Ranking the relative restrictiveness of each state’s voting environment in 2020

Texas has the most restrictive electoral environment in 2020, and Oregon has the least restrictive voting practices of the 50 states. This is based on a study of the relative “cost of voting” in each of the 50 states, as described in the peer-reviewed Election Law Journal.

Many states have gone out of their way to reduce the cost of voting and make it more hassle free, for example, by adopting automatic voter registration processes. Other states have failed to innovate and adopt technological advances that could make it easier for the public to vote. A few states, such as Texas, have increased the restrictiveness of voting mainly by reducing the number of polling stations.

“What is abundantly clear from the examples of Virginia and Michigan is that if a state wishes to make voting more accessible it is entirely possible to do so. Particularly interesting is the fact that some of the reforms, such as online voter registration, are found to come with a reduced monetary cost for states,” say Scot Schraufnagel, Northern Illinois University, and coauthors.

“The ease of voting varies tremendously across the 50 states and the political battles over access to the polls have never been more intense. This timely article provides an updated comparison of the costs of voting in the states,” says Election Law Journal Editor-in-Chief David Canon, University of Wisconsin.