A Battle between Voting Laws and Voting Rights

The Brennan Center for Justice, a Corporation grantee, reports on legislative efforts to restrict voting rights nationwide — while others seek to expand them

By Carnegie Corporation of New York March 7, 2022

Voting

The Brennan Center for Justice, which started with an initial grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1996, is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to defend systems of democracy and justice in the United States.

In its Voting Laws Roundup of February 2022, the Brennan Center reports on the tumultuous status of voting rights across the country. As of mid-January, 26 of the 33 state legislatures considering voting legislation are deliberating on both restrictive and expansive voting bills — with more new restrictive voting legislation than at this time last year. 2021 saw the passing of a surge of restrictive voting laws, resulting in at least 19 states passing 34 laws that restrict access to voting. Momentum continues in 2022 to enact restrictive voting legislation — such as new or stricter voter ID laws, restrictions on Sunday voting, and polling place consolidation — that research shows disproportionately impacts voters of color.

Restrictive bills under consideration would primarily curtail access to mail voting and impose new or stricter voter ID requirements for in-person voting and registration. Others would erect new barriers for voters with disabilities, limit or eliminate same-day voter registration, and impose new proof of citizenship requirements to vote, register, or remain registered to vote. In addition, at least 12 bills in two states pre-filed or introduced this year would loosen requirements to educate voters.

More than a third of the expansive legislation under consideration would ease mail voting. Other bills would make voter registration easier, including by establishing automatic voter registration, expanding voting rights to individuals with past convictions, easing access to early voting, and improving voting accessibility to voters with disabilities and who face language barriers.

In addition to tracking bills that restrict or expand access to voting, this year, the Brennan Center is tracking legislation that would undermine the integrity of the electoral process and allow election administration or outcomes to be manipulated in partisan ways. This follows an unprecedented increase in such bills that began last year rooted in false claims of widespread voter fraud and a stolen 2020 election. Examples of such legislation range from allowing any citizen to initiate or conduct election audits and imposing new criminal or civil penalties on election officials for making unintended errors to allowing the removal of election officials from office. Thirteen of these bills fail to satisfy basic security, accuracy, and reliability measures.

To learn more, check out the Brennan Center’s Voting Laws Roundup: February 2022.

TOP: Poll workers share information with a voter as they arrive at the Metropolitan-Multi Service Center on February 24, 2022, in Houston, Texas. People across the Houston metropolitan area continue to cast their ballots during early primary voting. (Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)