Voting Laws Roundup 2019

Voting Laws Roundup 2019

D.C. isn’t the only place where there’s momentum for expanding access to the ballot.

January 23, 2019

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Last updated: January 23, 2019
At the start of 2019, House Democrats introduced a sweeping pro-democracy bill, sending a clear signal that fixing our democracy is their top priority. But D.C. isn’t the only place where ambitious democracy reform is gaining momentum.

Lawmakers or top officials in at least seventeen states have introduced or pledged to introduce legislative packages in 2019 that could dramatically expand voting access for many Americans.[1]

More broadly, 31 states have filed or pre-filed at least 230 bills that would expand voting access. That far surpasses the 14 states, at least, where lawmakers have filed or pre-filed at least 24 bills thus far that would restrict voting access.

Still, it is very early in the legislative cycle — numerous states have not even begun their legislative sessions yet — so the landscape will continue to evolve.

Here are the early trends in 2019 so far.

• New York has moved a major voting rights package. The New York State Legislature has already passed a major voting rights package, including early voting, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds, and constitutional amendments to permit same day registration and no-excuse absentee voting. Lawmakers have also introduced automatic voter registration (AVR) bills this session.

• In total, at least seventeen states are considering broad-based voting rights packages (including New York).

o In Arizona, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills establishing AVR and same day registration and restoring voting rights to people who have been convicted of two or more felonies upon discharge from probation or imprisonment.
o In Connecticut, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills establishing AVR and permitting individuals convicted of felonies to maintain their voting rights, as well as proposed constitutional amendments establishing early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee voting.
o In Delaware, Governor John Carney has called for, and lawmakers have introduced, a package of voting reforms that includes same-day registration and early voting.
o In Indiana, lawmakers have introduced bills establishing AVR, election day registration, and no-excuse absentee voting. In addition, lawmakers have introduced a bill to permit student IDs as acceptable voter IDs and other reforms.
o In Iowa, lawmakers have introduced bills establishing AVR and restoring voting rights to individuals who have been convicted of a felony once they have completed their sentences. Governor Reynolds has expressed her support for ending Iowa’s lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions.
o In Kentucky, lawmakers have introduced bills establishing early voting, election day registration, and pre-registration, and amending the state constitution to restore voting rights to people who have been convicted of most felonies once they complete their sentences, among other reforms.
o In Minnesota, Secretary of State Steve Simon announced that he will push an agenda that includes AVR and voting rights restoration for people once they have been released from prison. Lawmakers have introduced these bills, as well bills establishing pre-registration and early voting, among other reforms.
o In Mississippi, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills establishing AVR, online voter registration, early voting, and restoring voting rights to people who have been convicted of felonies (the details of the rights restoration bills vary).
o In Missouri, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills proposing constitutional amendments for AVR and early voting, establishing no-excuse absentee voting, and restoring voting rights to people who have been convicted of felonies once they are released from prison.
o In New Hampshire, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills that would effectively overturn restrictive laws aimed at students that have been enacted over the past two years. In addition, lawmakers have introduced bills establishing no-excuse absentee voting and early voting for voters 60 years or older.
o In New Jersey, a package of expansive legislation has carried over from last year’s session. It includes bills that: establish early voting, election day registration, and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds; extend registration deadlines; add state agencies offering voter registration services; and repeal state law stripping voting rights from people convicted of felonies. Governor Murphy has indicated that he will prioritize several of these reforms.
o In New Mexico, lawmakers pre-filed bills for AVR and same-day registration, as well as a bill that would repeal a state law that strips voting rights from people convicted of felonies.
o In Pennsylvania, lawmakers have promised to introduce a variety of pro-voter reforms, including establishing early voting and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, as well as bills improving access for disabled and military voters. Lawmakers have introduced a constitutional amendment that would permit no-excuse absentee voting.
o In South Carolina, lawmakers have introduced a variety of reforms, including bills establishing AVR, early voting, and same-day registration, and extending registration deadlines.
o In Texas, lawmakers have introduced bills establishing AVR, online voter registration, and same-day registration, and repealing the state’s voter ID requirement, among other reforms.
o In Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam announced his support for a legislative package that includes no-excuse absentee voting (which, under Virginia law, includes an in-person absentee voting option) and a repeal of the state’s strict photo ID requirement for voting. In addition, lawmakers have introduced or carried over bills that would establish AVR, same-day registration, and early voting, among other reforms. Lawmakers proposed constitutional amendments to remove provisions stripping voting rights from people convicted of felonies, but those efforts have been killed in committee.

