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State of Election Administration Legislation 2025 Year-End Report: Topics of note, Voter ID
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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 16, 2025
By Ballotpedia staff
Topics of note
Voter ID
Lawmakers have adopted 16 bills and resolutions that make changes to voter identification provisions in 14 states. At least four states passed laws that eliminated some types of eligible voter ID or clarified that certain ID may not be used to vote—including West Virginia, which adopted a photo ID requirement—while at least two states expanded the list of eligible IDs.
In Wisconsin, voters approved Question 1 62.8%-37.21% at the state’s April 1 general election, codifying a photo ID requirement in the state constitution. Wisconsin statutes already required voters to provide photo identification in most circumstances.
Lawmakers referred the measure to voters after its second consideration through Republican-sponsored SJR 2, which passed the legislature along party lines. In Wisconsin, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment must pass the legislature in two consecutive sessions of the legislature before appearing on the ballot.
In Maine, voters rejected Question 1 64.2%-35.8% at the state’s Nov. 4 general election. The measure would have required voters to present a photo ID for both in-person and absentee voting, with exceptions for voters who have a religious objection to being photographed. It would also have set a limit of one drop box per municipality.
One state passed a law requiring photo ID for most voters. In West Virginia, HB 3016 requires voters to present photo identification to vote, with some exceptions. Previously, voters were required to present non-photo identification. The bill left in place several exceptions, including permitting poll workers to allow a voter known to them for at least six months to vote without presenting an ID, and allowing another adult who presents a valid ID to sign an affidavit attesting to a voter's identity.
With respect to ID requirements in the absentee voting process:
- New Hampshire’s SB 218 requires people registering to vote using the state's absentee registration affidavit to provide a photocopy of a valid identification and documentation verifying their citizenship and residence.
- HB 300 in Utah, discussed in more detail elsewhere in this report, requires voters to provide the last four digits of a state license or Social Security number, or a photocopy of other eligible ID with a returned ballot. Voters who cannot meet these requirements must vote in-person.
News law in two states with Republican trifectas both restrict and expand the eligibility of student IDs for voting:
- SB 10 in Indiana removes documents issued by an educational institution as eligible voter identification. The bill also makes other changes to election laws, including increasing the frequency of some voter list maintenance activities.
- Montana’s SB 276, which had bipartisan support, moves voter ID laws in the other direction and adds new eligible documents. It allows concealed carry permits and student IDs from schools that are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to be used at the polls. Montana has a Republican trifecta.
Other new laws include Alabama’s SB 158, which prohibits individuals from using foreign national driver's licenses as a voter ID, and Georgia’s HB 296, which clarifies that individuals must use a physical driver’s license for voting purposes, rather than a digital version. In Colorado SB 1—the only bill related to voter ID adopted in a state with a Democratic trifecta—codifies that a valid voter ID does not need to contain a photograph and also includes cards from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, or another federal agency that includes an address in the state. Read about other changes that bill makes below.
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 and Andrew Bahl are staff writers on Ballotpedia's Law Team.
Law Team Managing Editor Janie Valentine reviewed the report and provided feedback, as did Senior Editor Norm Leahy, and Associate Director of Features 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
