Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking
Federal Legislation: Bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Sen. Mark Warner (D) aimed at strengthening the security of U.S. elections has been signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The election security provision originates from the Strengthening Election Cybersecurity to Uphold Respect for Elections through Independent Testing (SECURE IT) Act, which Collins and Warner introduced in May. Language from the bill was incorporated into the annual defense authorization and directs the Election Assistance Commission to require penetration testing for election systems seeking federal certification. The testing is designed to identify vulnerabilities by allowing researchers to attempt to attack election systems using the same tools and techniques commonly employed by cybercriminals, with the goal of better protecting voting infrastructure from real-world threats. Collins said the bipartisan effort is intended to strengthen the integrity of the election process by ensuring voting systems are safe and secure while bolstering public confidence in elections.
Alabama: Rep. Adline Clarke, D-Mobile has pre-filed a bill for the 2026 legislative session that would allow a voter with a disability to have assistance with filling out an absentee ballot. HB 45, would require the secretary of sate to change the absentee ballot application to allow another person to submit the disabled voter’s ballot. On existing absentee ballots, only the voter can submit the ballot except in the case of “medical emergency absentee applications.” “I’ve had constituents complain to me about not being able to hand deliver an absentee ballot application on behalf of a loved one or a neighbor,” Clarke said in an interview. “ I do believe that state law allows for us to be good Samaritans and to help the disabled with the entire absentee voting process.” This is the third session Clarke has filed the bill. Each year Clarke filed the bill, it was not considered in its respective House committee. Clarke said she hopes pre-filing the bill will help move it through, but only about one third of filed bills are passed each year. “Sometimes a third of those get passed, which means two thirds of them don’t,” Clarke said. “We have to keep trying.”
Delaware: Last week, Rep. Mara Gorman (D-Newark) announced a bipartisan bill that would require primary elections as a part of the special election process for filling vacant seats in the legislature. Co-sponsored by State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-South Dover), the proposal would strip local political party committee members’ authority to select a special election candidate, and instead allow voters to select their party’s candidate through a primary election. The bill comes after a year that saw three high-profile special elections. While Gorman acknowledged the controversy over special elections in the state over the past year, she said the bill is intended to encourage the democratic process across all elections, including special elections, rather than respond to any specific previous special election circumstance. “Under our current law, the way that people are selected to be candidates for special elections is basically done behind closed doors by party volunteers,” she told Spotlight Delaware. “I don’t think that’s a very democratic process.” In the bill, the state Election Commissioner would issue a “writ of election” within five days of the seat being vacated. From there, each party would have 35 to 40 days after the “writ of election” was issued to hold a primary election, and another 35 to 40 days after the primary for the general election to take place. The timeline would be adjusted to line up with the regularly scheduled September primary and November general election, if the vacancy occurs after May 15 in a general election year, Gorman said.
Michigan Ballot Measure: Rank MI Vote, a group seeking to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan is ending its effort to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot for the 2026 election, but organizers say they may try again for 2028. In a December 15 email to volunteers, Rank MI Vote’s statewide field co-directors Kate De Jong and Kate Grabowsky said the group is “pausing signature gathering efforts, but we aren’t pausing the campaign to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan.” Organizers needed to collect 446,198 valid voter signatures in a 180-day window to make the 2026 general election ballot, but it appears they were falling short. Earlier this month, WLNS News reported the group was more than 200,000 signatures short of their goal. “We can’t depend on a triggering event that would super-charge our petition drive,” De Jong and Grabowsky wrote in the email to campaign volunteers. Instead, they said they would prepare for “a second launch in April 2027” to make the 2028 ballot.
New Jersey: Under state law, mail-in voters have few options to address technical mistakes with their ballots, but legislation cleared by the state Senate on December 18 would give voters more ways to “cure” their ballots. Election officials reject hundreds of ballots each year due to mistakes with envelopes, including missing privacy envelopes or missing signatures on envelopes. Under current law, voters are only allowed to cure ballots with signature discrepancies — technical issues with how a ballot is mailed in are not eligible for cures. In a party-line vote, the state Senate approved the reform 23-14. The bill has been introduced in the Assembly, but has not been before a committee. State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) sponsored the legislation. “The bill would give the voter the opportunity to submit a new mail-in ballot if the voter failed to enclose the ballot in the inner envelope, sign the certificate, if the voter failed to provide or properly seal the inner or outer envelope, or if the seal appears to be tampered with,” the bill states.
