Legislative Updates
Alabama: Three new bills dealing with absentee ballots have been drafted by Alabama lawmakers for the upcoming legislative session. HB 23, filed by Rep. Kenyatté Hassell, D-Montgomery, would remove the list of reasons for voting by absentee ballot. Currently, voters must check their reason for voting absentee on the absentee ballot application, then again on the absentee ballot. SB 1, introduced by state Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, will make it illegal for individuals to pay or be paid for assisting others in completing absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications. Meanwhile, Rep. Adline Clarke, D- Mobile, filed HB 12, a bill designed to allow a disabled voter to designate an individual to deliver the voter’s application for an absentee ballot to the absentee election manager.
Alaska: The Alaska House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a bill that would repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries. The bill was first proposed last year by Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance to undo changes to Alaska’s voting laws, which were instituted through a 2020 ballot measure narrowly approved by Alaska voters. The committee voted to advance the bill in a 5-2 vote, with all five Republicans in favor and the committee’s two Democrats opposed. The measure heads next to the House Finance Committee. The bill has yet to be considered in the Senate and is likely to face headwinds there, where members of the majority have said they oppose efforts to repeal the voting method. Opponents of the changes adopted through the 2020 ballot measure say the new voting laws disadvantage conservative Republicans. Proponents of the new system say it leads to electing politicians who appeal to a wider swath of voters and are more willing to work across party lines. The original bill brought by Vance would have repealed ranked choice voting and open primaries. Vance proposed an amendment Wednesday — adopted in a 5-2 vote along party lines — to repeal the campaign reporting requirements, as well.
Georgia: House Speaker Jon Burns says House Republican leaders will push to eliminate QR codes from the paper ballots voting machines spit out to voters after they cast their ballots and they’ll consider strengthening the powers of the State Election Board, potentially at the expense of the secretary of state. The General Assembly passed legislation in 2019 providing for a paper backup to electronic ballots, a move aimed at giving Georgians more confidence their votes are being recorded accurately. But some voters have complained that the QR codes are confusing and impose a barrier on transparency. The other potential change to election laws would shift investigations of voter complaints of election fraud from the secretary of state’s office to the State Election Board. Burns said such a move would help make the board more independent.
A Republican-sponsored bill introduced would empower the State Election Board to investigate Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a response to the board’s decision last month not to open an inquiry. The measure would also remove Raffensperger, a Republican, as a nonvoting member of the State Election Board and require him to cooperate with investigations. The legislation, Senate Bill 358, comes after the board deadlocked on whether to pursue complaints by conservative activists who blame Raffensperger for human errors in Fulton County’s manual audit of the 2020 election. The problems, including over 3,000 double-counted and misallocated votes, didn’t change the overall outcome of the statewide audit, which confirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s win over Republican Donald Trump. “It is time for the secretary of state to be held reasonably accountable, like all other elected officials,” said Senate Ethics Chairman Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania whose committee handles election bills.
Hawaii: State legislators announced plans to reintroduce a bill calling for full public financing of elections in Hawai‘i. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Karl Rhoads held an educational panel at the Hawaii Capitol to speak about his intention to bring the bill back to the Legislature during the upcoming session. The panel included moderator Colin Moore of the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization, House sponsor Rep. Jeanne Kapela, Maui County Council member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez and Common Cause HI Program Director Camron Hurt. Senate Bill 1543 was introduced in 2023 to establish a comprehensive system of public financing for all candidates seeking election to state and county public offices. The final version of the bill stated in part “the common belief is that the current campaign finance system used in Hawai‘i (and most other states) unfairly favors a small handful of wealthy donors who use their donations to buy access to candidates and elected officials.
Indiana: House Republicans want to identify more people who might not be eligible to vote with legislation considered by a House committee. The bill, HB 1264, takes aim at cleaning up voter rolls in multiple ways. It allows the state to compare information from credit agencies against voter registration records, in an effort to find out if someone has moved. Brad King, Republican co-director of the Indiana Election Division, said that credit bureau data will be the most accurate info possible. “In my belief, in my heart of hearts, Indiana’s elections are secure,” King said. “But there is always room for improvement.”
