The National Conference of State Legislatures has confirmed that 2023 was another landmark year for election and voting related legislation across America, as Republican and Democratic run states strategized how they’ll fairly count the vote, or not.

In the present, novel era inititated by the massive expansion of mail-in voting in 2020, states have been enhancing and tweaking their election laws at a rapid pace. In 2023, at least 2,099 election related bills were introduced and a total of 258 were enacted. Regarding mail-in voting, “we saw lots and lots of amendments to the specifics of how elections are run,” said Wendy Underhill, NCSL’s director of elections and redistricting.

Many of the mail-in voting laws that were implemented back in 2020 had been hastily enacted in response to the pandemic, in some cases on an interim or temporary basis. Much of the election related legislation during 2021 and 2022 was aimed at clarifying or making permanent the mail-in voting rules enacted in 2020. These changes included restrictions on ballot harvesting activities, regulations around the use of drop boxes, and restrictions on philanthropic or other private funding of election activities.

Enhancing election security was a common theme for 2023, with Arkansas among the leaders along this track. Arkansas established an election integrity unit in the office of the Attorney General to investigate complaints. The state also made it a felony to forge a signature, and ensured poll watchers can do their tasks.

Alabama focused on vulnerabilities of voting machines. The state outright banned voting machines that connect to the internet and required the use of paper ballots filled out by the voter, prior to being read and counted by machines.

Other laws passed in 2023 specifically targeted vote harvesting. Arkansas and South Dakota banned ballot drop boxes altogether. In addition, South Dakota prohibited distributing absentee ballot applications to voters with the voter’s name and address prefilled. Arizona stipulated that it is unlawful for anyone else to handle or return another person’s ballot. 

To mitigate risk of fraudulent voting, Montana stipulated that inactive voters may not receive a mail ballot until they reactivate their registration. However, the law also requires an election official to attempt to contact a voter whose ballot is returned undeliverable, to limit potential adverse effects on voter participation. 

A variety of bills addressed voter ID requirements. Nebraska implemented a comprehensive voter ID law which upgrades proper identification to vote for mail-in ballots. It allows for voters to file a “reasonable impediment” if they don’t have one. It also requires the Secretary of State to verify legal voter status, including citizenship status. Wyoming added a voter ID requirement to voters obtaining absentee ballots in person.

Colorado expanded the list of acceptable voter IDs to include state sanctioned digital IDs, a somewhat novel idea. Minnesota expanded the list to include student IDs, provided the information on the ID matches what appears on a university residential housing list. In contrast, Idaho removed student IDs from the state’s list of valid voter IDs. 

A number of states added rules relating to candidate qualifications and background checks. North Carolina and Louisiana, states with moderate Democratic governors, ruled that resigning or retiring governors could no longer select their own replacements to finish their terms.

Regarding private election funding, 24 states had restrictions in place as of the end of 2022. In 2023, two more states, Montana and North Carolina followed their lead, and a number of states strengthened or expanded their restrictions.

In some states, the new bills may have raised the eyebrows of electron integrity proponents. California prohibited manual ballot counting altogether, a move that might concern those who view manual recounts as a useful check on software or other glitches that might occur with automation.

Minnesota’s 2023 legislation allows convicted felons to register to vote if released from prison. The state also expanded the period of early voting from two weeks to 18 days and extended the deadline of ballot submission from 3 p.m. to 8.p.m. on election day. It loosened restrictions on ballot delivery and collection, raising the odds of occurrence of suspect, ballot harvesting activities.

It appears the laws that states implemented generally are as expected based on the state’s political leadership. Democratic run states loosened their restrictions, sometimes to the compromise of election integrity, and Republican run ones tended to implement tighter restrictions.

States’ leadership on choosing the right balance for voter participation versus election security is key, but states must always proceed with caution. Voting should be as accessible as possible, but without adequate safeguards against voting irregularities, fair elections are in danger.

Posted by Andrew