electionline Weekly

Election Day 2017

II. Election Day 2017

Michigan: At least 50 Michigan counties debuted new voting equipment this election and there were very few reports of problems other than in Detroit where problems included issues with new machines and voting sites opening late. Kalamazoo was able to post election results in record time thanks to the new equipment.

Also in Detroit, unofficial election results have longtime Clerk Janice Winfrey keeping her seat 50.6 to 49.1 over newcomer Garlin Gilchrist. Gilchrist has said that he is considering calling for a recount.

Minnesota: Although the results weren’t in until Wednesday in Minneapolis’ mayoral race, the process was much improved from previous elections using ranked choice voting. When none of the candidates secured a majority of votes Tuesday night, counting moved on to Wednesday. The count came in an election that saw the highest turnout in two decades — 43 percent.

New Jersey: In Allentown, voting machines were inoperable all morning after faulty machines were replaced with machines that also didn’t work. “Voters are voting on emergency ballots,’’ said Allan Roth, chairman of the Monmouth County Board of Elections. “No voter has been turned away. They’re just voting on paper ballots.’’

In Jersey City, voters were delayed about two hours Tuesday morning when poll workers could not locate the voter registration books for the polling place.

In Sussex County, at least one of the touch-screen voting machines was out of calibration.

And in the governor’s race, Democrat Philip D. Murphy and his running mate Sheila Oliver were victorious. Oliver will now be the state’s chief elections official.

New York: Election Day 2017 in New York was a celebration of women’s suffrage, which was granted 100 years ago on November 6. Voters were given special suffrage “I Voted” stickers and once again Susan B. Anthony’s grave became a hotbed of sticker activity on Election Day.

One polling place in Broome County had to be evacuated due to smoke from a fire. Voters were redirected to another nearby polling place. Voters in Buffalo County reported problems with ripped ballots. Officials from the Dept. of Justice were on hand in Monroe County to make sure that bilingual accommodations were available at polling places.

Ohio: Election Day 2017 was the first experience for many with new e-poll books and there were few reported problems.

Some issues included a polling place in Tuscarawas County losing power for several hours. In Stark County, voters temporarily had to use paper ballots when several precincts experienced problems with voting machines. In Mahoning County, one tabulation machine that had not been reset was double counting ballots, but when the problem was discovered, the ballot were recounted.

Pennsylvania: Problems with election machines in York County could have allowed a single voter to vote more than once for certain candidates on Tuesday. The issue was discovered Monday, but it was too late to reprogram the machines according to York County spokesman Mark Walters. According to the York Daily Record, the problem, a technical oversight caused by an employee of the York County Elections and Voter Registration office, impacted candidates who appeared twice in a single race where more than one candidate is elected. The county hopes to have the problem rectified by the end of the week.

In Philadelphia, a candidate for Commonwealth Court had her name misspelled on the ballot.

Common Pleas Court Judge Richard E. McCormick, Jr. ordered that as many as 307 absentee ballots in Monessan (Westmoreland County) be impounded and uncounted until a hearing is held to determine their legality. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune, the court order came in response to a request for an emergency injunction filed late Tuesday by Democratic mayoral candidate Matthew Shorraw, who contended the county’s elections bureau improperly allowed residents to vote via absentee ballot solely because they are 65 or older.

And in Susquehanna Township, a man was arrested for DUI after he showed up at his polling place to vote — on Monday.

Utah: Driven in-part by a special congressional election, turnout in Salt Lake County topped 37 percent and 30 percent in Utah County. Although clerks had expressed concerns about late voters flooding vote centers on Election Day, that situation never materialized.

Virginia: In one of the most closely watched elections in the country numerous Virginia localities debuted new voting machines with few issues. There were some problems with jammed machines in Henrico County and machine problems in Chesterfield.

This was only the second election when thousands of former felons were cast a ballot after having their rights restored by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in 2016.

Concerns were raised by the ACLU and others when reports surfaced that voters were receiving robo calls informing them that their polling places had been relocated. Elections officials worked to spread the word that the calls were fake.

Odds & Ends: Oops! For a while on Tuesday, King County, Washington voters checking ballot dropbox information were informed by the secretary of state’s website that Election Day was November 8 not 7. The office quickly made the correction after it was alerted to the problem.

