On April 8, The Pew Charitable Trusts released an updated Election Performance Index (EPI), which includes data from the 2012 General Election. The EPI assesses state election administration performance based on 17 indicators.
Contradicting the tendency toward growing restrictions in voting across the United States, the Brennan Center for Justice cites an overall positive trend toward greater voter access. This is welcome optimism when it seems like so many state legislatures are turning back the clock with regard to voting access and requirements.
As we come to the conclusion of Women’s History Month, we celebrate the contributions of women to all facets of our society. However, inequality still remains, particularly gender parity in elected office.
Welcome to the 2014 midterm election season! The primaries are underway! Are you registered? Will you cast your vote? Did you know that midterms can be as crucial as presidential elections and that both are considered “general elections”?
Many people are aware that Oregon is one of three states that implements all-mail voting. Washington followed in 2011 and Colorado makes the switch this year. However, what most people do not know is that San Diego was the pioneer in vote-by-mail elections.
Ohio’s legislature voted to shorten the absentee voting timeframe and to restrict access to absentee ballot applications. “Voter rights advocates said reducing early voting days would disenfranchise voters and lead to longer lines at the polls. They also questioned the urgency and motive behind passing the bills.” Senate Bill 238 will eliminate six early voting days during which time people can register to vote and cast an in-person absentee ballot.
Representative Susan Davis (D-CA), a featured keynote speaker at OVF and US Vote’s 2014 Eighth Annual Voting and Elections Summit, recently filed a bill in Congress aimed at lessening restrictions on absentee voting. The bill would mandate no-excuse absentee voting in all federal elections.
On December 19, 2013, Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF), announced a major project, funded by the Democracy Fund, to be conducted over the course of eighteen months.
The project is called End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting: Specification and Feasibility Assessment Study (E2E VIV Project) and will examine a form of remote voting that enables a so-called “end-to-end verifiability” (E2E) property. A unique team of experts in computer science, usability, and auditing together with a selection of local election officials from key counties around the U.S. will assemble for this study.
Co-chairs Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsberg, of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, will speak at this week’s Eighth Annual Voting and Elections Summit 2014. The Commission’s report, released last week, sets forth a succinct and pertinent set of findings and recommendations for improving the voting process and all that’s behind it.
Information and research from Overseas Vote Foundation on overseas and military voting is featured in the report on page 61, highlighting the continued non-uniformity of services for overseas and military voters across state websites.
