Welcome to The Markup, our weekly insights and analysis of the latest in election law and policy.
We are tracking 1,819 bills so far this session across 44 states and Washington, D.C., with 326 bills that restrict voter access or election administration and 898 bills that improve voter access or election administration.
RESTRICTING VOTER ACCESS OR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
North Carolina legislature pushes restrictive measures in lame-duck legislation.
The North Carolina legislature is scheduled to hold a vote to override Gov. Cooper’s veto of S.B. 382, a partisan power grab which would remove oversight of the state’s election board from the incoming governor. Additionally, a proposed state constitutional amendment – which would require all mail voters to provide a photo ID – cleared the state senate.
IMPROVING VOTER ACCESS OR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
Michigan Voting Rights Act clears House committee.
A package of bills in Michigan, collectively referred to as the Michigan Voting Rights Act, passed a committee vote. These bills, including S.B. 401 (establishes voting rights protection to ensure equal access); S.B. 402 (creates a voting and elections database and institute at a public university); S.B. 403 (improves language assistance for voters); and S.B. 404 (makes various improvements to the process of in-person voting, including curbside voting), have already passed the Senate and now head to the House floor for further consideration.
New York enacts legislation authorizing drop boxes for mail voters.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law S.B. 610, a bill authorizing local boards of elections to establish mail ballot drop boxes. Counties must provide public notice on their website within 24 hours of establishing a drop box location, and voters have until close of polls on Election Day to return their mail ballots via drop box.
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit seeking to compel purge of over a million Arizona voters.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes failed to remove up to 1.27 million voters from the registration rolls. The plaintiffs claimed their votes were diluted by those of potentially ineligible voters, but the judge determined they had no legal standing and called the claim “impermissibly speculative.”
ON OUR RADAR
Courts in Missouri issue rulings with mixed impact on voters.
A circuit court blocked enforcement of certain provisions of H.B. 1878, which make it more difficult for nonpartisan voter organizations to register voters. In a separate lawsuit, provisions of the same bill that made Missouri’s voter ID laws more strict were upheld.
This update is powered by VRL’s State Voting Rights Tracker: tracker.votingrightslab.org