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State of Election Administration Legislation 2025 Spring 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 |
March 20, 2025
By Ballotpedia staff
State highlights
Republican trifectas
Arkansas
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has signed nine bills into law that make changes to the ballot initiative process. Included among the new laws are:
- SB 102, which applies state initiative requirements to local petitions, including requiring background checks, requiring paid canvassers to be United States citizens, and prohibiting pay-per-signature for local option election petitions.
- HB 1221 provides that signatures and ballot language certified for an initiative or referendum petition expire on the date of the next general election.
- HB 1222 allows the state attorney general to reject proposed initiatives if they find that the proposal is in conflict with the U.S. Constitution or federal laws. It also prohibits sponsors from filing conflicting or duplicate measures.
- SB 207 requires canvassers to notify petition signers that petition fraud is a criminal offense and makes failure to notify a Class A misdemeanor.
- SB 208 requires a signer to present a photo ID to a canvasser prior to signing an initiative petition.
- SB 211 requires each canvasser to submit a sworn affidavit to the secretary of state certifying that they complied with all laws related to canvassing, perjury, forgery, and fraudulent practices in signature gathering before counting signatures collected by the canvasser.
- SB 188, SB 209, and SB 210 all became law on March 12. In order, the bills add new publication requirements for approved initiative petitions; expand the secretary of state’s discretion to reject signatures if they find that a canvasser has not complied with state law; and require a petition signer to read the title of the petition in the presence of the canvasser, and canvassers to swear in an affidavit that each signer read the ballot title of the petition.
Most of the bills passed with emergency clauses, making them effective immediately. Besides SB 188, which passed unanimously, only one other bill — SB 102 — received moderate support from Democrats. The remaining seven bills advanced largely along party lines.
State Sen. Kim Hammer (R), who was a sponsor of all but two of the bills, said, “I think what we've done is we've brought some clarity to some gray areas.” On March 11, the League of Women Voters filed a proposed ballot question with the secretary of state that aims to roll back many of the changes to the initiative process. Bonnie Miller, president of the organization’s Arkansas chapter, said, “We believe filing this amendment is prudent because politicians have continually attacked Arkansans’ constitutional right to petition our government.” Read more about legislation related to ballot access above.
Gov. Sanders also signed SB 308 into law, which eliminates write-in candidates for any election in the state, and SB 272, which prohibits the pre-filing of any information on voter registration form. Both bills passed through the legislature without receiving a “Nay” vote.
Arkansas’ regular legislative session is scheduled to adjourn on April 11.
Utah
Lawmakers in Utah passed HB 300, and the bill was awaiting action by Gov. Spencer Cox (R). The bill would end Utah’s all-mail voting system, where voting is conducted primarily by mail and all eligible voters receive a mail-in ballot for each election. Beginning in 2029, voters would be required to request to receive a ballot by mail. The bill also adds new ID requirements for mailed ballots and provides that voters who cannot meet these requirements must vote in-person. Utah is one of eight states with universal mail-in voting, and the only Republican trifecta that uses the system.
Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, Rep. Mike Schultz (R) said, “We are in the same category as Washington, California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii and Vermont. As a conservative state, that is not a list I am proud to be part of.” A number of county clerks in the state, the officials primarily responsible for administering elections across the state, criticized the legislation. Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie (R) said, “It is not a great bill. I love vote-by-mail. It’s been very successful, and it’s worked very well in the state of Utah.” A number of clerks removed their opposition to the bill after lawmakers made amendments. Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch (R) said, “A big reason why we did that is because we received assurances from sponsors that they would continue to work with us to fix the remaining issues we have to help make sure voters aren’t hurt.”
The bill also specifies what type of identification is eligible to be used at an in-person polling place. Currently, state law requires a voter to present ID but does not stipulate what type. The new law would still allow voters to present a different ID, but clerks would have discretion to decide whether “the voter has presented valid voter identification.”
Lawmakers also passed SJR 2 along party lines, certifying a ballot measure that will appear on voters’ ballots in 2026 to create a 60% vote requirement for ballot initiatives increasing or expanding taxes. All Democrats in the statehouse voted against the resolution. Another ballot measure referral, HJR 10, which changes publication requirements for ballot initiatives, received unanimous support in the legislature.
Several other bills related to elections passed at least one chamber of the legislature but failed to progress, including HB 445 which would have eliminated same-day voter registration in the state. Utah is one of 22 states with same-day registration, six of which are Republican trifectas.
The Utah legislature adjourned on March 7. Gov. Cox has until March 27 to act on any legislation. Read more about legislation awaiting action by the governor elsewhere in this report.
