State of Election Administration Legislation 2024 Mid-Year Report: Vetoes and veto overrides
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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
Vetoes and veto overrides
Governors vetoed nearly as many bills in the first half of this year as all of 2023, and more than all of 2022. All but 5 of this year’s vetoed came from states with divided government, including 13 from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) in Virginia, eight by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), and seven from Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) in Arizona.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed two bills related to independent redistricting in Los Angeles, while one bill was vetoed in three states with Republican trifectas–Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
In Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry (R) vetoed SB 96, which would have allowed eligible voters without internet access to complete an electronic voter registration application in-person at the registrar’s office in their parish. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously. In his veto message, Landry said: “I believe current law adequately allows voters with a Louisiana driver’s license or special identification card to register online, without making these additional exceptions.”
In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) vetoed HB 922, which would have made county election commissioners a nonpartisan office, instead of a partisan elected office. The bill passed with bipartisan support. In a veto message, Reeves said that the bill would have violated the First Amendment rights of political parties and concluded: “(w)hile I do not believe it was the intention of the members of the Mississippi Legislature who voted in favor of House Bill 922 to infringe upon the constitutional rights of political parties, I am compelled to veto House Bill 922 to protect such fundamental rights and avoid the litigation it will inevitably generate.”
In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) vetoed SB 1196, a bill that would have allowed cabinet secretaries to hold leadership positions in state agencies. The bill relates to an ongoing dispute about the legality of holding dual offices in the state. Several members of Stitt’s cabinet also hold agency or other state leadership positions. Despite the bill ostensibly supporting Stitt’s position in the dispute, he issued a veto, saying: “This legislation is unnecessary because the law is already clear: The Governor can choose his cabinet from among the agency directors.”
Elsewhere, lawmakers in Kentucky overrode three vetoes by Gov. Andy Beshear (D), adopting a new law banning RCV, and another that removed the governor’s authority to fill U.S. Senate vacancies. Kentucky is one of three states with a Democratic governor and a veto-proof Republican-controlled legislature.
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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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