Both chambers approved a bill that would establish a new automatic voter registration system in the state, reforming how the Motor Vehicle Commission processes potential new voters. The legislation would move MVC voter registration to an opt-out standard, sponsor and state Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick). “The bill is making it easier for those eligible to vote in Jersey to get registered,” Zwicker said. “That’s the fundamental, basic principle. Those who are at the DMV who are not registered, if they meet certain requirements, it would put them into the process to begin voter registration.” Democrats supported the bill, but Republicans voted against it; the Assembly cleared the bill 49-25, and the Senate approved the bill 25-12. The legislation now goes to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
A separate bill, also sponsored by Zwicker, would reform how the state conducts post-election audits of election results. The legislation would allow third-party electronic machines to conduct audits in addition to hand counts, among other procedural reforms. “With the widespread adoption of early voting and vote-by-mail, we need a more flexible system capable of accurately and efficiently counting paper and electronic ballots,” Zwicker said in a release. “While necessary in the past, hand-counting ballots is simply not the most effective way to audit our elections in the modern era. This legislation is an easy way to make the auditing process more secure and transparent.” The audit reform bill passed the Assembly in a 77-2 vote and the Senate in a 37-0 vote on Monday, and now heads to the governor’s desk.
New York City: A Staten Island City Councilmember introduced legislation that would see political parties rendered irrelevant in the five borough’s municipal elections. Under the legislation introduced by South Shore Republican Frank Morano, candidates for office like mayor, public advocate, borough president and City Council would appear on ballots without their political parties listed. Municipal elections would also be conducted entirely on a ranked-choice basis similar to how primary and special elections are currently held. “New York City is one of the most diverse cities in the world, yet we run our elections under a structure designed for a very different era,” Morano said. “Right now, a small slice of partisan primary voters effectively decide most offices, while independents and unaffiliated New Yorkers are shut out. That doesn’t strengthen democracy – it narrows it.” The road to nonpartisan elections faces an uphill battle in New York City as local voters would need to approve that kind of change in a ballot referendum, similar to the one they voted for in 2019 paving the way for non-partisan ranked choice voting in special and primary elections.
Ohio: A bill that eliminates the four-day grace period for absentee ballots to arrive at boards of elections will become law, though Gov. Mike DeWine admits he’s not happy about that. DeWine said in a press conference that he’ll sign Senate Bill 293. But DeWine, who has said more than once that he didn’t see a need to change Ohio’s election laws, noted that Ohio runs good elections and he thinks allowing four extra days for mailed in ballots to arrive is reasonable. “I normally would veto a repeal this four-day grace period. And frankly, that’s what I wish I could do,” DeWine said in a press conference announcing the signing of several other bills. But he said a federal court ruled a similar grace period in Mississippi violates federal law, and the case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Under SB 293, ballots must be at boards of elections by election day. Democrats and voting rights groups had asked DeWine to veto the bill, saying it could result in thousands of votes not being counted. Attorney General Dave Yost received a letter from the Department of Justice in September, warning that Ohio could face a federal lawsuit following an executive order Trump issued in March stating that there is “a uniform and nondiscriminatory ballot receipt deadline of Election Day for all methods of voting”, with ballots from military and overseas voters exempted.
