Alabama touts first-in-the-nation security emblem on ballots

June 25, 2025, 10:03 pmelection administration, voting technologyballot design, election securityJustin Levitt

Plenty of states use features like watermarks on most official ballot papers (sometimes with express exceptions for ballots submitted by overseas citizens and voters with disabilities), but Alabama says it’s the first with security emblems invisible to the human eye… Continue reading

“New Connecticut law improves voting access to some people in prison”

June 25, 2025, 10:02 pmelection administrationincarcerated votersJustin Levitt

The Darien Times reports on the implementation of access for incarcerated but eligible voters in Connecticut, who are mostly in pre-trial detention. Focusing on the logistics — as they’ve done in Colorado — results in significant (and unsurprising) improvements on… Continue reading

“The Protection and Advocacy System: A Little-Known Program Strengthening Community Living and Voting Access for People with Disabilities”

June 25, 2025, 10:01 pmvoters with disabilitieselection budgetsJustin Levitt

As Congress considers dramatic cuts to the P&A system – a congressionally created network of nonprofits serving people with disabilities, including in voting access — the BPC has a new primer on what the P&A system is and does. … Continue reading

“New York City’s mayoral primary casts bright light on ranked choice voting — and its future nationally”

June 25, 2025, 10:00 pmalternative voting systems, primariesranked-choice votingJustin Levitt

NBC reports on the big spotlight that ranked-choice voting got on Tuesday, and suggests that the election may provide both proponents and opponents with “fresh data.”

Watching NYC results unfold

June 25, 2025, 7:47 amalternative voting systems, primariesinstant runoff votingJustin Levitt

My last post yesterday highlighted the patience NYC voters might need, but it looks like the verdict was pretty clear even in the first round of results, and will likely get clearer as the count rolls on. As the count… Continue reading

Was Mamdani the “Condorcet Winner” in NYC mayoral primary?

June 25, 2025, 7:43 amUncategorizedNed Foley

We will need to wait to see the cast vote records from the primary (they were available last time, so presumably—and hopefully—they will be again this time), but it’s conceivable that Mamdani was not the Condorcet Winner. In an election… Continue reading

A little bit of patience in NYC

June 24, 2025, 1:25 pmabsentee ballots, alternative voting systems, election administrationinstant runoff votingJustin Levitt

NYC news outlets today are letting voters know they may need a little bit of patience to get results from the primary. The City’s board of elections has a helpful explainer on why. First-choice results can be tabulated right away. … Continue reading

“With $25 Million, Pro-Cuomo Super PAC Shatters Outside Spending Records”

June 24, 2025, 1:24 pmcampaign financelocal electionsJustin Levitt

The NYT reports on the largest super PAC in a NYC mayoral election. (So far.)

“Running a low-turnout Georgia runoff election could cost $100 per vote”

June 24, 2025, 1:23 pmalternative voting systems, election administrationelection budgets, runoff electionsJustin Levitt

The AP’s lede: Miller County Election Supervisor Jerry Calhoun says he’s not sure anyone will vote in an upcoming Democratic primary runoff. After all, the southwest Georgia county only recorded one vote in the June 17 Democratic primary for… Continue reading

“North Carolina to send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking for missing registration info”

June 24, 2025, 1:22 pmprovisional ballots, The Voting Wars, voter registrationHAVAJustin Levitt

The AP has the report, following on the DOJ’s case I’ve been blogging. This report has a piece of info that’s new to me, though: About half of the 200,000 affected voters would be limited to casting provisional… Continue reading

“Republican majorities named to North Carolina’s 100 local election boards”

June 24, 2025, 1:21 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

The News & Observer reports that the State Auditor has appointed a new slate of county election officials, after North Carolina shifted responsibility for those assignments from the Democratic Governor to the Republican State Auditor. The law making that change… Continue reading

“Voters beware: 25 states restrict AI in elections. SC is in the other half.”

June 24, 2025, 1:20 pmcampaigns, cheap speechArtificial IntelligenceJustin Levitt

As the Daily Gazette points out, though 25 states have either bans or rules about disclosures for AI in campaign materials, the current draft of the “Big Beautiful Bill” has a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulations that would likely… Continue reading

“Interviewing FEC Filings with llm-fecfile”

June 24, 2025, 1:19 pmcampaign financeArtificial IntelligenceJustin Levitt

Data journalist Derek Willis has an interesting new tool: Today I’m releasing a new Python command-line library that allows users to ask questions of federal campaign finance filings by leveraging large language models, with some built-in help. This project,… Continue reading

“High Turnover with Low Accountability: Local School Board Elections in 16 States”

June 24, 2025, 1:18 pmvotinglocal elections, turnover, voter turnoutJustin Levitt

An intriguing new paper by Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane Lavertu, and Zachary Peskowitz: We analyze the most comprehensive dataset on U.S. school board elections. We find that nearly half of races go uncontested and that incumbents are reelected more than 80… Continue reading