Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in MD Gerrymandering Case:
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Benisek v. Lamone, a case where Republican voters are suing Maryland over the way that Maryland’s 6th Congressional District was redrawn in 2011. The Los Angeles Times reports that many of the justices seemed to be concerned about how the district lines…
Senate Intelligence Hearing on Election Security Shows Promise for Preventing Future Cyber Attacks on Federal/State Election Infrastructure
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had a hearing today, questioning current Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Executive Director of National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) Amy Cohen, and President-elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Jim Condos (among others) on…
In partisan move, Illinois Senate ignores necessary changes by Gov. Rauner to automatic voter registration
The Daily Northwestern reports that the Illinois Senate voted 38-18 to override the veto of Governor Bruce Rauner to the automatic voter registration bill. Governor Rauner called the legislation as originally drafted “injurious” to the Illinois election system. The veto had included slight changes to the bill to conform to federal law and ensure…
Ongoing SBI investigation into Durham NC election office handling of provisional ballots
In North Carolina, the State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the mishandling of more than 1,000 provisional ballots during the March primary. According to an interim report ballots were being counted twice and election officials presented the vote count as true when it was wrong. The fraud investigation is in Durham the same…
North Carolina Tight Race for Governor: McCrory Campaign prepares for “extended contest”
The media is reporting that Pat McCrory, the incumbent Governor of North Carolina, is preparing for a recount and “extended contest” of irregularities in the counting of ballots in Durham County. According to local media, a complaint for recount was filed to review 90,000 ballots in Durham County that had multiple issues on…
Governor Walker: Claim that Voter ID hurt election turnout is a “load of crap”
In the 2016 general election, Wisconsin Republicans appeared to gain additional advantage in the Wisconsin state legislature. Executive Director Neal Albrecht of the Milwaukee Election Commission complained to the media that the Wisconsin Photo ID law impacted the city’s turnout. In response to that complaint, Governor Walker told Wisconsin radio listeners of Charlie Sykes that the claim…
Mail Ballot Fraud and Mishandling in Florida
While the election results in Florida yesterday did not end up being close, mail ballot fraud and the outright mishandling of mail ballots in Broward County could have damaged the integrity of the election in a meaningful way had the vote been closer, and they certainly shook voters’ confidence in…
Missouri Passes Constitutional Amendment to Allow Voter ID
With 63% voting in favor, voters in Missouri passed a constitutional amendment that will allow the state to enact a law requiring photo ID to vote. The amendment gives state constitutional approval to a bill passed earlier this year to require a photo ID. With the passage of the constitutional…
Maine Approves Ranked Choice Voting
Voters in Maine narrowly passed Question 5, which will allow voters to rank their choice of candidates in future elections: Maine residents have approved a ballot question that will allow voters to rank their choice of candidates. Under the election overhaul, ballots are counted at the state level in…
Alaska Passes Form of Mandatory Voter Registration
Yesterday, voters in Alaska approved a ballot measure 65% to 35% that will automatically register Alaskans to vote when they apply for Alaska Permanent Fund distributions: Ballot measure 1 would increase the number of registered voters in the state by automatically registering Alaskans when they apply for their PFDs. ….