Republicans have passed a wave of new voting requirements and limits this year in battleground states such as Georgia, Florida and Arizona, citing a need to stamp out alleged electoral fraud that former President Donald Trump says, without evidence, cost him the November election.
A wave of voting laws
Republicans in key battlegrounds have passed restrictive voting laws, while other states have made voting easier.
Voting laws passed in 2021
Restrictive
Expansive
Both
Battleground states
But some Republicans lawmakers and election officials in states that are less competitive in national elections, such as Vermont, Kentucky and Oklahoma, say their party should be making it easier to vote, not harder – and support legislation to do just that.
The laws by type
Rep./Dem Control
Split legislature
Laws restricting:
VOTE BY MAIL
AZ
AR
AL
FL
GA
IA
ID
IN
MT
OK
KS
KY
IN-PERSON VOTING
AR
IA
FL
GA
KY
MT
UT
WY
Laws expanding:
VOTE BY MAIL
IN
ND
KY
MD
VT
IL
VA
EARLY VOTING
IN
OK
KY
MA
MD
NJ
VA
ACCESS FOR DISABLED / CONVICTED / YOUTH
NY
WA
IN
MT
ND
MA
VA
KY
Rep./Dem Control
Split legislature
Laws restricting:
VOTE BY MAIL
AZ
AR
AL
FL
GA
IA
ID
IN
MT
OK
KS
KY
IN-PERSON VOTING
AR
IA
FL
GA
KY
MT
UT
WY
Laws expanding:
VOTE BY MAIL
IN
ND
KY
MD
VT
IL
VA
EARLY VOTING
IN
OK
KY
MA
MD
NJ
VA
ACCESS FOR DISABLED / CONVICTED / YOUTH
NY
WA
IN
MT
ND
MA
VA
KY
Rep./Dem Control
Split legislature
Laws restricting:
Laws expanding:
VOTE BY MAIL
VOTE BY MAIL
AZ
AR
AL
FL
GA
IA
ID
IN
MT
OK
KS
KY
IN
ND
KY
MD
VT
IL
VA
IN-PERSON VOTING
EARLY VOTING
IN
OK
KY
MA
MD
NJ
VA
AR
IA
FL
GA
KY
MT
UT
WY
ACCESS FOR DISABLED / CONVICTED / YOUTH
NY
WA
IN
MT
ND
MA
VA
KY
Rep./Dem Control
Split legislature
Laws restricting:
Laws expanding:
VOTE BY MAIL
VOTE BY MAIL
AZ
AR
AL
FL
GA
IA
ID
IN
MT
OK
KS
KY
IN
ND
KY
MD
VT
IL
VA
IN-PERSON VOTING
EARLY VOTING
IN
OK
KY
MA
MD
NJ
VA
AR
IA
FL
GA
KY
MT
UT
WY
ACCESS FOR DISABLED / CONVICTED / YOUTH
ACCESS FOR DISABLED / CONVICTED / YOUTH
NY
WA
IN
MT
ND
MA
VA
KY
Types of laws by 2020 margins
Most of the states with restrictive voting laws went for Trump in the 2020 election, with most states expanding voting access voted for Biden. A handful of states that went for Trump passed laws classified in both categories.
Biden margin
Trump margin
States with restrictive laws
States with expansive laws
States with both
Voter advocates still criticize some elements of the laws. Eliza Sweren-Becker, a voting rights and elections counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the Kentucky law limited the period in which voters could apply for absentee ballots and created a process for purging voters from the rolls, while the Oklahoma law shortened the time in which voters could return absentee ballots.
Sweren-Becker said the voting expansions in both states and Vermont reflect the fact that none of the states are highly competitive in general elections.
“When you’re not in a state where the margins are expected to be so close, that same voter suppression motivation is not necessarily at play,” she said.
Note
Data is current as of June 10, 2021.
Sources
Brennan Center for Justice; Reuters reporting
Edited by
Chris Canipe