Posts by Doug Chapin

A week ago, I said that anyone expecting (or hoping?) for post-election controversies should “prepare to be underwhelmed.” [That didn’t age well.] Now, as controversies rage about the tabulation process and the impact on countless razor-thin races across the country, I’m frustrated at the push to treat Election Night leaders as the presumed winners and anything to the contrary as suspicious. There are lots of reasons (good and bad) why counting takes time – and as a result everyone needs to slow the f___ down.

Election Day 2018 is past (if still far from over) and electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti has a quick initial roundup of how the day went. There are many stories to discuss in the weeks and months ahead (recounts, new faces, new movement on old issues in Washington DC) but for now election officials almost everywhere can start finishing up and winding down Election 2018 and start thinking about what’s next … including the 2020 Presidential election, which is a little more than 100 weeks away.

Election Day 2018 is behind us in most of the country, but in two states – Georgia and Louisiana – the race for Secretary of State requires one more round of voting. The winners of both runoffs will have big jobs ahead of them, as Georgia faces scrutiny over its election policies and aging touchscreen voting technology and Louisiana wrestles with a contentious procurement process to upgrade its voting machines. Unfortunately, those runoffs aren’t likely to see Tuesday’s stratospheric turnout, even though they will shape elections in those states for the foreseeable future.

Election Day is always eventful for election officials – but Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ was forced to confront an unusual situation when poll workers showed up at a polling location only to find it locked because the landlord had foreclosed on the business hosting the precinct. The story raises several key issues – most importantly, whether a private landlord can bar access to a location where public voting equipment and ballots are stored – but in the short run it was an early-morning headache for election officials and voters alike.

The countdown is over and the day is here. Let’s do this.

In case you missed it, Election Day 2018 is TOMORROW. I recently shared the latest version of my usual pre-election post over at the Fors Marsh Group blog – it’s intended to be a viewer’s guide to the excitement (and occasional madness) of Election Day. Good luck to everyone casting, counting and covering ballots tomorrow – I will be thinking about all of you!

electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti is back with the latest installment of the site’s “what to watch” on Election Day 2018. It’s a pretty wide-ranging list; as she notes, “may the gods of democracy have mercy on our souls!”

Leaders of the Korean community in Harris County (Houston), TX are meeting with the county clerk after a dispute about translation at an early voting center this weekend. At issue is the conflict between the 100-foot “loitering” buffer around polling places and the desire to offer language assistance to those who need it.

With Election Day less than a week away, Native American tribes in North Dakota are hurriedly organizing to assign residential voting addresses in order to comply with a new state law. It’s yet another reminder that the little things – right down to the number on your house – can be important when it’s time to vote.

A new Pew Research Center poll finds that support for election policy changes varies by many different factors – but especially age, as younger voters of all partisan affiliations report preferences that are occasionally at odds with older voters of the same party. In particular, support for reforms like automatic voter registration and Election Day registration are higher among younger voters across party lines.