Several times a year, the Brennan Center and the Democracy Policy Lab at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy publish a roundup of state voting legislation around the country. Since the 2020 election, this legislation has taken on new importance in state legislatures, with lawmakers aggressively attempting to limit voting access and roll back gains in turnout. In 2026, that trend continues.
As of September 1, 2026, at least 11 states have enacted 14 restrictive laws this year, 10 of which are slated to be in effect for the midterm elections in November. Overall, at least 310 restrictive bills have been considered in 41 states. Since the 2020 presidential election, at least 31 states have enacted 125 restrictive laws. And the pace is only increasing: The total of 47 restrictive laws enacted between the 2024 election and August 2026 has set a new high for a two-year federal election cycle. Restrictive legislation makes it harder for eligible Americans to register, stay on the voter rolls, or vote compared to existing law.
Since 2022, the Brennan Center has been tracking another category of legislation that subverts democracy: election interference legislation. These measures allow for partisan interference in elections or threaten the people and processes that make elections work. They stand to not only harm existing election administration but also undermine voters’ faith in the security of elections. Last year, at least 7 states enacted 8 election interference laws, all 8 of which will be in effect for the midterms. No state has enacted an interference law through the first eight months of 2026, although at least 25 states have considered 65 interference bills. Since 2020, at least 18 states have enacted 30 election interference laws.
A big change in 2025 was that the number of new expansive laws — which make it easier for eligible Americans to register, stay on the voter rolls, or vote compared to existing state law — did not significantly outpace the number of restrictive laws enacted. From 2021 to 2024, there were at least 1.5 times as many expansive laws as restrictive ones each year (in 2023, the ratio was more than 3 to 1), but in 2025 there were more restrictive laws enacted than expansive ones. In 2026, the ratio of expansive to restrictive laws much more closely matches those of 2021 to 2024. At least 15 states have enacted 31 expansive laws and at least 42 states have considered 580 expansive bills this year. At least 46 states plus Washington, DC have enacted 231 expansive laws since January 2021.
