State of Election Administration Legislation 2024 Mid-Year Report: Omnibus bills and other notable state activity
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Absentee/mail-in voting • Early voting • Electoral systems • Voting rights for convicted felons • Private funding • Primary systems • Redistricting • Voter identification |
July 1, 2024
By Ballotpedia staff
Omnibus bills and other notable state activity
States that adopt a relatively small number of election-related bills still may make important or notable changes to law. States that adopted omnibus elections bills, defined as bills with five or more topic tags that change various areas of law, or that otherwise adopted notable election-related legislation include:
Indiana (Republican trifecta)
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed HB 1264 into law on March 11, an omnibus elections bill that supporters framed as bolstering election security in the state.
The bill requires election officials to compare registration information with Bureau of Motor Vehicles data to identify any registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens. If a registered voter is identified as a noncitizen, they will be notified by election officials, and have 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or they are removed from voter rolls. It also permits election officials to obtain commercially available data from a credit agency for voter address verification purposes.
The bill also amends an existing ban on the use of private funding for election administration to prohibit any jurisdiction in the state from participating in a nongovernmental program, or from joining an organization, that has directly financed the administration of elections or employs people on a temporary basis for conducting, preparing, or administering elections.
The legislation also newly requires certain voters to present photo identification at the time of registration.
For a complete summary of HB 1264, see here. See here for more new laws from Indiana this year.
Minnesota (Democratic trifecta)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed HF 4772, the Minnesota Voting Rights Act, into law on May 17. Minnesota is the seventh state to adopt what the Campaign Legal Center called a state-level voting rights act. All seven states to adopt such a law did so with a Democratic trifecta.
The new law requires election laws in the states be broadly applied in favor of a voter’s right to vote, saying: “A law, rule, local law, charter provision, local ordinance, or local code relating to the right to vote, or which grants authority to prescribe or maintain voting or elections policies and practices, must be construed or applied liberally in favor of a voter’s exercise of the right of suffrage.” It codifies a ban on political subdivisions adopting any qualifications or rules that may suppress the right to vote, or that may dilute the vote of members of a protected class, and provides for a private right of action that allows citizens to bring civil suits for violations.
The legislation changes how incarcerated individuals are factored into population counts after a federal decennial census, requiring those individuals be allocated to their last known address instead of the location of their incarceration. It also changes state rules governing contested election results, granting the state supreme court jurisdiction over such cases, providing for the appointment of inspectors, and adopting new rules for preserving and counting ballots in a contest.
The omnibus bill makes a number of other changes to law, including modifying procedures for filling vacancies in school boards, sheriff, and county attorneys, and expanding an existing prohibition on the use of deepfakes to apply to primaries, nominating conventions, and the early and absentee/ mail-in voting period.
For a complete summary of changes made by the bill, see here.
Iowa (Republican trifecta)
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed HF 2466 into law on May 8.
The bill expanded training requirements for poll workers in the state and established a new statewide poll worker training program.
It also changes requirements related to certification by county election commissioners. The new law requires officials to certify that their county met requirements including testing of voting equipment, training of personnel, and polling place accessibility, by 20 days after each election. Previously, this certification was required only after general elections. The legislation also included changes to pre- election certification, including a requirement that county officials certify the date, time, and location of voting equipment testing, election notices, and training courses.
The legislation also eliminated an option to return an absentee/mail-in ballot by mail when a person designated by the voter picks up a ballot from the voter for return. The ballot now must be delivered by the designee to a county commissioner’s office within 72 hours or before polls close, whichever is earlier.
Washington (Democratic trifecta)
Washington adopted several changes to elections laws including a new method for curing ballots with a defect, a voter identification pilot program, and a bill related to election interference and voting system cybersecurity.
- SB 5890 changed ballot curing laws, including allowing a voter five days, instead of three, to respond and correct an unsigned ballot declaration or unmatched signature. It also requires election officials to contact a voter by phone, text, or email to cure a ballot defect, and requires the secretary of state to periodically review and update signature verification standards.
- SB 6269 created a pilot program for counties to explore new identity verification procedures for voted ballots. Under current law, election officials verify a voter’s identity through signature matching. Counties must apply to participate in the pilot program, which must be limited to a special election held on a single date. A county that wishes to participate more than once must submit multiple applications. The legislation requires the secretary of state to deliver annual reports on the pilot program to the governor and legislature, and to deliver a final report by the end of 2028.
- SB 5843 created new penalties for election interference, new election-related cybersecurity disclosure requirements, and mandates that counties install and maintain a cybersecurity intrusion detection system.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job.
Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
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About the authors
Joe Greaney is a staff writer on Ballotpedia's Marquee Team.
Ballotpedia Editor in Chief Geoff Pallay reviewed the report and provided feedback, as did Managing Editor Cory Eucalitto and Marquee Team Lead Janie Valentine.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- About Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
- Voting laws in the United States
- Election Policy
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