Archive for 2011

New census mobility data reveals that most moves occur close to home – which can create challenges for the nation’s election officials.

A short but gentle Friday rant about some recent media coverage of election administration. The moral? Knowing a little about the law and paying attention to language goes a long way.

New York still hasn’t made changes to accommodate military and overseas voters as required by federal law. Already facing a federal lawsuit, the state’s latest request for an extension was denied. That doesn’t mean anything will happen soon, though.

We dive into the archives to bring you up to date on a number of stories featured over the blog’s first few months.

Washington State’s recent experience with 21,000 unsent ballots highlights the importance of communication between agencies that have agreed to cooperate on voters’ behalf.

Unvoted ballots are a significant post-election challenge and a huge waste of public dollars. This post uses the analogy to the “snowplow problem” to look at efforts to more closely match ballot printing with voter demand for ballots.

Pew’s latest Election Data Dispatch looks at cost data from Massachusetts’ recent special U.S. Senate election. The data suggests that even a modest investment in data collection can pay powerful dividends in certainty about election costs.

The razor-thin outcome in a Virginia State Senate race that could affect control of the chamber could lead to a recount. This post provides some background on the election details that could play a role.

A recent op-ed on smartphone voting points out the value of “new eyes” in the ongoing effort to modernize our system of elections.

In honor of Election Day 2011, some words from years past about the day itself.