Massachusetts Governor Signs Election Bill As State Legislatures Act On Four Key Measures‌

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed one election-related bill this week.

In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover four bills state legislatures have acted on since our last edition.

Legislative highlights

• One bill was approved last week. Three hundred seventy-one bills have been enacted so far in 2024, compared to 589 in 2023 and 216 in 2022. 
• State legislatures acted on four bills this week, 18 fewer than last week. 
• The top bill topics this week were:

1. Election types and contest-specific procedures (2)
2. Voter registration and list maintenance (2)
3. Offices (1)

In the news

Here’s a rundown of recent news stories and developments from across the country on election administration.

• On Sept. 11, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that removed the names of three Libertarian Party candidates—Nicholas Gluba, Marco Battaglia, and Charles Aldrich—from the November ballot. The candidates were running in the general election for the state’s 1st, 3rd, and 4th Congressional Districts, respectively. 
• The group Eternal Vigilance Action filed a lawsuit on Sept. 11 against the Georgia State Election Board over the board’s recent changes to the state’s voting rules. According to the group’s CEO, former Georgia Rep. Scot Turner (R), Eternal Vigilance Action is “a 501(c)4 nonprofit with the mission to advocate for policies which maximize the American Promise of Liberty and Justice for all.”
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court heard arguments on Sept. 10 for two separate election cases concerning access to voter records and early, in-person absentee voting locations.
• Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) referred more than 600 cases of alleged election law violations to Attorney General Dave Yost (R) after LaRose said local prosecutors refused to pursue the cases. 

Recent Activity

Enacted bills

One election-related bill has been approved since our last edition, compared to four in 2023 and none in 2022 during the same week. To see all enacted bills, click here. 

Massachusetts (Democratic trifecta)

• MA H4203: Changes elections of town officers in Hopkinton from partisan to nonpartisan. 

Bills that passed both chambers

Two bills have passed both chambers since our last edition. Click on individual bills for more information. To see all bills awaiting gubernatorial action, click here.

California (Democratic trifecta)

• CA SB299:
  • Requires the secretary of state and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to develop methods to determine whether a driver’s license applicant is already registered or pre-registered to vote using the statewide voter registration database (VoteCal).
  • Requires the DMV to transmit certain information to the secretary to register or pre-register applicants.
  • Establishes that if a person is not a U.S. citizen, their information cannot be transmitted to the secretary.
  • Allows the secretary to establish regulations governing voter list maintenance and promulgation. 
• CA AB2724:
  • Authorizes the administrator of a public or private high school to appoint one or more students as voter outreach coordinators.
  • Requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, or a charter school to ensure that each of its students receives information on how to properly preregister to vote.
  • Requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, or a charter school to, upon request, ensure that a paper copy of a voter registration card is provided for students.
  • Authorizes the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, or a charter school to contract with a third-party nonprofit organization to implement the bill’s requirements.

Vetoed bills

There have been no gubernatorial vetoes since our last edition. No bills were vetoed during this period in 2023, and none were vetoed in 2022. Governors have vetoed 32 bills so far this year, compared to 37 at this point in 2023 and 17 at this point in 2022. To see all vetoed bills, click here.

Recent activity by the state

Of the four bills with activity over the previous week, all were in states with Democratic trifectas.

The map below shows election-related bills acted on in the past week by state trifecta status.

All legislation

Enacted bills

States have enacted 371 bills so far this year, compared to 589 bills in 2023 and 216 in 2022. The chart below shows the number of enacted bills in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

Ninety-eight of the election-related bills passed this year (26.4%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 221 (59.6%) are in states with a Republican trifecta, and 52 (14%) are in states with a divided government. The chart below shows enacted election-related bills by trifecta status and partisan sponsorship.

All bills 

Of all the election-related bills introduced this year, 1,768 (46.7%) are in states with Democratic trifectas, 1,370 (36.2%) are in states with Republican trifectas, and 645 (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 chart below shows election-related bills introduced by partisan sponsorship and trifecta status this year.

Produced in association with Ballotpedia