Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking
Hawaii Elections Commission: The state elections commission has voted to ask the legislature to ban mail-in and early voting and return to traditional in-person voting on Election Day. The bipartisan commission, which is half Democrat and half Republican, voted 5-3 over several contentious meetings to recommend voting only on Election Day in person with ID required on paper ballots that would be hand counted in precincts. Under the proposal, only military families and people with special needs would be allowed to vote absentee. Republican commissioners said they have found discrepancies in mail-in voting and claim the movement of absentee ballots and envelopes from homes to post offices to counties for verification and to the state for counting has not been securely controlled or tracked. There was also concern that the emphasis on mail-in balloting made it more difficult for people to vote in person at limited sites. Commissioner Kahiolani Papalimu, from the Big Island, said, “being an incredibly rural island, I’d much prefer voting in our precincts, which is accessible to everyone in their area.” Senate Judiciary chair Karl Rhoads, who would have jurisdiction over changing election law, said he believes the chances the legislature will approve the changes are zero. “I don’t even know the last time that Hawaii had one-day voting,” Rhoads said. Rhoads said he believes Republican commissioners are trying to undermine election confidence. “I think they’re doing what they think he’s asking him to do. I think it’s from the top. The irony, of course, is that Trump himself uses mail-in voting,” Rhoads said.
Michigan: The Michigan House Election Integrity Committee debated bills this week related to foreign interference in state elections — in funding for ballot initiatives and election administration, and in the physical parts of election machines. HB 5198, which would place restrictions on foreign funding specifically earmarked for the administration of elections. Asked if this was actively happening in Michigan, State Rep. William Bruck (R-Erie) noted, “There is not a prohibition, so I’m assuming that it has happened.”
HB 4720, would prevent any voting equipment in the state from including parts made by companies on a Federal Communications Commission list of potential security risks for communication. Rep. Stephen Wooden (D-Grand Rapids) expressed caution that, if this list were to change shortly before an election, “then we’re thrown into a degree of chaos.” That could require clerks to hand-count ballots, which Wooden noted can have a higher margin of error than machine-counted votes.
New Hampshire: The House Finance Committee recommended a bill that would create a process by which someone who does not have a passport, birth certificate, naturalization papers, or other relevant documents could attempt to prove their citizenship in order to register to vote. The bill, House Bill 365, would require town and city election workers to contact the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office to attempt to confirm the voter’s citizenship. The office would need to make “reasonable efforts” to do so, including by checking in-state, out-of-state, and federal databases. But the bill includes an exception for voting day; cities and towns and the Secretary of State’s Office are not required to help people obtain the documentation on Election Day if it would interfere with their other duties. The bill would also create a process for people who want to obtain copies of their documents but cannot afford to do so. If a resident is found to be indigent, the city or town “may” provide a voucher to cover the costs of recovering the birth certificate, passport, or other qualifying document, the bill states. If a municipality does provide that voucher, the secretary of state would be required to reimburse the cost. The latest version of the bill directs that $50,000 in state funds be available to do so. Republicans say the bill should assuage critics who say the new law will punish people who do not have passports and birth certificates. Democrats voted against the bill, reiterating their concerns with the 2024 registration law and arguing the new legislation will only create more complications for local officials.
Ohio: A Republican-backed bill that moves up the deadline for absentee ballots to be received by boards of elections passed the Ohio Senate on a mostly party line vote. Senate Bill 293 gets rid of the four-day grace period following election day that voters now have for their ballots to arrive, but carves out an exception for military and overseas voters. Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), a joint sponsor of the bill, said that will “ensure a timely and accurate election process”. The bill’s other joint sponsor, Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), noted that most states require absentee ballots to arrive by election day. Democrats were opposed, including Sen. Bill DiMora (D-Columbus). He said 10,000 ballots would have been tossed out last year if this bill had been law then. “What this bill does is, it silences voters. It throws out legal ballots that have always been counted before. And it disenfranchises Ohioans who do absolutely nothing wrong,” DiMora said.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose added his support last week to a proposal requiring Ohioans submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote. LaRose urged lawmakers to approve Ohio Senate Bill 153 but offered a caveat about its roll out. He said it’s provisions “can be successfully implemented according to the terms and timelines” outlined in the bill. LaRose stressed the decentralized nature of Ohio’s elections system and cautioned that hammering out the details of citizenship verification will take time.
