How did last night’s voting-related ballot initiatives shake out? It was a mixed bag, both for people in favor of expanding voting access and those in favor of restricting it. In addition to Florida’s constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to many felons, several measures that could make it easier to vote were successful:
- Automatic voter registration passed in Nevada and Michigan, where people applying for driver’s license will now be automatically registered to vote, unless they affirmatively opt out.
- Michigan voters also approved several other sweeping changes to their election laws, adding same-day voter registration, making it easier to request absentee ballots, and reinstating the straight-ticket voting option that was nixed by the Republican legislature a few years ago.
- Maryland voters approved same-day registration.
Voter ID measures — which tend to be popular — also did well at the ballot box. Voters in North Carolina and Arkansas approved measures that will require voters to show some form of photo ID when they cast ballots in person. In North Carolina, the legislature will decide which kinds of photo ID will qualify. Back in 2013, North Carolina legislators passed a similar law, but it was struck down by the courts as racially discriminatory.