Archive for 2019

A razor-thin primary for Queens, NY district attorney has led one local lawmaker to propose a unique idea: do-overs for voters whose candidates drop out before Election Day.

Hawaii became the fourth state to move to an all vote-by-mail system with the Governor’s signature of an election bill late last month. It will be interesting to see if Hawaii’s new system – which seems to be working well in places like Colorado – has a comparable impact in the Aloha State.

As the nation prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July, I am declaring my (short) independence from blogging … posts will resume on Monday, July 8.

Pennsylvania lawmakers and the Governor are currently at odds over a largely party-line compromise that would impose a straight-ticket voting ban as part of a bill providing $90 million in borrowing authority for new voting equipment.

Last week, The Democracy Fund released a new report, Stewards of Democracy, detailing the results of a survey of thousands of local election officials across the country. It’s a fascinating report and one I highly recommend as we continue to try and understand the election community – one local official at a time.

Yesterday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission released the 2018 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), providing comprehensive national data on the most recent federal general election. Arrival of the EAVS data is always a big day; can’t wait to see the election community dig into this huge trove of election data!

Today, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission will host the 2019 Election Data Summit on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to mark the release of the 2018 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS).

There was a huge upset in yesterday’s New York City primary as the Board of Elections retired the subway-themed “I Voted” sticker in favor of a new one featuring the Big Apple skyline. NYC’s subway sticker arguably helped launch the current era of community-specific (and often community-designed) I Voted stickers.

Rhode Island’s legislature is considering a bill that would put limits on write-in voting in an effort to reduce the amount of time required to tally joke votes like “Mickey Mouse.”

Gwinnett County, GA has eliminated a policy prohibiting direct elections assistance to localities after those communities asked to stop the need for running dual same-day elections in the county. It’s a small change, but one that could be a huge help to localities who want the county’s assistance in running municipal elections.