Category Archives: election administration

New Mexico Secretary of State seeks mandamus against county commission that refused to certify primary election results

June 15, 2022, 5:56 amelection administrationDerek Muller

UPDATE: Late this afternoon, the Court granted the writ. The Otero County Commission expressed “doubts” about the primary election at its meeting June 13. They have until June 17 to certify the election results, but at the meeting the… Continue reading

Ballot Paper Shortage

June 5, 2022, 5:31 amballot access, election administrationTabatha Abu El-Haj

The Bipartisan Policy Center will be releasing a report, Preparing for Ballot Paper Shortages in 2022 and 2024, that lays out recommendations to improve the supply and storage of ballot materials and contingency planning for last minute changes and delayed… Continue reading

“No evidence of exploitation of Dominion voting machine flaws, CISA finds”

May 28, 2022, 3:06 pmelection administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

Washington Post: The federal government has found no evidence that flaws in Dominion voting machines have ever been exploited, including in the 2020 election, according to the executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.CISA, an arm of… Continue reading

Arizona: “Gov. Ducey vetoes ‘vague’ voter cancellation bill”

May 28, 2022, 1:06 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Tucson.com: Gov. Doug Ducey has vetoed legislation which would have required county election officials to cancel the registration of anyone they determine is not qualified to vote.The move Friday, the first of the governor this session, came amid… Continue reading

Third Circuit Issues Its Opinion Signalled by Its Earlier Order Holding that Timely-Received Pennsylvania Ballots Lacking a Date Written in By Voter Must Be Counted (Relevant to Oz-McCormick Recount Too)

May 27, 2022, 10:20 amelection administrationRick Hasen

You can find the unanimous opinion, with a concurrence, at this link. The Court found that the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act allowed a private right of action and that the failure to include the date on… Continue reading

Wisconsin: “Republican state elections commissioner Dean Knudson abruptly resigns, rebuking his party’s embrace of Trump’s false election claims”

May 26, 2022, 7:37 amelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission under fire from members of his own party for refusing to entertain 2020 election distortions stunned his colleagues Wednesday by announcing his resignation from the oversight board and blasting the… Continue reading

Pam Fessler: “How to tell, and sell, the story of our elections”

May 26, 2022, 7:20 amelection administrationRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Pam Fessler: Brad Raffensperger – famous for rebuffing Trump’s call to “find” him 11,780 votes in 2020 – might have won the Republican primary for GA secretary of state. But the effort… Continue reading

“One Colorado Race Will Be About Voters’ Faith in Elections. It’s Not Looking Good.”

May 22, 2022, 5:25 pmelection administration, Election Meltdown, election subversion riskTabatha Abu El-Haj

Jennifer Oldham (in Politico) writes this long profile of the struggles facing Colorado’s State Secretary of State. “Election officials overall, 80 percent of whom are women, reported election misinformation makes their jobs more dangerous, according to a Brennan Center … Continue reading

“What to know about Pennsylvania’s election recount rules”

May 18, 2022, 7:59 amelection administrationPennsylvania Election LawsTabatha Abu El-Haj

For those that are curious, this short synopsis in the Philadelphia Inquirer is helpful. “Pennsylvania election law requires an automatic recount if the difference between the top two candidates for a statewide office is 0.5% of the vote or less.… Continue reading

“Printing error affects mailed ballots in Lancaster County”

May 17, 2022, 3:26 pmabsentee ballots, election administration2022 Election CycleTabatha Abu El-Haj

Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a printing error has caused problems with the processing of a not insignificant number of mail-in ballots in Lancaster County. Too bad, however, that this is being used as an excuse to oppose the 2019 expansion… Continue reading

“The Twitter account defending Australian democracy”

May 15, 2022, 4:53 amcheap speech, comparative election law, election administrationRichard Pildes

A must-read story from the Wa. Post on how Australia combats election disinformation: In a Canberra office covered in computer screens, the alerts began pouring in. “This needs a #FactCheck,” one person tweeted. “Is this not illegal?” another asked. Tagged… Continue reading

“DeSantis taps self-described ‘Florida gun lawyer’ to oversee elections”

May 13, 2022, 4:37 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

CNN: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has put in charge of the state’s election systems a deeply conservative state lawmaker who has championed legislation to ban so-called sanctuary cities and calls himself the “Florida gun lawyer.”DeSantis announced on Friday… Continue reading

“Paper Ballots Helped Secure the 2020 Election — What Will 2022 Look Like?”

May 10, 2022, 3:30 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Brennan Center: Nationwide, we estimate that 93 percent of all votes cast during the 2020 election had a paper record, whether filled out by hand or printed by a machine for the voter to review before casting their… Continue reading

“Trump allies breach U.S. voting systems in search of 2020 fraud ‘evidence'”

April 28, 2022, 6:37 amchicanery, election administration, fraudulent fraud squad, voting technologyRick Hasen

Reuters: Eighteen months after Donald Trump lost the White House, loyal supporters continue to falsely assert that compromised balloting machines across America robbed him of the 2020 election.To stand up that bogus claim, some Trump die-hards are taking the… Continue reading