Archive for May 2012

Los Angeles County faces a pollworker shortage for next Tuesday’s primary. Their approach – which included robocalls that yielded more than 500 responses – is indicative of the desperation involved in making sure polls are staffed on Election Day.

A new post at NCSL’s Thicket blog suggests that beginning in 2013, a majority of state legislators will have two or fewer years of legislative experience. What might this mean for election policy?

The Longmont (CO) TimesCall editorialized on the importance of the data matching process behind the recent voter roll controversies in Florida. The editorial is not only insightful but illuminates the value of multiple data sources in voter registration.

This week’s electionlineWeekly story by Mindy Moretti tells the story of how the South Dakota Secretary of State is stepping in to fill the void left by the sudden passing of a local election offcial.

GOP governors in Pennsylvania and Virginia have taken steps to help voters get required photo ID more quickly. These moves won’t end the debate but at least they get us closer to solving the problem.

A dissent in the recent appeals court opinion in the Shelby County case suggests that the formula used to subject states and jurisdictions to coverage is the new focal point for efforts to weaken or eliminate enforcement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

The National Institute for Standards and Technology recently issued a statement expressing continued concerns about the feasibility of Internet voting. What, if any impact will it have on the debate?

A new draft of a paper by David Kimball of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Brady Baybeck of Wayne State University suggests that researchers and reformers should take greater note of the effect of jurisdiction size on election administration.

Brian Newby’s latest ElectionDiary describes a really bad day – and serves as a vivid reminder of the tyranny of little things in election administration.

Recent stories in Florida and Michigan reveal the increasing willingness of state officials outside of elections to study and draw conclusions about the health of their state’s election systems.