The biggest issue facing elections officials in Horry County, South Carolina was county residents complaining to elections officials when they were told that they could not vote in the Myrtle Beach mayoral election.

Connecticut had some problems with dead people on Election Day. In Montville, 92-year-old Max Kopko was listed as deceased on the voter rolls despite the fact that he’s alive, well and showed up to vote on Tuesday. According to The Day, Kopko’s brother died earlier this year and that may have lead to the problem. And in Danbury, after a Republican candidate for office died on Saturday, Republicans wanted to leave the name on the ballot, but Secretary of State Denise Merrill said state law is clear that if a candidate dies from 24 days to 24 hours before an election, their name must be removed.

A council race in East Helena, Montana ended in a tie but with two provisional ballots still to be counted, it remains to be seen if there will be the need for a recount.

Rochester, New Hampshire used e-poll books for the first time in Tuesday’s election and reports are that they helped speed up the process.

Federal-State Updates

III. Federal-State Updates

President Donald J. Trump’s nominee for the Department of Homeland Security testified before Congress this week. Kirstjen Nielsen testified that when she voted this week in Virginia, she pressed poll workers about the security of her vote.

“When I went to vote this week in the Virginia election, I was quite concerned with the scanning machine and started asking a variety of questions on what the security was on the scanning machine for the ballot. I think we all have to be very aware and work with the state and locals,” Nielsen said during her testimony. 

Nielsen also committed to senators that on her watch, DHS would be proactive about notifying states and counties about possible cyberattacks on elections systems.

Massachusetts: Earlier this year the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ended its participation in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program. All of Massachusetts files were deleted from the program in March 2017. A spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin told WBUR no one was removed from the state’s voter rolls “solely because they appeared on the Crosscheck lists.”

New Hampshire: New Hampshire still has not forwarded the state’s voter data to the White House election commission. The state’s Attorney General had been reviewing the town-by-town checklists for publication since August, but that review is now complete. Secretary of State William Gardner, who serves on the election commission said his office has reached out to the commission’s executive director to find out how to securely transmit the data but has yet to hear back.

Election News This Week

IV. Election News This Week

The New York State Comptroller has released an audit of the New York City Board of Elections that highlights problems at the quasi-city agency. According to the report, at 82 sites, about 53 percent, auditors witnessed violations of federal and state election laws and also of the BOE’s own rules. At 14 percent of sites, affidavit ballots were mishandled, and at 10 percent of sites, voters received no assistance when they faced issues. Some poll workers even engaged in electioneering, telling voters which candidate to vote for. “We have uncovered deep dysfunction,” Stringer said at a news conference.

When surveillance video surfaced of a Palmview, Texas councilwoman help voters in a polling site questions arose about why there was a video camera in the polling site. City Manager Omar Romero told The Monitor that surveillance cameras have always been at the library voting site, but the footage surfaced after he received a public information request for it. Although Romero was legally allowed to release the footage and the cameras did fall under state guidelines Councilwoman Linda Sarabia is concerned about the impact the released footage may have. “It’s not about who wins the election, what’s at stake here is our right to vote,” she told The Monitor. “Turnout is low as it is, imagine what it’s going to be like now.”

Necessity is the mother of invention and that’s exactly what happened when Reno County, Kansas elections officials realized they could not get the county’s voting machines into a storage space in a second-story attic. That’s when county maintenance tech Art Miller and his supervisor Jim Arneson came to the rescue. During his free time, Miller built a pulley system to get the machines up the stairs. Miller created the system piecemeal from mostly available parts. “Kudos to Art and Jim for keeping after it, with several designs,” Reno County Maintenance Director Harlan Depew told The Hutchinson News. “The end result is neat to watch.”

Personnel News: Carolyn Fundingsland has been named the new Cowlitz County, Washington auditor. Lillian McBride will retire from the Richland County, South Carolina elections & voter registration office in 2018. Port Chester New York has hired Dr. Lisa Handley to help the city choose a court-mandated voting system by 2019. Laura Brazak is the new Democratic elections commissioner in Oswego County, New York. Kenneth Schweigard is the new Repubilan election commissioner in Schohaire County, New York. John Zawadzki is the new Democratic deputy commissioner of elections in Fulton County, New York. Orville “Bud” Fitch has been hired by the New Hampshire secretary of state’s office to serve as the office’s first attorney. Frankie Rideaux has been sworn in as acting Iberia Parish, Louisiana Registrar of Voters. Ada County, Idaho Clerk Chris Rich has announced his retirement and Phil McGrane, chief deputy has filed paperwork to run for the office. Ray Sexton has stepped down from the Stewart County, Tennessee election commission. John McCarry, executive director of the Brockton, Massachusetts elections commission is retiring after 18 years on the job.

