The Ballot Bulletin: December 12, 2025
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 and recent legislative activity.
In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 28 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week.
Weekly highlights
The big takeaways from the past week's legislative actions.
Lawmakers in seven states acted on 28 bills over the last week, 16 more than last week. Six state legislatures are still in regular or special sessions.
- Five bills were enacted this week. Six bills were enacted during the same week in 2024, no bills were enacted during the same week in 2023, and no bills were enacted during the same week in 2022.
- Legislators acted on 25 bills in 2024 and 22 bills in 2023 during the same week.
- Three of the bills acted on this week are in states with Democratic trifectas, two are in states with Republican trifectas, and two are in states with divided governments.
- The most active bill categories this week were election types and contest-specific procedures (9), ballot access (4), and absentee/mail-in voting and ballot verification (3).
- We are currently following 4,969 bills. At this time in 2023, the last odd year when all states held legislative sessions, we were following 3,287 bills.
- Note: One state, Indiana, began its 2026 legislative session on Dec. 1. Between Dec. 1 and Dec. 11, there were 13 bills introduced in the Indiana General Assembly related to elections. This edition of Ballot Bulletin only includes legislation from states that are in session for 2025.
In the news
A glance at what's making headlines in the world of election law.
- On Dec. 11, the Indiana Senate rejected HB 1032, which would have made Indiana the fifth state to enact new congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The redistricting plan aimed to net two additional Republican districts in the state. The bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives on a 57-41 vote, but failed on a 19-31 vote in the state Senate, with 19 Republicans voting in favor of the bill and 21 Republicans and all 10 Democrats voting in opposition.
- On Dec. 10, a Missouri judge rejected a lawsuit challenging the state’s newly enacted congressional maps as unconstitutional. Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the state constitution does not expressly prohibit mid-decade redistricting. Governor Mike Kehoe (R) signed the new maps, which aim to net an additional Republican district, into law on Sept. 29. On Dec. 9, a group opposing the maps submitted over 300,000 signatures, seeking to place a veto referendum on the ballot in 2026 that would uphold or reject the new districts.
- On Dec. 5, three nursing home residents and the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit challenging three state laws they allege make it harder for individuals with disabilities to vote. The lawsuit argues that restrictions on who may assist disabled voters, as well as limits on the number of absentee ballots a person may collect and return on behalf of a voter, violate Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.
- On Dec. 5, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) vetoed SB 270, which would have expanded when individuals could appeal Wisconsin Elections Commission decisions in state court. Currently, under a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, voters who file a complaint with the commission and are unhappy with the verdict can file an appeal only in certain circumstances.
Key movements
A look at what bills are moving and where.
Five bills were enacted in the past week. Six bills were enacted during the same week in 2024. No bills were enacted in 2023, and no bills were enacted in 2022. To see all enacted bills, click here.
- New York (Democratic trifecta)
Four bills passed both chambers of a state legislature. To see the full list of all bills awaiting
gubernatorial action, click here.
- New York (Democratic trifecta)
- Ohio (Republican trifecta)
Three bills were vetoed in the past week. Seventy-four bills have been vetoed so far this year. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2024, 2023, and 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.
- New York (Democratic trifecta)
- Wisconsin (Divided government)
The big picture
Zooming out to see the macro-level trends in election policy so far this year.
Enacted bills
Five bills were enacted this week. The chart below shows the number of enacted bills in 2025 compared to previous years.
The chart below shows the number of bills enacted over the first 50 weeks of each year.
All bills
We are following 4,969 election-related bills this year, including bills carried over from the previous year.
- Trifecta status
- Democratic: 1,820 (36.6%)
- Republican: 2,289 (46.1%)
- Divided: 860 (17.3%)
- Partisan sponsorship
- Democratic: 1,927 (38.8%)
- Republican: 2,397 (48.2%)
- Bipartisan: 415 (8.4%)
- Other: 230 (4.6%)
We were following 3,287 bills at this point in 2023. Below is a breakdown of those bills by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.
- Trifecta status
- Democratic: 1,627 (49.5%)
- Republican: 1,128 (34.3%)
- Divided: 532 (16.2%)
- Partisan sponsorship
- Democratic: 1,501 (45.7%)
- Republican: 1,225 (37.3%)
- Bipartisan: 375 (11.4%)
- Other: 186 (5.7%)
See the charts below for a comparison of total bills between 2023 and 2025 and a breakdown of all 2025 legislation by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.
