Archive for 2017

electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti has a piece in this week’s newsletter about how Contra Costa County, CA is leveraging its online voter registration system to improve outreach to young voters.

Bethlehem, NY is facing controversy after a redesigned ballot resulted in confusion about votes cast in a recent school board election. It’s a perfect illustration of the idea that “democracy is a design problem” – and a helpful reminder of the importance of growing interest in the field of election design.

The District of Columbia City Council has unanimously approved a bill that will once again move DC’s primary date – a move they say is permanent after several shifts in the last few voting cycles. The primary has been a moving target in recent years, and while there is some skepticism on the city council, the bill could soon be heading to the Mayor for her signature.

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear – and thus let stand – a lower court ruling invalidating voter ID and other changes to North Carolina election law as racially discriminatory.

MIT’s Charles Stewart is a familiar face on this blog, given his survey work on the voting experience and research on on polling place lines – and he has a piece at Election Updates on the new Presidential election integrity commission that has some important observations – especially about the potential lost opportunity for progress on efforts to improve the nation’s election system.

The White House announced yesterday that the President had signed an executive order establishing a Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity tasked with examining the nation’s system for federal elections. Partisan uproar aside, there are several questions about the commission worth watching when (and if) it gets underway.

A little more than two dozen voters in Marion County (Salem), Oregon got a surprise recently when their ballots arrived with no candidate names due to a design error. The nature of the error was such that it’s hard to identify a takeaway “practice pointer” going forward – meaning that it could just be one more thing for local officials to worry about before, during and after Election Day.

A new report finds that California voters with limited English proficiency aren’t getting all the assistance they need in casting their ballots, and it could bolster the chances of a bill designed to address many of those problems – especially as the state considers changing the way communities vote.

Last year, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a bipartisan automatic voter registration (AVR) bill. Now, supporters are trying again in the state legislature with a revised bill aimed at addressing his concerns.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has signed a bill that will require voter ID and makes several other changes to the state’s election laws, including shortening early voting and eliminating straight-ticket voting.