Two Arrests for Election Fraud in Florida
Two recent arrests for election fraud in Florida demonstrate the importance of having checks at every point of the process. One was of a temporary election worker who was filling in blanks on mail-in ballots she was processing, and the other was a person hired by a non-profit to register…
Behind the Scenes – Mail Ballot Processing
This fascinating behind the scenes view of mail ballot processing in Kern County, California, includes a description of the important signature verification process that protects against mail-in ballot fraud: Across the room, under the surveillance cameras that document everything done in the Elections Division, computers loaded up all the…
Voters Beware! Electioneering Prohibitions Apply to Voters
In addition to examining a sample ballot and determining how they will vote, brining any necessary identification to the polls, and checking out their state’s rules regarding ballot selfies, voters in most states need to be careful what they wear to the polls. Most states have prohibitions on electioneering (campaigning for or…
Maine Voters to Consider Statewide Change of Voting System to Ranked Choice Voting
Maine will be considering Question 5, ranked choice voting initiative on this years November ballot. Some general analysis can be found here. This initiative is interesting for a number of reasons, primarily because as of August 2016, there were no states that currently used ranked-choice for standard statewide elections. According to Ballotpedia, “currently all states…
DOJ Will Observe 2016 Election, Needs Court Order to Monitor State Polling Places
A lengthy story in the Charlotte Observer describes the reduction of Department of Justice observers in polling places across the country. After the Shelby County case on the formula for Section 5 VRA coverage, the Department now needs to show a Court that there is a reason and need to involuntary require…
Aging Technology and User Error Pose Problems for Voting Machines
Already with early voting, there are reports of voting machines flipping votes: In every recent election, there have been reports of voters pressing one candidate’s name on a touch-screen machine, only to have the opponent’s name light up instead. It can be unnerving for voters and often leads to…
Miami Dade Supervisor of Elections Is Violating Election Law By Returning Mail Ballots to Early Voters
According to sources in Miami, the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections is inexplicably violating Florida election law and increasing the election’s vulnerability to double voting. By direction, poll workers are failing to “cancel and collect mail ballots” returned back to the early voting polling place by mail voters who decide to vote at an early voting site. …
Poll: 72% of Americans Very Concerned About Security of Elections
Roll Call reports on an alarming number for both sides of the partisan aisle on the concern over the security of elections. More than two out of every three U.S. citizens in a recent poll say they are very or somewhat concerned about the security of the nation’s electoral…
Wisconsin Federal Judge approves expanded Photo ID educational program
Out of Wisconsin, NPR reports on the Wisconsin photo ID law. Yesterday, a federal judge approved an expanded photo ID educational program, but there are a few additional issues in dispute that still need to be decided. For example, the use of mobile DMV units to provide free IDs before the election…
Not So Fast! Selfies May (or May Not) Be Legal in Your Polling Place
Depending on where you vote, a photo selfie may or may not be legal in your polling place. This New Mexico article Let me just take a ballot box selfie? Not so fast shows that the law is still in a state of flux. As the election inches closer,…