Since January, Project Vote has closely monitored 315 bills that could affect the way people vote in 2016 and beyond. According to our new report, Legislative Threats and Opportunities: Fall 2015, there is growing interest among lawmakers to improve and modernize the administration of elections. And some of these new laws passed. For example, online voter registration continued to expand to new states and a potentially exciting new reform, automatic voter registration, passed in Oregon and California.
Restrictive voting proposals, however, are still on the table in the legislatures and courthouses, particularly voter ID and other restrictions on voter registration and voting. Without the protections of the Voting Rights Act, which was weakened in 2013, only time will tell how these harmful bills could affect future elections.
In Legislative Threats and Opportunities: Fall 2015, Project Vote’s Erin Ferns Lee summarizes the content, status, and potential impact of bills introduced since the beginning of the year. You can sign up here to receive our bill alerts and weekly legislative newsletters. Read the press release here.