Archive for 2012

A new California bill to expand the maximum time voters have to cast ballot looks like fiddling at the margins but actually brings much larger and more challenging issues into play.

A dispute in Arizona about an election consolidation bill awaiting the Governor’s signature highlights the benefits – and costs – of seeking economies of scale in election administration.

A recent decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to void an election demonstrates what happens when circumstances, mistakes and just plain bad luck conspire to put the outcome in doubt.

A new Pew poll suggests that Americans are satisfied with local government even as they clearly (and sometimes sharply) disagree about federal and state government. These numbers could indicate that decentralization of elections isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Recent controversy in a Chicago suburban county is highlighting both the importance of – and the obstacles to – effective fiscal oversight of local election offices.

Pew’s Voting Information Project is hosting a Hackathon next week. This event will not only hasten the development of tools to assist voters in 2012, but it also represents a new stage in VIP’s maturity and promises dramatically expanded impact for this vital project.

MinnPost’s Eric Black has a fantastic wrap-up that captures the breadth and depth of Tuesday’s event on disputed elections in Minnesota.

Brentwood, TN is resisting efforts by the Williamson County election office to use its library for early voting. The dispute is likely to recur in other jurisdictions – and is a tough call even for the most dedicated election geek.

Today’s event, co-hosted with the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Democracy Project, looks at how Minnesota’s experiences in 2008 and 2010 might guide future states facing disputed elections.

A new online map of controversial precinct changes in Omaha, Nebraska is an example of how basic election data can be used to illuminate policy differences and assist voters in casting a ballot at the polls.