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State of Election Administration Legislation 2023 Year-End Report: Executive summary
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Absentee/mail-in voting • Early voting • Electoral systems • Voting rights for convicted felons • Private funding • Primary systems • Redistricting • Voter identification |
December 15, 2023
By Ballotpedia staff
Executive summary
State legislators introduce thousands of bills each year affecting the way Americans vote and how our elections are governed. This report provides a neutral and authoritative summary of that activity.
In 2023, legislative sessions saw a 25% increase in total election-related legislation across the country from last year. Republican lawmakers (1,406 bills) introduced slightly more legislation than Democratic (1,351) legislators this year, while on a per-legislator basis, Democratic lawmakers were more likely to introduce an election-related bill than Republicans. Democrats hold 44.3% of state legislative seats nationwide and introduced 0.41 bills per legislator, while Republicans hold 54.5% of seats and introduced 0.35 bills per legislator.
While both Democratic and Republican trifectas adopted more new laws in 2023 than in 2022, Republican-sponsored legislation (13%) was more likely to advance to enactment than Democratic-sponsored legislation (9.1%). These numbers are similar to last year when Republicans (9.8%) passed a greater portion of introduced bills than Democrats did (7%). The rate of adoption of bipartisan-sponsored legislation was significantly higher than partisan legislation in both years, at 23.1% this year and 17% in 2022.
In June, we told you about notable 2023 legislative activity across several policy areas, including ranked-choice voting, private funding bans, election audits, photo ID requirements for voting, and noncitizen voting. Since the publication of that report, lawmakers have continued to adopt new laws in these areas, particularly related to ranked-choice voting and the funding of election administration.
We also highlighted that Republican trifecta states had approved significantly more legislation than their Democratic counterparts by mid-year. Since June, that gap has closed, but Republican controlled states still lead their Democratic, and divided government counterparts. The average Republican trifecta enacted 9.4 bills this year, Democratic trifectas averaged 7.8 new laws, while states with divided governments adopted just 4.4 bills on average.
By the numbers
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
