Michael Wines for the NYT: The federal Election Assistance Commission was formed after the disputed 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore and given an innocuous name and a seemingly inoffensive mission: to help state election officials make … Continue reading
Category Archives: Election Assistance Commission
AP: A nonprofit public advocacy group called Wednesday for an investigation of a top federal elections official in the wake of a media report about his communications with one of the nation’s leading advocates of voting restrictions. Washington, D.C.,-based Allied … Continue reading
Important Sari Horwitz WaPo piece on Kobach: Kobach, 50, first entered the national spotlight several years ago when he advised Mitt Romney on the idea of “self-deportation” for illegal immigrants during the 2012 presidential campaign. A former chairman of the … Continue reading
AP: A Kansas county elections official used close ties to one of the nation’s leading advocates of voting restrictions to help secure the top job at a government agency entrusted with making voting more accessible, and then used the federal … Continue reading
Release: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is asking questions about the Justice Department’s refusal to defend the actions of the Election Assistance Commission, an independent federal agency without litigation authority, despite the law requiring the department to represent the … Continue reading
AP: A top U.S. election official improperly claimed mileage and travel expenses, intentionally skirted oversight of government credit card expenses and wasted taxpayer funds while at his former job as an elections commissioner in Kansas, according to an audit released … Continue reading
WaPo editorial. … Continue reading
Interesting interview, touching on issues including voter fraud and voter suppression. But no mention of the current raging controversy over Kansas. etc. id requirements and the ongoing litigation. … Continue reading
Josh Gerstein: A federal judge has turned down a request to block a federal official’s move allowing three states to enforce proof-of-citizenship requirements for people attempting to register as voters. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon declined to issue the … Continue reading
Zack Roth: Also in the filing, Newby said in a sworn deposition that he decided to change the form after receiving a list of non-citizens who had “recently” registered to vote in Kansas. The list was sent by Kansas Secretary of State … Continue reading
Josh Gerstein: A federal judge sounded skeptical Monday about a request from voting and civil rights’ groups to block a federal official’s decision to embrace requirements in three states that new voters submit proof that they’re U.S. citizens. During a … Continue reading
Josh Gerstein: In an unusual move, the Obama Administration is backing the issuance of a court injunction blocking a federal official’s decision to approve new voter registration forms that allow three states to insist that voters provide copies of documents … Continue reading
Must-read Sari Horwitz in WaPo on what’s the matter with Kansas (hint: It’s Kris Kobach.) … Continue reading
Release: A federal judge should immediately block U.S. Election Assistance Commission Executive Director Brian D. Newby’s action to allow three states to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form, according to a motion filed today by … Continue reading
A ChapinBlog. … Continue reading
Release: U.S. Election Assistance Commission Executive Director Brian D. Newby’s action to allow three states to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form is illegal, argued the League of Women Voters of the United States, along … Continue reading
TPM: In an interview with TPM earlier this week, Kobach defended the move and Newby’s authority to issue it. He denied that it was any special favor from a former colleague, and said the state would have requested the proof-of-citizenship … Continue reading
Here’s the letter: The undersigned are a collection of good-government, disability rights, civil rights, and voting rights groups that work to protect the right of every eligible American to vote. We write now urging you to immediately withdraw your letters addressed … Continue reading
Must-read Zach Roth for MSNBC: Newby’s move sparked instant criticism. In astatement posted online Tuesday, the panel’s lone Democratic commissioner, Vice Chair Thomas Hicks, wrote that Newby had acted “unilaterally,” and that his decision “contradicts policy and precedent established by the … Continue reading
NPR’s Pam Fessler on the confusion at the EAC: For his part, Newby told NPR that he believes it’s within his power to make changes to the instructions that accompany the federal voter registration form, in response to a state’s … Continue reading
Arizona’s Politics reports. … Continue reading
NPR’s Pam Fessler tweets: EAC director @briannewby says KS proof-of-citizenship requirement on federal voter registration form “not necessarily final” EAC can review … Continue reading
Doug Chapin: The timing of this action is a little curious, given the prospect of renewed partisan warfare over proof-of-citizenship just as the EAC is making progress on other fronts like voting technology and election preparedness. It also isn’t clear … Continue reading
Read it here. … Continue reading
Doug Chapin with some good news. … Continue reading
Doug Chapin: The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is almost back at full strength with the announcement this morning that Johnson County, KS’ Brian Newby has been appointed the agency’s executive director and Washington DC’s Cliff Tatum has been named general … Continue reading
Pam Fessler for NPR: Don’t expect Congress to shell out any money when it comes to replacing aging voting equipment. That’s what Christy McCormick, chairwoman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), says her agency is telling state and local … Continue reading
Rokey Suleman and R. Doug Lewis in The Hill: Simply put, old voting equipment is expensive to maintain and is more prone to failures. That can mean machine freezes, shut downs, and in the worst cases, erroneous vote tallies. And … Continue reading
Boo! The National Association of Secretaries of States has renewed its deplorable and indefensible call to stop funding the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The EAC is no panacea but it can do some very helpful work on issues of voting … Continue reading
LAT editorial. … Continue reading
Kobach v. EAC is getting close to the end of briefing and a decision on whether to take the case. [Update: The government’s brief in opposition is here.] The case could be a doozy on the question of federal … Continue reading
That’s the lead story in this week’s Electionline Weekly. … Continue reading
Wichita Eagle: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision and restore a state law he wrote requiring proof-of-citizenship documents to register to vote. Kobach wants the Supreme Court to … Continue reading
A ChapinBlog. … Continue reading
Details of March 19 event and link to webcast. It’s an A list of participants. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA reports. … Continue reading
USA Today reports. … Continue reading
A ChapinBlog. … Continue reading
Adam Ambrogi blogs. … Continue reading
Press release: Members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) met Tuesday. This meeting marked the first time the Commission was able to meet with a quorum of Commissioners in four years. The Commission addressed a variety of pressing issues … Continue reading
A ChapinBlog. … Continue reading
Yesterday [corrected] the 10th Circuit panel which decided the Kobach v. EAC case issued this one line order denying rehearing. Kansas and Arizona did not seek rehearing en banc, so the only place to go now is SCOTUS for further … Continue reading
The Washington Free Beacon reports. … Continue reading
USA Today reports. … Continue reading
Doug Chapin’s irrational exuberance. … Continue reading
After years of the United States Election Assistance Commission having NO commissioners, tonight in a flurry of activity the Senate confirmed the following three members of the EAC: Thomas Hicks, Matthew Masterson, and Christy McCormick. These are two Republican-chosen commissioners … Continue reading
BNA reports here ($): “Two Republican nominees to long-vacant seats on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) were advanced late Dec. 3 by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, but their confirmations in the current term of Congress were doubtful … Continue reading
A ChapinBlog. … Continue reading
Bloomberg BNA: The Senate Rules and Administration Committee called off Nov. 20 a vote on long-awaited nominees to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a small federal agency providing help to state and local voting officials that has had no commissioners … Continue reading