Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking
Alaska Ballot Measure: Voters will decide on a ballot initiative to repeal the state’s top-four ranked-choice voting system in 2026, unless the legislature approves substantially similar legislation during its upcoming session. This would be the second time that voters have considered an initiative to repeal RCV in Alaska. RCV was first adopted in 2020, with the approval of Measure 2. In 2024, voters decided on an initiative to repeal RCV, which was defeated—49.9% ‘Yes’ to 50.1% ‘No.’ This was the narrowest ballot measure result in Alaska’s history. On Dec. 31, 2025, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) announced that 42,837 signatures were verified across 40 House districts, exceeding the requirement of 34,098 qualified signatures from at least 30 House districts. In Alaska, a ballot initiative appears on the ballot at the first statewide election held at least 120 days after the legislature adjourns its session. The legislature could approve legislation that is “substantially the same as the proposed law,” rendering the initiative void. The legislative session is expected to begin Jan. 20 and adjourn May 20. If the legislature instead adjourned one month earlier, on April 20, the initiative would be eligible to appear on the August 18, 2026, primary ballot. Otherwise, it would appear on the November 3, 2026, general election ballot. The initiative would eliminate the state’s top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) system, which combines top-four primaries with ranked-choice voting in general elections.
Florida: A new bill aims to tighten Florida’s voter registration rules by requiring proof of citizenship and banning out-of-state voters. State Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, filed HB 985, which would require every voter to verify their citizenship before submitting a voter application. Additionally, the bill aims to remove people from the Florida voters’ registry who have obtained a driver license out of state. Under the bill, non-citizens will be required to have “NC” marked on the back of their Florida-issued IDs. In a statement announcing the proposed bill, Jacques wrote: “The future of our state and our nation depends on free and secure elections. We must stay committed to safeguarding our electoral process.” Jacques says the new voter laws are meant to strengthen election security in Florida by ensuring only eligible residents are allowed to vote.
Maryland: Montgomery County’s delegation to the Maryland General Assembly is hoping 2026 will be the year a bill on ranked choice voting finally makes it across the finish line. The bill sponsored by the Montgomery County delegation would allow the County Council to adopt ranked choice voting for local elections. Voters in Montgomery County would still vote the traditional way in statewide contests. “We really like this bill, because the Montgomery County House delegation unanimously passed the bill in 2025, 2024, 2022, 2021 and 2019,” said Del. Aaron Kaufman (D-Dist. 18), the bill’s lead sponsor, during a Dec. 11 hearing held by the delegation. The ranked choice voting bill failed to advance out of committee in each of those years. According to Kaufman, previous attempts to enable ranked choice voting stalled after legislators raised concerns about different jurisdictions having different processes for elections. Opponents of ranked choice voting also argue that it makes both voting and administering elections overly complicated. “I know that the arc of progress is slow in Annapolis, and sometimes it takes many, many years for legislation to pass,” Kaufman said. “But I’m confident that this is common sense, good governance, pro-democracy legislation, and that it’ll pass one day.” The Maryland General Assembly is set to convene Jan. 14. Montgomery County legislators will stake their positions on the ranked choice voting measure and other local bills in delegation meetings before those bills are introduced in committee.
Missouri: Rep. Will Jobe filed a resolution to start an impeachment investigation against Missouri’s Secretary of State. Jobe filed HR 3879 on January 7. He said that Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins purposefully didn’t count 100,000 signatures on petitions concerning the redistricting of congressional districts. “Secretary Hoskins has abused his authority to try and silence the more than 300,000 Missourians who exercised their constitutional right to bring the redistricting bill to a statewide vote, betraying his oath to uphold the state constitution,” said Jobe, in a statement. House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, Kansas City, also made a statement. “If Missourians’ constitutional rights are to be more than just words on paper, then the House must fulfill its duty to protect those rights by launching an immediate investigation,” said Aune, in the release. According to KRCG, the legislation has little chance of moving forward in the Republican-led Missouri House of Representatives.