Wyoming
Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed a series of election-related bills, including SF 78 on February 24, which prohibits anyone other than a county clerk, the secretary of state, or their designees from distributing absentee ballot request forms unless specifically solicited by a voter.
Then on March 3, Gov. Gordon signed SF 9, modifying who may apply for the restoration of voting rights after a felony conviction. The bill removes the possibility for an individual convicted of a federal felony from regaining the right to vote, while persons convicted of nonviolent felonies in any state can still apply to have their rights restored.
Three days later, Gov. Gordon approved HB 337, prohibiting foreign nationals or governments from contributing to ballot measure committees or otherwise supporting statewide initiatives or referendums. The new law provides enforcement of the prohibition by civil action and makes Wyoming the tenth state, and fourth Republican trifecta to have such a law. Ohio lawmakers adopted a similar law in 2024.
As of March 13, five bills related to elections had passed the legislature and were awaiting action from Gov. Gordon, including:
- HB 165, which would ban ranked-choice voting for any election. For more on RCV, see above.
- HB 156 which requires documentary proof of citizenship to register and changes residency requirements to register to vote.
- HB 228 to prohibit the use of private funding for election administration. Twenty-eight states have similar laws, all adopted since 2020. If HB 228 becomes law, only one state with a Republican trifecta, New Hampshire, will remain without regulations on private election administration funding.
Gov. Gordon also vetoed one bill, HB 79. The legislation would have required that, for bond elections on a day other than a regular general election date, at least 25% of the number of voters at the last general election must participate for the question to pass.
Democratic trifectas
New Jersey
On March 6, 2025, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed A 5116 into law, abolishing the use of the county line ballot design and replacing it with a system that groups offices on the ballot into blocks of candidates and places a number next to the name of each candidate. The bill also allowed candidates running as a slate for an office with more than one open seat to appear together on the ballot.
This comes after a federal judge blocked the use of the county line ballot design in the state’s 2024 Democratic primary after three candidates, including then U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D), sued to block it. Read more about that case here. Kim, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in November, criticized the new bill, writing, "Almost exactly a year ago I testified in court to fix NJ’s broken ballot and make our politics more fair. The simple premise was to have every candidate treated exactly the same on the ballot. The bill signed today falls short of what voters deserve." In a statement, Democrats in the Assembly said, "The bill creates a fair ballot for all candidates, and it is in line with everything the legislature has done to protect and expand voting rights and ensure citizens’ trust our political process." Two Republicans joined four Democrats to sponsor the bill and it passed both chambers of the legislature with comfortable majorities.
In 2025, New Jersey will hold elections for state executive offices, including governor, state legislature, and various municipal offices. The new law will be in effect for these elections.
Gov. Murphy also signed S 3990 into law, extending the early voting period for primary elections, beginning with 2025’s June primary. The legislation extends the early voting period to begin seven days before the primary date for all primaries. Previously, early voting began three days before a primary except during a presidential primary year when it began five days in advance. The early voting period for general elections remains unchanged at nine days. A small group of Republicans in each chamber joined all voting Democrats to pass the bill.
Finally, many candidates in New Jersey will face higher signature thresholds for nominating petitions after Gov. Murphy signed A 5117 on February 3. The bill increases the signature requirement to be placed on the ballot for various offices, including state executive, congress, county offices, and school boards. For boards of education, the requirement increases from 10 signatures to 25, while for congressional candidates the number increases from 200 to 500, and for state legislative candidates, from 100 to 200. The changes are retroactive to January 1, 2025, and are therefore in effect for elections occurring this year. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature along party lines, with all Republicans opposing the changes.
Gov. Murphy is term limited and cannot run for re-election this year. Democrats hold a 52-28 majority in the lower chamber, and a 25-15 one in the senate.
Divided governments
Arizona
Arizona has a divided government. Republicans have a 33-27 majority in the House and 17-13 in the Senate, while Katie Hobbs (D) is the state’s governor. Last year Hobbs vetoed seven election-related bills, the second most of any governor. So far this year Hobbs has vetoed one election bill, HB 2703.
The bill would have made a number of changes to state election laws, including changes to early voting, permanent absentee voting, and tabulation procedures. The bill would:
- Extend the early voting period and the deadline to request an emergency absentee ballot from Friday before an election to Monday before an election.
- Eliminate a provision related to establishing emergency voting centers, and make other changes to emergency voting during the period between Friday and Monday before an election.
- Extend the ability of election officials to process early and absentee ballots during this period,
Make other changes to the administration of absentee voting, including requiring voters on the state’s active early voting list, a version of a permanent absentee voting list, to verify their status as mail voters every two or four years, depending on the county.