Sen. Gary Byrne (R-Byrneville) has filed a bill to prohibit public transportation agencies from offering free or reduced-fare rides on election days. For the past two years, the AARP of Indiana has sponsored free Election Day rides on public transit in Indianapolis, Gary, Fort Wayne and Evansville. Byrne told Axios the bill is about fairness for Hoosiers, like those who live in rural areas, who don’t have access to public transportation. “The rural parts of those counties can’t get a free ride,” he said. Byrne said early voting and vote by mail give people who may struggle to reach the polls on Election Day other opportunities to vote.
Kansas: Senate Bill 343 bans county election officials from sending out advance voting ballot applications to voters unless the application has already been requested by the voter. Sen. Mike Thompson said the bill was needed because an election official in Johnson County had sent out many unrequested advance ballot applications. He said $75,000 worth of ballots had been printed in what was an “unnecessary expenditure.” He also introduced a bill requiring more voter identity verification for advanced voting. The bill would require that a voter identity verification form be attached with advance ballots.
Louisiana: The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee moved in favor of a bill that would fund a change in the state’s primary election process if legislators pass the measure during the current special session. The House Appropriations Committee is required by the Louisiana Constitution to fund elections and in following their legal requirement they moved in favor of providing the necessary funding for the elections – should the issue get the necessary votes for passage. The committee fulfilled its state constitutional requirement and Rep. Marcelle moved in favor of the bill asking that the author, Rep. McFarland, clarify in the language in the event that legislators reject the measure it is clearly stated that the money is not tangled in legislative red tape as this was another notable point of ambiguity in the bill.
Missouri: Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, wants to add ‘private residences’ to places that a person could be charged for making terroristic threats. The recent swatting situation on January 7 involving the home of Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft pushed Rowden to file the legislation. Rowden’s legislation would also make it a Class D felony if a swatting call results in death, injury, or property damage.The bill has recently been introduced in the Senate and could be considered by a Senate committee soon. “I’ve had issues of, you know, folks coming to my house during elections,” Rowden said. “It’s not fun and I don’t care if you’re, you know, far right or far left or somewhere in between, that’s not how we should be doing things. Hopefully we can get something done.”
Nebraska: Legislative Bill 1390 would provide new protections for Nebraska election officials and workers by enhancing penalties for those who may threaten, harass, or manipulate those tasked with conducting elections – including via artificial intelligence tools. The bill, introduced today by State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln and co-sponsored by State Sens. Justin Wayne of Omaha and Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, addresses these threats by: Extending the penalties currently in place for manipulating deputy registrars for elections to include threats and harassment of all election officials and workers; Creating new penalties for “doxxing” election officials – sharing their personal information and address online and without their consent to encourage their harassment; and Creating new penalties for using artificial intelligence, or AI, to create fake videos or audio depicting an election official with the intent of sharing misinformation about an election.
New Hampshire: Lawmakers recently heard testimony on a bipartisan bill intended to improve civics education by helping high school students register to vote. The bill, HB 1014, would require high schools to develop programs to assist students in the voter registration process. State Rep. Mark Paige, D-Exeter, introduced the measure after hearing from constituents who commented on the close relationship between civic engagement and voting. Voter registration efforts, he said, vary across state high schools. Paige believes the bill’s goal to improve participation among young people bolsters existing aims of state civic education and government requirements passed in the last legislative session. “A goal of our civics curriculum is to ensure students leave our schools and enter the world prepared to be engaged citizens as participants in the electoral process, and this bill helps make good on that promise,” said Paige. “Young people want to be engaged, hold elective officials accountable, and determine their future; if we can better position schools to help them do that with measures like this, we should not hesitate.”
