Updated September 15, 2026 at 8:01 AM PDT
A Republican-backed election overhaul, which would add proof-of-citizenship and other identification requirements to the voting process, has stalled in Congress.
But voters in a number of states are weighing in on some of these same issues this year.
Voters in at least seven states are deciding ballot measures related to voter ID — the largest number of voter ID measures in a single year, per Ballotpedia.
Oklahoma was up first, with voters approving its proposal during August's primary runoff. That measure essentially codified existing voter ID policy in Oklahoma's constitution. The remaining states — including the swing states of Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina — have measures for this fall's general election that would toughen ID requirements for voters.
The ballot measures follow lawmakers in eight other states making voter ID requirements more stringent this year, according to the Voting Rights Lab, a research group that supports expanded voting access.
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Several other of this fall's ballot measures concern who can vote and how:
- A handful of states have proposals making it explicit that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote. This has been a trend in Republican-led states in recent years, even as noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in state and federal contests.
- Alaska voters will again decide whether to keep its election system, which includes top-four, all-party primaries and ranked choice general election voting.
- Maryland will vote on new congressional redistricting rules designed to boost Democrats, and Missouri voters — after a lengthy court battle — will vote on whether to approve a GOP-backed congressional redistricting plan.
- And Massachusetts voters will weigh in on all-party primaries and same-day voter registration.
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