FEATURE
A look at the top stories over the past few weeks and months
US Justice Dept considers handing over voter roll data for criminal probes, documents show
The U.S. Justice Department is in talks with Homeland Security Investigations about transferring the sensitive voter roll data it has collected from states for use in criminal and immigration-related investigations, according to government documents seen by Reuters.
Judge OKs settlement in North Carolina voter registration lawsuit by Justice Department
Federal and North Carolina laws have directed that since 2004 election officials request registrants provide a voter’s driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. For about a decade, however, the state’s registration form failed to make clear voters were supposed to provide a number if they had one, resulting in records that indicate numerical IDs have never been provided.
Judge Orders New Congressional Map in Utah
A Utah judge ruled on Monday that the state must redraw its congressional map ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, saying Utah's Republican-controlled legislature had overstepped in overruling an earlier ballot measure passed by voters against drawing districts to favor any party.
"Plaintiffs have proven, as a matter of law, that the Legislature unconstitutionally repealed Proposition 4, and enacted SB 200, in violation of the people's fundamental right to reform redistricting in Utah and to prohibit partisan gerrymandering," Third District Court Judge Dianna Gibson said in the ruling
John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act Reintroduced
Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Tuesday to restore and expand protections enshrined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, their latest long-shot attempt to revive the landmark law just days before its 60th anniversary and at a time of renewed debate over the future administration of American elections.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia unveiled the measure, titled the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, with the backing of Democratic leaders. The bill stands little chance of passage in the Republican-led Congress, but it provides the clearest articulation of Democrats’ agenda on voting rights and election reform.
Supreme Court blocks North Dakota redistricting ruling that would gut key part of Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower-court ruling in a redistricting dispute in North Dakota that would gut a landmark federal civil rights law for millions of people.
The justices indicated in an unsigned order that they are likely to take up a federal appeals court ruling that would eliminate the most common path people and civil rights groups use to sue under a key provision of the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act.
Florida congressional districts that eliminated a majority-Black seat upheld by state Supreme Court
Florida’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the state’s current congressional redistricting map, rejecting a challenge over the elimination of a majority-Black district in north Florida that was pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The court, dominated by DeSantis appointees, ruled that restoration of the district that previously united Black communities from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee, or across 200 miles (322 kilometers), would amount to impermissible racial gerrymandering. That, the majority ruled, violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantees.
Supreme Court Reopens Louisiana Racial Gerrymandering Case
The Supreme Court on Friday put off deciding whether to uphold a Louisiana map that added a second majority-Black congressional district in the state, saying it would rehear the case in its next term.
States must thread a needle when drawing electoral districts. The landmark Voting Rights Act requires states in some circumstances to consider race as a means to redress discriminatory electoral practices. But maps that are explicitly based on race violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which requires all people to be treated equally.
Wave of Election Law & Voting Restrictions Pushed in State Legislatures
In 2025, we’ve seen a significant shift in the makeup of election laws enacted by state legislatures. Since our team began systematically tracking legislation in all 50 states in 2021, each year we saw more than twice as many new laws expanding access to the ballot as new laws restricting it. That trend ended this year, with only one in three new laws improving voter access and election administration in 2025, the lowest percentage we’ve ever recorded.
The team behind our Election Policy Tracker identified several significant trends in restrictive legislation this year, including requiring voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, eliminating grace periods for mail ballots submitted on or before Election Day, and removing forms of voter ID that many rely on. While legislation related to mail voting is generally down compared to recent years, we’ve seen heightened attacks on military and overseas voters. In addition, one state enacted the most significant rollback to mail voting since our legislative tracking began in 2021.
The federal Voting Rights Act was gutted. States now want their own versions.
Democratic lawmakers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey are pushing such legislation this session, attempting to join seven other states with similar laws enacted in recent years.
But carrying these bills to law will be a tall task for lawmakers, even in blue states. Michigan’s Voting Rights Act legislation died in the state House after passing the Senate last year. And active bills in Democratic-led states are not guaranteed passage this year because of legal concerns.