South Dakota: The Government Operations and Audit Committee voted unanimously to order South Dakota’s secretary of state to answer questions about the state’s election equipment contracts. Secretary of State Monae Johnson was expected to attend last week’s meeting, but canceled a couple of days beforehand, said Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, the chair of the committee. “We represent the entirety of the Legislature and we represent the citizens of this state,” Howard said. “Essentially, when you disregard this committee, you are disregarding the citizens of this state.” The order to appear is known as a subpoena. The committee is using expanded oversight powers granted by the Legislature earlier this year to issue subpoenas, without an extra sign-off from the Legislature’s Executive Board. Tea Republican Sen. Ernie Otten said the committee was “being slighted” by Johnson’s failure to appear, adding that lawmakers need to hear “the other side” of allegations against Johnson’s office. Members of the South Dakota Canvassing Group, which advocates for removing tabulation machines from elections and replacing them with hand counting, allege that the Secretary of State’s Office allowed an election systems vendor to provide uncertified laptops to some counties for election use, and used some funds inappropriately to update the state’s voter registration and election night reporting system.
Wisconsin: Wisconsin candidates now have a path to get off the ballot besides dying, thanks to a proposal Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed into law on October 31. Under the measure, candidates can now get off the ballot as long as they file to withdraw at least seven business days before the Wisconsin Elections Commission certifies candidates ahead of the August and November elections, and pay processing fees to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The measure doesn’t apply to the February and April elections. Many county clerks had opposed an earlier version of the legislation because the originally proposed deadline to drop out would have disrupted tight timelines to prepare, print, and send off ballots on time. That deadline would have allowed candidates to get off the ballot any time before the election commission certified candidates’ names. The proposal was triggered by 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s failed attempt to withdraw from the ballot in a bid to boost President Donald Trump’s candidacy. The case made its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which rejected Kennedy’s argument after a lower court ruled that death was the only way for nominees to drop off the ballot.
Wyoming: The Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee voted this week to sponsor a sweeping package of six election reform bills that boost manual ballot counting and expand poll watcher authority. The bills advanced despite warnings from county clerks that the changes could prove logistically impossible to implement by the 2026 election cycle. Critics argued the package restricts ballot access and competition for independent candidates. The committee’s action sponsors six working draft measures that focus on shifting the election process toward increased hand counting of ballots and enhanced oversight.
Lawmakers approved “26LSO-0043, Random hand count audits of election results,” 11–2. The bill requires county clerks to conduct a hand count audit in one randomly selected precinct after primary and general elections to compare manual results to electronic tabulation. The committee also voted 11–2 to sponsor “26LSO-0044, Elections-hand counting for recounts,” which mandates automatic hand recounts in close statewide and legislative races.
26LSO-0045-Poll watchers-polling stations observation” passed 9–4. The bill expands poll watcher authority, clarifying they can observe all election procedures, including setup and shutdown. It allows one poll watcher per political party for each precinct served at multi-precinct locations. The committee also voted 9–3 to sponsor “26LSO-0048, Elections-acceptable identification revisions,” requiring all acceptable ID for in-person voting to include a photograph. It repeals Medicare/Medicaid and public school/university IDs as acceptable forms. Secretary of State Chuck Gray said the goal was to achieve “true voter ID” to prevent voter impersonation. The bill aimed at independent candidate requirements, “26LSO-0046, Elections-independent candidate requirements,” also passed 10–3, increasing the required number of signatures to 5% for district races and aligning the filing deadline with partisan candidates. The final bill sponsored was “26LSO-0047, Elections-voting machine and voting system tests,” which passed 11–1. The bill clarifies testing procedures and removes the previous presumption that voting machines were properly prepared. The committee tabled “26LSO-0049, Election transparency,” an omnibus bill that would have mandated paper ballots and lowered the period for early in-person absentee voting.
