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State of Election Administration Legislation 2024 Mid-Year Report: State highlights
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Absentee/mail-in voting • Early voting • Electoral systems • Voting rights for convicted felons • Private funding • Primary systems • Redistricting • Voter identification |
July 1, 2024
By Ballotpedia staff
State highlights
Below are some highlights from the most active state of each trifecta status by the number of election-related bills enacted:
Tennessee (Republican trifecta)
In Tennessee, lawmakers adopted 36 bills, including changes to state voter roll maintenance laws, absentee/mail-in ballot deadlines, and new rules for voter registration drives.
- HB 835 / SB 137 requires election officials to compare the statewide voter registration database with the department of safety database to ensure noncitizens are not registered to vote. Officials were previously allowed, but not required, to compare the databases.
- HB 2294 / SB 1967 changes the deadline to request an absentee/main-in ballot from seven to 10 days before an election. Tennessee requires an excuse to request an absentee ballot.
- HB 1955 / SB 2586 prohibits the pre-filling of information on a voter registration application and makes it a crime for anyone convicted of a felony to handle another voter’s application.
Tennessee legislators also adopted the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act which requires presidential electors and alternates to vote for their party’s candidate, or otherwise be replaced as electors. Eleven other states have adopted similar laws since 2011.
Georgia (Republican trifecta)
Included among Georgia’s 33 new election laws are changes to voter registration challenges, a new deadline for counting absentee/mail-in ballots, new requirements for poll workers, rules for poll observers, and a new system for posting images of voted ballots.
- SB 189 is an omnibus elections bill that removed the secretary of state from the state election board, allows election officials to remove a voter from registration rolls up to 45
days before an election, requires all absentee ballots to be counted by one hour after polls close on election day, and changed a definition of probable cause for a voter registration challenge. It also included a provision allowing a political party that has obtained presidential elector ballot access in at least 20 states or territories to qualify for the general election ballot in Georgia.
- HB 1207 requires all election officials and poll workers to be U.S. citizens, and grants poll watchers access to polling places, advance voting locations, tabulation centers, and absentee ballot processing locations, and stipulates that they are entitled to observe any activity conducted at these locations.
- HB 974 requires watermarks on absentee ballots, establishes a pilot program to scan and publicly post images of all voted ballots on the secretary of state’s website, and expands post-election risk-limiting audit requirements.
The majority of the remaining new laws only impact election procedures in specific jurisdictions within the state, such as new election procedures for council members in a city, or changes to a county board of elections.
Virginia (Divided government)
In Virginia, lawmakers adopted legislation related to voting while incarcerated, increasing protections for election officials and workers, faithful presidential electors, and new requirements for the state’s elections website.
- HB 1330 stipulates that a registered voter incarcerated for a misdemeanor, or awaiting trial related to a misdemeanor conviction, has the right to vote an absentee/mail-in ballot, and if they are incarcerated after the deadline to request a ballot, then the institution or facility in which an individual is confined must provide transportation to the appropriate polling location.
- HB 943 / SB 364 adds current and former election workers, officials, and presidential electors to the list of protected voters who may choose to provide a P.O. box in lieu of a personal address for voter registration. The bill also increases penalties for threats and intimidation made against these individuals.
- HB 111, a version of the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act, requires all nominated presidential electors to be U.S. citizens, state residents, and to take an oath that they will vote for their party’s candidate for U.S. President and Vice President. It also provides for a new method for replacing withdrawn or otherwise vacant presidential elector positions.
- HB 989 established new requirements for the state’s Department of Elections’ website, including that the website be translated into a number of languages set by standards elsewhere in state law, and that the website provide a list of candidates, constitutional amendments, and statewide referenda for all elections in the state.
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a number of other election bills passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature, including:
- SB 606, which would have required the state to reapply to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a voter list maintenance compact. Virginia was a founding member of ERIC in 2012 but resigned in 2023.
- HB 904 / SB 300, which would have required the Department of Elections to keep a record of cancellation of a voter’s registration for four years, instead of two, and would have created new security standards for state and county voter registration systems.
- SB 428, which would have established new counting, tabulation, and certification procedures for ranked-choice voting (RCV) elections in Virginia. According to the bill’s sponsor, “The bill made a series of changes the Department [of Elections] asked for to ensure for a smoother and more legally sound process for ranked-choice voting.”
In total, Youngkin vetoed 13 election-related bills.
Arizona (Divided government)
In Arizona, new laws change the deadline for certifying elections, modify rules for hand-counted post-election audits, and add new notification requirements if a voter’s registration is changed.
