WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today released the 2026 Election Integrity Scorecard, which ranks states based on the strength of their election laws and safeguards. The scorecard compares the election laws of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  

The Election Integrity Scorecard, launched in 2021, ranks states based on more than 50 best practices over 15 different categories that are necessary for fair, secure, and honest elections, as well as an in-depth review of the laws, regulations, and procedures governing elections and their administration by election officials in every state.    

Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida top this year’s scorecard, in part based on the adoption of stronger citizenship-verification laws and foreign-funding restrictions. Heritage periodically updates scorecard criteria to encourage states to continually improve their processes.  

Because laws are only as good as their enforcement, Heritage will convene a series of meetings with election integrity experts to provide additional insight into how effectively states enforce their election integrity laws and will include these findings in the 2027 rankings.  

Don Palmer, senior legal fellow for election integrity at Heritage, made the following statement:

“The Heritage Foundation is committed to ensuring that American elections remain secure, accurate, and transparent. 

“States can anticipate that our priorities for 2027 will include adopting proof of citizenship for voting, ensuring election laws are enforced and crimes prosecuted, establishing state election fraud divisions, and conducting compliance audits.”  

Learn more about the scorecard here.