• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. election administration>

The state of voting

Our Staff
March 22, 2022
Georgia elections bills
Allard Schager/Getty Images

The Fulcrum is debuting a new feature, summarizing the latest legislative activity affecting voting and elections. This weekly update is powered by the Voting Rights Lab. Sign up for VRL’s weekly newsletter here.

The Voting Rights Lab is tracking 2,363 bills so far this session, including 548 bills that tighten the rules governing voter access or election administration and 1,062 bills that expand the rules.

The biggest action last week took place in Georgia, where an elections omnibus bill passed the House and is expected to be heard in the Senate Ethics Committee this week, and Arizona, where 11 bills died on the Senate floor last week, the most during one session in recent history.

Looking ahead: A new pro-voter package of bills may be introduced in Michigan this week. In Missouri, the House Committee on Elections and Elected Officials will hear bills requiring ballots to be counted by hand and modifying the requirements for votes necessary to implement a constitutional amendment.

Here are the details:


Georgia omnibus crosses over to the Senate.H.B. 1464 – which would allow for public ballot inspections, limit private donations for election administration, establish strict chain-of-custody requirements for ballots (voted and unvoted), amend the number of voting booths to at least one per 250 voters, and allow the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into claims of election fraud without a referral from state election officials – passed the House and is expected to be heard in a Senate committee this week. H.B. 1464 builds on Georgia’s elections overhaul in 2021, which significantly limited ballot drop boxes and led to the state’s current attempts to take over Fulton County elections.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Restrictive bills die in Arizona Senate floor vote. Eleven restrictive election bills died last week. A few bills did pass the floor vote, including a bill that would make it easier for people who receive mail ballots but do not return them to cast regular ballots in person. VRL is still watching bills that would require documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, limit the use of drop boxes, and limit early voting on the last weekend before Election Day.

Three election bills sent to Utah governor. The Utah Legislature passed three election bills last week, including legislation that requires at least one drop box per municipality, prohibits the use of private donations to fund elections, and expands the protections of the voter address confidentiality program. The governor has until Thursday to sign these bills.

Michigan Democrats announce expansive election bills. Democrats announced a package of bills they intend to introduce, including a push for nine days of early voting and notification to voters of signature issues on mail ballots and applications.

Texas ballot rejections disproportionately affected Black voters. In the state’s primary election held earlier this month, portions of Harris County with large Black populations were 44 percent more likely to have ballots rejected than heavily white areas. Over 18,000 voters in the state’s largest counties (by population) – and majority-Black counties – had their mail-in ballots rejected this year as a result of legislation passed last year.

Arkansas judge enjoins restrictive voting laws. In a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs including the League of Women Voters and Arkansas United, a judge found that four laws passed in 2021 placed unconstitutional burdens on voting. The court also found that the defendant’s concerns about election integrity and insecurity were based entirely on conjecture and speculation.

From Your Site Articles
  • 5 swing states have overhauled their election systems - The Fulcrum ›
  • Women of color lead the fight for voting rights in Georgia - The Fulcrum ›
  • In Ga., worst suppression may be weakening the will to vote - The ... ›
  • Republican election laws are designed to limit voting - The Fulcrum ›
  • Changes in election laws: April 11, 2022 - The Fulcrum ›
  • Recapping last week's election law activities in the states - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • "We're very concerned:" Black voters fear changes to Georgia voting ... ›
  • Explainer: Big changes under Georgia's new election law | Reuters ›
  • What Georgia's Voting Law Really Does - The New York Times ›
  • Georgia voting: Fact-checking claims about the new election law ... ›
election administration

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
18h

Steward leadership

David L. Nevins
23h

Sharing a common fate

Kevin Frazier
23h

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Joan Blades
John Gable
31 January

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Daniel O. Jamison
31 January

Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns

J.H. Snider
30 January
Videos

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Our Staff

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Our Staff

Video: We need more bipartisan commitment to democracy: Pennsylvania governor

Our Staff

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff

Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

Our Staff

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
18h

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
27 January

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Our Staff
26 January
Recommended
Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Podcasts
Steward leadership

Steward leadership

Big Picture
Sharing a common fate

Sharing a common fate

Big Picture
Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Big Picture
What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Big Picture