😃 THE GOOD: The Montana Supreme Court struck down four restrictive voting laws enacted in 2021. These included provisions that eliminated Election Day voter registration, restricted the use of student IDs as voter ID, prohibited giving or accepting payment for the distribution or collection of mail ballots, and prohibited mailing ballots to otherwise eligible 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by Election Day. These policies have not been in effect since a trial court blocked their implementation in October 2022.
This decision is big for Montana voters, specifically Native Americans, young voters, and voters with disabilities, who would have been most impacted by these restrictions.
😠 THE BAD: The Idaho House passed H.B. 599, which would make it illegal to collect someone’s ballot and deliver it to a voting location in most instances. This bill restricts who can return mail-in ballots on behalf of voters, limiting this task to relatives, caregivers, or members of the voter's household and a few others. Due to this bill, it would become a misdemeanor criminal offense for certain individuals who return mail ballots.
The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate, where it will undergo further consideration.
😡 THE UGLY: The Iowa House passed H.B. 2610 banning drop boxes and requiring officials to toss out mail-in ballots that don't arrive before Election Day. Currently, Iowa allows ballots to be received until the day of the election, but this bill would move this deadline earlier, requiring ballots to be received by the day before Election Day. This change would allow election officials to reject any mail ballots that arrive while polls are open on Election Day. Additionally, the bill prohibits official drop boxes for returning mail ballots, mandating that ballots be returned either by mail or in person directly to an election official.
The bill now heads to the Iowa Senate, where it will undergo further consideration.
