The Ballot Bulletin: August 25, 2023
Governors have vetoed more than twice the number of election-related bills this year (35) than by this point in 2022 (17).
Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including nationwide trends, legislative activity, and updates on notable lawsuits and policy changes.
Legislative highlights
Highlights:
- One state enacted one bill since our last edition. In the same period in 2022, states enacted three bills.
- States have enacted 305 bills in 2023. By this point in 2022, states had enacted 216 bills.
- One bill, NC S747, was vetoed. Governors have vetoed 35 bills in 2023. By this point in 2022, 17 bills had been vetoed.
- Democrats sponsored 12 of the bills active over the past week, a 9.1% increase from the 11 Democrat-sponsored bills in state legislatures the week before. Republicans sponsored three bills that moved, the same as the week before.
- The bill topics with the most legislative activity this week were: Redistricting (7), Audits and oversight (3), Ballot access (2), Ballots and voting materials (2), Enforcement and election fraud (2), and Voting security (2).
Recent activity and status changes
Here is the current status of this year's election-related bills:
- 305 enacted bills (one more than in our last edition)
- 9 that have passed both chambers (No change)
- 126 that have passed one chamber (-8)
- 1,308 introduced bills (-58)
- 1,011 dead bills (+71)
Enacted bills
States have enacted 305 election-related bills in 2023, compared to 216 at this point last year. Of these bills, Democrats sponsored 69 (22.6%), Republicans sponsored 151 (49.5%), and 47 (15.4%) had bipartisan sponsorship. Committees or legislators with independent or other party affiliations sponsored the remaining 38 (12.5%) bills. To see all bills approved this year, click here.
Bills enacted since our last edition, with their official titles, are listed below.
- DE HB202: An Act To Amend Title 11 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Possession Of A Firearm At A Polling Place.
Bills that passed both chambers
Nine bills have passed both chambers and are awaiting gubernatorial action, compared to 36 bills at this point last year. To see all bills that have currently passed both chambers, click here.
No bills have passed both chambers since out last edition.
Vetoed bills
Governors have vetoed 35 bills this year, compared to 17 at this point in 2022. To see all bills vetoed in 2023, click here.
The bills below, with their official titles, were vetoed since out last edition.
North Carolina (divided government)
- NC S747: Elections Law Changes
Enacted bills by topic and sponsorship, 2022 vs. 2023
Recent activity by topic and sponsorship
The chart below shows the topics of the bills with legislative activity since our last edition. Click here to see a full list of bill categories and their definitions.
* Note: Contest-specific procedures refers to primary systems, municipal election procedures, recall elections, special election procedures, and other systems unique to a particular election type.
All 2023 bills by topic and sponsorship
The chart below shows the topics of a sample of the 2,888 bills we’ve followed this year. Note that the sums of the numbers listed do not equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.
Recent activity by state and trifecta status
Of the 18 bills with activity this week, 14 are in states with Democratic trifectas, and four are in states with a divided government.
Of the 11 bills acted on in the same week in 2022, all 11 (100%) were from states with Democratic trifectas.
The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.
All 2023 bills by state and trifecta status
Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,317 (45.6%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,230 (42.6%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 341 (11.8%) are in states with divided governments.
Texas legislators have introduced the most election-related bills this year (396). Texas holds legislative sessions in odd years only, and so had no activity in 2022. The Texas Legislature held two special sessions from May 29 to July 13, with the regular session adjourning on May 29. New York was the most active state at this point in 2022, with 295 bills introduced. Texas has enacted the most bills this year (33). In 2022, Louisiana and Arizona had enacted the most bills at this point (18).
The map below shows the number of election-related bills introduced by state and trifecta status this year.
Recent news
North Carolina governor vetoes elections bill
On Aug. 24, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed S747, a bill making a number of changes to the state's election laws. The bill includes provisions expanding the role of election observers, including allowing the chair of each political party in a county to appoint two registered voters of that county as election observers at each polling location and up to 10 registered voters as observers at any polling location in the county. It also removes a grace period for mail-in ballots, instead requiring ballots to be received before polls close on Election Day. In his veto message, Cooper said Republicans "know that younger and non-white
voters tend to vote more by absentee ballot or by early voting, so they shortened the time your absentee votes can arrive and still count, and they made it easier to throw them out." Cooper also said the bill would intimidate voters by "stacking the polling place with Republican poll observers who will be watching you vote and can hear your conversations with election officials." Sen. Warren Daniel (R) said, "We are creating a secure election system that makes it easy to vote and protects election integrity. But Gov. Cooper wants his handpicked partisans running our elections and he apparently feels threatened by North Carolinians observing what happens in their polling places." Rep. Tim Moore (R) said Cooper was "mischaracterizing a bill that simply strengthens election integrity in North Carolina" and said he expects the legislature to override Cooper's veto. Republicans control both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly, holding a 72-48 majority in the House of Representatives and a 30-20 majority in the Senate. Three-fifths of members present in both chambers must vote to override a veto.
Judge grants injunction in Georgia lawsuit
On Aug. 18, U.S. District Court Judge Jean-Paul Boulee issued a ruling temporarily blocking portions of Georgia SB202, a 2021 elections bill prohibiting anyone except poll workers from distributing food or drinks at polling places within 150 feet of voters waiting in line. The bill also requires voters to provide a photo ID in order to cast absentee ballots and limits the number of absentee ballot drop boxes. The injunction allows poll workers to distribute food or drinks to voters as long as they are more than 150 feet from the polling place and eliminates a requirement for voters to include their date of birth on absentee ballot envelopes. Boulee, who former Pres. Donald Trump (R) appointed in 2019, upheld the bill's limitations on absentee ballot drop boxes and the collection of absentee ballots by third parties. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Rahul Garabadu said, "Today’s decisions remove some of SB202’s barriers to absentee and in-person voting in the 2024 election cycle. The court recognized that voters should not be disenfranchised for forgetting to write their birthdate on their absentee ballot envelope, or arrested for offering food or drink to voters in line outside the 150-foot zone around polling locations." Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said, "Georgia has one of the best absentee ballot systems in the country. We have no-excuse absentee ballots, with voters verified with photo ID and who are given an opportunity to cure any discrepancy prior to their ballot being rejected. It’s a system that works well."