Legal Updates
Federal Lawsuits: Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked a key provision of the sweeping executive order on elections President Donald Trump issued in March. The ruling from Kollar-Kotelly, blocks his direction to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to take steps to require documentary proof of citizenship from people registering to vote. “Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote. Multiple nonprofit groups and Democratic Party committees sued Trump, the EAC, and other federal agencies over the order he signed in March calling for broad changes in how elections are administered. The plaintiffs argue that the Constitution does not grant the president authority to set rules for elections. Kollar-Kotelly in April issued a preliminary injunction halting some provisions of executive order, including this provision. Her order last week made that permanent. Kollar-Kotelly has yet to rule on challenges to additional provisions, and the remaining lawsuits in connection with the executive order are still pending. The Justice Department did not immediately respond Friday to a request from Votebeat for comment on the ruling, which could be appealed.
American Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog group, is suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that department officials have delayed and denied legitimate public information requests regarding the hiring of Heather Honey. Honey was hired by DHS earlier this year and given the title “Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elections Integrity,” a change from past administrations, which have traditionally managed election security and integrity work through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. In September, the group initially sought federal records from DHS and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services related to Honey’s hiring process, including basic information about the job description and specific hiring and application materials like interview notes, resumes, and cover letters. They also sought Honey’s calendar, email communications, and text messages or chat app records, like those from Slack, that pertain to her hiring. According to American Oversight, those and other public records requests related to Honey’s hiring were acknowledged by DHS, but the department has been otherwise unresponsive over the past two months. On Thursday, the group filed a lawsuit. They allege the government has violated FOIA laws by failing to promptly respond to the requests, including information about “the scope of responsive records Defendants intend to produce or withhold and the reasons for any withholdings.” American Oversight has a history of successfully compelling governments to turn over public records through Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits.
Arkansas: A divided Arkansas Supreme Court said that two state laws related to ballot petitions violate the constitution, in a case involving a paper-ballot measure from Cleburne County. In the 4-3 decision, Justice Shawn Womack, writing for the majority, said a circuit judge erred in ordering County Clerk Rachelle Evans to certify an initiative petition for voters to consider because the petition was untimely filed under Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution. The Supreme Court opinion reversed and dismissed the lower court’s order. In deciding the case, the Supreme Court majority declared unconstitutional two state laws governing the time frame during which county-level ballot measures can be filed because they conflict with the filing window established in Article 5, Section 1. That section says initiative petitions in cities and counties must be filed no earlier than 90 days and no later than 60 days before an election. Declaring the laws unconstitutional meant that the justices also overruled three previous state high court decisions. In a dissenting opinion Justice Rhonda Wood wrote that the majority raised legal issues not present in the original appeal or the circuit court record and “leaps over settled law to reach its decision.”
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Shawn Johnson ordered House District 70’s special election moved to March 3, 2026, rejecting arguments from the state that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has complete discretion over special election dates. On Oct. 10, Sanders called a special election for June 9, 2026, to replace former Republican Rep. Carlton Wing, who resigned on Sept. 30. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 21, the Democratic Party of Arkansas and four District 70 voters said Sanders violated the state’s special election laws when she scheduled the special general election for that date. They called it “taxation without representation”. In his 18-page ruling granting the writ, Johnson was not swayed by arguments from Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office that the governor has “complete discretion on how and when to set a special election — whether it is before or after the expiration of 150 days following a legislative vacancy.” Johnson said that, while the governor was granted discretion to determine whether holding a special election within 150 days of a vacancy was “impracticable or unduly burdensome,” the exception required her to then schedule it on the “earliest practicable” date — not the “most practicable.” And while “someone has to decide what date after the 150-day vacancy period is ‘as soon as practicable’ thereafter,” Johnson wrote, that person was not Sanders. “If that were true, then it would render the statutory scheme meaningless. In other words, if the Governor has complete discretion over when to hold a special election — whether before or after the 150-day mark — then there would be no reason to have a 150-day limitation at all,” Johnson wrote.
