Archive for October 2011

The latest twist in the Cuyahoga absentee voting saga finds voters confused by the design of ballots. This post examines the issue of usability and makes the case that election officials need to become more attentive to the science of “how people use stuff.”

Madison, WI’s recent mock election to test the effects of the new voter ID law is an excellent example of how observational data – and the effort to collect it – can pay dividends for election officials, pollworkers and voters alike.

New data on minority languages was released yesterday which will form the basis for requirements for language assistance in elections in jurisdictions across the nation. This post takes a preliminary look at the data as well as a look ahead at its impact.

A new EAC report on military and overseas voting has given the election geek world a new wealth of data to analyze. This post, though, looks at the holes that still exist in the data and asks what can be done to improve response rates.

Taking a short break – back Wednesday October 12!

Student voters are once again a source of controversy. This post suggests that the challenge students pose is not inherent to their status as students but rather the result of the inability of registration systems to keep pace with America’s growing mobility.

Recent stories have examined the trend toward de-emphasizing local government, which could signal a profound change in election administration. But South Carolina’s experience with the 2012 presidential primary suggests localities will not go quietly – or cheaply.

Recent stories in West Virginia and Louisiana highlight the growing need for election officials to act to protect voters. This post discusses some tools and tactics that can help.

A recent Wisconsin report cleared Waukesha clerk Kathy Nickolaus of criminal wrongdoing in the mishandling of election returns in the April 2011 Supreme Court race. Yet the report still holds some key lessons for anyone in the high-profile job of election administration.

This post uses inflation data to adjust the North Dakota election costs we discussed last week to constant 2010 dollars. The results are a little surprising – and raise other questions about what was happening to affect election costs during that time.