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 2,201 bills so far this session, with 580 bills that tighten voter access or election administration and 1,054 bills that expand the rules. The rest are neutral, mixed or unclear in their impact.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision issued Tuesday may result in the rejection of timely mail ballots cast by registered Pennsylvania voters who simply forgot to date their mail ballot envelopes. And the high court in Delaware ruled that new laws granting no-excuse mail voting and same-day voter registration violate the state’s Constitution.
Meanwhile, a Texas court ordered Bexar County – home to about 2 million people – to open over 100 more polling places than originally planned for the upcoming election. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer signed an election reform package on Friday that includes legislation to allow clerks to start processing mail ballots prior to Election Day. The North Carolina Supreme Court ensured that voters who had their mail ballots witnessed or notarized will not also be subject to signature matching.
Following an appellate court order issued Monday, Wisconsin voters can still cancel their returned mail ballots prior to Election Day. And in Kentucky, the Louisville Metro Council is considering a resolution calling for a mail ballot drop box inside the local jail for inmates who have been charged – but not convicted – of a crime.
Looking ahead: A new lawsuit in Nye County, Nev., challenges hand count procedures, including a process that involves live-streaming the reading of ballots starting two weeks before Election Day.
Here are the details:
Supreme Court decision may result in the rejection of timely mail ballots cast by registered Pennsylvania voters who forgot to date their mail ballot envelopes. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court vacated an appellate court decision, and as a result Pennsylvania counties may be able to reject timely ballots cast by eligible, registered voters if the voter forgot to date their mail ballot envelopes. The 3ird U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that counties cannot reject otherwise valid ballots simply because they are missing a date. The circuit court found that the date next to the signature is immaterial since it was not used to determine the timeliness of the ballot and the Voting Rights Act prohibits states from rejecting ballots for immaterial reasons.
Delaware high court invalidates election reforms. The Delaware Supreme Court struck down legislation enacted earlier this year establishing no-excuse mail voting and same-day voter registration. The court held that the state Constitution does not allow the General Assembly to institute these policies. Delaware will be one of 15 states where voters must provide a special reason – or “excuse” – to vote by mail this election, and one of 22 states where voters cannot register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day.
Texas county ordered to open more than 100 additional polling places than originally planned. A Texas court ordered Bexar County to open at least 388 polling places on Election Day, ruling that number to be the minimum required under state law. The county had planned to open as few as 259 voting locations. Bexar County is home to about 2 million people, three quarters of whom live in San Antonio.
Michigan governor signs election reform package, including legislation to allow clerks to start processing mail ballots before Election Day. Whitmer signed several bills to implement changes to the administration of mail voting for this November’s election. Most notably, H.B. 4491 will allow clerks in jurisdictions with at least 10,000 residents to begin processing and verifying mail ballots two days before Election Day. Prior to the enactment of the bill, election officials had to wait until the morning of Election Day to begin processing mail ballots. The bill also ensures that people who have died are removed from the voter registration list and clarifies rules about drop boxes. The bill passed with nearly unanimous support in both chambers of the Legislature and will be in place for the Nov. 8 general election. The governor also signed legislation to enable military voters to return their ballots electronically, beginning in 2024.
North Carolina Supreme Court rejects request for signature matching. The North Carolina Supreme Court rejected a request by the state’s Republican Party to allow counties to conduct signature matching on absentee ballots. The State Board of Elections issued a directive earlier this year stating that the law does not allow for signature matching. North Carolina law already requires that ballot envelopes be signed by two witnesses or a notary.
Nevada County sued to stop hand count procedures that include live-streaming the reading of ballots for two weeks before Election Day. The ACLU of Nevada sued Nye County because the announced hand count process involves live-streaming the reading of ballots starting on Oct. 25, two weeks before Election Day. Premature release of results is a crime. In addition, the suit challenges the county’s decision to limit who can use electronic voting machines to those whom election workers determine have “special needs.” Additionally, the process the county intends to use to match voters’ signatures on ballot certificates also allegedly violates state law. The suit seeks an order to stop these proposed practices.
