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Texas Republicans approve bill forcing Harris County to eliminate election chief
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 Texas House of Representatives voted Tuesday to force Harris County to eliminate its chief election official and to give state officials more authority over elections there. On a 81–62 party line vote, House Republicans passed Senate Bill 1750, which will abolish the Harris County elections administrator position — a nonpartisan position appointed by local elected officials — and return all election duties to the county clerk and tax assessor-collector. Failed amendments by Democrats would have changed the new law’s...
Texas Legislature votes to eliminates Harris County election chief
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 Texas House of Representatives voted Tuesday to force Harris County to eliminate its chief election official and to give state officials more authority over elections there. On a 81–62 party line vote, House Republicans passed Senate Bill 1750, which will abolish the Harris County elections administrator position — a...
Arizona isn’t banning machines to count ballots. Why a top senator’s declaration means nothing.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.A letter from the Arizona Senate majority leader to all of the state’s 15 counties Monday is sowing confusion over whether Arizona counties can still use machines to count ballots in future elections.The letter from Sen. Sonny Borrelli, however, changes nothing about existing laws governing election equipment.Borrelli’s letter tells county leaders that the Legislature, through a resolution they passed earlier this year, is prohibiting the use of “electronic voting systems” as the primary method of conducting federal elections...
Politicians know elections require steady cash, but they still aren’t providing it
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,If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: one-time influxes of cash are no way to fund the ongoing needs of elections. That doesn’t roll off the tongue, sure, but it has the advantage of being true. The Arizona secretary of state’s office just handed us a fantastic example of this reality. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes requested in...
Inside one northeast Pa. county that has made light work of running “two elections” since the advent of mail-in balloting
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.As counties around Pennsylvania toiled to count ballots on election day — again under pressure to report results within hours of polls closing — one rural northeast county put to work its creative solution for conquering such a big job with a small election staff.Very small: two people. The demands of processing ballots from Pennsylvania’s different methods of voting have led some county election officials to say they actually run two separate elections every time. The 2019 law that greatly...
After a setback, a GOP effort to pull Texas out of a multi-state program to clean voter rolls could move forward
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.A Texas House Democrat used procedural tactics this week to delay a vote on legislation pushed by right-wing believers in voter fraud and based on an election conspiracy theory, though the measure could yet move forward.Senate Bill 1070 was set to allow Texas to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, a multistate coalition used by dozens of states for flagging duplicate voter registrations and cleaning voter rolls. The ERIC program, considered by election administration experts across the country as the best...
Why Kari Lake is still, six months after losing, in Arizona courts arguing the 2022 election was stolen
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.GOP candidates for Arizona’s top offices who claim the November election was stolen from them have spent months presenting shape-shifting arguments in court — and six months after races were called, they aren’t done.A Maricopa County judge on Monday granted losing GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake a trial on a claim initially made in December that has changed over time as it made its way up to the Arizona Supreme Court and back down again. That trial begins...
“You saw him out more than anybody”: Aghogho Edevbie brings his voting rights passion from streets of Detroit to Department of State
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 child of Nigerian immigrants, Aghogho Edevbie grew up enjoying a level of democracy that his parents could only dream of.That appreciation of his rights as a U.S. citizen, especially the right to vote, has infused the work of the longtime Detroit voting rights activist and lawyer, who was earlier this year named Michigan’s deputy secretary of state.“I believe every citizen in our country has a duty, in their own way, to keep our democracy strong,” Edevbie said....
The truth is out in Arizona. Who’s going to do something about it?
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,If you haven’t already, I advise you to read Votebeat Arizona reporter Jen Fifield’s blockbuster investigation into all of the mistakes made in Pinal County’s election results last November. It is a striking and deeply reported story: Despite election staff documenting clear errors during and after tabulating ballots, not a single person in Pinal County leadership sorted them out or told the...
Pinal County’s election errors could have been avoided. Here’s how Arizona counties can prevent the same mistakes.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.A Votebeat investigation published Friday found that Pinal County election officials documented glaring errors in the ballot counts before the election was certified, but didn’t reveal them until after a recount forced them to do so. The mistakes meant that hundreds of ballots initially went uncounted.In response to the findings, election experts and advocates say the state should consider new rules and guidelines for double-checking election results. They also recommend increasing state support for county officials tasked with...
