Archive for May 2015

Pew’s elections team has a new report that looks at implementation of OVR in the states – providing data on costs and process issues as well as a fantastic state-by-state summary that yields fascinating comparisons on post-enactment reality of OVR.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections appears to have taken a strong role in trying to help state and local social service agencies with NVRA compliance. That “subject matter expertise” is likely to become important in many other states as well.

What’s old is new again in election news as stories from Ohio, Minnesota and Florida remind us that despite changes in the voting process, we are still likely to see the same old political and legal fights again and again in election administration.

The well-regarded Midwest Election Officials Conference (MEOC) is coming back – this time to the Kansas City area September 30-October 2 – as announced over the weekend by Johnson County’s electiongeek extraordinaire Brian Newby.

The latest electionlineWeekly newsletter features a Q&A with the three new Commissioners at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission where they discuss why they took the job and what they hope to accomplish in the immediate and foreseeable future.

It’s no surprise to experienced electiongeeks that poll workers play an important role in our election system. Still, it’s nice to see articles like one that ran recently in Indiana that conveys the enthusiasm and dedication these people bring to their work.

Colorado’s new “ballot delivery” model – where voters are mailed ballots and then can choose to return them by mail, at a drop box or in person at vote center – is generating savings in Denver and enthusiasm in many other places nationwide.

After a directive from the state shut down Election Day bake sales in Rhode Island, a new bill would reinstate them – which is welcome news to community groups trying to support school systems that are asked to close for voters but under pressure to economize.

A new video by Princeton undergrad Kyle Dhillon examines the question of Internet voting and demonstrates both how it works as well as potential threats that suggest it isn’t yet ready for widespread use in American elections.

Pew’s latest Election Data Dispatch uses SPAE data to examine VBM changes since 2000 and finds that while more voters are receiving ballots by mail, not all of them are returning them the same way.