Archive for 2011

Today’s premiere of Moneyball brings to mind the contributions of Bill James, whose love of baseball – and commitment to using data to explore it – changed the game. This post anticipates the emergence of someone similar in the field of election administration.

In late August 2010, Harris County TX’s entire inventory of voting machines was destroyed by fire. How the County responded – and managed to hold a normal election that November – is a story worth remembering.

Colorado’s Secretary of State and Denver’s Clerk are blaming one another in a dispute over mailing 2011 ballots to inactive voters; however, the changing nature of Colorado’s election laws might be equally to blame.

A fun (if not entirely scientific) recent experiment on WNYC’s Radiolab points out the power of language to assist – and prevent – communication. This post looks at this phenomenon in the field of election administration.

Monday morning, AEI and the Pew Center on the States will look a new approach to voter registration. This new approach could be the kind of bipartisan effort that is needed to overcome the fierce, yet tired, partisan debates over election policy.

There has been a lot of talk lately about how different election changes might adversely affect political campaigns. Given the nature of campaigns, that concern is likely misplaced.

Election data can help tell stories that help guide election policy. Today’s post uses an old writer’s rule to illuminate the process of turning piles of election data into pictures that bring those stories to life.

Recent headlines highlight the importance of political geography and residency/domicile requirements in the American election system.

The latest issue of The Canvass – produced by the National Conference on State Legislatures – is a valuable guide to the impact of budget cuts on elections.

Mahoning County, OH’s switch to new voting technology is an excellent case study of the issues facing states and localities nationwide.