease ballot access requirements for political parties.
Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed Minnesota HF1830—an omnibus bill including a provision changing the major political party vote requirement from 5% to 8%—on May 24. According to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, Minnesota's 5% requirement was one of the most difficult in the country, with 2% being the median requirement. Virginia and New Jersey have a 10% requirement, while Alabama's is 20%.
In 2022, we tracked 29 bills related to political party ballot access. Of the bills that were introduced in 2022, we determined that 17 would have eased ballot access requirements. Three bills, a set of companion bills in Iowa, would have increased requirements for non-party political organizations (political organizations not meeting the conditions to be a political party) to nominate a candidate at a nominating convention.
Nearly 50% increase in the number of bills introduced on the consolidation of election dates, and more states eye school board election changes
As of May 31, 14 states were considering bills modifying school board election dates to coincide with other local or statewide elections, up from two in 2022, with Republicans sponsoring nearly every such bill in both years.
In total, state legislators had introduced 31 bills that would consolidate permissible election dates as of May 31. Eighteen such bills were introduced in 2022. Legislation related to consolidating election dates includes any bill that moves or allows jurisdictions to move an election or elections to coincide with existing state and/or federal election dates, such as moving an election from odd- to even-year cycles or from spring dates to November.
As of May 31, fewer states were considering new bans on the private funding of elections than in 2022, as 22 of the 28 states where the GOP controls both chambers of the legislature had already enacted such bills over the past two years. However, several states were considering amendments to private funding provisions enacted since 2021.
Three of the six Republican-controlled legislatures that had not enacted private funding bans by 2023—Louisiana, Montana, and North Carolina—had considered such bills as of May 31. Montana’s ban was enacted.
Enacted ballot collection bills make mostly small changes, several states considering new restrictions and penalties
As of May 31, 11 states had considered legislation related to ballot collection, or ballot harvesting, and three states had enacted bills. In 2022, 15 states considered such bills, and bills in seven states were approved.
While most of the bills introduced this year would make minor changes to existing laws, some states are considering more substantial changes. Bipartisan bills in Rhode Island and Wyoming, two states that do not currently specify whether someone may return ballots on behalf of another voter, would add restrictions to ballot collection. Republican-sponsored bills in three states that currently allow voters to choose someone to return their ballot, Nebraska, Oregon, and Virginia, would narrow or limit the authorized individuals who may return another voter’s ballot.
Of the 22 states that currently have a Republican trifecta, 11 states specify or otherwise limit who may return another voter’s absentee ballot, while four others do not have any law related to ballot collection. Of the 17 Democratic trifecta states, only three specify or otherwise limit who may collect and return absentee ballots, while five states’ statutes do not reference ballot collection.
As of May 31, the most common topic of introduced election-related legislation was contest-specific procedures, followed by ballot access, voter registration and list maintenance, audits and oversight, and absentee/mail-in voting.
Republican lawmakers led the way in total bills enacted in each of the top-five topics.
- Contest-specific procedures: Republican legislators sponsored 28 of the 37 enacted bills (75.7%), while Democratic legislators sponsored just two bills (5.4%). Four enacted bills (10.8%) had bipartisan sponsorship.
- Election dates and deadlines: Republican legislators sponsored 20 of the 35 enacted bills (57.1%), Democratic legislators sponsored 11 enacted bills (31.4%), and three enacted bills (8.6%) had bipartisan sponsorship.
- Audits and oversight: Republican legislators sponsored 21 of the 35 enacted bills (60.0%), Democratic legislators sponsored seven (20.0%), and four enacted bills (11.4%) had bipartisan sponsorship.
- Ballot access: Republican legislators sponsored 16 of the 30 (53.3%) enacted bills, while Democratic legislators sponsored five of the enacted bills (16.7%), and six enacted bills (20.0%) had bipartisan sponsorship.
- Counting and certification: Republican legislators sponsored 15 of the 24 enacted bills (62.5%), Democratic legislators sponsored five enacted bills (20.8%), and three enacted bills (12.5%) had bipartisan sponsorship.
As of May 31, state lawmakers had introduced 110 bills related to voter list maintenance. Of these, 11 had been enacted, and two were vetoed, both in Arizona. Of the 11 enacted bills, 10 were enacted in Republican trifecta states, and one was enacted in a Democratic trifecta (New Mexico).
Included among voter list maintenance bills were efforts in Texas and Arizona to withdraw from participation in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Lawmakers in both states sent bills to their governors that would effectively withdraw their respective states from ERIC. These efforts occur against the backdrop of a wider-reaching push by election administrators in a number of states to cease participation in ERIC.
On May 29, Texas lawmakers sent Senate Bill 1070 to Gov. Greg Abbot (R), positioning the state to become the eighth to withdraw from ERIC this year, and the ninth since 2022. On May 26, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed Senate Bill 1135, which would have effectively withdrawn that state from ERIC. At its height, 33 states were participating members in ERIC. In the eight other states that have withdrawn from ERIC since 2022, chief election officials made the decision to withdraw without legislative involvement.
Separately, Oklahoma, which is not currently a member of ERIC, enacted a bill in May permitting the state to join a multistate voter list maintenance organization, such as ERIC, but includes provisions that would effectively preclude Oklahoma from joining ERIC. Finally, California legislators are still considering a bill that would require the state to apply for membership in ERIC if enacted.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job.
Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. But that's just the beginning of what it can do:
- Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments.
- We translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language.
- And because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.
About the authors
Joe Greaney is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.
Janie Valentine is a team lead on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.
Ballotpedia Editor in Chief Geoff Pallay reviewed the report and provided feedback, as did Managing Editor Cory Eucalitto.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- About Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- Voting laws in the United States
- Election Policy