California: The California Court of Appeals this week found that a Huntington Beach law requiring voters present photo identification before casting ballots in city elections violates California state law. The Voter ID law passed narrowly in 2024 via ballot initiative but is preempted by a state law — passed shortly thereafter —barring cities from implementing such laws, a three-judge panel said in their 15-page ruling. “The state must strike a careful balance between, on the one hand, ensuring that only eligible voters are able to vote in elections while, on the other hand, not discouraging or preventing disadvantaged voters and communities from participating in the political process,” the panel said. “Permitting the city to make its own rules, in violation of the state Elections Code, would upset the state’s delicate balance and could impugn the integrity of the city’s elections.” Two lawsuits were filed against the seaside city shortly after the passage of Measure A: one by Huntington Beach resident Mark Bixby, and the other by Attorney General Rob Bonta, on behalf of the state. A spokesman for Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Vigliotta said in an email: “The city is reviewing the appellate court’s decision and evaluating next steps.”
The California Republican Party is asking a federal court to stop California’s new Congressional maps from taking effect. The party and their attorneys sued California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Gov. Gavin Newsom a day after voters approved the Democratic-drawn maps in a measure known as Proposition 50. The maps are in effect for the next three elections. Republicans argue the new maps violate the Voting Rights Act by favoring Latino and Hispanic voters.
Georgia: Houston County is facing a second federal lawsuit challenging how it elects county commissioners, with civil rights attorneys claiming the current system violates the Voting Rights Act. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the complaint Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in Macon on behalf of two Black Warner Robins residents. The lawsuit targets Houston County’s at-large election system, where all voters countywide participate in electing each of the five county commissioners. The complaint argues this system dilutes Black voting strength and prevents Black voters from electing candidates of their choice. Black residents comprise about 32% of Houston County’s voting-age population, according to the lawsuit. Despite this significant minority population, the complaint states no Black candidate has won an election to the county commission since 1988.
Kansas: Coldwater Mayor Joe Ceballos has been charged with committing fraud by voting in elections since 2022 even though he is not a United States citizen, the state’s attorney general and secretary of state said this week. Attorney General Kris Kobach said Ceballos, who garnered nearly 83% of the vote this week for a second term as Coldwater mayor, was charged with three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury. Both are felony offenses. “These charges carry a potential maximum penalty of up to 68 months imprisonment and up to $200,000 in fines,” Kobach said. The charges, filed in Comanche County, are based on Ceballos’ voting in the 2022 general election, the 2023 general election for local offices and the 2024 primary election, Kobach said. Ceballos served two terms on the Coldwater City Council and was elected mayor in 2021, a position he is not qualified to hold if he is not a U.S. citizen although it is not a criminal violation, Kobach said.
Michigan: The League of Women Voters of Michigan has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of voters in the federal court case in which the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the state of Michigan for access to voter registration data. The case, currently in district court in the Western District of Michigan, argues that Michigan has violated the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act by refusing to turn over detailed information about all registered voters in Michigan, including their driver’s license number, dates of birth, and the last four digits of their Social Security number. The motion to intervene argues that, unlike the State of Michigan and Benson, the League of Women Voters of Michigan “is comprised of individuals who personally fear USDOJ accessing their data unlawfully,” giving them an important stake in the case. Additionally, the motion states, the work of the League of Women Voters to encourage voter registration and education will be harmed if private voter registration information is given to the Department of Justice. “[League of Women Voters of Michigan’s] interest in civic participation will be impaired if USDOJ can use this Court to compel Michigan to produce protected, sensitive voter data,” the organization wrote in their motion. “Michigan citizens may be more hesitant to register to vote for fear that their data will be released or used inappropriately.”
