Welcome to The Markup, our weekly insights and analysis of the latest in election law and policy.
We are tracking 1,792 bills so far this session across 44 states and D.C., with 313 bills that restrict voter access or election administration and 891 bills that improve voter access or election administration.
As a reminder: we are following a summer schedule. We’ll be publishing The Markup on the first and third Mondays of each month before resuming weekly updates after Labor Day.
Restrictions on Voter Access or Election Administration
Georgia: The State Election Board adopted a new rule that threatens the orderly certification of election results by authorizing county election boards to pursue baseless inquiries into results. The board advanced another rule expanding poll watcher access to various additional election processes that will move forward to a final vote next month.
Virginia: A federal judge dismissed a case challenging the governor’s policy of restoring voting rights to individuals with prior felonies on a case-by-case basis. Under prior administrations, voting rights were automatically restored for some residents based on objective criteria.
Arizona: A state court temporarily blocked officials from enforcing rules that prevent voter intimidation, including following, yelling at, videotaping, or photographing voters. The injunction will stay in place until the court can conduct a final hearing on the matter.
Improvements to Voter Access or Election Administration
Minnesota: The state supreme court issued an opinion upholding a 2023 law that automatically restores voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions immediately upon release from incarceration.
New York: Governor Kathy Hochul signed bills into law extending the deadline for most voters to correct defective mail ballot envelopes and allowing citizens who will turn 18 by Election Day to vote by mail.
On Our Radar
Georgia: The State Election Board is expected to consider proposed rules today that would prohibit counties from certifying results in some circumstances and require unnecessary hand counts.
Nebraska: The secretary of state announced that he will not ask the state’s Board of Pardons to restore voting rights to people who have completed their felony sentence, but will instead wait for the state’s supreme court to resolve pending litigation regarding L.B. 20. This recently enacted law restores voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions upon completion of their sentence.
Arizona: The Republican National Committee asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take emergency action to reinstate a provision of a 2022 law that requires officials to toss out the voter registration applications of eligible individuals who submit state forms without the required proof of citizenship documentation for state elections. Key provisions of this bill were struck down earlier this year.
The Fine Print
Restrictions on Voter Access or Election Administration
Georgia State Election Board adopts rule that threatens certification of election results. In a 3-2 vote, the State Election Board adopted a rule that gives local election boards authority to request an unspecified “reasonable inquiry” before certifying the results of an election. This new rule opens the floodgates for election workers to interfere with and/or refuse to certify checked and verified election results. Additionally, the board advanced a rule to give poll watchers expanded access to various processes, including provisional ballot adjudications, memory card transfers, and the mail ballot process. This proposed rule is open for public comment and expected to receive a final vote next month.
Federal court dismisses challenge to Virginia’s disenfranchisement and voting rights restoration policy. A federal judge dismissed a case challenging Governor Glenn Youngkin’s policy of restoring voting rights to individuals with prior felony convictions only on a subjective, case-by-case basis. The governor has final decision-making authority on whether to grant or deny restoration. The policy, implemented last year, breaks from the previous bipartisan policy of automatically restoring voting rights to individuals convicted of certain non-violent offenses who meet objective criteria. Only four states never automatically restore voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions.
Arizona state court blocks voter protection measures. A court temporarily blocked officials from enforcing rules that prevent specific types of voter intimidation and harassment near polling places and drop boxes. The rules prohibit anyone from following, photographing, videotaping, or yelling at voters, along with other activities. In 2022, more than a dozen voters filed voter intimidation complaints, claiming that people confronted and took photos of them as they entered polling places. The elimination of these voter protections comes in the wake of widespread “monitoring” campaigns conducted by vigilante groups at drop boxes and polling places. The Arizona court held that the rules are too broad and violate free speech rights. The temporary injunction will stay in place until the court can conduct a final hearing on the matter.
Improvements to Voter Access or Election Administration
Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law restoring voting rights for citizens with past felony convictions. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the state’s policy of automatically restoring voting rights of citizens with past felony convictions upon release from incarceration. Plaintiffs had challenged the 2023 law ( H.B. 28), alleging that the state’s constitution requires those citizens to remain disenfranchised unless all civil rights, such as the right to own a firearm, are simultaneously restored.
New York enacts bills giving voters more time to correct defects on mail ballot envelopes and facilitating mail voting by voters turning 18 by Election Day. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed several election bills into law, including two notable improvements to voter access. S.B. 9837 extends the deadline for most voters to fix issues on mail ballot envelopes from the day before Election Day to seven days following. A.B. 3250 allows pre-registered voters who will be 18 by Election Day to vote by mail. New York is one of 19 states that permits residents as young as 16 to pre-register to vote.
On Our Radar
The Georgia State Election Board is meeting today and is expected to discuss and vote on multiple proposals that could interfere with the timely certification of results. One proposal would prohibit county election boards from counting votes from precincts where there is a discrepancy between the number of ballots cast and the total number of unique voter ID numbers. Another proposal would mandate poll managers – along with two sworn poll officers – hand count ballots. A third would require counties to publish on the county election website the reconciliation report sent to the secretary of state following canvassing.
Nebraska secretary of state reverses course on voting rights restoration, further muddying the status of citizens with past felony convictions. Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced that he will not ask the state’s Board of Pardons to broadly restore voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions who have completed their sentences, a reversal of his position from last month. Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued an opinion last month claiming that L.B. 20 – which automatically restores voting rights to citizens with past felony convictions upon completion of their sentence – violates Nebraska’s constitution. Litigation on the matter is now pending before the state’s supreme court, with oral arguments set for August 28. Secretary Evnen has indicated he will wait for the court’s opinion before taking further action.
RNC asks U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate law expanding burden of Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirements for registering to vote. The Republican National Committee asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take emergency action to reinstate overturned portions of a 2022 law (H.B. 2492). The law requires officials to toss out state voter registration applications when they are not accompanied by proof of U.S. citizenship. Following a 2013 Supreme Court decision – which found that requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections violates the National Voter Registration Act – Arizona bifurcated its voter rolls to have separate lists of voters for state and federal elections based on proof of citizenship. Before H.B. 2492, applicants who submitted state forms without proof of citizenship would still be registered to vote in federal elections. The requirement that these applications be wholly rejected was struck down by a federal district court earlier this year. Since then, the RNC has appealed to the 9th Circuit and now the Supreme Court. The U.S. Department of Justice has urged the Supreme Court to reject the request to reinstate the law.
This update is powered by VRL’s State Voting Rights Tracker: tracker.votingrightslab.org