New York: Sen. Mark C. Walczyk and Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh have teamed up on a bill that would undo the shift of some local elections into even years signed into law by Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul just weeks ago. Under the new law, most elections at the County and municipal levels, outside New York City, are now moved from odd years to even years. Supporters of the legislation say this shift will increase voter turnout. However, those against the effort contend the opposite would occur. With longer ballots, it would take more time to complete a ballot, causing longer wait times. Both Walczyk and Walsh voted against the bill earlier this year. In a bill introduced in the last week of 2023, Walczyk, R-Watertown, and Walsh, R-Ballston Spa, put forward a plan that would return the elections for local seats like county legislator, town supervisor or council member and some local department supervisor positions to odd years, when they have historically occurred.
South Dakota: Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson announces that the Secretary of State’s Office’s proposed legislative package for 2024 features bills promoting election transparency, election worker protection and clarifying residency. SB 17: An Act to modify the residency requirements for voter registration and declare an emergency. Last year the Legislature amended SDCL 12-4-1 to state that in order to register to vote a person needs to maintain a residence in South Dakota for at least 30 days prior to registering. The problem is that there is no time frame for when the 30 days is calculated. Is it 30 days immediately prior to registering or is it 30 days in the person’s lifetime? The proposed amendment places an identifiable and easily calculated 365-day time frame. SB 18: An Act to allow the secretary of state to share information from the statewide voter registration file. If passed, this would allow the secretary of state to share voter registration information with other states in order to try and identify any voter who, for whatever reason, is registered in more than one jurisdiction. Currently, information is shared but on a limited basis. SB 20: An Act to establish the crime of threatening or intimidating an election official or election worker and declare an emergency. The Senate State Affairs Committee approved the bill 8-0. SB 48: An Act to provide for the disclosure of a cast vote record and ballot images as a public record and declare an emergency. A cast vote record (CVR) is an electronic record of a voter’s ballot contest selections that is created when the paper ballot is run through a tabulator. A CVR can then be compared to the ballot image to ensure that the tabulating machine read the ballot correctly. Presently there is litigation concerning this issue. This bill would clear up the issue for 2024 and into the future. Only counties who have purchased the required software would be able to produce a cast vote record.
Utah: Republican Rep. Kera Birkeland has proposed a bill that would require Utahns to opt-in to mail-in voting. Starting in 2026, instead of automatically sending ballots to all registered voters, the bill would require citizens to opt-in online or on their ballot during this year’s election. “For everyone who either isn’t returning their ballots, throwing away their ballots or goes to the election polling location to vote, they can just, you know, not check a box and no longer worry about ballots,” Birkeland said. According to Birkeland, this would clean up voter rolls by preventing ballots from going to people who don’t want to vote or would prefer to vote in person. However, Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said most Utahns vote by mail. Almost 94% of people who voted in the General Election in 2022 voted by mail. In 2023 in Summit County, 99% of the votes were by mail.
Another proposal would require that mail-in ballots arrive at the clerk’s office by Election Day. Right now, they must simply be post-marked on election day. H.B. 214, Election Modifications is sponsored by Rep. Norman K. Thurston, R-Provo. It would modify existing law to say that “for a mailed vote to be valid, the election officer must receive the ballot in the office before the polls close on election day.”
Washington: Washington lawmakers renewed their push to increase criminal penalties for harassment of election workers. The state House of Representatives, on an 86-11 vote, approved House Bill 1241 to make it a class C felony for a person to threaten election officials with injury through words or conduct. Today, such behavior carries a lesser penalty of a gross misdemeanor. The same bill cleared the House on a 90-7 vote last session but lapsed in the Senate. It is expected to receive a hearing in the Senate in early February. “Our election workers are the heroes of democracy,” said Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, the bill’s prime sponsor, in a floor speech. In addition to stiffer penalties, the bill allows election officials and family members living with them to enroll in the state’s address confidentiality program. State Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen voted against the bill. He said no one in Washington should be harassed but he disagreed with making the crime a felony when the penalty for possession of fentanyl is a gross misdemeanor. It should be a felony, he said.
