The States Leading America’s Drive Toward Secure Elections

There is a new coleader in The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard.

Since 2021, Heritage has been tracking the laws of every state (and the District of Columbia) governing the conduct of local, state, and federal elections. And for most of those years, Tennessee has stood alone at the top of the state rankings. An early adopter of best practices like banning private funding in election administration, Tennessee was the first state to reach the ninety-point mark, and it currently sits atop an impressive 91 points.

But thanks to Arkansas, Tennessee’s no longer alone. Having improved its score by eleven points since 2023, Arkansas joined Tennessee in a tie at 91 points in April.

The state’s most recent improvements exemplify the straightforward means that all states can implement to ensure that their voter rolls remain accurate and current. 

Arkansas now checks new voter registrations for the improper use of commercial or industrial addresses as residences. It investigates the number of individuals registered at a single address and similarly named individuals registered at the same address. It also uses credit agency data to verify the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements to identify noncitizens who have registered to vote.

Not only that, but it formally banned ranked choice voting, an opaque practice that creates an ad hoc majority by reallocating votes based on voters’ second, third, or fourth preferences, assuming the voter has given any thought to those at all.

Meanwhile, Tennessee hasn’t rested on its laurels. It remained in shared possession of the top spot by entering into new agreements with other states to share voter registration information. These arrangements are vital for identifying voters who have moved and registered to vote in a new state while remaining registered in their old domicile. 

Two other states deserve mention for their recent diligence in pursuit of election integrity. Credit, six points worth, goes to Idaho, which, much like Arkansas, adopted a full spectrum of measures to ensure accuracy of its voter rolls, including the use of alien verification. Those changes have catapulted it to 62 points, putting it in the top half of states.

West Virginia also earned four important points by eliminating its once numerous exceptions to the photo-ID requirement for voting. That’s a common sense safeguard of elections, and one providing a great foundation on which to build.

Given the part-time nature of most state legislatures, changes will be fewer in the coming months. But 2025 has already seen nine states improve their scores—and hopefully, more states will adopt the spirit of state pride and healthy competition and try to match or outdo the current leaders. In the meantime, congratulations to Arkansas and Tennessee.  

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