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A popular topic here on the blog has been the advent of early voting in Massachusetts – its enactment, concerns about implementation and a recent veto of state funding by the Governor (subsequently overriden by the legislature). Now, with the general election less than 100 days away, a new report finds that many cities and towns aren’t yet ready to implement the change.

Cybersecurity concerns related to recent news stories about email “hacks” and other cyberattacks have led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to consider measures to protect the nation’s voting systems. It is vital for election officials in jurisdictions of every size and at every level to develop an awareness of cybersecurity issues – and, where possible to harden their systems against such attacks.

I missed a few blogging days this week, and – as often happens in an election year – the election world didn’t stand still while I was gone. Specifically, three more courts in three more states (North Carolina, Wisconsin and Kansas) issued rulings that will likely have an impact on this fall’s election. Indeed, the the litigation about these laws could very well last right up until voters go to the polls in November.

The past few weeks have seen a steady parade of developments that help to bring the rules and procedures involved in the 2016 election more into focus. But the picture isn’t completely clear just yet, and electionline’s Mindy Moretti has a look in this week’s newsletter at what election officials are doing to cope with the uncertainty.

I sat down recently with my colleague Larry Jacobs to discuss his new course “Strategic Management for Election Administration”, which aims to help students survive and thrive as a nonpartisan professional in partisan policy environment. [There’s also bonus coverage from a new profile of our program in Governing Magazine!]

Last week, a federal court in Michigan issued an injunction blocking a new law that eliminates straight ticket voting in the Great Lakes State, citing racial disparities in the use of the practice across the state. The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, includes a detailed analysis under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – and could have repercussions beyond Michigan as a result.

In Kansas, a constant stream of legal developments has left just about everyone concerned uncertain about what will be expected on Election Day in November. A new article likens the process to a game of ping-pong – which is an excellent analogy because of the somewhat-frenzied speed with which litigation has changed the landscape. Unfortunately, it looks like the game is far from over.

Three significant court cases in three different states (Virginia, Wisconsin and Texas) had key developments late last week – clarifying if not yet cementing the rules that will be in place for elections this fall.

This week’s electionlineWeekly includes some news I’ve been hinting at for a while but am very excited to share: we will be adding an election design course – inspired, created and taught by the Center for Civic Design’s Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell – to the offerings at our online program starting this fall!

Yesterday, the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas’ voter ID law has a discriminatory effect against minority voters and thus must be limited accordingly. It did not, however, overturn the law for all voters.