Voting Laws Roundup: February 2022

With the 2022 regu­lar legis­lat­ive sessions start­ing in all but 15 states as of Janu­ary 14, state lawmakers are already consid­er­ing hundreds of bills aimed at voter access and the elect­oral process.

The efforts to restrict voting have contin­ued into this year. As of Janu­ary 14, legis­lat­ors in at least 27 states have intro­duced, pre-filed, or carried over 250 bills with restrict­ive provi­sions, compared to 75 such bills in 24 states on Janu­ary 14, 2021. These figures include carry­over bills, which are far more common this year (an even-numbered legis­lat­ive year) than last (an odd-numbered year). When carry­over bills are set aside to focus on new legis­lat­ive activ­ity — the pre-filed and intro­duced bills — the increase in restrict­ive bills is still stark: 96 bills would make it harder to vote in 12 states as of Janu­ary 14, 2022, compared to 69 such bills in 23 states, a 39 percent increase.