Archive for 2017

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.

Next month’s elections in King County (Seattle), WA will test an idea about which voters often ask and election officials often wonder: postage-paid ballots. The data will be valuable not just in King County but nationally as more and more communities give voters the option of voting by mail – both on turnout and on per-voter cost.

The report of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA), and the rest of its work, is no longer available online after the new Administration decided to remove it from its home at supporttthevoter.gov. Losing that public resource is worrisome, as it suggests that any new effort to study American elections might not share the seriousness of purpose that characterized the Commission’s work.

One of my favorite features at electionlineWeekly is the occasional “exit interview” with an experienced election official who’s leaving the field. The latest installment features former Maricopa County, AZ recorder Helen Purcell – and editor Mindy Moretti had the brilliant idea to give the interview to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Tammy Patrick, who served for eleven years in Purcell’s office.

Yesterday’s headlines were dominated by reports that the new Administration is considering calling for an investigation into voter fraud in the 2016 election. While a few election officials support the call, the majority is either outright opposed or convinced that it isn’t necessary given their own existing efforts to protect the nation’s voting system.