House Passes Partisan Election Security Bill Stripping States of Autonomy
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2722, the Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, after a highly contentious display of partisanship in the Committee on House Administration, right as our Nation is faced with continuing threats to our elections. While all indicators point to this legislation having little…
Arizona’s Establishment of Electoral Integrity Unit Highlights Rare Bipartisan Consensus
In the wake of the 2018 Senate election in Arizona, politicians grew concerned of the status quo of safeguards protecting voters, protecting ballots, and protecting the overall electoral process in the state. Over the course of the election and the post-mortem analysis, a number of inconsistencies in the process startled…
Supreme Court May Weigh in on Partisan Gerrymandering Fight
Last Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a temporary stay on the redrawing of legislative maps in Ohio and Michigan. Ohio’s lower court decision, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, sought to redraw 16 Congressional districts prior to the 2020 election. The…
Congressional Hearing Highlights Importance of Federal-State Partnerships in Election Cybersecurity
On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing, “Securing U.S. Election Infrastructure and Protecting Political Discourse”. While partisan chatter often dominates the discussion on securing our elections from cyberattacks, industry leaders and agency officials had the opportunity to present a fact-based review of the steps required to…
House of Representatives Pushing Haphazard Election Overhauls
Opponents of H.R. 1 were galvanized last week, as proponents of the legislation indicated their intentions to enact individual provisions of the law using a “piecemeal” strategy. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer highlighted this intention Thursday, catching opponents in the Senate off guard. Rather than focus on improving the security…
Senate Introduces Voting System Cybersecurity Act to Strengthen Elections
On Tuesday, the Voting System Cybersecurity Act of 2019 was introduced into the United States Senate, demonstrating a bi-partisan commitment to securing our election administration and infrastructure. The legislation, if passed in both chambers, would add a representative of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to…
House Administration Committee Highlights Importance of Decentralization and Agreement on Election Vulnerabilities
On Wednesday, the Secretaries of State of Michigan and Alabama appeared before the House Administration Committee in order to advocate for increased funding and support to safeguard our elections against cyber attacks. The hearing demonstrated that both sides of the political aisle are in agreement that cyberattacks pose…
New Election Proposals in Minnesota’s House Would Abandon Bi-Partisan Tradition
Recent proposals to significantly alter elections in Minnesota have raised concerns from advocates of free and fair elections. Adherents of good governance in Minnesota have addressed that anything but bi-partisan, or non-partisan, fixes to the election laws would bring about a “partisan arms-race”, and thus, honored an unwritten tradition that…
Recent Judicial Opinions Override the Will of the People in Redistricting Battle
As states look to strengthen their election systems heading into the 2020 election, federal courts are handing down rulings that could significantly distract from their efforts, if not alter the electoral landscape altogether. Among the recent rulings include orders to redraw district maps in Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan, and Maryland that…
Overview: House Oversight and Reform Hearing “Protecting the Right to Vote: Best and Worst Practices”
Yesterday, the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing titled “Protecting the Right to Vote: Best and Worst Practices”. The Subcommittee featured testimony from four witnesses: Dale Ho of the ACLU, Leigh M. Chapman of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,…