West Virginia: House Bill 4017, if passed in its current state, would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to “intentionally coerce” or offer payment to another individual in exchange for a voter registration application. It would similarly make it illegal for anyone to offer payment for any name or material entry on any registration form to be inserted wrongfully, destroy a duly made entry, or remove any such registration form. It would also create a penalty of 1-10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for anyone who knowingly casts a vote in person on Election Day after having voted by absentee ballot. HB 4017 was introduced by Del. Josh Holstein (R – Boone, 032) and was sent to the House Judiciary Committee.
House Bill 4016, was also introduced by Del. Holstein. In its current state, it would make it unlawful for any person, including election officials, to mail or deliver in person an absentee ballot application to any voter unless that voter specifically requested it. It would also require absentee ballot applications to be available at county clerk offices and on the Secretary of State’s official website. That bill is also in the House Judiciary Committee.
Wisconsin: Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, rose on the floor of the Wisconsin State Assembly throughout the afternoon of Jan. 16, calling for recognition from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester in an attempt to force a vote on impeaching Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief elections administrator. She was ruled out of order early in the session, and her subsequent calls were not responded to. The day adjourned with the bang of a gavel, as Brandtjen called out one more time. In a brief interview after Tuesday’s session, Brandtjen told WPR that she plans to continue pushing to bring articles of impeachment against Wolfe.
Legal Updates
Arizona: Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould is asking a judge to allow the hand counting of ballots, saying there is nothing in state law preventing a county from doing so. In a Maricopa County Superior Court filing, an attorney for Gould argues the Election Code says ballots “may be cast, recorded and counted” by vote counting machines. Gould says his constituents are losing faith in elections. “It doesn’t matter why they’re losing faith in the election. My concern is that they’ll quit voting if they lose faith,” Gould said. The push for hand counts has increased following unproven narratives of election interference. Attorney General Kris Mayes sent Mohave County supervisors a letter in November saying a hand count was illegal.
Colorado: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters isn’t giving up in her attempt to get the federal courts to block her upcoming trial on state criminal charges.eters’ Virginia-based attorney, Robert Cynkar, filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to get it to reverse a ruling earlier this week from U.S. District Judge Nina Wang that removed Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein as a defendant in a whistleblower lawsuit she filed in federal court last fall.hat suit, which also names Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, contends that state and federal authorities should not have investigated her nor filed charges based on her free speech rights under the First Amendment, and immunity rights under the Fourteenth Amendment because of her attempts to show election fraud. Peters contends that her actions in making copies of election computer hard drives was part of an effort to show problems during the 2020 presidential and 2021 municipal elections, essentially saying she was acting as a whistleblower.
Georgia: U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee upheld Georgia’s shortened four-week runoff period mandated by the state’s 2021 voting law, ruling that there wasn’t evidence to prove discrimination against Black voters. Boulee’s decision keeps in place quick runoffs after general elections and fewer early voting days before runoffs. The ruling also maintains a voter registration deadline 29 days before elections, preventing new voters from being able to sign up ahead of runoffs. “Plaintiffs presented evidence that Black voters are more likely to vote early. Plaintiffs did not present any evidence, however, which would show why Black voters would disproportionately struggle to vote during the new early voting period,” Boulee wrote in a 31-page order. “… All of the factors weigh against a discriminatory intent finding.” Before the law was passed, runoffs were held nine weeks after the general election. “This ruling affirms what we have maintained all along — that Georgia’s Election Integrity Act is designed to ensure fair and secure elections for all citizens,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “We will continue to stand firm in defending the principles of this legislation.”
