Posts by Doug Chapin

This past weekend, state election officials were in town for the NASS and NASED winter meetings. Along with the usual discussions, however, there was a new feature: classified security briefings from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other intelligence agencies.

Last week, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government released an election cybersecurity playbook for state and local election officials. The document is absolutely jam-packed with information and advice on this critical issue – with the most important top-level information included in a list of “10 best practices that apply to all election systems.”

Back in January, I wrote about a proposed new law in Idaho that would eliminate gender information on state voter registration forms. electionline’s Mindy Moretti decided to take that one step further and see what the status of the issue is nationwide – and it’s the subject of her piece in the latest electionlineWeekly.

I’m traveling this weekend so the blog will take a short break until Tuesday, February 20.

Election officials often complain about the cost of special elections – especially when they’re not covered by policymakers – but recently some governors have been criticized for their decisions to cite cost as a reason to delay or skip them altogether.

The Department of Homeland Security and NBC News are sparring over a recent report about election hacking in 2016, with the network labeling it “breaking news” and DHS saying it’s not only misleading but old news from last summer.

Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray resigned last Friday in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against him. It’s a story with dimensions far beyond the elections world, but a vacancy in the state’s top elections job – for any reason – is not something that Wyoming welcomes in a statewide election year.

Orange County’s innovative Election Academy is the subject of this week’s electionlineWeekly. It’s a great way to bring key community members into the election process in a way that benefits everyone.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced yesterday that he is issuing an executive order to study the issue of vote-by-mail. Early voting will also be on the table, though both proposals will face partisan opposition in the legislature.

New legislation in Kansas is pitting election commissioners in the state’s four largest counties against elected county officials in a fight over who has the power to set election budgets.