Swing states passed new election laws since the 2020 election, and the effects could have major consequences.
The raft of new legislation includes a voter ID law, cutting absentee ballot options and requires ballots to be hand counted. Yet, other states enacted laws which expand access to voting, ease the process and ensure a quick and safe count, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
The 2020 election took place during a global pandemic. Mail-in voting expanded significantly due to Covid precautions and the slow counting process meant the election was not called until four days after the polls closed, according to CNN.
Polling places saw armed protests and election workers received death threats in the tense days of counting. The false belief of widespread voter fraud and election rigging from former President Donald Trump‘s supporters led to an attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s second impeachment.
Voter rights, access and integrity have become major issues in states across the country. Republicans have sought to implement more stringent voter laws, while Democrats have focused on making permanent many of the pandemic-era laws, according to U.S. News.
In August, the Brennan Center measured 39 election law changes in the seven key states since 2020. These include more restrictive laws, more expansive laws and interference-related laws.
Polling aggregator fivethirtyeight suggests the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will come down to seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Harris and Trump require a different combination of these states, but at least three of them to reach the winning 270 electoral vote threshold. The razor-thin margin between the two candidates means election law changes could prove decisive to the overall result.
Arizona
Arizona passed 12 new election laws, according to the Brennan Center. Four of these laws create more requirements to vote. They include making it more difficult to correct absentee ballot signature defects and requiring more documents to prove citizenship. Another four impose criminal penalties on election workers for what the Brennan Center calls “routine election related activity” like sending a mail-in ballot to a voter who did not affirmatively request one.
Another four laws were passed that expand voter access such as longer poll hours for early voting and eliminating the two-year waiting period for people with multiple felony convictions to register to vote, according to the Brennan Center. The biggest change is election workers will have more time to process mail ballots which could allow the state to be called earlier.
Georgia
Georgia gained national attention for its stringent new election laws and even been a plot line on HBO‘s Curb Your Enthusiasm. SB 202 has cut the window to request a mail ballot by more than half, established new voter ID laws, restricted drop box locations and hours and infamously banned giving water or food to voters in line.
Recently the state election board approved a rule requiring the hand counting of ballots, according to the Associated Press. The state’s controversial new rule will no doubt delay its results and could ultimately delay the election. The state was decided by just over 10,000 votes in 2020, which means any new law could be the difference in November.
Michigan
Michigan passed 10 laws that greatly expanded voter access in the state, according to the Brennan Center. Five laws make it easier to vote by mail, two make it easier to register to vote and three improve voter access.
The Brennan Center said the new vote by mail laws “permit individuals to register online for a mail ballot, it creates a permanent mail voting list, implements a ballot curing process and requires prepaid postage on mail ballot applications and return envelopes, increases drop box access and extends the mail ballot receipt deadline for uniformed or overseas voters.”
The other five laws include opening up preregistration to 16-year-olds, widening access to same-day registration, allowing nine days of early voting, expanding the list of acceptable voter IDs and repealing a prohibition on people hiring transportation to take voters to the polls, according to the Brennan Center.
Nevada
Nevada has greatly expanded voter access most notably by implementing universal mail-voting, according to the Washington State Standard. The state has expanded access to voters who live on Native American Reservations, individuals in a city or county jail and expanded automatic voter registration, according to the Brennan Center.
North Carolina
North Carolina has passed only two election laws since the previous election, according to the Brennan Center. One is a requirement to move the mail ballots deadline from three days after election day to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. It will speed up the counting process, but could reject thousand of votes. The second new law is a 2018 voter ID law which will take effect for the first time. It requires all voters to have a photo ID to vote according to the North Carolina Board of Elections website.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has enacted only two new election laws since 2020, according to U.S. News. The Commonwealth passed a bill automatically enrolling voters to the state voting rolls when getting a new driver’s license easing access. It also passed a bill that requires absentee ballots to be turned in by election night rather than the 2020 rule of only postmarked by Election Day.
Pennsylvania took three days to declare a winner in 2020. One hope to remedy this was to copy a Florida law allowing election workers to process absentee ballots before polls close, according to WPTV. However, the Commonwealth failed and now risks a repeat of the mayhem of four years ago, according to the Associated Press.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin has no new election laws. The Democratic governor vetoed proposed election laws and a recently elected liberal State Supreme Court Justice was the deciding vote that blocked a law which would’ve banned drop boxes, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.
What it Means
The 2024 election is likely to come down to thousands of voters in just a few states. The impact of the new laws alone could decide the race depending on the margin of victory. Whether people return to pre-pandemic levels of mail voting, the number of poll workers and the electoral math will all be measures of the speed of a call.
As election law changes take effect, they will not only impact the results, but also test the resilience of American democracy amid a fractious political environment according to Foreign Policy. Speed may be important in fending off bad-faith actors but it is the safety and integrity of the vote that is the ultimate measure of trust. The American people might have to wait a little longer, but their voices will be heard.
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Contact George Davis via email: george.davis2@pepperdine.edu
