Archive for January 2012

Recent testimony by South Carolina’s state election director (profiled by Pew today) casts doubt on allegations that over 900 dead voters have cast ballots in that state. Whether or not that analysis will have an opportunity to be completed – and whether it will matter in the state’s ongoing battles over election policy, particularly voter ID – remains to be seen.

Last Friday a federal judge ordered that New York hold its Congressional primary on June 26, 2012. While this answers the question about how New York will comply with the MOVE Act, it creates a new (and potentially expensive) problem about what to do about the state’s primary still scheduled for September.

Pew’s new report Democracy from Afar – released today – shows how far – and so fast! – states have moved in the last few years to help military and overseas Americans cast a timely and valid ballot in federal, state and local elections.

Los Angeles County, CA is embarking on an Open Innovation Challenge that could not only help design the County’s next voting system but could show the way to similar changes to the voting process nationwide.

Using election laws to drive turnout is like using a hammer to drive a screw. Don’t do it.

An October 2011 GAO report concludes vote-by-mail wouldn’t generate enough revenue to help the U.S. Postal Service. Interesting – but it begs the question of what the nation’s election officials (who rely heavily on election mail) would do without a fully-functioning Postal Service.

South Carolina’s January 21 presidential primary spawned lots of storylines, but this morning let’s take note of one that hasn’t emerged (at least not yet) – stories of problems with the voting process.

The emerging story about who really “won” the GOP Iowa caucuses raises the question of when – and why – and election can be considered “over.” While election results aren’t instantaneous, timeliness of official returns is likely to become more important as demand intensifies for news of an election’s outcome on the contests and questions of the day.

A recent USA Today article on early and absentee voting includes some helpful reminders about what make those procedures special – and what impact they could have on elections in 2012.

ElectionDiary – a blog by Kansas election professional Brian Newby – is an exciting new addition to the world of election administration. Its debut is just timely enough to ease the sting of the demise of @EACGov, the Twitter stream that has fallen silent with the departure Jeannie Layson, the agency’s queen of social media.