Archive for July 2019

A Boise, ID neighborhood annexed by the city in 2014 was left off the voting rolls for almost five years – frustrating residents and leading some to seek a refund of their property taxes. It’s the latest example of what happens when mapmakers from one part of local government are not coordinating with the elections office.

A new report from Rutgers University professors Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse finds that turnout among voters with disabilities surged in 2018 – although still lagging behind the rate of voters without disabilities. It’s a signal that voters with disabilities should remain a high priority for the election community in 2020 – and beyond.

Days after vetoing a bill that would have tied new state funding for voting equipment to a straight-ticket voting ban, Pennsylvania’s governor has announced plans to unilaterally issue state bonds to cover counties’ costs.

A razor-thin primary for Queens, NY district attorney has led one local lawmaker to propose a unique idea: do-overs for voters whose candidates drop out before Election Day.

Hawaii became the fourth state to move to an all vote-by-mail system with the Governor’s signature of an election bill late last month. It will be interesting to see if Hawaii’s new system – which seems to be working well in places like Colorado – has a comparable impact in the Aloha State.

As the nation prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July, I am declaring my (short) independence from blogging … posts will resume on Monday, July 8.

Pennsylvania lawmakers and the Governor are currently at odds over a largely party-line compromise that would impose a straight-ticket voting ban as part of a bill providing $90 million in borrowing authority for new voting equipment.

Last week, The Democracy Fund released a new report, Stewards of Democracy, detailing the results of a survey of thousands of local election officials across the country. It’s a fascinating report and one I highly recommend as we continue to try and understand the election community – one local official at a time.