Wyoming: Secretary of State Chuck Gray recently hosted a news conference at the Wyoming State Capitol to discuss his top five legislative priorities. One, hand-marked paper ballots: The first priority centers on mandating pen-to-paper ballots as the default voting method in Wyoming. While 22 of the 23 counties already operate this way, Gray noted that Laramie County, the largest county, utilizes electronic ballot marking devices that cast votes using barcodes. Gray said this mechanism lacks transparency for the voter because it is unknown to the naked eye if the barcode accurately reflects what is filled out on the ballot. Two, ballot drop boxes: This priority addresses two measures intended to tighten procedures for handling ballots after they leave the voter’s possession. Gray seeks to explicitly ban both ballot drop boxes and ballot collection. Regarding drop boxes, Gray argued they lack statutory authorization and proliferated only during the government’s response to COVID-19. “I believe it is important that we take immediate action to explicitly ban ballot drop boxes,” he said. Three, true photo for voter ID: Gray aims to change Wyoming’s Voter ID law by requiring that all forms of identification presented for voting must include a photograph. While Gray was the lead sponsor of the 2021 voter ID statute as a state lawmaker, he noted concessions were made that he wants to now improve upon. Specifically, he seeks to remove identifications from the statute that lack photos, such as Medicare and Medicaid cards, which are currently acceptable. Four, hand counts for recounts and audits: This measure seeks to institute hand tabulation verification of voting machines for recounts and audits. Gray stated that many Wyoming residents are distrustful of electronic voting machines and need verification methods.The proposal would implement mandatory hand recounts in races decided by a narrow margin (within one or two percentage points) or allow candidates to request a hand recount. Gray reminded those at the news conference that the bill to enable candidate-requested hand recounts passed the House in 2025, but was held by Senate leadership. Five, banning dual citizenship voting: The fifth priority is a new initiative aimed at amending the Wyoming Constitution to require all qualified electors to be solely United States citizens, effectively banning dual citizenship for voting and holding office. Gray said this measure “is in line with the intent of the state’s founders when they drafted the state constitution.” Gray noted that currently, dual citizens are legally allowed to vote under Wyoming law, leading to constituent questions.
Legal Updates
U.S. Department of Justice: The Justice Department sued three more states – Georgia, Illinois and Wisconsin – and the District of Columbia to gain access to their entire voter files, not just what is typically publicly available. This brings the total number of states sued to 22 plus DC. The Justice Department said 10 states are either in full compliance or working toward it. The Trump administration has characterized the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, and the Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide the voter lists and information about ineligible voters. The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democratic officials and others who question exactly how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon moved last week to dismiss a federal government lawsuit seeking broad access to Minnesota voter data, calling it a “fishing expedition” involving sensitive personal information. Lawyers for Simon asked a federal judge to toss out the case brought in September by the U.S. Department of Justice. The new motion contends the federal lawsuit doesn’t make a clear legal argument for accessing the state-maintained data.
Colorado: Last week, attorneys for Tina Peters asked the Colorado Court of Appeals to order that the former Mesa County clerk “must be released from custody forthwith” following the signing of a pardon document by President Donald Trump earlier this month. Trump does not have the power to pardon Peters, who was convicted in state court and is now serving a nine-year sentence in state prison for her role in a breach of her office’s election systems, part of an attempt to find evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. But her attorneys pursued a presidential pardon anyway, expressing hope that the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court will rewrite the centuries-old legal doctrine of dual sovereignty in criminal proceedings. Peters’ motion, the latest in a series of attempts by her attorneys and allies in the election conspiracy theory movement to force her release from state custody, was filed on Dec. 23 in her pending case before Colorado’s second-highest court, where she has appealed her August 2024 conviction, arguing that her imprisonment violates her First Amendment right of free speech. Peters has separately petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, while Trump’s Department of Justice has formally requested her transfer to federal custody, a request the state has rejected. The new filing asks the Colorado Court of Appeals to “enter an order indicating that it lost jurisdiction and finding that … the Pardon which was issued on Dec. 5, 2025, was effective and vitiated the convictions against Tina Peters in the State of Colorado.” The motion, signed by Peters attorneys Peter Ticktin and John Case, is littered with debunked claims casting doubt on the legitimacy of what it calls the “most controversial Presidential Election in history.” Peters, a prominent election denier, was convicted by a Mesa County jury on multiple felony counts in connection with the breach of her office’s secure elections equipment during a 2021 software update.