Maine: Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy has sent back a decision to remove Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot — a decision based on a reading of a constitutional provision that bars insurrectionists from holding public office. Murphy ordered the secretary of state to issue a new decision on Trump once the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on a related case. Trump had appealed the ruling by the Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, urging Maine courts to overturn her decision. Bellows had suspended the effect of her ruling, giving state courts the chance to hear an appeal. In her ruling, Murphy stayed Bellows’ decision and “remands this matter to the Secretary for further proceedings as necessary in light of the United States Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision in Trump v. Anderson [the Colorado case].” Murphy ordered that Bellows’ new ruling, “modifying, withdrawing, or confirming” her initial ruling, come no later than 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision.
Michigan: Katelyn Jones, 26, formerly of Olivet, Michigan, and now living in Epping, New Hampshire was sentenced to 30 days in federal jail this week for texting threats to a Detroit-area election official after a November 2020 meeting to certify local results in that year’s presidential race. Jones targeted Monica Palmer, the Republican chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, and her family, the FBI said in a court filing. Investigators say Jones sent photos of a dead body and threatened Palmer on Nov. 18, 2020, apparently because she was upset that Palmer and another Republican on the four-member Board of Canvassers initially refused to certify Wayne County’s election results on Nov. 17. The certification is typically a routine step on the way to statewide certification. The two members subsequently certified the totals in favor of Joe Biden after people watching the public meeting on video conference criticized them during a comment period. Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of threats of violence through interstate commerce.
Minnesota: The Minnesota Supreme Court has granted a quicker appeal of a case involving a voting rights restoration law. In an order issued Jan. 16 by Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, the court said it would decide the fate of the law. It permits people with felony convictions to vote as long as they’re not behind bars. Justices scheduled oral arguments for April 1. A conservative group known as the Minnesota Voters Alliance sued over the law’s 2023 enactment, saying the Legislature overstepped its authority. Late last year, a judge ruled against the challenge that could affect eligibility for tens of thousands of voters. The alliance asked to skip straight to the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeals. In its petition, the group’s attorney said the case needs final resolution by Minnesota’s highest court soon.
New Hampshire: The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the New Hampshire GOP filed a motion on Jan. 17 to intervene in the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) lawsuit over a voting law in the Granite State. The Republican groups are asking to become parties in the case to defend New Hampshire Senate Bill 418, an election law requiring those who register to vote without a photo ID on election day to send in qualifying documentation within seven days to keep their ballot from being thrown out. The DNC sued New Hampshire officials over the law last month, arguing it will disenfranchise voters in the state — including young people, working families and other key voting groups. The Republican groups argue in their new filing that the relief sought by the DNC would “directly harm the legal rights and interests”of the RNC and NHRSC, as well as their registered members and voters.
Wisconsin: Dane County Circuit Judge Ann Peacock ruled Jan. 12 that the state’s top elections official is legally holding her position and that the commission that appoints her is under no obligation to name a new leader, handing yet another defeat to Republicans who have tried to oust her. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked in June 2023 on a vote to reappoint Meagan Wolfe as the administrator of elections in the presidential battleground state. The three Republican commissioners voted in favor, but the three Democrats abstained to block the nomination from going before the state Senate because that would have then allowed Republicans there to fire her. Actions by the commission require a four vote majority. “I agree with WEC that the public expects stability in its elections system and this injunction will provide stability to protect against any further legally unsupported removal attempts,” Peacock wrote in her Jan. 12 order saying that Wolfe holds her position legally. Peacock, in her Jan. 12 ruling, said Wolfe is legally serving as administrator of the elections commission as a holdover given that the commission deadlocked on whether to reappoint her. The Senate’s vote to remove her had no legal effect, Peacock ruled for the second time, and the commission has no duty to appoint a new leader while Wolfe is serving as a holdover. “I hope this will put an end to attempts by some to target nonpartisan election officials and fabricate reasons to disrupt Wisconsin elections,” Wolfe said in a Jan. 12 statement. “The effort to undermine me was especially cruel given that the defendant legislators themselves admitted in court that I remain the lawful administrator.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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