Posts by Doug Chapin

McDuffie County, GA’s election office is suddenly shorthanded with Election Day approaching as two full-time staff and some temporary workers have contracted COVID-19.

Following the news that its county clerk is resigning, Texas’ Harris County (Houston) is discussing whether or not to follow the lead of other counties and appoint rather than elect its election administrator.

A new report from the Wisconsin Election Commission analyzes the state’s April 7 election, with special attention to the spike in absentee ballots and a look ahead to the general election in the fall.

Missouri voters will have expanded opportunities to vote by mail in 2020 after the legislature agreed to a compromise bill that broadened the reasons to obtain an absentee ballot but excluded a voter ID provision sought by the Secretary of State.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA is fielding questions from voters after a software problem resulted in mailings of duplicate ballots for the state’s upcoming primary.

Texas’ Attorney General is asking the state Supreme Court to halt counties’ expanded use of absentee balloting due to coronavirus concerns for the upcoming run-off elections.

Election offices across the country facing increased demand for mail ballots are searching for help to process the mountain of requests and ballots from voters – and in Chesapeake, VA that help is coming from staff at the local library.

Four federal agencies have sent states a memo expressing concerns about the security risks associated with electronic ballot return systems some states are planning to use in 2020.

California’s Governor announced last Friday that voters will all be mailed ballots for the November election, making it the largest state so far to shift to vote-by-mail for 2020. It will require confronting policy and fiscal challenges – and require aggressive voter outreach – in order to work in November.

A new study by the Federal Voting Assistance Program examines state UOCAVA websites and finds that while all but a few can be quickly located and contain the majority of the information voters need, most can improve their readability and ease of use by voters.