Ned Foley in Politico on what needs to happen to insure that vote by mail goes smoothly in November. … Continue reading
Category Archives: absentee ballots
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. … Continue reading
Michael Steele and Eli Lehrer have written this Washington Times oped. … Continue reading
Jessica Huseman for ProPublica: While mail-in ballots seem like an elegant solution as the United States grapples with containing COVID-19, experts say slow-moving state and county governments, inconsistent state rules and limited resources to buy essentials such as envelopes and … Continue reading
Pam Fessler reports for NPR. … Continue reading
Sign of the times: coronavirus effects: absentee ballot requests now up to 554,116 for WI April 7 election & prez primary. we were at 135,000 8 days ago. never happened before. can WI's system handle it? can mail partly or … Continue reading
AJC: The absentee voting effort will allow Georgians to decide on their choices for president and other elected offices from home, without having to visit in-person voting locations where the coronavirus could more easily spread. Early voting and election day … Continue reading
Taniel Q and A with Tammy Patrick. … Continue reading
Greg Sargent WaPo column. Here is a link to the Democrats’ House bill, which includes voting provisions, beginning at page 856. … Continue reading
Carrie Levine for CPI: In extraordinary circumstances and with enough money and resources, anything is possible, said Audrey Kline, national policy director of the National Vote at Home Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit that advocates for vote-by-mail options.“Based off what we are … Continue reading
WaPo: The rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic has forced election officials to consider a sobering reality: The crisis could run headlong into November’s presidential election, and revamping America’s voting systems before then could be difficult and in some cases impossible.Even as they postpone … Continue reading
New Yorker: Lately, I’ve been hearing people point out that a Presidential election was held in the midst of the Civil War, which illustrates either the commitment of American voters or the unyielding calendar of our democracy. A pandemic, with … Continue reading
Important read at Bloomberg View: With little but uncertainty ahead, Congress and the states must mobilize immediately to shift the nation to a largely vote-by-mail system by November. There are two obstacles to that goal — one practical, one political. Lurking behind … Continue reading
NYT reports. … Continue reading
For those like me who want and expect expanded absentee balloting in November, a reminder that there’s a lot of work to do. … Continue reading
In normal times, I think of absentee voting as an essential option, but I’ve not (yet?) bought into 100% vote-by-mail. The postal service is an astonishingly great institution, but there are some communities it serves less well than others, including … Continue reading
Independent Record: Five tribes in Montana, along with two get-out-the-vote organizations, filed a lawsuit in Yellowstone County on Thursday saying a ballot collection law violates the state Constitution because it unfairly restricts access to voting for Native Americans.The Ballot Interference Protection Act (BIPA), approved by voters … Continue reading
Dale in NYT Opinion: We can take four simple steps to reduce the risk of disenfranchisement:Ramp up public education on voting by mail. The good news is that in most states, eligible voters can already vote by mail. Thirty-three states and … Continue reading
AJC: Georgia voters must be quickly notified when election officials reject their absentee ballots, allowing them time to correct problems and have their ballots counted, according to a settlement with the Democratic Party announced Saturday. Under the settlement in federal court, Georgia … Continue reading
Detroit News: Results from Michigan’s presidential primary election Tuesday will come later than usual, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson cautioned during a Thursday press conference.Benson didn’t provide an estimate for how long results will be delayed after polls close Tuesday … Continue reading
Bloomberg Law: An Ohio law allowing unexpectedly hospitalized voters to get an absentee ballot as late as 3 p.m. on Election Day, while most voters, including prisoners, must request an absentee ballot by noon three days before, is constitutional, the … Continue reading
Detroit News: Michigan residents should be prepared for delayed results in next month’s presidential primaries — but the wait will be shorter than what’s anticipated in November’s general election, when results in some big cities aren’t expected until the following day, experts say. An increase in absentee … Continue reading
Detroit News: Michigan clerks should have been ready to mail absentee ballots to voters on Jan. 30, the state’s elections director indicated in an email to clerks on Thursday, a day after The Detroit News reported concerns about delays in … Continue reading