These local candidates have given oxygen to election conspiracy theories. Now the Pa. primary could hand them control over the 2024 election.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.When Zach Scherer woke up on Nov. 4, 2020, he was convinced something was wrong.“When we all went to bed that night, Trump was up by millions of votes, but the next morning, we suddenly ‘lost’ by millions of votes,” he recalled recently on his website, repeating widely debunked misinformation. “It just didn’t make sense.”So, he decided to do something about it, organizing a local group called Butler PA Patriots, which cited conspiracy theories to press the county...
Despite advances, Philadelphia still falls short of providing equal polling place access to disabled voters
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Suzanne Erb, a blind voter in Center City, never takes for granted that she’ll be able to cast a ballot on Election Day.She’s had to wait long periods to be able to use an accessible machine and circled her polling place at Arch Street Presbyterian Church to find the entrance.Despite decades-old laws mandating equal access to the ballot box for voters with disabilities, “I still don’t feel like I have the right to vote independently and privately all...
A shift on the North Carolina Supreme Court sends tremors through the voting world
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 weekly newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Elections have consequences, as people love to say, and the election of two new GOP justices to the North Carolina Supreme Court has shaken the voting world. I know that sounds dramatic but, let’s consider all of the things this newly-shifted court made happen in a single day:The photo ID mandate approved in late 2018 by Republicans in the legislature will be enforced in 2024.The North Carolina...
Arizona voters were told the election went fine. Records show a county director saw glaring errors, cashed out, then fled.
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.By the time Virginia Ross appeared before Pinal County’s supervisors one last time, she had already sold her house.The elections director just needed the supervisors to vote “yes” on Nov. 21, finalizing the November election, and she would be on her way to retirement.“I stand by the results,” she assured them.A lot hinged on this moment. After a primary election debacle in August, the county manager had brought Ross on to right the ship. The county paid her...
True the Vote co-founder Alan Vera dies at Texas Capitol moments before scheduled testimony on election bills
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Alan Vera, an influential Republican voter-fraud activist who pushed controversial election bills in Texas, died Thursday at the Texas Capitol as he was preparing to testify on election legislation. He was 75. The news was announced suddenly during a Texas House Elections Committee meeting Thursday morning as the committee heard public testimony on one of about a dozen bills that would give the state more oversight of elections. At the podium, Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel stumbled...
Texas House advances bill to eliminate Harris County election chief
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.A bill that would force Harris County to get rid of its elections administrator is closer to becoming law after the Texas House Elections Committee approved it Monday. Senate Bill 1750 would abolish the county elections administrator position in Harris County and transfer election duties to the county clerk and tax assessor-collector. The Senate passed the bill, written by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican, on April 18. It will now go up for debate on the House floor. The...
Here are the Texas election bills to watch with a month left in the legislative session
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.During the 2021 legislative session, Texas lawmakers responding to baseless claims of widespread voter fraud after the 2020 presidential election backed a sweeping law that reworked voting by mail and put election workers under new scrutiny. House Democrats, in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to deprive the chamber of a quorum and block the law’s passage, fled the state.This year, there’s been less drama. But some of the election legislation most likely to emerge from this session also has...
A GOP lawyer said it’s too easy for young people to vote. It isn’t.
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 weekly newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Good morning, Longtime lawyer Cleta Mitchell, a leader in the conservative effort to shape election laws across the country, spoke to an audience of major GOP donors last month. She took direct aim at how easy it is for young people to vote, and she didn’t sound happy about it. “They basically put the polling place next to the student dorm so they just have to roll out...
Tarrant County faces big challenge in replacing elections chief amid contentious atmosphere
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.Tim O’Hare, Tarrant County’s top government official, this week laid out his preferred qualifications for the next person to lead the county’s elections department: someone trustworthy to people of all political stripes “whose goal is to remain behind the scenes” while delivering timely results. O’Hare also wouldn’t rule out hiring someone who questions the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results, calling it “not an automatic disqualifier.” Replacing Tarrant’s outgoing elections director, Heider Garcia, will be a daunting task for...
Cochise County hires elections director who has spread election misinformation
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Dig deeper into how our democracy works with Votebeat’s free newsletters at votebeat.org/newsletters.An Arizona county that refused to certify the 2022 election has hired a new elections director who repeatedly spread false claims about widespread election fraud.The Cochise County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 2-1 to hire Bob Bartelsmeyer, La Paz County’s elections director for the past year, to run the county’s elections, after he was chosen by Republican Recorder David Stevens. Republican Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd voted yes and Democrat...
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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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