Nebraska: A group of state lawmakers sent a letter December 31, 2025 asking Secretary of State Bob Evnen to explain his “negotiations” with the federal government over the release of sensitive voter information. Five state senators, all Democrats, referred in their letter to correspondence they had with Evnen in October when they reminded him of an “obligation to protect Nebraska voter privacy from unwarranted federal overreach.” They said Evnen had indicated in a response at the time that he would not comply with the federal government’s request to turn over detailed voter information due to pending litigation. Wednesday’s letter was penned in light of a more recent news story published in the Nebraska Examiner Dec. 18, which led lawmakers to believe Evnen, a Republican, had been communicating with the DOJ regarding release of the data. State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha was joined in the request by Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, Danielle Conrad and Jane Raybould of Lincoln and Victor Rountree of Bellevue. The group sought to know more about the “timing and results of negotiations” between Evnen’s office and the feds.
Nebraska Ballot Measure: new group of petition-gatherers will begin collecting signatures in the new year. A statewide coalition of community members and groups launched a signature-gathering drive today. They call it Respect Nebraska Voters. The idea is to make it more difficult for the Nebraska Legislature to weaken laws that Nebraskans adopted through the initiative process. Supporters cited a long list of laws that the legislature and state have worked to overturn. “We’ve seen why this protection is needed. After almost 75 percent of us voted for earned, paid sick leave just last year in 2024, the Nebraska Legislature took it away from 140,000 Nebraskans, a huge share of our workforce,” said Jo Giles, sponsor of the 2024 paid sick leave initiative. “And we’ve seen those same lawmakers vote to significantly undercut the minimum wage increases most Nebraskans voted for, making it more likely that future wages won’t keep up with our growing cost of living. We’ll likely see another effort to undercut that bill this session.”
New Hampshire: Voters requesting a ballot in New Hampshire could no longer be able to use an ID card issued by a college or high school under a measure that cleared the House this week. The Republican-backed bill passed on a 190-148 vote. It will now head to the New Hampshire Senate. Under New Hampshire’s voter ID laws, drivers licenses and other identification cards issued by a department of motor vehicles, along with passports and military identification, are acceptable forms of photo identification when requesting a ballot. Student identification cards issued by accredited public and private high schools, as well as colleges and universities in New Hampshire, have also been accepted under current law. The original version of the bill proposed other changes to the state’s voter identification law, including requiring only drivers licenses issued by the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles be accepted. That language was stripped from the final version of the bill, however, meaning IDs issued by other states would still be accepted. House Republicans also passed a separate bill that seeks to end a rarely used provision in the state’s voter ID law that permits certain election officials to allow people to vote who don’t have an identification, as long as the official recognizes the person.
South Dakota: Secretary of State Monae Johnson is asking the Legislature to permit county auditors to use ballot-on-demand systems, which print an official ballot on an as-needed basis. The change proposed in Senate Bill 28 would, if approved, take effect immediately. It is one of seven measures that Johnson’s office has pre-filed in advance of the 2026 legislative session that officially starts on Tuesday, January 13. The secretary of state oversees elections in South Dakota, while county auditors run them. Other changes in state election law sought by Johnson include: Senate Bill 29 would amend provisions pertaining to the tabulation of ballots and permit the release of any cast vote record and collection of ballot images produced by automatic tabulating equipment. Senate Bill 30 would expand the reasons for challenging an individual’s eligibility to vote by adding the requirement that a person be a U.S. citizen. Senate Bill 31 would permit the use of a confirmation letter to verify a voter’s registration. Senate Bill 32 would reduce the number of ballots a voter receives by adding to the official ballot the names of non-partisan judicial candidates and the names of candidates for political parties’ precinctman and precinctwoman. Those offices previously have been on separate ballots. Senate Bill 33 would modify the number of signatures required on certain election-related petitions. Senate Bill 34 would make various changes regarding combined elections for school board and municipal offices.
Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking
Alaska Ballot Measure: Voters will decide on a ballot initiative to repeal the state’s top-four ranked-choice voting system in 2026, unless the legislature approves substantially similar legislation during its upcoming session. This would be the second time that voters have considered an initiative to repeal RCV in Alaska. RCV was first adopted in 2020, with the approval of Measure 2. In 2024, voters decided on an initiative to repeal RCV, which was defeated—49.9% ‘Yes’ to 50.1% ‘No.’ This was the narrowest ballot measure result in Alaska’s history. On Dec. 31, 2025, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) announced that 42,837 signatures were verified across 40 House districts, exceeding the requirement of 34,098 qualified signatures from at least 30 House districts. In Alaska, a ballot initiative appears on the ballot at the first statewide election held at least 120 days after the legislature adjourns its session. The legislature could approve legislation that is “substantially the same as the proposed law,” rendering the initiative void. The legislative session is expected to begin Jan. 20 and adjourn May 20. If the legislature instead adjourned one month earlier, on April 20, the initiative would be eligible to appear on the August 18, 2026, primary ballot. Otherwise, it would appear on the November 3, 2026, general election ballot. The initiative would eliminate the state’s top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) system, which combines top-four primaries with ranked-choice voting in general elections.
Florida: A new bill aims to tighten Florida’s voter registration rules by requiring proof of citizenship and banning out-of-state voters. State Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, filed HB 985, which would require every voter to verify their citizenship before submitting a voter application. Additionally, the bill aims to remove people from the Florida voters’ registry who have obtained a driver license out of state. Under the bill, non-citizens will be required to have “NC” marked on the back of their Florida-issued IDs. In a statement announcing the proposed bill, Jacques wrote: “The future of our state and our nation depends on free and secure elections. We must stay committed to safeguarding our electoral process.” Jacques says the new voter laws are meant to strengthen election security in Florida by ensuring only eligible residents are allowed to vote.
Maryland: Montgomery County’s delegation to the Maryland General Assembly is hoping 2026 will be the year a bill on ranked choice voting finally makes it across the finish line. The bill sponsored by the Montgomery County delegation would allow the County Council to adopt ranked choice voting for local elections. Voters in Montgomery County would still vote the traditional way in statewide contests. “We really like this bill, because the Montgomery County House delegation unanimously passed the bill in 2025, 2024, 2022, 2021 and 2019,” said Del. Aaron Kaufman (D-Dist. 18), the bill’s lead sponsor, during a Dec. 11 hearing held by the delegation. The ranked choice voting bill failed to advance out of committee in each of those years. According to Kaufman, previous attempts to enable ranked choice voting stalled after legislators raised concerns about different jurisdictions having different processes for elections. Opponents of ranked choice voting also argue that it makes both voting and administering elections overly complicated. “I know that the arc of progress is slow in Annapolis, and sometimes it takes many, many years for legislation to pass,” Kaufman said. “But I’m confident that this is common sense, good governance, pro-democracy legislation, and that it’ll pass one day.” The Maryland General Assembly is set to convene Jan. 14. Montgomery County legislators will stake their positions on the ranked choice voting measure and other local bills in delegation meetings before those bills are introduced in committee.
Missouri: Rep. Will Jobe filed a resolution to start an impeachment investigation against Missouri’s Secretary of State. Jobe filed HR 3879 on January 7. He said that Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins purposefully didn’t count 100,000 signatures on petitions concerning the redistricting of congressional districts. “Secretary Hoskins has abused his authority to try and silence the more than 300,000 Missourians who exercised their constitutional right to bring the redistricting bill to a statewide vote, betraying his oath to uphold the state constitution,” said Jobe, in a statement. House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, Kansas City, also made a statement. “If Missourians’ constitutional rights are to be more than just words on paper, then the House must fulfill its duty to protect those rights by launching an immediate investigation,” said Aune, in the release. According to KRCG, the legislation has little chance of moving forward in the Republican-led Missouri House of Representatives.