Free Press, with a quote from former election law prof Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Secretary of State: Adding hundreds of thousands of voters, many of whom will now be able to cast their ballots by voting absentee, will overwhelm local clerks … Continue reading
The cases have been referred for further investigation. The initial flag apparently comes from ERIC (the Electronic Registration Information Center), which is more careful than other systems at screening for false positives. … Continue reading
AP: Thousands of Ohio voters were held up or stymied in their efforts to get absentee ballots for last year’s general election because of missing or mismatched signatures on their ballot applications, an Associated Press review has found.The signature requirement … Continue reading
The new lawsuit from Voto Latino and Priorities USA raises both constitutional and Voting Rights Act claims. Read the complaint. … Continue reading
Detroit Free Press: With absentee voting skyrocketing since voters approved a ballot proposal last year allowing for its expansion, clerks across the state are worrying about counting ballots next year, when a record turnout is expected for the presidential race.Some … Continue reading
Detroit News: Local officials bracing for an influx of absentee voters are urging Michigan lawmakers to give clerks more time to process mail-in ballots and avoid logjams that could delay election night reporting results. But a top lawmaker in Michigan’s Republican-led … Continue reading
Michael Herron has written this article forthcoming in the Election Law Journal. Here is the abstract: The aftermath of the 2018 midterm election in North Carolina was marred by allegations of absentee ballot fraud in the state’s 9th Congressional District, … Continue reading
Quite a story from Yahoo News. … Continue reading
AJC: A new Georgia law that prevents absentee ballot rejections has resolved two federal lawsuits over last fall’s election.The law prohibits election officials from disqualifying absentee ballots because of a signature mismatch or a missing birth year and address. These protections for … Continue reading
From the DOJ press release: From October 2013 through November 2013, Raia instructed Dio Braxton, Matt Calicchio, Lizaida Camis, and other conspirators who worked for his campaign, to pay certain Hoboken voters $50 if those voters applied for and cast … Continue reading
Tina Rosenberg NYT column. … Continue reading
Miami New Times: An explosive, 150-page WhatsApp chat leaked to Miami New Times appears to show members of Miami-Dade County Commission District 5 candidate Alex Diaz de la Portilla’s 2018 campaign team discussing destroying or stealing absentee ballots from voters who selected … Continue reading
Hudson Reporter. … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
Politifact North Carolina reports. … Continue reading
From the introduction: A new election is the gravest remedy available to this State agency that has, for a century, supervised elections meant to ensure “[a]ll political power is vested in and derived from the people; all government of right … Continue reading
McConnell picks on one thing missing from H.R. 1. More on third parties collecting and returning absentee ballots, in California, here. … Continue reading
The Washington Examiner: Among the provisions Republicans may attach to the campaign finance legislation is one that would prohibit ballot harvesting, which is the practice of collecting absentee ballots and delivering them to a polling site with the intent to … Continue reading
Charlotte NPR: Earlier this week, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell spoke about the North Carolina Board of Election’s vote to hold a new election in the 9th Congressional District because absentee mail ballots were illegally harvested. McConnell spoke about that … Continue reading
You can find the 83 pages of opinions at this link. … Continue reading
WRAL editorial: It is hard to imagine where the North Carolina GOP leadership found the gall to have the Ninth Congressional District Republican Executive Committee pass a “resolution” demanding the State Board of Elections “immediately certify” Mark Harris the winner of that district’s … Continue reading
Mara Suttmann-Lea for the Monkey Cage. … Continue reading
WECT: As evidence mounts of potential election fraud in Bladen County, WECT has learned this may not be an isolated problem. WECT has just uncovered that things in Columbus County may be even worse. About a third of the absentee … Continue reading
Steve at Moritz: But the North Carolina story makes clear that it behooves states to do more to promote the security of absentee voting by mail. For starters, reform advocates must recognize that the convenience of absentee voting comes with … Continue reading
AP reports. … Continue reading
Details. … Continue reading