What We're Watching in the 2026 Elections

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This week, State Court Report launched its Election 2026 hub, which will feature regular coverage of judicial elections, ballot measures, and state election litigation. Our aim is to help our readers understand the broader legal landscape — including the relationship between state and federal election law — at a time when the president is claiming unprecedented powers.

Here are some of the issues we’ll be watching:

Last week, President Trump announced his intention to “nationalize” elections. One of State Court Report’s most-read pieces explains why such an effort would be unconstitutional: State and local governments, not the president, are primarily responsible for setting election rules and administering elections, including registering voters, managing polling places, and counting ballots. While Congress has the power to set national standards for elections, the president has no authority to rewrite these laws or change state laws governing how elections are run.

Among other assertions of power, the Trump administration is demanding that states turn over voter registration lists and other election-related records. The Department of Justice has sued 24 states and Washington, DC, in federal court for not complying; federal courts in California, Michigan, and Oregon are already rejecting the administration’s claims. While these kinds of legal disputes will play out primarily in federal court, they address fundamental questions about states’ powers in our federal system — and raise the chilling prospect that the federal government will threaten free and fair elections.

State courts are also poised to play a major role in election-related cases this year. In both 2022 and 2024, the vast majority of election cases were heard in state court. These cases — some of them state constitutional challenges — included litigation over election rules and processes, voter eligibility, and ballot counting.

One issue we’ll be following closely is how state courts address postelection litigation. Last year, the most-watched election case was the dispute over North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’s narrow election win in 2024. Ultimately, a federal court blocked a North Carolina high court ruling that had sided with Riggs’s opponent to invalidate certain votes that had been cast according to the rules in place at the time of the election. The U.S. Constitution prohibits states from altering the rules of an election after the fact, the federal judge explained — a bedrock principle that binds both state and federal courts.

The recent mid-decade redistricting battle has also prompted new state cases that will be decided this year and could impact the U.S. House map for this year’s midterms. In March, for example, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether the legislature violated the state constitution in enacting a mid-decade congressional map. A Missouri trial court is also considering claims that the new map should be suspended until voters have the opportunity to weigh in via a referendum. Meanwhile, in Virginia, a trial court blocked the legislature’s proposed constitutional amendment to redraw the state’s congressional map, ruling that the process violated the state constitution. That decision is being appealed.

Other state litigation could lead to further redistricting. In New York, a trial court ruled in January that one of the state’s congressional districts was inconsistent with a 2014 state constitutional amendment barring racial vote dilution. The trial court’s order requiring a map redraw is currently stayed pending an appeal.

State courts are also likely to hear disputes related to ballot measures, including citizen initiatives seeking to change state constitutions or establish new state laws. We just published an updated explainer detailing the important role that state courts play in the 25 states that provide for some form of direct democracy — from determining whether proposed measures meet signature requirements to assessing ballot language to enforcing initiatives that pass.

We’ll also be following the state constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot this year, some via citizen initiatives and some suggested by state legislatures. These include at least two abortion rights–related amendments, one that would codify abortion rights in Nevada and one that would repeal an abortion rights amendment in Missouri.

Another proposed amendment in Kansas should be of particular interest to anyone who follows state courts: Voters there will decide in August whether to change the way judges are selected. The amendment would replace the state’s existing merit selection system — in which the governor appoints judges who are vetted by a judicial nominating commission — with judicial elections.

As State Court Report readers know well, state courts play a powerful role in shaping the U.S. election landscape — and much else. One more major topic we’ll be watching this year is the elections that determine who sits on many of these courts. In all, 32 states will hold elections for 65 seats on their highest courts in 2026. State Court Report founding editor Douglas Keith offers a preview of the key races to watch, including in Montana, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington. As Keith notes, these elections will take place “during a period of new intensity in state judicial politics,” complete with multimillion-dollar races, attack ads, and heightened attention by both powerful interest groups and the broader public.

State Court Report will be here all year to track, explain, and contextualize these and other election developments.

Alicia Bannon is editor in chief for State Court Report. She is also director of the Judiciary Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Suggested Citation: Alicia Bannon, What We’re Watching in the 2026 Elections, Sᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ(Feb. 12, 2026), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/what-were-watching-2026-elections