November 28, 2025

The fight of our generation is the struggle to protect our democracy. Each day brings more news about how Donald Trump and the GOP are rigging maps, enacting new voter suppression laws, and preparing to subvert honest election results.

Understandably, people focus on what the Trump administration and red states are doing to undermine free and fair elections. While the voting laws and rules in red states can pose serious challenges to voters, we cannot fail to look at the entire picture.

Many states controlled by Democrats also have barriers to voting and insufficient protections against bad actors at the local level. Rather than play defense, these states should embrace reforms that will enfranchise voters and provide strong safeguards against election deniers.

I am often asked what laws I would recommend blue states adopt. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are seven changes every state could adopt right now, for virtually no cost or administrative burden.

1. Enact a statutory right to vote for every eligible citizen.

This may surprise you, but there is no general federal constitutional right to vote. While state constitutions typically include greater explicit protection, too often these rights are ill-defined or have been limited by past legal precedent. Every state can address this by enacting an explicit right to vote in state law. For states looking for a place to start, here is a simple two-sentence bill that will get them most of the way there:

Every citizen of legal voting age shall have the right to vote and have one’s vote counted in all elections. A government may not impair or burden the ability of an individual to vote or to have one’s vote counted in any election unless the government can prove that the action causing the impairment or burden significantly furthers an important, particularized governmental interest through the least restrictive means available.

2. Ban signature matching of mail-in ballots.

Too many states use the junk science of signature matching to “validate” returned mail-in ballots. Under this method, a voter’s signature on the return envelope is compared to the signature on file with the state. If, in the opinion of an election official, the two signatures do not match, the ballot is set aside and not counted unless the voter “cures” it.

The problems with this approach are serious. Every election, hundreds of thousands of lawful ballots are discarded because an election official decides that, in their opinion, two signatures do not match. We need to ban this harmful practice.

First, there is no requirement that a voter maintain a consistent signature to exercise the right to vote. Many voters, particularly young voters, do not keep a consistent signature across documents. With more voters registering on tablets, this problem is worsening with each passing election.

Second, there is simply no science supporting the current practice of having election workers compare a single signature to the image of a specimen signature on file. Election officials are not experts in signature comparison, and true experts have repeatedly testified that the methods used by states to compare signatures cannot support the current practice.

Finally, the ballot-curing process shifts the burden to the voter, who has done nothing other than cast a lawful ballot, instead of the election worker who has mistakenly rejected it.

3. Count all ballots postmarked by Election Day.

States should count ballots mailed before or on Election Day, even if they arrive at the election office a few days later due to postal delays. Nineteen states already have such laws, and every state with Democratic majorities should enact its own grace-period law.

4. Guarantee voters they will not have to wait more than 30 minutes in line.

Long voting lines are a scourge in our election system. They disproportionately penalize voters who can least afford time off work. They can dissuade voters from turning out and create a negative experience that affects future participation.

Every blue state should guarantee that voters can cast a ballot in person without waiting more than 30 minutes. This starts by requiring counties to track and publicize wait times. I support going further by providing $15 an hour in compensation to voters who wait more than 30 minutes.

We have the resources and the technology. We must end long lines.

5. Ban third-party voter challenges and other forms of vigilantism.

No one should have their registration or right to vote challenged by a random stranger they do not know and have never met. Yet that is what is happening in too many places.

Republicans have built private voter databases used to encourage third-party activists and election vigilantes to submit spreadsheets of voters they want removed from the rolls or hassled at polling places. This practice should be banned and outlawed.

It is bad enough that we must deal with official voter purges. No voter should have to justify their rights based on a nongovernmental challenger.

6. Provide criminal and civil remedies for voter intimidation.

With each passing election, we see new forms of voter intimidation. Direct threats against individuals and groups are rising. Online harassment is at record levels. Videotaping citizens dropping off ballots or entering polling locations has become more routine.

States need new laws that provide stronger protections against voter harassment and intimidation. These laws must allow for prompt civil and criminal remedies and cover a broad range of threats.

Federal laws are not enough. Existing state laws often fail to address newer intimidation techniques. States must move now to ban these practices.

7. Revise and strengthen election-certification laws.

We have all become familiar with the pageantry of democracy that takes place after federal elections. Local officials send results to counties, counties review and certify them to the states, and governors and secretaries of state certify them to Congress.

Unfortunately, what was once a process that strengthened confidence has been weaponized. Local election offices are increasingly filled with election deniers. County canvassing boards are being pressured to refuse to certify accurate results.

States must revise their certification process to make it harder to subvert. Laws must be updated with modern language and must unambiguously state that certification is a ministerial duty. Private parties and state officials should be allowed to sue to compel certification.

Election officials who breach their duty should face monetary penalties and lose official immunity. If all else fails, state courts should be empowered to certify elections.

If we want to preserve free and fair elections, we must pass all these laws. We cannot react after the damage is done. 2026 is around the corner, and Donald Trump and Republicans are not slowing down. That is why we need to act immediately.