In 2022, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania had ballot marking device paper shortages for some voters. Last week, a federal court denied (in part) a motion to dismiss in French v. County of Luzerne, brought by voters who did not vote and alleged they could not wait due to their health or disability. A handful of Fourteenth Amendment claims against Luzerne County may proceed.

And in 2023, nine precincts in Hinds County, Mississippi ran out of ballots, prompting voters to wait while election officials scrambled to get more ballots. An inquiry from Congress and questions from voting rights groups have arisen, here reported by the Associated Press.

These issues seem tailor made for bipartisan federal solutions to fund and equip election stations nationwide, similar to the COVID grants in 2020 so effectively distributed. But the clock is ticking for effective implementation ahead of 2024.