Legislative Election Trends to Watch in the Coming Months

Legislative Election Trends to Watch in the Coming Months

Lawmakers are proposing a wide range of policy changes ahead of November's midterm elections.

As predicted in NCSL's Forecast '26, citizenship requirements for voting continue to be a hot topic, with 93 bills introduced in 24 states this year. (M. Rolands/Getty Images)

From voter eligibility to election timing, states are proposing a wide range of policy changes ahead of November's midterm elections. Lawmakers have introduced more than 1,500 election-related bills nationwide, with 55 enacted to date.

Emerging trends include efforts to verify voter citizenship; changes to candidate qualifications and ballot access; updates to voter registration and list maintenance practices; and consolidation of election dates. Other noteworthy developments include legislation addressing the presence of federal agents at polling locations, ranked choice voting and the adoption of state voting rights acts.

Voter Citizenship

As predicted in NCSL's Forecast '26, citizenship requirements for voting continue to be a hot topic, with 93 bills introduced in 24 states this year. Some states have introduced legislation similar to the SAVE America Act now being debated in the U.S. Senate. Bill introductions on the topic continue to be high, despite exceedingly rare instances of noncitizens on voter rolls and even rarer instances of noncitizens casting ballots. This year's trends among citizenship-related bills mirror last year's:

Requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and verifying citizenship status of applicants before they are added to the voter rolls:

A handful of states require documentary proof of citizenship-a birth certificate, a passport or naturalization papers-to register to vote, with South Dakota and Utah joining the list this year. A proof-of-citizenship bill in Florida awaits the governor's signature, and similar bills were introduced in Missouri and Vermont.

Bills in Illinois and Kentucky would require election officials to verify that applicants have provided documentary proof of citizenship through available state and federal databases before they are added to the voter rolls.

Voter registration list maintenance processes to ensure noncitizens are not on rolls:

States continue to introduce bills on voter registration list maintenance processes to ensure only citizens remain on voter rolls. At least 10 states statutorily authorize or require voter list comparison with the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, and an additional 15 states without direct statutory authorization currently use the system. Bills in Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Vermont would require voter list comparison to the SAVE system to identify possible noncitizens. A Virginia bill specifies that information received from the SAVE system cannot be the only reason for rejecting a voter registration application. A New Jersey bill would add the state to the 12 that currently permit the sharing of jury list recusals due to noncitizen status for list maintenance purposes.

Indicating citizenship status on state IDs and driver's licenses:

At least six states denote citizenship status on state IDs and driver's licenses; three of them enacted legislation to do so last year. Bills in Kansas and Kentucky would require denotations for citizenship status, and bills in Florida, South Carolina and West Virginia would require the letters "NC" to be printed on identification credentials for noncitizens. A New Jersey bill would require different colored identification cards to be issued to noncitizens.

Amending state constitutions to specify that only citizens can vote in elections:

All states require voters in state and federal elections to be U.S. citizens. Many state constitutions include language such as, "All citizens over the age of 18 may vote." Fifteen states are explicit that only U.S. citizens may vote, and voters in Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia will vote on related amendments in November. Bills that would put a similar citizenship question on the ballot are pending in Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia this year.

Candidates and Ballot Access

Who gets on the ballot and how they do so remain topics of interest in this year's sessions. At least 180 bills have been introduced in 39 states addressing candidate qualifications and ballot access for candidates or political parties.

This year's introductions feature some of the now-standard and expected topics: petition circulation processes and signature requirements; filing fees; candidate paperwork due dates; and what documents or disclosures potential candidates must include with their filings. But some new topics have emerged as well.

At least eight states-Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia-have introduced bills on candidate citizenship status, particularly prohibiting or requiring disclosure of dual citizenship status, and natural-born citizenship requirements. The bills seem unlikely to progress in this session, but they're indicative of lawmakers' continued interest in voter citizenship status.

Clarifying residency and party membership requirements also are of interest this year. Bills modifying durational party membership requirements for candidates await governors' signatures in West Virginia and Florida. Introduced bills making progress in Arizona, Idaho, Kansas and Rhode Island would clarify or tweak residency requirements for candidates and/or current officeholders.

Mirroring the campaign finance trend of allowing campaign funds to be used for security purposes, security for candidates and officeholders is showing up on the election administration side as well. At least 10 states have introduced legislation to restrict the public availability of voter registration or personal information of candidates and public officeholders. Utah enacted a bill on the topic this year, allowing elected and appointed public officials to keep their voter registration information confidential.

Voter Registration and List Maintenance

States are always looking for ways to ensure their voter registration lists are accurate and up to date. With voters moving and dying every day, states have specified additional sources for voter registration list comparison. Bills in California and New Jersey would require their secretaries of state to enter into agreements with the Social Security Administration to use the agency's data to check lists.

A Colorado bill would allow the statewide voter registration database to be compared with a third-party credit bureau to confirm voter addresses. Bills in Kentucky and Missouri would facilitate information sharing among state agencies to receive death certificates and statistics to remove deceased voters from rolls.

The Virginia Legislature passed a bill to require the commissioner of elections to submit an application for the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, a nonprofit that helps states improve the accuracy of voter rolls by comparing the voter registration information of member states. Virginia was an ERIC member from 2012 to 2023.

Consolidation of Election Dates

Legislation to consolidate lower-turnout elections with higher-turnout elections has been introduced in 21 states, mostly moving local elections to "the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years."

A New Mexico resolution would amend the state constitution to remove the requirement that school elections be held separately from partisan elections. The Legislature approved the resolution, putting the issue before voters on the November ballot. In South Dakota, a new law allows municipal governing bodies to adopt ordinances to hold regular municipal elections only in even-numbered years rather than annually.

A Virginia bill would align primary election dates to established election dates, and bills in Missouri and New Hampshire would move local elections to coincide with primary elections rather than general elections.

Smaller Trends: Voting Rights Acts and Federal Agents

In addition to the trends generating a high volume of legislation, three smaller trends are noteworthy: state voting rights acts, ranked choice voting and federal engagement in elections.

Eleven states are considering voting rights acts, the most NCSL has tracked in a single year. And states with existing VRAs are considering amendments to their laws, with Virginia and Washington sending bills to their governors.

Indiana and Ohio enacted ranked choice voting prohibitions this year, continuing a trend from last year when six states enacted similar bans. With Indiana's and Ohio's enactments, 19 states now have laws restricting the use of RCV.

Finally, at least 12 states have introduced legislation to limit the presence of federal immigration enforcement agents at polling places. New Mexico enacted legislation on the topic, and bills are awaiting action from the governor in Virginia.

See all introduced election-related legislation at NCSL's State Elections Legislation Database and view introductions from previous years in the State Elections Legislation Archived Database. To view monthly updates on election administration bills, visit the Legislative Action Bulletin.

Katie King, Brenna Nelson and Camilla Rodriguez Guzman are part of NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program.