Archive for 2018

Yesterday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed two bills that clear the way for Florida to become the 24th member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Adding Florida to the list (as the most populous state so far) will improve the exchange’s effectiveness across the board – a huge “get” for ERIC and the Sunshine State.

A new report from the Minnesota State Auditor recommends that the state upgrade its statewide voter registration database to improve security – a finding that the Secretary to State is already asking the Legislature to help implement with funding.

Members of the Election Infrastructure Subsector Government Coordinating Council recently published an “open letter” to voters addressing their work to enhance the nation’s election cybersecurity. While it won’t be easy, this effort suggests that common strategies to resist cyberthreats to the America’s voting system are on the way.

The Virginia Department of Elections is moving to adopt new ballot guidelines after mismarked ballots became an issue in key races in last year’s elections.

New England’s third nor’easter snowstorm in as many weeks pummeled New Hampshire yesterday, on the same day as voters across the state were supposed to head to the polls. But unlike last year, when bad weather forced many towns to cancel local elections, voting went ahead as state officials moved to restrict such cancellations.

A group of 19 bipartisan Secretaries of State and state election officials has written a letter to U.S. Senate leadership vehemently opposing legislative language in the DHS reauthorization bill that they say would allow armed Secret Service personnel at the polls.

The election world suffered a huge loss this weekend with the death of longtime Boone County, MO Clerk Wendy Noren. Wendy’s legacy is immeasurable; so many “cutting edge” ideas in play today in the election field were pioneered in Boone County thanks to her foresight – and ferocious dedication to the work.

The latest electionlineWeekly has a guest post from California’s Contra Costa County, describing that office’s efforts to augment polling place accessibility by educating poll workers on key issues involving voting by people with disabilities.

MIT’s Charles Stewart has a new post up over at Election Updates looking at how public opinion about election hacking has changed since the 2016 election … with fascinating insights into partisan differences about the seriousness of such threats – which have a follow-on effect on policymaking on election security.

Anyone who’s ever looked at their own signature and cringed at the thought of what their second grade teacher would think (or is it just me?) will cheer the news from California, where a court has ruled that the state must give voters a chance to fix questionable signatures before rejecting a ballot.