Category Archives: election administration

“Election Officials on Radar of Rich Donors, Thanks to Trump”

September 15, 2021, 7:07 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Bloomberg: The once-obscure state-level job of overseeing elections has emerged as a prime target for wealthy donors and national organizers from both parties seeking an edge in the 2022 midterms that could shift control of Congress away from Democrats.Republicans are… Continue reading

More Disputes Over Fulton County, GA Election Administration and a Possible State Takeover

September 15, 2021, 7:01 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

AJC’s The Jolt: The Fulton County Commission could tap former Atlanta City Council president Cathy Woolard as the next chairwoman of the troubled elections board. And Republicans are up in arms. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued some of the… Continue reading

“California has a secure voting system — but more transparency wouldn’t hurt. Here’s why”

September 14, 2021, 4:14 pmelection administrationRick Hasen

Kim Alexander and Mike Alvarez oped in the SacBee: In light of the alarming and unsubstantiated claims that have been made, California’s Secretary of State and local election officials need to be transparent about how we verify election results, and… Continue reading

Bauer and Ginsberg: “Election officials need our legal help against repressive laws and personal threats”

September 8, 2021, 8:23 pmchicanery, election administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

WaPo oped: Election officials are coming under unprecedented attack for doing their jobs. Some states are attempting to criminalize the exercise of these officials’ trained professional judgments; some officials have been the target of threats to themselves and their families.… Continue reading

“Special Report: Terrorized U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement”

September 8, 2021, 8:21 pmelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Reuters: The case illustrates the glaring gaps in the protection that U.S. law enforcement provides the administrators of American democracy amid a sustained campaign of intimidation against election officials and staff. The unprecedented torrent of terroristic threats began in… Continue reading

“Civil Rights Organizations and an Election Official File Challenge to Texas Anti-Voter Legislation”

September 3, 2021, 10:27 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Release: A voting bill that will make it harder for Texans, particularly voters of color, to cast their ballots is unconstitutional and violates federal voting rights law because it diminishes access to the ballot box, according to a lawsuit… Continue reading

“Experts call for rigorous audit to protect California recall”

September 3, 2021, 7:13 amelection administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

AP: A group of election security experts on Thursday called for a rigorous audit of the upcoming recall election for California’s governor after copies of systems used to run elections across the country were released publicly.Their letter sent to … Continue reading

“The Experiences of Municipal Clerks and the Electorate in the November 2020 General Election in Wisconsin”

September 3, 2021, 7:07 amelection administrationRick Hasen

New report from Barry Burden. From the Executive Summary: Despite the many challenges that election officials and voters faced as a result of the pandemic and the spread of misinformation, surveys of both groups show that the 2020 general election… Continue reading

Texas enacted SB 598, which includes a paper audit requirement and a risk-limiting audit

September 2, 2021, 7:43 pmelection administrationDerek Muller

Earlier today, I lamented that SB 1 in Texas omitted the paper audit or paper ballot requirement that was in its original SB 7. Since that post, I was informed that the Texas legislature did enact, with near unanimity,… Continue reading

The disappearance of a paper ballot requirement in Texas’s SB 1

September 2, 2021, 10:32 amelection administrationDerek Muller

IMPORTANT UPDATE AND CORRECTION: Texas did enact a version of this requirement in a separate bill, SB 598. See my update here. Texas’s SB 1, in my judgment, is a hodgepodge of sensible and strange rules that will add a… Continue reading

“Heeding Steve Bannon’s Call, Election Deniers Organize to Seize Control of the GOP — and Reshape America’s Elections”

September 2, 2021, 8:11 amchicanery, election administration, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

ProPublica: One of the loudest voices urging Donald Trump’s supporters to push for overturning the presidential election results was Steve Bannon. “We’re on the point of attack,” Bannon, a former Trump adviser and far-right nationalist, pledged on his popular podcast… Continue reading

“The election gambit that’s sending Georgia Democrats into a frenzy”

September 2, 2021, 7:06 amelection administration, election subversion riskRick Hasen

Politico: Georgia Republicans say it’s merely an attempt to improve a chronically mismanaged elections administration.But a newly-formed election review panel in Atlanta’s Fulton County is nevertheless sparking outrage — and paranoia — from Democrats who believe it’s the GOP’s first… Continue reading

“G.O.P. Election Reviews Create a New Kind of Security Threat”

September 1, 2021, 1:05 pmchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

NYT: Late one night in May, after surveillance cameras had inexplicably been turned off, three people entered the secure area of a warehouse in Mesa County, Colo., where crucial election equipment was stored. They copied hard drives and election-management software… Continue reading