Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The state of voting: May 31, 2022

State of voting - election law changes

This weekly update summarizing legislative activity affecting voting and elections is powered by the Voting Rights Lab. Sign up for VRL’s weekly newsletter here.

The Voting Rights Lab is tracking 2,151 bills so far this session, with 575 bills that tighten the rules governing voter access or election administration and 1,027 bills that expand the rules.

Last week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a bill that would have given mail voters an opportunity to correct an error that may prevent their ballot from counting. The bill would have provided election officials more time to review and count mail ballots.

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a bill creating no-excuse mail voting, sending it to Gov. Daniel McKee for his signature. And bills that would have severely restricted drop boxes and essentially banned emergency vote centers both failed to pass the Arizona Senate. Additionally, Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a "voter purge" bill that lacked safeguards to prevent the improper removal of eligible voters, and the Legislature passed a bill to give mail voters the choice to bypass the signature verification requirement by showing ID when they return their mail ballot.

Here are the details:


Rhode Island passes legislation creating no-excuse mail voting. Legislation creating no-excuse mail voting in Rhode Island passed the Senate last week and is eligible for the governor’s signature. While most states allow all voters to vote by mail, Rhode Island is currently one of the 17 states where voters still need a special reason, or “excuse,” to get a mail ballot. In addition to creating no-excuse mail voting, this bill also ensures that voters have access to 24-hour secure drop boxes to return their ballots.

In Arizona, bills that would have severely restricted drop boxes, created problematic voter purges and prohibited emergency vote centers all fail to become law. Last week a bill that would have severely restricted the availability and accessibility of drop boxes failed the Senate. The bill would have prohibited drop boxes unless they were continually monitored by election staff or video monitoring. Opponents argued that these restrictions would be cost-prohibitive and threaten to eliminate drop boxes in many areas, particularly on tribal lands. Legislation that would have effectively banned emergency vote centers also failed the Senate.

On Friday evening, Ducey vetoed a problematic voter purge bill that landed on his desk after passing the Senate last week. The bill would have required state and local officials to use the drivers license file and other incomplete federal databases to identify and remove voters due to a change of address or non-citizenship. Ducey’s veto letter cited concerns about vagueness and the lack of safeguards to prevent lawfully registered citizens from being removed.

Meanwhile, the Arizona House passed S.B. 1362, which would allow mail voters to bypass the signature verification requirement if they return their mail ballot to their polling place, show ID and insert the ballot directly into a tabulator. That bill is now eligible for the governor’s signature.

Maryland's governor vetoes strong cure legislation. Hogan vetoed S.B. 163, which would have created a cure process to allow mail voters to fix possible errors on their ballot to avoid having their ballot rejected. The bill would have also allowed boards of elections to verify mail ballots earlier than currently allowed under state law. In his veto message, the governor praised these provisions, but explained that he was vetoing the bill because it did not impose signature matching as a ballot validation tactic and “did nothing to address ballot collecting.” Under current regulations, Maryland voters do have some ability to cure mistakes with their mail ballots, but only due to a skeletal, non-statutory process through the State Board of Elections.

Read More

Communication concept with multi colored abstract people icons.

Research shows that emotional, cognitive, and social mechanisms drive both direct and indirect contact, offering scalable ways to reduce political polarization.

Getty Images, Eoneren

“Direct” and “Indirect” Contact Methods Likely Work in Similar Ways, so They Should Both Be Effective

In a previous article, we argued that efforts to improve the political environment should reach Americans as media consumers, in addition to seeking public participation. Reaching Americans as media consumers uses media like film, TV, and social media to change what Americans see and hear about fellow Americans across the political spectrum. Participant-based efforts include dialogues and community-based activities that require active involvement.

In this article, we show that the mechanisms underlying each type of approach are quite similar. The categories of mechanisms we cover are emotional, cognitive, relational, and repetitive. We use the terms from the academic literature, “direct” and “indirect” contact, which are fairly similar to participant and media consumer approaches, respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Photo illustration by Alex Bandoni/ProPublica. Source images: Chicago History Museum and eobrazy

Getty Images

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Some 4 million people could lose federal housing assistance under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica. The rules would pave the way for a host of restrictions long sought by conservatives, including time limits on living in public housing, work requirements for many people receiving federal housing assistance and the stripping of aid from entire families if one member of the household is in the country illegally.

The first Trump administration tried and failed to implement similar policies, and renewed efforts have been in the works since early in the president’s second term. Now, the documents obtained by ProPublica lay out how the administration intends to overhaul major housing programs that serve some of the nation’s poorest residents, with sweeping reforms that experts and advocates warn will weaken the social safety net amid historically high rents, home prices and homelessness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Ultimatums and the Erosion of Presidential Credibility

Donald Trump

YouTube

Trump’s Ultimatums and the Erosion of Presidential Credibility

On Friday, October 3rd, President Donald Trump issued a dramatic ultimatum on Truth Social, stating this is the “LAST CHANCE” for Hamas to accept a 20-point peace proposal backed by Israel and several Arab nations. The deadline, set for Sunday at 6:00 p.m. EDT, was framed as a final opportunity to avoid catastrophic consequences. Trump warned that if Hamas rejected the deal, “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” and that its fighters would be “hunted down and killed.”

Ordinarily, when a president sets a deadline, the world takes him seriously. In history, Presidential deadlines signal resolve, seriousness, and the weight of executive authority. But with Trump, the pattern is different. His history of issuing ultimatums and then quietly backing off has dulled the edge of his threats and raised questions about their strategic value.

Keep ReadingShow less