Archive for 2017

Election officials know that the run-up to Election Day can be chaotic and exhausting as all of the various pieces of the process are coming together – and in Vermont, local clerks are trying to get the state to give them a “gap day” on the Monday before so they can be ready. Unfortunately for them, the Secretary of State and the Legislature don’t seem to agree.

New Yorkers are getting a chance to choose their new “I Voted” sticker in an online vote that runs through next week. While it’s definitely not the most important decision to be made in the elections field, it is worth paying attention and giving it some thought given how much voters love their “I Voted” stickers.

My friend and colleague Rokey Suleman has literally been around the world with his work in the election field – but he may have just taken on the most challenging post of his career as he takes over as Richland County (Columbia), SC election director.

Maricopa County, AZ’s new recorder is sparking controversy with a new registration procedure aimed at assisting those whose initial applications lacked proof of citizenship. His solution – having his office research missing information and add voters accordingly rather than asking them to supply the info and wait for response – is generating opposition and suggestions that this is a decision for legislators, not election officials.

On Thursday, May 25 Montana voters will go to the polls to select a new statewide member of Congress – and the date is proving difficult for some counties whose regular polling places will be unavailable on that date. The biggest problem is that a late May election date runs headlong into the end of the school year, which means many regular polling places are otherwise spoken for, sending voters elsewhere.

My friend Mindy Moretti has a great story in the latest electionlineWeekly newsletter about a collaboration in Minneapolis that’s bringing designers and election officials together on a project to benefit voters.

Voter fraud is a constant topic of discussion in the field of elections, with fierce policy battles over the wisdom and impact of laws intended to combat ineligible voters from casting ballots at the polls. But a recent story out of North Carolina is a helpful reminder (to me at least) that many stories of “fraud” are actually just sad stories of people who either thought they were doing the right thing or didn’t realize they weren’t.

Los Angeles County, CA is signalling that it is beginning to take steps to move its new voting system from prototype to production with the issuance of a Request for Information for vendors to offer input on building one or more components of the system. It’s an exciting and encouraging step – and means the County’s highly-anticipated design is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.

North Dakota’s Governor has signed a revamped voter ID bill even as plaintiffs argue that it fails to fix a problem that led a federal court to block it last year. The state’s voter ID battle encapsulates much of the debate in states across the nation today, with legislatures and plaintiffs wrestling (usually in court) about what is the appropriate solution for voters who lack ID – an affidavit or additional forms of ID.

California voters could soon have the opportunity to decide whether to support a $450 million state bond for new voting equipment, if the Legislature adopts a bill recently introduced to put the bond on the June 2018 ballot. If it does pass and make it on the ballot, voter approval would provide local officials with a significant boost in equipment funding – but there are many steps to take in the next year before that happens.