The Ballot Bulletin: June 7, 2024
Seventy-six (63.3%) of the bills active over the past week are in states with Democratic trifectas.
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.
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Legislative highlights
- Eleven bills have been approved since our last edition. Two hundred ninety-three bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 402 in 2023 and 165 in 2022.
- State legislatures acted on 120 bills this week, 26 fewer than last week.
- Democrats sponsored 75 (62.5%) of the bills active over the past week, and Republicans sponsored 33 (27.5%) bills. Eleven (9.2%) bills had bipartisan sponsorship. One (0.8%) bill had sponsors other than Democrats or Republicans, such as nonpartisan lawmakers or committee sponsorship.
- Seventy-six (63.3%) of the bills active over the past week are in states with Democratic trifectas, 36 (30%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and eight (6.7%) are in states with a divided government.
- Seventy-four bills passed one or both chambers or were enacted this week. Forty were in Democratic trifectas, and of those, Democrats sponsored 35. Thirty-two were in Republican trifectas, and of those, Republicans sponsored 22.
- The top bill topics this week were:
- Election types and contest-specific procedures (34)
- Ballot access (12)
- Voter registration and list maintenance (11)
- Election dates and deadlines (8)
- Absentee/mail-in voting (6)
Recent activity
Enacted bills
States approved 11 election-related bills since our last edition, compared to 22 in 2023 and 20 in 2022 during the same week. To see all enacted bills, click here.
Colorado enacted SB072, which requires county sheriffs to designate at least one employee to facilitate voting access for voters in custody, including a minimum of one day of in-person voting. The bill also requires the designee to provide information on voter registration and voting methods to these voters. Colorado is the first state to implement a statewide requirement to provide voting services to incarcerated individuals.
Colorado (Democratic trifecta)
- CO SB131: Prohibiting Carrying Firearms in Sensitive Spaces
- CO SB072: Voting for Confined Eligible Electors
Louisiana (Republican trifecta)
- LA HB319: Provides relative to notice of the reason for changes to polling places
- LA HB570: Provides for the change of party affiliation prior to the close of registration
Missouri (Republican trifecta)
- MO SJR78: Modifies provisions relating to elections
Rhode Island (Democratic trifecta)
- RI S2447: Amends certain election statutes to require ballot questions be written in plain language reasonably calculated to be understood by persons with an eighth-grade reading level.
- RI H7476: Amends certain election statutes to require ballot questions be written in plain language reasonably calculated to be understood by persons with an eighth-grade reading level.
South Carolina (Republican trifecta)
- SC H4909: Lancaster County Voting Precincts
- SC H4937: Pickens County Voting Precincts
- SC S1099: Laurens County voting precincts
- SC S1292: Edgefield County School District Board of Trustees
Bills that passed both chambers
Sixteen bills have passed both chambers since our last edition and await gubernatorial action. To see all bills that have currently passed both chambers, click here.
Louisiana (Republican trifecta)
- LA HB358: Creates an additional judgeship for the 23rd Judicial District Court
- LA HB220: Provides for publication of polling locations
- LA HB926: Provides for the election of judges of the first district of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal
- LA SB421: Creates a renaissance district in certain parishes.
- LA SB384: Provides relative to voter identification requirements.
- LA HB962: Provides relative to the preparation, verification, tabulation, and counting of absentee by mail and early voting ballots
- LA HB506: Provides relative voter registration applications collected through registration drives
- LA HB581: Provides requirements and restrictions on the ability to witness election documents
- LA HB873: Provides relative to elections
- LA HB221: Provides relative to recall petitions
- LA HB114: Provides for an expanded annual canvass of registered voters
- LA HB763: Provides relative to federal election guidance and funding
- LA HB483: Provides relative to qualifications of early voting election commissioners
- LA SB436: Provides relative to voter registration.
- LA SB68: Provides for appointment of an ad hoc judge for election contests and challenges.
- LA SB261: Provides for additional poll watchers at polling places for elections.
Vetoed bills
There has been one gubernatorial veto since our last edition. Six bills were vetoed during this period in 2023, and three were vetoed in 2022. Governors have vetoed 29 bills so far this year, compared to 21 at this point in 2023 and 12 at this point in 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.
Louisiana (Republican trifecta)
- LA SB96: Provides relative to voter registration.
- This bill stipulated that a person with a valid state ID but without internet access or with a requirement for assistance may complete an electronic voter registration application in person at the registrar's office in the parish in which he or she is eligible to vote.
Recent activity by topic and sponsorship
The chart below shows the topics and partisan sponsorship of the bills with legislative activity since our last edition. Click here to see a full list of bill categories and their definitions.
* Note: Contest-specific procedures refer to primary systems, municipal election procedures, recall elections, special election procedures, and other systems unique to a particular election type.
Recent activity by state and trifecta status
Of the 120 bills with activity this week, 76 (63.3%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 36 (30%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and eight (6.7%) are in states with a divided government.
The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.
All legislation
Enacted bills by sponsorship and trifecta status
States have enacted 293 bills so far this year, compared to 402 bills in 2023 and 165 in 2022. The chart below shows the number and partisan sponsorship of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.
Fifty-one of the election-related bills passed this year (17.4%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 194 (66.2%) are in states with a Republican trifecta, and 48 (16.4%) are in states with a divided government. The table below shows the number of enacted election-related bills introduced by trifecta status this year compared to 2023 and 2022.
All bills by topic and sponsorship
The chart below displays the topic and sponsorship of a sample of the 3,685 total bills we’ve followed this year. Note that the sums of the numbers listed do not equal the total number of bills because some bills deal with multiple topics.
All bills by sponsorship and trifecta status
Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,107 (30%) are Democrat-sponsored bills in Democratic trifecta states. Republicans sponsored 795 (22%) bills in states with Republican trifectas.
The chart below shows the percentage of all election-related bills by sponsorship and trifecta status.
All bills by state and trifecta status
Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,707 (46.3%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,348 (36.6%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 630 (17.1%) are in states with divided governments.
Of all active bills in 2023, 42% were in states with Democratic trifectas, 43.8% were in states with Republican trifectas, and 14.2% were in states with divided governments. In 2022, 37.8% of bills were in states with Democratic trifectas, 30.4% were in states with Republican trifectas, and 31.8% were in states with divided governments.
The map below shows the number of election-related bills introduced by state and trifecta status this year.
