Voter Suppression

● New Hampshire: On a near party-line vote, Republican state House members have passed a bill that would tighten voter residency requirements by altering the legal definition of residency for the purposes of voting. This narrower restriction is designed to suppress the votes of out-of-state college students because they lean Democratic, and it would all but amount to a poll tax by requiring them to take actions like registering their car in-state—which costs money—simply to register to vote. Of course, Republicans have offered no evidence that ineligible out-of-state residents are voting illegally in the Granite State.

This bill now goes to the state Senate, where Republicans approved a similar bill back in 2017. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had previously claimed he opposed that measure, but he pointedly did not promise he would have vetoed it if that bill had reached his desk. Sununu signed a similar measure that imposes additional burdens on student voters, so his supposed opposition to this latest bill must be viewed with skepticism. But even if the Senate and governor both agree to this new restriction, opponents should have an strong case before the state Supreme Court, which unanimously struck down a similar GOP-backed law in 2015.

● North Carolina: North Carolina Republicans just can’t quit trying to remove Democratic majorities from state and county elections boards so that Democrats can't reverse past voter suppression measures Republicans passed when they held majorities. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's lawyers have now indicated he plans to once again sue over the GOP's latest attempt, which is their third since he won the 2016 election. The GOP's new measure is supposed to take effect on March 16, but litigation over their second attempt is still unresolved.

The Republican legislature's latest law creates a nine-member state board with four Republicans and four Democrats, who then choose a ninth member who isn't affiliated with either major party. But the law says nothing about what happens if those eight members can't agree on a tiebreaker, effectively giving the GOP veto power over board decisions. And Republicans had previously changed the law so that if the local board fails to set a plan for early voting, counties revert to just one early voting site each; this could result in long early voting lines that dampen turnout in heavily populated Democratic-leaning counties.

Meanwhile, Cooper's lawsuit against the second incarnation of the GOP's elections board power grab is still in progress. Back in January, the state Supreme Court delivered what seemed to be a major victory for Cooper when it ruled the law violated the separation of powers in the state constitution by requiring the governor to pick an equal number of members from both parties and no tiebreaking member.

However, the high court had directed the lower-level court that heard the case to reconsider their initial ruling upholding the law, and on Monday the lower court only threw out part of the law. They struck down the portion that would have blocked Cooper from nominating Democrats for a majority of the seats on the board, but they left in place a provision that merged the state's ethics and elections board into one body and another provision that makes Republicans chairs of these boards in even-numbered years, when federal and state elections happen. Most worrisome is that the lower court upheld the aforementioned provision that forces counties to revert to one just early voting site if local boards deadlock, which is exactly what Republicans intend to happen.

Consequently, Cooper appealed to the state Supreme Court to throw out the entirety of the second iteration of this law. Given that Democrats hold a majority on that court and the justices already acted to curb the GOP's power grab, Cooper may stand a good chance of success on appeal.

But even if Cooper succeeds, Republicans' third and latest law will still soon go into effect and force him to file yet another lawsuit. But this latest law has a "poison pill" attached intended to trap Democrats into choosing between public education and fair election administration: Republicans included completely unrelated education provisions that Democrats had favored and declined to include a severability clause, intending to force the whole law to get thrown out if any part of it gets struck down.

Voter Registration

● Maryland: Maryland's heavily Democratic state House has passed a state constitutional amendment to enable eligible voters to both register and cast a ballot on Election Day. Maryland currently only allows same-day registration during the early voting period, and this proposal would make voter participation even easier. The measure now goes to the similarly Democratic-dominated state Senate, and if the upper chamber also passes the proposal with a three-fifths supermajority, voters will decide the issue in a ballot referendum this November.

Meanwhile, a state Senate committee also sent a bill to the full floor that would automatically register eligible voters who do business with various state agencies, unless they opt out. This measure importantly isn't just limited to the state Motor Vehicle Administration, making it more effective at reaching eligible voters who don't drive, such as those who are disabled. Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both legislative chambers, meaning they could theoretically overcome any opposition by GOP Gov. Larry Hogan. However, enough Democrats sided with Republicans to kill a similar Senate bill back in 2016. While a majority of senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the latest measure, it's unclear if Democrats can sufficiently limit their defections to muster the three-fifths support needed to override a potential veto.

● Michigan: A committee in Michigan's Republican-dominated state Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would allow eligible voters with a valid Michigan driver's license or non-driver ID card to register to vote online. Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson supports this measure, and it may have a good chance of passing, despite the fact that the GOP has previously let similar Democratic proposals die without even a committee hearing. A state House committee will likely vote on the proposal in the coming week.

● Utah: Utah's overwhelmingly Republican state legislature passed a bipartisan election reform bill with several major components, most important of which is one that enables voters to register and cast a ballot on the same day, including Election Day. This bill passed by nearly unanimous margins, meaning it will likely become law. Consequently, Utah would join 14 other states and Washington, D.C., in allowing voters to both register and cast a ballot on Election Day. These states have typically had higher turnout thanks to same-day registration making the voting process more accessible.

The newly approved bill sadly no longer contains a true automatic voter registration provision. The discarded proposal would have automatically registered eligible voters who obtained or renewed a driver's license or state ID card unless they opted out, but GOP opposition turned it into an opt-in system in the final bill. Under existing law, eligible voters doing business with the state Driver License Division could easily fail to notice a box on the form asking them if they wanted to register to vote, but this new bill will force them to affirmatively say yes or no to registering before they can finish their transaction. This system is at least an improvement over the status quo and could increase registration, but it falls short of more far-reaching automatic registration that states like Oregon have passed.

This bill also requires at least one in-person early voting center per county, since most Utah counties have moved to a vote-by-mail system. And finally, it would remove voters from the automatic vote-by-mail list if they don't vote in two consecutive general elections, which could lead to a smaller number of voters casting ballots via that method. While this bill isn't perfect, it's still a major step in the right direction, and it's encouraging to see even Republican legislators supporting a policy that will make it easier to vote and could increase voter turnout.

● Washington: Both chambers of Washington's Democratic-run state legislature have passed a bill to automatically register eligible voters beginning in 2019 and sent it to Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who supports the measure. Fortunately, the bill that both chambers adopted wouldn't just cover citizens who apply for or renew an enhanced ID from the Department of Licensing; it also directs other state agencies to assess the feasibility of automatically registering eligible voters who use their services. That's especially important in Washington, because only 10 percent of those with a DOL license or ID have the newer "enhanced" version, which involves the verification of citizenship.

Ballot Measures

● South Dakota: Following its recent approval by the state House, South Dakota's heavily Republican state Senate has also passed a bill intended to make it harder to put initiatives on the ballot. This measure is lawmakers’ response to a 2016 ethics reform plan voters placed on the ballot and approved, only to see Republicans declare a state of emergency to repeal it in 2017. The House still has to reconcile its version of the bill with the Senate's, but the measure would force ballot petition signature-gatherers to provide additional information to the state about their residency in an effort to thwart out-of-state residents and new arrivals from gathering signatures.