Archive for December 2011

This morning’s election headlines suggest that election geeks across the nation should enjoy their holidays because 2012 already looks to be more interesting and eventful than any of us might have expected.

Pew’s latest Election Data Dispatch uses EAC data to look at how and why voters are removed from the rolls – and suggests that better data practices might capture more of the 40% of voters removed for “failure to vote”.

A new review of ranked choice voting in San Francisco’s 2011 election suggests that as many as two-thirds of the city’s voters didn’t complete their ballots. Some believe this is the definitive answer on RCV – but I think the study asks other questions we should answer first.

Recently the RNC announced that it would follow the lead of Democrats and outsource its voter file management in order to get the benefits of new information obtained in the field. This post suggests election officials follow suit and points to a Pew initiative to do just that.

International hacker group Anonymous’ threat to “peacefully shut down” the Iowa caucuses is a sign of the promise and perils of technology – and a reminder that professionals who can meet and resist threats are a necessity as progress comes to the field of elections.

After nearly a quarter of a century, a long-time elections official moves on.

An editorial in the Wausau (WI) Daily Herald puts a new, neighborly spin on the voter ID debate.

South Carolina’s GOP announced that they will not be contributing to the cost of the state’s January 21 – and blamed counties for filing (and ultimately losing) a lawsuit that would have forced them to do so. The state now has about five weeks to make up the difference.

A recent NYTimes piece on customer service at the DMV and its impact on public attitudes toward government is too good to pass up for a similar riff on elections.

New developments suggest that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) may be reaching the end of its life as an agency. This post considers how Congress’ role in creating the agency may have played a part in its potential demise.