KarunaNews Story

This year, 39 US states and Washington, D.C. changed their election laws in some way. States have enacted more than twice as many laws expanding voting rights as restricting them, although the most comprehensive voter-protection laws passed in blue states. As of July 21 2023, 29 of 366 proposed laws with voting restrictions were enacted, all but one of them in states where Republicans fully control the lawmaking process. Five include provisions that tighten voter-ID requirements, 11 will affect election administration and 13 have at least one provision that targets mail voting. As of July 21, 2023, 64 bills expanding voting rights have been enacted of 834 introduced so far in states of all hues. Democratic-controlled jurisdictions enacted 33 of the new laws but Republican-controlled states were responsible for 23 of them. The remaining eight became law in states where the two parties share power. The article summarizes the changes by state.