April 2019: Voting Rights Roundup
By George Hornedo, Senior Policy Advisor, Let America Vote
As legislative sessions across the country start to wind down, we wanted to provide a look at some of the highs and lows this year when it comes to voting rights. 2019 has brought great progress in expanding access to the ballot box. According to the Brennan Center for Justice 2019 Voting Laws Roundup:
- 31 states have introduced 169 bills expanding access to early and absentee voting.
- 26 states have introduced 66 bills establishing or expanding automatic voter registration.
- 22 states have introduced 57 bills establishing or expanding access to same-day registration.
- 20 states have introduced 88 bills that would restore voting rights to or improve the registration process for people with a felony conviction.
For example, New York has made great strides in establishing early voting and pre-registration for 16-and-17-year-olds as well as initiating a current push to pass automatic voter registration. And in Virginia, the state added protections for absentee voters as well as established no-excuse early in-person voting.
But as much progress has been made, a number of states are moving restrictive bills through their legislatures as well. Examples include:
- Following Florida’s historic voter approval in 2018 of Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to more than 1 million people with felony records, Republicans in the state have introduced two bills to limit who actually gets their rights restored.
- In Arizona, the Senate passed legislation restricting the use of emergency voting centers as well as added voter ID restrictions for early voting.
- In Indiana, the House passed a bill shortening the absentee ballot application deadline for certain applicants.
- In Kansas, a House committee passed a bill preventing third parties from assisting voters in casting absentee ballots.
- In Virginia, the legislature passed a bill establishing an exact-match voter registration policy similar to the controversial legislation in Georgia.
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