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• Lawmakers in 14 states have introduced 24 bills that would cut back voting access.

o One that we're watching especially closely is in Texas. It would allow elections officials to photograph a voter’s ID if the official “questions [its] authenticity.” In 2017, Texas was forced to soften its voter ID law in response to litigation. This new bill may represent an effort to make its current law more severe through voter intimidation. Texas lawmakers have also introduced a bill requiring documentary proof of citizenship for in-person registration at the state’s driver’s license agency and a bill cutting back on early voting.
o Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and Wyoming have introduced or carried over new strict photo ID bills.

• In Florida, no new restrictive bills have been introduced. But Governor Ron DeSantis has suggested that “implementing legislation” is necessary to carry out Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to many Floridians with past criminal convictions, even though the text of the amendment makes plain that it is self-executing.

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• Expansive bills are currently outpacing restrictive bills. As noted above, legislators in at least 31 states have filed or pre-filed at least 230 bills that would expand voting access so far this year.[2]But despite this promising beginning, we must remain vigilant throughout the course of the year. In 2018, for example, significant restrictions were introduced and then enacted relatively late in the legislative session for the year.

The pro-voter reforms states are considering this year build on significant — but not unmitigated — successes last year. By the end of 2018, 16 states had passed laws that expand access to the vote, six states passed restrictive voting laws, and nine states passed laws related to election security. (These counts include laws enacted via ballot initiative.) Of particular note:

• Voters voted for voting. Several of the most significant voting law changes occurred outside state legislatures, as voters themselves passed ballot initiatives at the polls last November that expanded access to the franchise.

o Florida voters passed the biggest expansion of the right to vote since the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, restoring voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians who had been stripped of those rights as the result of a criminal conviction. The initiative passed with about 65 percent of voters in favor. The constitutional amendment that voters passed is self-executing — it requires no additional legislative enactment to be effective. Despite its clear language, however, as noted above, Governor DeSantis has suggested that the amendment will only become effective once he signs implementing legislation.
o Nevada voters adopted AVR, with nearly 60 percent of voters in favor.
o Michigan voters adopted a suite of voting reforms, including AVR, election day registration, and no-excuse absentee voting, with nearly 67 percent of voters in favor. (Michigan’s constitutional amendment was also self-executing, but lawmakers nevertheless passed implementing legislation in the lame-duck session.)
o Maryland voters amended the state constitution to permit the state’s General Assembly to enact same-day registration.

• Automatic voter registration continued its steady march through the country. Six states enacted AVR in 2018. In addition to Michigan and Nevada, the Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington legislatures enacted AVR. In total, 15 states and D.C. have adopted AVR, and ten states have their AVR programs up and running.

• Nevertheless, states continued to pass restrictive laws. Leading into last November’s election, the voting rights community focused heavily on the extraordinary voter suppression efforts occurring outside of the legislative process. Still, six states enacted significant voting restrictions into law in 2018.

o Prior to the November election —
§ New Hampshire enacted a law burdening student voting that is scheduled to take effect in 2019.
§ North Carolina enacted a law that contributed to a nearly 20 percent reduction in the number of early voting locations this November, according to ProPublica. And the state also cut the last Saturday of early voting for future elections.[3]
o At the polls in November, voters enacted new voting restrictions via ballot initiative —
§ Arkansas added photo ID requirements for voting to its state constitution.
§ Montana limited the ability of third parties to assist voters in casting their absentee ballots.
§ North Carolina added photo ID requirements for voting to its state constitution.
o After the November election —
§ North Carolina’s GOP legislators rushed to fill in the details of the voter ID requirement this year before they lose their legislative super-majority. Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the voter ID bill legislators sent him, but the legislature overrode the veto.
§ Wisconsin, as part of a broader push by state Republicans to entrench themselves in power, enacted a law limiting the early voting period (and codifying certain administrative practices on voter IDs), despite a court order halting the state’s 2011 and 2014 attempts to limit early voting.

• States also picked up the pace on election security laws. Nine states enacted laws related to election security last year. Notably —

o Kansas enacted a law that will phase out paperless direct recording electronic devices (DREs) – voting machines that do not provide a record that can be reliably audited after an election.
o Six states enacted laws relating to post-election audits to confirm the accuracy of vote counts.[4]California, in particular, enacted a law authorizing a pilot program for risk-limiting audits (RLAs) the gold standard for post-election manual audits.

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