The Markup: Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules officials must notify voters about mail ballot errors

We are tracking 1,735 bills that have been prefiled or introduced this session across 50 states. Our analysis finds that 753 bills improve voter access or election administration, while 452 bills restrict voter access or election administration.

Improving Voter Access or Election Administration 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules officials must notify voters about mail ballot errors.

Pennsylvania’s highest court ruled that county election officials must inform voters when their mail ballots are disqualified due to errors, such as missing dates or signatures. They must also allow these voters to cast a provisional ballot in person. This case arose days before the 2024 primary after the Washington County Board of Elections decided to stop notifying voters about such disqualifying errors.

Michigan launches electronic ballot return portal for overseas military voters.

Michigan, implementing a bill enacted in 2021, launched an online portal for military voters stationed overseas. Active-duty members of the uniformed services or merchant marines may use the portal to return their ballots electronically, provided they have a Department of Defense-verified electronic signature.

Restricting Voter Access or Election Administration

States and DOJ push to weaken federal Voting Rights Act.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to narrow the scope of the federal Voting Rights Act. The state seeks to prohibit private parties, such as voters or advocacy organizations, from bringing lawsuits to enforce the law. In a separate redistricting challenge in Louisiana, the Department of Justice filed a brief supporting limits on private enforcement of voting rights. North Dakota has also urged the Supreme Court to let stand a paused Eighth Circuit ruling that only the federal government may enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Texas governor signs two election bills into law.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed S.B. 12 and S.B. 54 into law. S.B. 12 grants the state’s attorney general, rather than local prosecutors, the sole authority to bring criminal charges for election offenses. S.B. 54 repeals a provision that allowed voters who moved within their county to vote in their new precinct even if they had not yet updated their voter registration.

On Our Radar

Wisconsin lawmakers unveil package of election reforms.

Wisconsin legislators announced a legislative package that includes several election reforms. These would allow for the processing of mail ballots on Mondays, create new requirements for ballot drop boxes, and more. Processing ballots before Election Day has been proven to speed up the reporting of election results.

Texas announces agreements to share voter registration data with other states.

Texas entered into memoranda of understanding with nine other states — Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. The agreements enable Texas to exchange voter registration data with these states to maintain accurate voter rolls. Texas, along with Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia, recently cut ties with ERIC, a multistate voter data group that helps ensure accurate voter rolls.

DOJ sues states for voter data.

In addition to its recently-filed lawsuits against Oregon and Maine, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would sue California, New York, and four other states. These states have refused to submit voters’ personal information to the federal government on privacy grounds. The Trump administration maintains — without evidence — that the data is necessary to identify registered voters who are noncitizens.

District Court refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Trump’s executive order on elections.

A federal court in Massachusetts denied the Trump administration’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by several states. The suit challenges the president’s March executive order, which aims to require documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration. The order also seeks to prohibit states from accepting ballots with timely postmarks received after Election Day. Plaintiffs alleged that this order exceeded the president’s authority. The court found these claims sufficient to permit the case to proceed.

Federal appeals court blocks Arizona voter-intimidation rules, maintains proof-of-citizenship ruling.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a provision in Arizona’s Election Procedures Manual, restricting intimidation at the polling place, could not be enforced. The Court found this restriction could “conceivably reach any speech related to elections and politics.” The court also declined to rehear a case regarding two restrictive proof-of-citizenship bills. This left in place a February decision that blocked key provisions. H.B. 2492 would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when voting for president by mail, even if they registered using the federal registration form. H.B. 2243 would require election officials to cancel a voter’s registration if they have “reason to believe” that the voter is not a citizen. 

Federal appeals courts hear arguments over restrictive laws in Alabama and Idaho.

The Eleventh Circuit heard arguments over a 2024 Alabama law. S.B. 1 bans third parties from submitting absentee ballot applications on behalf of a voter, except for family, household members, or caregivers. The law also prohibits payments or gifts for helping voters. A lower court blocked the law in September 2024, finding that it violated the Voting Rights Act by restricting assistance for disabled, blind, or illiterate voters.

The Ninth Circuit heard arguments in a lawsuit over two 2023 laws that prohibit the use of student IDs for voter ID and voter registration in Idaho. The lawsuit alleges that these bills, upheld in a district court ruling last year, are a targeted and unconstitutional attack on younger voters.