Supporters of the bill said that it was aimed to streamline the ballot counting process and delivery of election results. Critics said that the bill went much further than that and added steps that make it harder to vote. In her veto message, Hobbs highlighted a provision of the bill that would have removed school principals’ ability to deny requests to use their school as a polling place under certain circumstances, as well as the amendments to permanent mail voting lists, saying, “While I too want faster election results, the solution should not needlessly restrict Arizona citizens' freedom to vote, or undermine the learning and safety of students in public school districts. This legislation effectively ends the Active Early Voting List, something that has nothing to do with faster election results.” President of the Senate Warren Petersen (R) said, “The Governor's veto is a huge mistake. This was a missed opportunity to increase voter confidence and reduce frustration on election night.”
Legislators in the house have passed a ballot measure referral, HCR 2013, which would place an initiative on the ballot in 2026 that contains many of the provisions included in HB 2703.
Another 60 bills have passed at least one chamber of the legislature. All but one of those is sponsored by Republicans. Included among these are:
- SB 1052, which removes the eligibility of a U.S. citizen who has never resided in the country from voting in the state.
- HB 2206, which creates new rules related to participation in multistate data registration compact, and, if passed, would be an obstacle to Arizona’s continued participation in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).
- HB 2440, which prohibits the attorney general from bringing criminal charges or civil action against a county supervisor for voting against the certification of the canvass of an election if the vote is based on a good faith belief in “unresolved issues that materially affect the integrity or accuracy of the election results” and documentation, such as “official reports, audits, sworn affidavits or expert testimony.”
- SB 1441 which makes elections for school board partisan. Currently, four states require partisan school board elections, while in five states both partisan and nonpartisan school board elections are possible. In the remaining 41 states, school board elections are nonpartisan.
In Arizona, a two-thirds majority is required to override most vetoes. The state’s regular legislative session is scheduled to adjourn on April 26.
Virginia
In Virginia, Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in the Senate and a 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates, while Republicans control the governorship. Virginia will hold elections in 2025 where voters will elect a governor, other state executive offices, the entire lower house of the legislature, and portions of the senate. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is term-limited and cannot seek re-election.
Virginia’s first legislative session of 2025 ended on February 22. Gov. Youngkin has more than 900 bills to act on before a March 24 deadline, including 30 bills related to elections. The legislature reconvenes on April 2, and the statewide primary will take place on June 17.
Included among the election bills awaiting action by the governor are:
- SB 1009 which would create new tabulation guidelines and reporting requirements for elections that use ranked-choice voting. The bill also requires the state election board to provide a determination of feasibility to any jurisdiction that decides to conduct an election using RCV. The determination must be given within 10 days of notification of the decision. Currently, state law permits elections for members of a county board of supervisors or a city council to use RCV. Most Republicans in the legislature have opposed the bill’s advancement.
- HB 1735 would extend the voter registration deadline from 21 days before an election, and 13 days before a special election, to 10 days. The bill passed the lower chamber 94-3 with all voting Democrats and nearly all Republicans in support. It passed the upper chamber unanimously.
- HB 2277 would create penalties for members of local electoral boards that neglect or refuse to certify the results of an election, and allows the State Board of Elections to remove an official who does not carry out their duties as stipulated in state law. The Democratic-sponsored legislation passed both chambers along party lines.
- HB 2002 would restrict the ability of registrars to cancel voter registrations, including when a voter temporarily lives outside the U.S., such as active duty members of the military and their spouses or dependents. It also stipulates that a registrar can only cancel a registration based on data or reports provided to them by the Department of Elections or an approved state agency. The bill passed largely without Republican support.
The legislature also adopted two joint resolutions related to elections:
- SJR 248 proposes a constitutional amendment that would restore voting rights to individuals convicted of a felony after the completion of their sentence. Under current law, individuals must apply to the governor for the restoration of voting rights after their sentence. When Gov. Youngkin took office in 2021, he announced that he would not continue the policy of former governors Bob McDonnell (R), Terry McAuliffe (D), and Ralph Northam (D), of automatically restoring voting rights to individuals with a felony conviction upon completion of their prison sentences, and instead returned to a case-by-case consideration of appeals for restoration. The resolution would need to pass again with a simple majority during next year’s legislative session for the measure to appear on the ballot in November 2026.
- SJR 253 creates a commission to study the effects of moving some or all of Virginia's state or local elections to even-numbered years in order to coincide with the federal election cycle. The resolution requires the commission to deliver a report to the General Assembly ahead of the 2027 regular legislative session.
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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.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- About Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- Voting laws in the United States
- Election Policy
