Archive for 2019

As the nation begins to mark the centennial of the passage and ultimate ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution – granting women the vote – electionlineWeekly’s Mindy Moretti reached out to other female election leaders across the country for their thoughts on the issue of suffrage.

Newly-elected Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the state legislature are at odds over election funding in the latest state budget – especially regarding funds for federal matching and for the SoS to assist localities. Here’s hoping the two sides can make it work before preparations for 2020 get too much further underway.

The District of Columbia City Council is considering some big changes to the city’s election laws, including authorizing voting while incarcerated (including vote-by-mail!) for felons and a Colorado-style ballot delivery system with ballots mailed to all voters.

I’m taking the end of semester as an opportunity for some family travel … short blogging break but I’ll return on Wednesday, June 5.

Colorado’s Judd Choate and DHS’ Matt Masterson will present a webinar today at noon Central on “Election Security: Preparing for 2020”. It’s free and will be a worthwhile look at what you can and should do to protect yourself and the election process. Come join us!

Texas Secretary of State David Whitley submitted his resignation yesterday afternoon after it became clear that controversy over a statewide non-citizen voter investigation meant he would not receive enough votes to be confirmed by the State Senate.

Jennifer Morrell, who has been doing yeoman’s work in the election community on the subject of risk-limiting audits, has a new two-part report out for the Democracy Fund entitled “Knowing It’s Right.” It answers two key questions – why RLAs are important, and how they work in practice for the people who must implement them.

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) grew to 27 members yesterday with the announcement that the State of Georgia is joining 25 states and the District of Columbia to share information on voter registration, including eligible citizens who are not registered to vote. It’s a huge “get” for ERIC.

One fun new trend in the election world has been the development of community-specific “I Voted” stickers for use at the polls. Yesterday, election officials in Ohio and Arlington County, VA unveiled the winners of their contests to choose a new sticker, giving voters a first look at the items that will grace their lapels on Election Day.

Pennsylvania’s Mercer County will use amateur radio operators for today’s primary election to assist with election communications in a polling location with no landline and spotty cell service. It’s an example of how local election officials work to overcome communication challenges and bring redundancy into their Election Day operations.