September 2012

Concerns about a slowdown in absentee ballot requests (especially by the military) could just be a function of the calendar – in particular, the bouncing ball that is Election Day.

A new Nieman Reports piece contains valuable advice for journalists or anyone else seeking to gauge the health of their local electoral process.

Stories from Michigan and Connecticut involving potential funding shortfalls for elections reveal how the current fiscal climate is creating new challenges for election officials in the run-up to Election Day.

A new MinnPost article looks at the importance of definitions (specifically the phrase “substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification”) to the question of how voter ID would reshape Minnesota’s election system.

The debate over whether or not the Washington Nationals should have “shut down” their pitching ace Stephen Strasburg is reminiscent of the way election policy debates use heated rhetoric to fill an evidentiary vacuum.

A new report exposing slow implementation of the MOVE Act’s requirement for in-person voting assistance offices at military installations is raising eyebrows and rekindling the “physical vs. virtual” debate about how best to serve military and overseas voters.

The National Association of Secretaries of State has declared September 2012 to be National Voter Registration Month – one thing that all sides of the election debate appear to be willing to agree about.

Ohio SoS Jon Husted is taking a “wait and see” approach on early voting pending appeal of last week’s federal court order. It’s a decision to embrace one kind of uncertainty over another in an environment where court and election calendars collide.

The three-judge federal court’s opinion in the Texas voter ID case points up some fascinating questions about the role of data – and tees up a fascinating (and potentially far-reaching) argument in the U.S. Supreme Court next year.