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In Iowa, the somewhat predictable emergence of the voter ID issue is taking an unexpectedly different shape as Secretary of State Paul Pate says it’s aimed not at voter fraud, but efficiency. The SoS is so interested in improving election administration that he’s proposing to put IDs in the hands of voters without them. Questions remain but it’s definitely a new approach to a very familiar debate.

Washington State’s Dave Ammons may have retired, but he’s still thinking about his colleague in election administration, as evidenced by his guest post in the latest edition of electionlineWeekly entitled “Seven Habits of Effective Election Administrators”. It’s a nice reminder to stay aware of the pubic-facing part of election administration as public service.

On Tuesday, I wrote about how January can be a challenge for election officials because of “follow-on” special elections necessitated by November results. That day, voters in Lynchburg, Virginia stood in long lines for a state senate special election because the city had underestimated the number of ballots needed. It’s a tough call for communities seeking to balance voter demand and scarce resources.

Yesterday, my friend and colleague Charles Stewart shared the news that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had created the MIT Election Data and Science Lab to advance the use of data in election administration. It’s a huge development which allows Charles to continue promoting (and more importantly, modeling) an evidence-based approach to election administration.

After a busy November, you’d think election officials would get a break. But January has become a magnet for special elections necessitated by general election results – with a whole new set of challenges for election offices.

Last Friday, Secretary Jeh Johnson of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that his agency was designating election infrastructure as “critical infrastructure”. That designation raises some key questions about scope, policy – and permanence – that likely mean we are in for more talk than action in the immediate future.

Taking a blogging break for the holidays and a short family vacation … posts will resume Monday, January 9.

One of my favorite features over at electionlineWeekly is Mindy Moretti’s “exit interviews” with departing Secretaries of State. Her latest focuses on Montana’s Linda McCulloch and West Virginia’s Natalie Tennant.

David Ammons, communications director for the Washington Secretary of State’s office, is retiring at the end of the year – a well-deserved break after over four-and-a-half decades as a reporter and public servant in the Evergreen State.

A few weeks ago, the Census Bureau released its updated minority language determinations under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. A new blog post by Democracy Fund senior fellow Terry Ao Minnis and Stacey Scholl examines what new and continuing jurisdictions on that list can do to comply with the law – and help their voters.