New Project Vote Report Examines States’ Records in 2014
Washington, DC – “The right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the Voting Rights Act became law nearly five decades ago,” President Obama said recently. And indeed, in this important election year, there is a battle over election laws being waged in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Today, Project Vote released a new report analyzing the legislative landscape in 2014, and assessing the ground gained and lost so far in the war over voting rights.
Following the long lines of the 2012 elections, and in the wake of harmful Supreme Court rulings in 2013, there has been an increased awareness of voting rights issues, and a growing consensus that reform is needed. This year began with the release of a report from the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA), which recommended a number of common sense reforms to improve voting, including increasing opportunities for early voting and online registration.
In 2014, legislatures around the country have seen a boom in proposals to increase access to the polls. However, according to Project Vote’s new report, Election Legislation 2014: Threats and Opportunities, pro-voting reforms continue to meet strong partisan resistance, and efforts to suppress voting by eligible Americans continue to be proposed.
“There is indeed a growing bipartisan effort to make voting more accessible and better suited for 21st century American elections,” writes Project Vote’s Erin Ferns Lee in the report. “But old habits die hard.”
Some key findings from the report include:
- In spite of a growing consensus, the PCEA’s recommendations, and an encouraging surge in new proposals, bills to expand access to registration and voting have passed in only a handful of states. Meanwhile, several states have proposed or passed laws to reduce these opportunities.
- So far in 2014, at least 145 potentially beneficial pieces of legislation have been introduced in 33 states and the U.S. Congress. These include proposals to expand early voting, establish same-day registration, allow for electronic registration, and reduce long lines, among other reforms. However, despite growing agreement that these reforms are necessary, only eight of these bills passed into law.
- At least forty-three bills were introduced, in 19 states, that would restrict voting opportunities. These include proposals to reduce early voting and same-day registration, laws to establish strict photo ID and proof of citizenship requirements, and new efforts to purge the voter rolls. So far, four of these proposals have passed into law.
- Online voter registration has proven to be the most successful reform in 2014, with legislation passing in three states: Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
- Early voting, which the PCEA recommended as a key reform, continues to be a focus of fierce legislative battles. Eleven states proposed bills to establish or expand early voting, but only two states—Massachusetts and Missouri—succeeded in doing so. In spite of the popularity of the reform, and the PCEA’s recommendation, two states—Ohio and Wisconsin—passed laws to cut back on early voting hours.
- Though no new states to date have passed stricter photo ID laws, this continues to be the most popular proposal to restrict access to the polls. At least 11 states have introduced bills to pass strict voter ID laws or add further restrictions to existing requirements.
- In the U.S. Congress, bills have been proposed that would reinstate the protections of the Voting Rights Act, reduce long lines at the polls, or restore voting rights to former felons. To date, none of these reforms have passed.
“The number of positive bills introduced this year is encouraging,” said Project Vote Executive Director Michael Slater. “But we’re still seeing strong partisan resistance to these common-sense reforms, and new efforts to prevent eligible Americans from voting.”
“The tide may be changing for the better, but it’s not changing fast enough to help most American voters in 2014,” said Slater.
Download the new report, Election Legislation 2014: Threats and Opportunities, here.
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Project Vote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) that works to empower, educate, and mobilize low-income, minority, youth, and other marginalized and under-represented voters.
For more information and interviews, please contact Michael McDunnah at 202-905-1397.