Wisconsin voters can still cancel their returned mail ballots prior to Election Day. Under current law, Wisconsin voters may cancel or “spoil” their returned mail ballot before Election Day if they realize they made a mistake or change their mind about how they wish to vote. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit seeking to end this practice, and on Oct. 5 a Waukesha County judge granted a injunction that would temporarily ban it. However, on Monday the Wisconsin Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay to that decision, meaning the practice can continue this election.
Louisville Metro Council considers providing a mail ballot drop box in jail. In Kentucky, the Louisville Metro Council is considering a resolution calling for a mail ballot drop box inside Metro Corrections. The jail houses some inmates who are legally eligible to vote, including those who have been charged – but not convicted – of a crime. Kentucky law prohibits people from voting if they are incarcerated following a conviction, but those who have only been charged with a crime may still vote.
Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments on whether President Donald Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Luz Angela Nuñez with her daughter Aisha Quershi Nuñez at their home in College Point, Queens. Photo: Mia Anzalone for Documented.
Kimberly Alvarez, 25, with her daughter Evangeline and her husband John Alvarez in Medellin, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Alvarez.Alvarez arrived in New York City in February 2024 with her husband John Alvarez as asylum seekers from Venezuela. In April 2025, Alvarez found out she was pregnant with her first child, a baby girl. Her first reaction, she said, was fear.“How am I going to keep her alive?” she said. “That’s what I was thinking. ‘How am I going to be able to take care of her?’”At the beginning of Alvarez’s pregnancy, she said she was aware of the immigration enforcement occurring around the country, but vowed not to let it deter her from showing up to her doctor’s appointments.“When you went out, you were always on alert because you didn’t know if [ICE] might be around. I never saw anything suspicious,” Alvarez said. “But of course, you feel scared.”In October, when Alvarez was six months pregnant, her husband was detained by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza. When the immediate shock wore off, she obsessively checked the Online Detainee Locator System to find out where her husband went. A day later, she discovered that he was being kept at Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey. Alvarez quickly set up an account to pay for phone calls, and every two days, she would pay about $10 for a one-hour call, updating her husband about the baby, her appointments and how she was doing.“Crying was the only way for me to release the tension,” said Alvarez, who worried that her lack of sleep and bad diet were impacting her baby. “Crying was the only way for me to release the tension.”—Kimberly AlvarezThat tension built up day by day, week by week following her husband’s arrest. Alvarez had stopped her work as a cleaner in the neighborhood’s synagogues two weeks before her husband’s detention because of her pregnancy. The plan, she said, was to rely solely on his income as a maintenance worker for “the food, the rent, everything.” Left with few choices, Kimberley had to rely on her mother’s income as a cleaner. The older woman had moved to New York from North Carolina to assist with Alvarez’s pregnancy. “I feel like I’m supposed to help my mom, not the other way around,” Alvarez said. “I felt powerless because I couldn’t do anything.”On Dec. 9, Alvarez gave birth to a daughter, Evangeline. While her baby was healthy, Alvarez’s anxieties did not go away. While she returned to cleaning synagogues a few months after Evangeline’s birth to help make ends meet, Alvarez and her daughter rarely left home. Alvarez said she felt paralyzed, getting frequent alerts from a neighborhood WhatsApp group when ICE was spotted nearby. One day, she said, ICE arrested her friend’s husband in Sunset Park, in an area where she would sometimes take Evangeline for walks.“I’m so afraid that I’ll go out and run into one of them and that they’ll take her away from me,” Alvarez said. “That’s my biggest fear, that someone will take her away from me and I won’t know where my daughter is.”In March, her husband decided to voluntarily remove himself from the United States and move back to Colombia, where he is originally from. It was a family decision, but it was not a happy one — hiring immigration lawyers was too expensive, Alvarez said, adding that staying in the U.S. felt too uncertain. 