Georgia: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney has cleared the way for the Georgia State Election Board to obtain Fulton County ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. McBurney on December 19 ruled that the election board is well within its authority to request the information it has sought for more than a year. He ordered the county to provide an itemized estimate of the cost of complying with the subpoenas. Fulton County sought to quash the subpoenas, arguing they were unreasonably broad and related to an investigation that had already been closed. McBurney wrote it wasn’t clear the board’s original investigation was concluded. And he wrote the board has the authority to open new investigations anyway. “As stale and ill-timed as these requests might seem to the casual observer, they were nonetheless inquiries that fell squarely within the SEB’s (State Election Board’s) authority,” McBurney wrote. The judge ruled the election board must pay for the ballots and other documents it seeks. Fulton County has estimated it will cost nearly $400,000 to comply with the subpoena. McBurney ordered the county to produce a detailed cost breakdown by Jan. 7.
Idaho: Former Ketchum City Council candidate Perry Boyle withdrew his lawsuit accusing the Blaine County Clerk’s Office, which oversees county elections, of improperly rotating candidate names on ballots and placing him at a disadvantage in November’s City Council election. Idaho’s courts database states that 5th District Judge Ned Williamson on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit’s claims against the Clerk’s Office “with prejudice,” meaning the claims cannot be brought back to the court. Boyle told the Express that he withdrew the lawsuit, filed against the Clerk’s Office and Blaine County Clerk Stephen Graham on Dec. 3, after receiving a letter from Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane in which McGrane agreed to “election reform.” In a statement, Graham wrote, “The court signed an order and judgment dismissing the case, affirming that the election was conducted in firm compliance with Idaho law and Secretary of State directives.” Graham said that his office’s election procedures were “sound, lawful and consistent with statewide practices.”
Michigan: Judge Patricia Perez Fresard of the Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan ruled that 37 untabulated ballots in Hamtramck’s disputed municipal election should not be counted, affirming Adam Alharbi’s controversial and narrow victory in the race for mayor. However, according to Votebeat, the decision is likely only the starting gun for a legal race against the clock before the city’s new mayor is sworn in at the beginning of January. In her written decision, Fresard said that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers “exercised its discretion” when declining to count the 37 ballots after the city clerk “failed to comply with mandatory requirements imposed to protect the integrity of ballots.” Fresard had initially ordered the parties to meet to see if they could come to a resolution. That failed, attorneys said, leading to just over 20 minutes of courtroom debate, primarily between lawyers for Alharbi and his opponent in the mayoral race, City Council member Muhith Mahmood, who finished 11 votes behind. On December 29, a motion for an emergency appeal, was filed on behalf of Mahmood and the 37 voters. The motion is seeking to reverse Fresard’s decision and allow those absentee votes be included. Mahmood’s attorney, Mark Brewer, says he is confident they will hear back from the Supreme Court. “We are hopeful with the state Supreme Court because the matter is really urgent,” said Brewer.
New Mexico: Nonprofit good government group Common Cause, along with two New Mexico residents, have filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Lawyers from the ACLU National Voting Rights Project and ACLU of New Mexico are representing them. In the filing arguing for the right to intervene in the case, Common Cause contends that it has more than 9,000 members and supporters in New Mexico “whose personal data will be provided to the federal government if DOJ prevails in this lawsuit.” In addition to Common Cause, proposed intervenors include registered New Mexico voter Claudia Medina, who has lived in the state for more than three decades. Born in Colombia, Medina moved to the United States to attend graduate school and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1995, the suit says, and registered to vote the same day. “She has voted regularly in local, state, and federal elections ever since.” However, the filing notes, Medina “is concerned about how DOJ might use her sensitive voter data, particularly in light of widely reported recent examples of the federal government’s provision of data to unvetted members of the Department of Government Efficiency …without adequate guardrails or privacy protections.” As such, Medina “fears that the federal government’s efforts to gain voters’ sensitive information will make eligible voters—especially naturalized citizens like herself— ‘less likely to register to vote or even just to vote..’”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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