HuffPost: More States Expanded Voting Rights In 2021 Than Restricted Them

While many states run by Republicans passed new restrictions on voting in the wake of the 2020 election, the states where Democrats controlled most or all of the levers of government did the opposite and increased voter access and voting rights.

In total, 25 states enacted legislation to expand voter access and voting rights, while 19 states enacted restrictive election laws, according to a review of state laws by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit that supports voting rights. Some states expanded voter access in certain ways while restricting it in other ways.

“Specifically with the mail-in voting bills, that was a direct reaction [to the pandemic],” Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a nonprofit backing voting rights legislation, said.

Previous attempts to pass legislation in Maryland simply to create a study of mail voting failed due to opposition in the state House of Delegates. But this year, both chambers adopted legislation to allow mail-in voting and approve the mailing of ballot applications to all registered voters.

“It was interesting to see, because of the pandemic, the willingness,” Antoine said. “It was almost as though everyone had a change of heart and they realized that this can work.”