Archive for 2018

It’s Election Day today in New Hampshire, and the Concord Monitor has a great (and unusual, in my experience) look at the work that happens before voting starts to get precinct locations ready for pollworkers and voters alike. The next time you vote, take just a moment to think about all the people across the nation whose effort goes into making it ready for you to do so.

Late last week a federal judge ordered dozens of counties in Florida to make Spanish-language sample ballots available to assist Puerto Ricans living in the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. It will be a challenge for the election offices named in the order, but I think this ruling gets the balance right as Election Day approaches; Spanish-speaking voters will get access to tools they need to cast an informed ballot and affected counties will not be required to provide the full range of assistance that other jurisdictions with longstanding language-minority communities currently offer.

electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti has a timely look at an issue that arises when election offices are caught between making elections accessible to voters and protecting themselves from outside threats. It’s yet another layer in the cybersecurity challenge for the election community.

North Carolina’s State Board of Elections and boards in 44 counties have received a sweeping federal subpoena for tens of millions of voting documents – including ballots! – less than two months before the 2018 general election. It’s an *astonishing* development, even for a state like North Carolina where election battles have been ongoing for years.

Political parties and county election boards are lining up – and heading to court – against a proposal by New Mexico’s Secretary of State to restore straight-ticket voting for the 2018 general election. This story is fascinating on many levels – an opportunity to explore the theory behind straight-ticket voting, a test of the SoS’ rule-making power, a cautionary tale about lack of clarity in legislation – but however it plays out it will likely do so quickly as Election Day approaches.

Rhode Island is the latest state to confront issues with voter registration data collected from the state motor vehicle agency, and the Secretary of State is asking the state election board to act in time to resolve issues related to 5,000 or more voters in the state’s September primary. While voters can benefit from programs that link different state agencies together to improve access to the voter rolls, those programs are only as good as the quality of the link – and the constant attention to maintaining the flow of timely and accurate data.

With students (including the University of Minnesota!) heading back to school next week (if not already), electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti has a look at how the nation’s institutions of higher learning are partnering with election officials to help them get the training and research assistance they need. [Happy Labor Day weekend – see you back here Tuesday, September 4.]

Two separate court orders in North Carolina have halted ballot preparation for the upcoming November 2018 general election – putting the state in danger of missing the 45-day federal deadline for mailing ballots to military and overseas voters.

After a difficult primary Election Day where many voters stood in long lines and a call to extend voting hours was rejected, Maricopa County (Phoenix) and a Tempe-based vendor are pointing fingers at one another for the failure to having equipment ready for the opening of polls.

Leon County (Tallahassee) Florida’s election supervisor has reversed course and agreed to put early voting for November at a location accessible to students from local universities. Every election has one issue that pushes its way onto the front page; while cybersecurity is likely with us for several cycles to come, it seems that the drive to make voting more accessible to students on campus (while not a new issue) is the Hot Topic of 2018.