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Some Texas counties struggle to meet new law’s demand for more polling places
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Some Texas election officials are running out of time before the March 5 primary to find sufficient polling locations, equipment, and election workers mandated by a new Republican-backed election law, and may not be able to meet its requirements.The new law requires certain counties currently using vote centers for countywide voting to drastically increase the number of polling locations. Election officials say the new mandate is costly, and presents a series of new challenges for the counties that...
False beliefs about the 2020 election still have a strong hold on Republicans, as Iowa makes chillingly clear
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get future editions, including the latest reporting from Votebeat bureaus and curated news from other publications, delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Good morning,Reams of ink have been spilled on the clearest takeaway from the Iowa Caucus. Here’s one: Polls of caucusgoers found that around two-thirds didn’t believe President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, and most of those respondents supported former President Donald Trump.Now, many people have...
The federal agency dedicated to elections is, once again, in turmoil ahead of the 2024 elections
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get future editions, including the latest reporting from Votebeat bureaus and curated news from other publications, delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Some news: The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has fired its executive director, Steven Frid, who held the job for less than a year. Frid was the agency’s third executive director in as many years. The agency has also been without a permanent general counsel for nearly two...
Why Arizona is worried about finishing the presidential election on time but other states aren’t
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.The officials who run Arizona’s elections put out a blunt reminder last week: If lawmakers don’t soon change key dates related to the upcoming presidential election, military voters may get their ballots late, and results might not be delivered to Congress in time.Their letters, addressed to Gov. Katie Hobbs and Senate President Warren Petersen, raise important questions: Why is Arizona the only state that appears to be facing this conundrum, and how can it be solved?Votebeat’s review of...
Are unstaffed ballot drop boxes allowed in Arizona? Final rulebook offers little clarity
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Arizona voters have long relied on unstaffed ballot drop boxes to conveniently cast their ballots, but challenges to their use persist and a new state rulebook does little to clarify their legal status.Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ new Elections Procedures Manual, finalized Dec. 30, lays out the rules for high-profile aspects of the state’s elections, such as hand-counting ballots, delaying the certification of an election, and voter intimidation. But the new edition does less — not more —...
Turbulence in the 2024 elections has already started
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Welcome to 2024! It is already quite spicy. I hope you are all well-rested.Since we last delivered you an election news roundup, a lot has happened. Here are those things, in brief, and how I’m thinking about them.First up:Wisconsin RedistrictingThe Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s heavily gerrymandered maps are unconstitutional and must be redrawn. It could result in...
The most important storylines Votebeat is watching in 2024
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Strap in, folks. It’s 2024. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday parties, because we are in it now.I’ll cut straight to it: Things are looking a bit bleak, and it’s going to be a busy year.Hand-counting has supplanted ending vote by mail as the Bad Idea of the Moment. The high rate of election worker turnover has not improved, and...
Texas Republicans want to hand count 2024 primary ballots. Experts say it’s “a recipe for disaster.”
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.When Gillespie County Republicans conduct their primary in March, they will count votes in an ill-advised way: by hand, using scores of volunteers, without any machines.Even if they can pull off their expensive, labor-intensive plan, they risk being sued by losing candidates or reprimanded by the state. And they may run up a huge bill of unnecessary costs.“Hand-counting is a recipe for disaster,” said Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University and election administration expert. He and most other experts agree on this,...
Increase in ballot errors coincides with turnover among county election officials in Pennsylvania
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Help us answer your questions about voting where you live by filling out our survey.In mid-October, Greene County, in southwest Pennsylvania, notified voters that some mail ballots for the November election listed two races for magisterial district judges, though voters were only supposed to be electing one.Then, the county realized some mail ballots listed school board candidates in the wrong order.And just days before the election, officials in Greene County found yet another error. Mail ballots said “vote for not more than three” candidates...
Arizona’s federal-only voters are concentrated on college campuses, data show
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Young adults living on or near college campuses in Arizona are disproportionately affected, and potentially disenfranchised, by the state’s unique voting laws requiring documented proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in state and local elections, a Votebeat analysis found.The laws have since 2013 been splitting the state’s voters into two buckets: Those who have provided documented proof of citizenship, and those who haven’t. Those who haven’t are placed on a “federal-only” list, and are only permitted to vote...
In Montgomery, symbols of hope amid the hard truths about America’s racist past and present
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Votebeat’s staff just got back from its first staff retreat, in Montgomery, Alabama. The trip was the first time we’d all gathered in one place together, and what a place to do it.We spent time at the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, sobering reminders of this country’s most shameful history. The museum walks visitors through time...
Cancellation of project to upgrade Pa.’s outdated voter roll system leaves election officials with no relief in sight
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Help us answer your questions about voting where you live by filling out our survey.The state has canceled a planned upgrade to Pennsylvania’s system for managing voter rolls, leaving officials stuck for the foreseeable future with a process and technology they say is outdated and inefficient.The contract cancellation will not affect the coming presidential election — the Department of State already decided to keep the older system in place for 2024. But election administrators said they’re frustrated to hear they’ll have to continue to...
Documents show Republican-led states struggling to clean voter rolls after leaving ERIC
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Some Republican-led states are struggling to develop new ways to adequately update their voter rolls after withdrawing from a popular cross-state voter roll cleaning program that came under attack by far-right election activists, according to new documents and internal emails reviewed by Votebeat.Virginia paid $29,000 in September to regain access to just a sliver of the data they used to obtain via the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. Alabama and Missouri officials took months to come up...
A long-shot challenge now presents a serious threat to the Voting Rights Act
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Almost exactly two years ago, I wrote about an argument that had the potential to undermine a key section of the Voting Rights Act: the contention that private parties couldn’t sue to enforce Section 2 of the landmark voting rights statute.It “flies in the face” of how the law had been interpreted by federal courts for decades, I wrote at the...
Election officials know real problems supercharge baseless allegations. They need to address them.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. A version of this post was originally distributed in Votebeat’s free weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox every Saturday.Hi, y’all,It’s not even 2024 yet (though, how is it DECEMBER RIGHT NOW?), but the headlines are screaming about how everyone will be screaming this time next year:Politico: Voting machine trouble in Pennsylvania county triggers alarm ahead of 2024NorthJersey.com: ‘Perfect storm’: Can Bergen County fix its voting troubles in time for the 2024 election?Facing South: Election disruptions and barriers in Southern...
Michigan to automatically register people to vote when exiting prison
People completing sentences for felony convictions will automatically be registered to vote as they prepare to leave prison, the result of first-of-its-kind legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.House Bill 4983 expands the state’s automatic voter registration system — which currently registers voters when they get a driver’s license — to other state agencies such as the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health and Human Services.As part of the law, which goes into effect in June 2025, the secretary of state and the Department of Corrections must coordinate to issue a state identification or driver’s license when individuals...
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Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization committed to reporting the nuanced truth about elections and voting at a time of crisis in America. Our mission is to help people understand our system of democracy so they can participate in strengthening it. Our approach is to cover and explain the mechanics of voting — no political polls, candidate platforms, or Election Day results; instead we will focus on how elections are run, from early and mail-in voting to voter registration and election security. Because we believe that elections are fundamentally a local issue, our coverage is rooted in local communities. Votebeat’s stories are available at no cost to readers, as well as to all local and national news outlets.
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