Archive for February 2017

It’s fair to say that no state faced more change and uncertainty in 2016 on election law than North Carolina. Suddenly, though, there is a pause as both the state’s, and the nation’s, high courts press pause on election law changes. Election officials are likely anxious how it will turn out but also grateful for a short breather before the sprint begins again.

Last year, Missouri voters approved a voter ID requirement in state elections – but now, the state’s new Secretary of State and Governor don’t agree on what the law will cost or what state monies will be available to pay for it. That will be significant both for short-term implementation as well as for any eventual legal challenge to voter ID in the Show Me State.

This week’s electionlineWeekly features a guest piece by former PCEA Commissioner and Bipartisan Policy Center fellow Tammy Patrick on efforts underway to improve tracking and delivery of electionmail nationwide.

State and local officials are breathing a sigh of relief but still facing some challenges after it was discovered that more than 5,800 ballots went unreported in Dallas County, IA. This story illuminates the importance – and finality – of certification of election results.

The EAC has been the center of so much attention recently that it’s easy to forget how many different things the agency is doing to share information about state and local election administration nationwide. Check out this blog by the EAC’s Sean Greene with Escambia County’s David Safford on the topic of voter satisfaction surveys.

2017 marked the year that Vermont joined the list of states offering automatic voter registration (AVR), but the state recently had to pause its rollout after some inaccurate data from the state DMV resulted in some ineligible voters being registered. The experience is a reminder that the key to success with AVR is good communication between state agencies providing data (usually DMV) and election offices.

Tomorrow, the Committee on House Administration (CHA) will convene to markup H.R. 634, the “Election Assistance Commission Termination Act.” The bill, part of an ongoing campaign by the Committee Chair, comes at a time when the EAC may be more important than ever to help state and local election officials cope with scrutiny of – and potential changes to – the nation’s election system.

The 2016 election saw a handful of new Secretaries of State take office, bringing with them new ideas and new priorities. Mindy Moretti of electionlineWeekly has views from four of them in this week’s issue.

Last November, Maine voters passed a referendum that would move to ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state elections. Now, the state senate is preparing to declare a “solemn occasion” and ask the State Supreme Court review the constitutionality of the law – and RCV supporters aren’t happy.

The latest edition of NCSL’s must-read Canvass newsletter for state legislators and staff takes a look ahead at 2017 with a series of predictions about the election policy issues and challenges facing state capitols. It’s an interesting read – once again, it’s clear that 2017 won’t be an “off year” in election policy.