Nebraska: A group of state lawmakers sent a letter December 31, 2025 asking Secretary of State Bob Evnen to explain his “negotiations” with the federal government over the release of sensitive voter information. Five state senators, all Democrats, referred in their letter to correspondence they had with Evnen in October when they reminded him of an “obligation to protect Nebraska voter privacy from unwarranted federal overreach.” They said Evnen had indicated in a response at the time that he would not comply with the federal government’s request to turn over detailed voter information due to pending litigation. Wednesday’s letter was penned in light of a more recent news story published in the Nebraska Examiner Dec. 18, which led lawmakers to believe Evnen, a Republican, had been communicating with the DOJ regarding release of the data. State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha was joined in the request by Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, Danielle Conrad and Jane Raybould of Lincoln and Victor Rountree of Bellevue. The group sought to know more about the “timing and results of negotiations” between Evnen’s office and the feds.
Nebraska Ballot Measure: new group of petition-gatherers will begin collecting signatures in the new year. A statewide coalition of community members and groups launched a signature-gathering drive today. They call it Respect Nebraska Voters. The idea is to make it more difficult for the Nebraska Legislature to weaken laws that Nebraskans adopted through the initiative process. Supporters cited a long list of laws that the legislature and state have worked to overturn. “We’ve seen why this protection is needed. After almost 75 percent of us voted for earned, paid sick leave just last year in 2024, the Nebraska Legislature took it away from 140,000 Nebraskans, a huge share of our workforce,” said Jo Giles, sponsor of the 2024 paid sick leave initiative. “And we’ve seen those same lawmakers vote to significantly undercut the minimum wage increases most Nebraskans voted for, making it more likely that future wages won’t keep up with our growing cost of living. We’ll likely see another effort to undercut that bill this session.”
New Hampshire: Voters requesting a ballot in New Hampshire could no longer be able to use an ID card issued by a college or high school under a measure that cleared the House this week. The Republican-backed bill passed on a 190-148 vote. It will now head to the New Hampshire Senate. Under New Hampshire’s voter ID laws, drivers licenses and other identification cards issued by a department of motor vehicles, along with passports and military identification, are acceptable forms of photo identification when requesting a ballot. Student identification cards issued by accredited public and private high schools, as well as colleges and universities in New Hampshire, have also been accepted under current law. The original version of the bill proposed other changes to the state’s voter identification law, including requiring only drivers licenses issued by the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles be accepted. That language was stripped from the final version of the bill, however, meaning IDs issued by other states would still be accepted. House Republicans also passed a separate bill that seeks to end a rarely used provision in the state’s voter ID law that permits certain election officials to allow people to vote who don’t have an identification, as long as the official recognizes the person.
South Dakota: Secretary of State Monae Johnson is asking the Legislature to permit county auditors to use ballot-on-demand systems, which print an official ballot on an as-needed basis. The change proposed in Senate Bill 28 would, if approved, take effect immediately. It is one of seven measures that Johnson’s office has pre-filed in advance of the 2026 legislative session that officially starts on Tuesday, January 13. The secretary of state oversees elections in South Dakota, while county auditors run them. Other changes in state election law sought by Johnson include: Senate Bill 29 would amend provisions pertaining to the tabulation of ballots and permit the release of any cast vote record and collection of ballot images produced by automatic tabulating equipment. Senate Bill 30 would expand the reasons for challenging an individual’s eligibility to vote by adding the requirement that a person be a U.S. citizen. Senate Bill 31 would permit the use of a confirmation letter to verify a voter’s registration. Senate Bill 32 would reduce the number of ballots a voter receives by adding to the official ballot the names of non-partisan judicial candidates and the names of candidates for political parties’ precinctman and precinctwoman. Those offices previously have been on separate ballots. Senate Bill 33 would modify the number of signatures required on certain election-related petitions. Senate Bill 34 would make various changes regarding combined elections for school board and municipal offices.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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