New York: In a 28-page complaint filed in Brooklyn’s federal court, the New York Republican State Committee — along with three counties, eight towns and more than a dozen elected officials and candidates — claim that the new law that moves certain local elections to even-numbered years “suppresses local speech, increases racial polarization and erodes democracy.” “Cloaked in the rhetoric of increased ‘voter turnout,’ the law is a calculated attempt to centralize top-of-the-ticket political power at the expense of local democracy,” they argue. Currently, local elections in New York take place in odd-numbered years, while statewide and national ones are reserved for even-numbered years. In 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed the change into law. Advocates of the change say it will boost turnout, decrease voter confusion and allow the state to consolidate resources into fewer Election Days. But the GOP plaintiffs claim that the law violates the First Amendment by placing “severe burdens” on local candidates’ core political speech, which they say would be drowned out by national races at the top of the ticket that command more attention. It’s a similar case to one that was just heard by New York’s high court, which the court rejected and greenlit the law, ruling that “any alleged injury is minor as compared to the state’s legitimate and substantial interest in increasing voter turnout and reducing confusion.” In the new federal case, the Republicans are seeking a court order that gives localities the choice to opt out of the new election law. They’re also seeking a declaration that the change violates both the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
North Dakota: A civil lawsuit that claims North Dakota diluted the Native American vote has found support from Minnesota, multiple other states, and well-known politicians, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to take on the case. In court filings over the last month, several groups asked the highest court in the nation to hear the case filed by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Spirit Lake Nation and three voters against North Dakota. If the Supreme Court takes on the case, it would decide whether only the U.S. Department of Justice has the power to file a Voting Rights Act lawsuit against a state. In overturning a lower federal court’s decision that said North Dakota diluted the Native American vote in the state, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the tribes and said private citizens and groups cannot file Voting Rights Act lawsuits. The tribes asked the Supreme Court to reverse the appeals court’s ruling. A wide spectrum of support to hear the case is helpful, said Anna Baldwin, voting rights litigation director for the Campaign Legal Center. Along with the Robins Kaplan law firm, the Law Office of Bryan Sells and the Native American Rights Fund, the Campaign Legal Center is representing the tribes at the Supreme Court.
Texas: Republican Secretary of State Jane Nelson is opposing a GOP lawsuit that seeks to close the state’s primaries, arguing in new legal filings that a decision to restrict voting to registered party members should be up to lawmakers, not the courts. According to Votebeat, quoting from an earlier court decision, Nelson wrote in her filing that a court ruling on the GOP lawsuit now, just before the March primaries, threatens to “confuse voters, unduly burden election administrators, or otherwise sow chaos or distrust in the electoral process.” In her filing, Nelson also took aim at Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican who has sided with the Texas Republican Party in court, calling a joint motion he filed with the party “brazen and misguided.” The motion asked the court to require Nelson to close the primary. Texas Republicans say the state’s open primaries violate their constitutional right to freedom of association. The party sued Nelson in federal court in September, asking the court to close primaries and restrict voting to registered Republicans only.
Virginia: Civil-rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit in Virginia alleging that state and local election officials are unlawfully rejecting student voter registration forms because they lack dormitory names, room numbers or campus mailbox information — details that the groups say are both irrelevant and discriminatory. The NAACP Virginia State Conference and co-counsel Advancement Project lodged the suit — titled NAACP Virginia State Conference v. John O’Bannon et al. — in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. They contend that multiple jurisdictions across the commonwealth are denying or delaying registrations from college students who live on campus because they did not include extraneous dorm room information that does not appear on Virginia’s official voter-registration form. A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Elections said the agency “does not comment on pending litigation.”
Wisconsin: Waukesha County Judge Michael Maxwell stayed his earlier ruling requiring Wisconsin election officials to verify the citizenship of currently registered voters, after the plaintiffs in the case joined the respondents in asking him for a pause. Maxwell’s initial ruling, in early October, was in favor of the plaintiffs. But at October 31st’s hearing, a lawyer representing them, Michael Dean, said they wanted it paused so they could instead focus on discovery. Dean said that would allow the plaintiffs to understand a key sticking point in the case: how detailed and accurate the state Department of Transportation’s citizenship data is. State election officials have repeatedly said the DOT’s data is often inaccurate and can’t be used by election officials to reliably verify the citizenship of people on the state’s voter rolls. Maxwell and lawyers for the state Department of Justice, who were representing the Wisconsin Elections Commission, initially seemed confused by the plaintiffs’ request to stay the ruling, which is what the state agencies had been seeking. “What are we doing with this mess right now?” Maxwell asked, as the parties went back and forth before finally agreeing the judge should stay the ruling. The state agencies’ appeal is still pending before an appeals court based in Madison.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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