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Brian Newby traveled to Albania to view the country’s national election. Fortunately for all of us, he took the time to make some observations about U.S. elections, too – and share them online via ElectionDiary.

North Carolina’s voter ID rules are changing again – and now courts, election officials and everyone else is figuring out what it means. While the timing of the switch is promising for smooth election administration, there’s no guarantee that more change isn’t coming.

Hinds County (Jackson), MS is preparing to print tens of thousands more ballots than necessary for the August primary. Given state law and the desire of the election office to minimize risk, it’s a smart move that also makes no sense whatsoever.

electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti looks at what election offices do when poll workers don’t perform as they should. Sometimes, a simple facepalm just isn’t enough.

Lee County’s election supervisor is under fire and requesting an audit after questions were raised about voting technology purchases that were never put out for bid. It’s a useful reminder that the procurement process can be worth the pain. [UPDATED with vendor reaction]

Pew’s Voting Information Project has a new infographic that pulls back the cover on the project’s data flow to show how official information about where, when and how voters cast their ballots can move from election servers to voter devices in about three weeks.

Arkansas’ Secretary of State announced that the state has awarded a new voting equipment contract to ES&S despite no clear funding source – and the fact that the company’s proposal was as much as $10 million higher than its competitors.

A roundup of three stories from around the nation – a missing zero, a disgraced constable and a disagreement over money – reminds us that there is no small stuff in elections.
[Happy Monday.]

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner faced county election officials at a statewide meeting not long after his unsuccessful efforts to stop online voter registration – which they overwhelmingly supported. Suffice it to say the relationship needs a lot of work.

California’s Secretary of State and his allies in the Legislature are proposing a bill to adopt Colorado’s “ballot delivery” model. It’s a fascinating prospect that will challenge policymakers to confront if and how the system scales to California – and other states.