Posts by Doug Chapin

The election community’s long(!) wait for a fully-constituted EAC paid off yesterday with the announcement that the full Commission has unanimously voted to release Version 2.0 of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines for public comment. It’s a welcome sign that the EAC is back to business shortly after being restored to full strength.

Plumas County in Northern California is in danger of running out of election funds after a series of special elections is stretching an already-reduced budget, the election office recently told the county board.

This week, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission announced the winners of its 2018 “Clearie” awards recognizing state and local election offices for best practices in election administration – and, as usual, electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti has the story.

Today in Washington, DC the Bipartisan Policy Center – with support from the Democracy Fund – is hosting a conference entitled “The Voting Experience: 2018 and the Future” and focused on “key moments in election administration during the 2018 midterm elections, and a look ahead to what steps can be taken to improve the voting experience for all Americans in 2020.”

Minnesota’s legislature is still debating legislation to release millions of dollars in federal cybersecurity funding, despite the Secretary of State’s insistence that the delay will negatively affect preparations for the 2020 election and beyond.

Ohio’s new Secretary of State is taking steps to soften – at least temporarily – a controversial state practice that resulted in the removal of hundreds of thousands of voters in 2018 by sending recently-purged voters a voter registration card at their last known address.

Sandusky, Ohio leaders are making national news after moving to make Election Day a paid holiday by swapping it with Columbus Day. The city’s move is certain to inspire conversation and maybe even action in other communities – especially with elections front of mind with the 2020 election rapidly approaching.

This week’s electionlineWeekly features a story on Florida’s Brevard and Collier Counties, who are using some of their new federal election funding to incorporate biometrics into their plans for election security.

Yesterday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was formally restored to full membership for the first time in nearly ten years with the swearing in of two new recently confirmed Commissioners.

Palm Beach County, Florida’s new election supervisor has sought – and received – $15 million to replace County voting equipment in an effort to move past recent problems that ultimately cost her predecessor her job.