- HB 2785 moved up the statewide primary date by one week in response to changing federal deadlines and instituted a new schedule for canvassing boards to meet and certify election results depending on the type and the level of the election. requires canvassing boards to meet not later than the third Thursday after a general election, and not later than the second Monday after a primary election. Previously, canvassing boards were required to canvass and certify election results between 6-20 days after an election. The bill also shortens the amount of time an election official has to verify a provisional ballot to five days (instead of ten) after a federal-level election and three days (instead of five) for other elections.
- SB 1342 created new rules for hand counts required by the state’s post-election audit law. The new rules provide that political party designees will be compensated to perform a hand count under the supervision of the county election officer, and prohibit 75% of those conducting the hand count from being members of the same political party.
- HB 2484requires county election officials to notify a voter of any change to his or her registration record within 24 hours, including by text or email if possible. The notice must include instructions on how a voter can update their registration or contact the county official if the voter did not request or authorize any change.
Governor Katie Hobbs (D) also vetoed seven bills passed by the Republican controlled legislature. One of those bills would have made school board elections partisan, and another would have banned election officials from sending voter registration cards to anyone who’s mailing address is not in the state. As of June 2024, school board elections are partisan in four states, while five other states allow school districts to choose whether their elections are partisan.
Arizona voters will also decide on an LRCA this November that would require partisan primaries for partisan elected offices and prohibit primaries where all candidates, regardless of affiliation, run together, such as top-two and top-four primaries. Lawmakers referred the measure during the 2023 legislative session.
Maryland (Democratic trifecta)
In Maryland, lawmakers passed bills expanding protections for election officials and created a portal intended to address election misinformation. They also adopted a new law modifying post-election canvassing procedures, including a process to investigate election errors and new rules to handle dissent among boards of canvassers.
- HB 585 / SB 480, the Protecting Election Officials Act, makes threatening an election official of their immediate family a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The act also expands these and existing protections to the counsel to the State Board of Elections, counsel to local boards of election, and their families.
- HB 333 defines election disinformation as “knowingly and deliberately disseminated,” and misinformation as “incorrect or misleading information regarding the time, place, or manner of an election, election results, or voting rights in the state.” It requires the state board of election to maintain a portal for the public to submit instances of election dis- and misinformation, and requires the board to review submissions and issue corrective information as necessary or refer cases to the State Prosecutor.
- HB 471 requires the Board of State Canvassers to convene within 30 days (instead of 35) of an election. It also requires the State Administrator of Elections to investigate an error in election documents or records produced during an election, and adds a provision that directs a dissenting member of a canvassing board to prepare and file a written statement with the local election board explaining their dissent.
Colorado (Democratic trifecta)
In Colorado, legislators adopted an omnibus bill that changes a number of areas of election law and lays out new requirements related to the adoption of RCV, as well as legislation related to voting in detention centers, presidential electors, and firearms near polling locations and election centers.
- SB 210 lowered the age for voter preregistration from 16 to 15 years old and eliminated the ability for 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 at the time of the general election. It also required drop boxes on college campuses with at least 1,000 students (instead of 2,000), and made various other technical changes that supporters of the bill described as a clean up of state election laws. The bill also requires that 12 counties of varying sizes and demographic profiles adopt and use RCV before it can be used for statewide elections. In some instances, the bill requires jurisdictions with a certain number of voters “who speak English less than very well” to adopt RCV before it may be adopted elsewhere. For more on the RCV portion of the bill, see here.
- SB 72 provides access to in-person early voting to eligible voters in county jails for at least six hours on one business day between 4-15 days before Election Day. The new law also requires sheriffs to designate at least one person to facilitate voting at each county jail or detention center, and provides for training and technical assistance for this designee.
- HB 1150 addresses several aspects of the presidential elector process and adds criminal penalties for falsely submitting a list of presidential electors, knowingly voting as a false presidential elector, and knowingly voting as a presidential elector for candidates who did not receive the highest number of votes.
- SB 131 modified rules for firearms in and near polling and tabulation locations. The new law prohibits the possession of a firearm within 100 feet of a voting, ballot counting, or ballot drop off location, instead of only prohibiting openly carried firearms at these locations. The legislation made an exception for property owners whose property is within 100 feet of these locations.
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About the authors
Joe Greaney is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.
Ballotpedia Editor in Chief Geoff Pallay reviewed the report and provided feedback, as did Managing Editor Cory Eucalitto and Marquee Team Lead Janie Valentine.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- About Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- Voting laws in the United States
- Election Policy
