Archive for April 2020

As states and localities across the country prepare to conduct elections under conditions intended to prevent transmission of the coronavirus, they are increasingly confronting the prospect of a difficult situation: what to do if a voter shows up despite appearing to be ill?

On May 19, Oregon voters will choose nominees for the fall’s race for Secretary of State, filling an open seat for the second consecutive statewide election. A long-time vote-by-mail state, Oregon has avoided many of the fights surrounding COVID-19, but the new SoS will still be important in managing the future of elections in the Beaver State.

Georgia’s absentee ballots for the upcoming June 9 primary omit a second inner envelope – a step taken to help speed processing of what is expected to be a record mail turnout given the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kentucky’s Governor and Secretary of State have reached a bipartisan agreement that shifts the Bluegrass State largely to vote-by-mail for the upcoming June 23 primary. It’s an encouraging effort to work together on election changes given the need to protect voters and election workers alike during the coronavirus crisis.

The April 23, 2020 electionlineWeekly focuses on a topic certain to be top of mind for every election official nationwide: vote-by-mail – or more specifically, the cost of vote-by-mail. Not surprisingly, those costs can and do vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction … but they add up fast.

Maryland state lawmakers are pushing back against the Board of Elections’ plan to forgo precinct-level election returns in the upcoming statewide primary.

The City of Glendale, CO in the Denver suburbs recently held an election – and only sixteen voters participated, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and a list of mostly uncontested races.

A group of Virginia state senators is pushing a plan to move the commonwealth’s May 5 local elections to June as an alternative to the governor’s call for a November vote in the face of COVID-19.

Even as the nation’s election officials wrestle with the challenges associated with conducting a presidential election in the face of a pandemic, the nation’s major parties are returning to familiar ground: lawsuits over the voting process. It’s one bit of certainty in an otherwise uncertain election year.

Idaho’s Secretary of State is responding to concerns about missing absentee ballot return postage by partnering with local grocery stores to provide stamps to voters seeking to mail back their completed ballots. It’s an excellent example of a state election office doing what it can to make the best of a bad situation.