Posts by Doug Chapin

Macon County, IL’s clerk is resisting calls to reverse a county sheriff’s race decided by one vote after new ballots emerged that appear to change the outcome, saying state law regarding recounts must continue. That result seems right given the desire to keep election officials applying the law rather than choosing winners.

The growing controversy over North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District – and Bladen County in particular – took another shocking twist yesterday with an allegation that someone had access to early voting totals before Election Day. If true, this is a serious breach of trust for the election process.

Tie elections are more commonplace than you might realize, and in many communities they are decided by chance, or “lot.” While some communities use a random draw, traditional dice or a deck of cards to break a tie, Contra Costa County, CA used something different – a 20-sided die often seen in board games.

The Class of 2018 for secretaries of state officially got its last two members last week with the victories of Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger and Louisiana incumbent’s Kyle Ardoin in their respective state runoffs. Both new SoS face challenges in 2019 and beyond, from litigation to voting equipment – and elections in 2019 and 2020.

electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti talked to election cybersecurity experts about what’s next in the field. While it’s certainly true that cyberthreats continue to proliferate, the growing level of attention in the field suggests election officials and policymakers are increasingly in a posture that allows them to confront these challenges head on.

It was a good day for Secretary of State incumbents in New England yesterday, where Maine’s Matt Dunlap and New Hampshire’s Bill Gardner won re-election in their respective legislatures to two-year terms.

In November 2018, Florida voters approved Amendment 4, which promises to restore voting rights to over a million people formerly convicted of felonies, but now there are numerous unanswered questions about how that is supposed to happen – and who (including potentially the Legislature) will decide.

Wisconsin county clerks are unanimously opposing a proposal in the Legislature to move the state’s presidential primary and create a third statewide election in spring 2020. The bill would also limit early voting, which could also add to the cost due to legal challenges.

Porter County, IN’s clerk’s office had numerous indications that the 2018 election was going to be challenging – but no one addressed them sufficiently before Election Day (and Night, and everything afterwards) became a difficult mess. It’s a helpful reminder to pay serious attention to indications of potential problems as they arise.

Believe it or not, the 2020 election cycle is here – and one of the first indications is that the Federal Voting Assistance Program is seeking public comments on two key forms for military and overseas voters: the Federal Post Card Application and the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot. These forms are vitally important to UOCAVA voters; consequently, feedback and comments are crucial so that the forms can be ready when voting for 2020 begins in earnest with the Presidential primary season, which is (gulp) about fourteen months away.