The Markup: Supreme Court takes up challenge to state postmark deadlines for mail ballots.

We are tracking 1,774 bills prefiled or introduced this session across 50 states. Our analysis finds that 775 bills improve voter access or election administration, while 461 restrict voter access or election administration. This week’s Markup features policy updates in Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

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Improving Voter Access or Election Administration

Federal judge blocks Trump executive order seeking to impose proof-of-citizenship requirement.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that President Donald Trump cannot direct the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. This direction to the EAC, an independent bipartisan commission, was one part of the president’s executive order on elections issued earlier this year. Kollar-Kotelly explained that the Constitution “assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress.”

New Hampshire House committee recommends passage of bill that assists indigent voters.

A legislative committee in New Hampshire advanced a bill that would create a process to help low-income voters with the costs of obtaining proof of citizenship. The state now requires proof of citizenship for all voter registrations after the enactment of H.B. 1569 last year and S.B. 218 earlier this year. The full House of Representatives will consider the bill in January.

Wisconsin judge pauses order for voter citizenship audit. 

A state court judge temporarily stayed his own ruling requiring Wisconsin election officials to audit the citizenship status of all registered voters and to stop registering new voters unless election officials confirm their citizenship. State agencies and plaintiffs requested the delay while the case continues on appeal.

Restricting Voter Access or Election Administration

Montana law leads to mail ballot rejections. 

Counties in Montana are seeing 3-4% of ballots rejected due to a law enacted earlier this year. H.B. 719 requires voters to provide their birth year on the return envelopes for mail ballots. In Yellowstone County — the largest in the state — election officials reported that 80% of ballots rejected in last week’s election were due to missing birth years. Similarly, in Gallatin County — the second-largest — officials reported a notable increase in ballot rejections.

Ohio Senate passes bill requiring mail ballots to arrive by Election Day; secretary of state backs proof-of-citizenship bill.

The Senate advanced a bill that would require mail ballots to be received by the time polls close on Election Day. Existing law allows election officials to count ballots postmarked before Election Day and received by the fourth day after an election. Secretary of State Frank LaRose testified that the U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to sue the state over its current postmark deadline. The bill now heads to the House for consideration. Ohio is currently among 16 states that accept ballots with timely postmarks after Election Day. 

LaRose also voiced support for a bill requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship at the time of registration. However, he warned that implementing such a system would be costly and time-consuming.

Wyoming legislators recommend elections bill package for next session. 

Legislators on two committees voted to recommend a package of elections bills for consideration next session. Recommended bills would narrow the acceptable forms of voter ID to exclude documents without photos, increase the frequency of hand-count audits, and expand poll watchers’ authority, among other changes.

On Our Radar

Hawaii Elections Commission recommends ending vote-by-mail.

The Hawaii Elections Commission voted to ask the legislature to end the state’s universal mail balloting. Hawaii is one of eight states that conduct statewide general elections by mail, though Utah passed legislation that will eliminate its system in 2029. The Hawaii legislature is unlikely to act on the recommendation.

Louisiana legislature delays 2026 primary elections in anticipation of redistricting.

Legislators in Louisiana passed a bill to move next year’s primary election from April 18 to May 26. The delay would give officials more time to adjust the boundaries of U.S. House districts if the Supreme Court issues a ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. This case, which threatens to weaken the Voting Rights Act severely, could enable the state to eliminate its two majority-Black congressional districts.

Maine voters reject proposal to impose strict photo ID requirement and restrict mail voting. 

Mainers voted down — by a nearly two-to-one margin — a ballot measure that would have required photo ID for in-person voting with no exceptions, required mail voters to provide an ID number, eliminated the permanent mail voting list, and shortened the early voting period.

Minnesota Supreme Court hears challenge to witness signature requirement for mail ballots. 

Minnesota’s highest court held oral arguments in the Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans’ challenge to the state’s witness/notary requirement for mail voters. Nineteen states impose some type of burden beyond basic identifying information on voters casting mail ballots.

Virginia lawsuit challenges state’s rejection of college student voter registrations. 

The lawsuit, brought by the NAACP Virginia State Conference, alleges that state and local election officials unlawfully rejected voter registration applications from college students. The plaintiffs claim that election officials have been requiring dormitory names, room numbers, and campus mailing addresses, even though the voter registration application does not require them.

DHS expands SAVE database, plans digital version of federal voter registration application.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has updated its federal immigration verification system (known as the SAVE database) so state officials can now look up information on voter registration applicants and registered voters by the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. They plan to incorporate driver’s license and passport data into the system, alongside other data on U.S. citizens, to allow election officials to confirm the citizenship of registered voters. Experts caution that the move may heighten privacy risks, increase the possibility of misflagging eligible voters, and raise questions about legal safeguards for data sharing. 

Separately, the Election Assistance Commission and DHS are moving forward with a digital version of the federal voter registration form that would verify applicants’ identities and citizenship against a DHS-run system. This plan prompted concern from state election officials that it may conflict with state laws and risk disenfranchising voters.

Supreme Court takes up challenge to state postmark deadlines for mail ballots.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Watson v. Republican National Committee (RNC). In this case, the RNC sued the state of Mississippi, arguing that the state’s policy of accepting mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day that are received after Election Day violates federal law. The conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the RNC in an October 2024 ruling. Mississippi then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the case will be held in the spring.

Sixteen states accept ballots with timely postmarks after Election Day. Three states enacted legislation this year to eliminate this grace period. 

White House teases another elections executive order as Trump attacks mail voting.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that administration lawyers are preparing a second executive order on elections. This announcement came after President Trump posted on social media that California’s mail voting system was “under very serious legal and criminal review,” and promoted a federal voter ID law and a ban on mail voting as legislative priorities if the Senate abolishes the filibuster.