Research and Report Summaries

V. Research and Report Summaries
electionline provides brief summaries of recent research and reports in the field of election administration. The summaries are courtesy of Sean Greene, director of research for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Voters with Disabilities: Observations on Polling Place Accessibility and Related Federal Guidance – United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), October 2017: Per a Congressional request, the GAO examined access for people with disabilities at early voting and Election Day polling locations for the 2016 general election. Of the 178 polling places observed, 60 percent had one or more potential impediments outside the locations, such as steep ramps outside buildings, lack of signage for accessible paths, and poor parking.

The GAO was able to fully examine the interiors of 137 locations. Of these 65 percent had a voting station with an accessible voting system that could impede the casting of a private and independent vote. This included  voting stations not set up to accommodate people using wheelchairs as well as stations not set up to provide the same level of privacy for voters with disabilities that other voters had. 

Among its recommendations the GAO suggests the U.S. Department of Justice study federal accessibility requirements and how they are implemented related to in-person early voting. 

Local Leaders’ Views on Elections in Michigan: Accuracy, Problems, and Reform Options – Debra Horner and Thomas Ivacko, The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, November 2017: Highlights from this survey of local government officials in Michigan about election administration include:

• Officials in 91 percent of the state’s townships and cities are very confident in the ability of their jurisdictions to administer elections accurately.
• The most common challenges reported related to recruiting poll workers. 29 percent said there were problems finding poll workers with the needed skills.
• 25 percent of respondents said the costs of administering elections are a problem for their budget. 
• 67 percent of local officials support the state’s move to update voting equipment by August 2018. 

When asked about a variety of possible changes to the election process in the state, respondents:

• Supported no-excuse absentee voting, 66 percent in favor, 19 percent opposed; and supported synchronizing voter lists with other states, 50 percent in favor, 10 percent opposed.
• Opposed same day registration, 66 percent opposed, 17 percent support; and opposed early voting, 50 percent opposed, 32 percent support. 

Voter Trends in 2016: A Final Examination – Rob Griffin, Ruy Teixeira, and John Halpin, The Center for American Progress, November 2017: This report focuses on the 2016 election and its vote composition, turnout, and party support rates by demographic group. To do this analysis the authors developed their own estimates using publicly available data sources such as the American Communities Survey (ACS), the November supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS), the American National Election Study (ANES), and the Cooperative Congressional Election Survey (CCES). They also used their own post-election polling as well as voter files from several states. Their results differ from the 2016 exit poll results in a number of areas.

Legislative Updates

VI. Legislative Updates

Federal Legislation: Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) has introduced the Safeguarding Election Infrastructure Act which requires voting machines funded with HAVA money print a paper receipt.

Maine: Gov. Paul LePage (R) allowed a bill to delay the implementation of voter-approved ranked choice voting to become law by not signing it. “I encourage the people who want to have a people’s veto to bring it in. The Supreme Court has already said it is unconstitutional, so let the courts decide,” he said according to the Bangor Daily News. On Monday, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap approved petitions for the people’s veto. Those spearheading the veto have 90 days to collect 61,123 valid signatures.

New York: The Young Voter Act would allow 17-year-olds to cast a ballot in state and local elections. The legislation would also require that all students in public high schools receive at least eight hours of formal civics education and that schools provide voter registration forms to students when they turn 17.

South Dakota: Supporters of a ballot measure that would allow South Dakota counties to switch to elections conducted entirely by mail ballot have turned in nearly 20,000 signatures to put it before voters in 2018. The measure needs 14,000 signatures and the secretary of state’s office will conduct a random sampling for validity.

Wyoming: The Cody Enterprise has a fascinating story about the County Clerks Association of Wyoming (CCAW) attempt to push legislators to consider introducing and approving a bill that would allow counties to move to vote-by-mail. According to the paper, in 2016, approached the Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Public Subdivisions Committee on at least three occasions seeking to explore moving to a vote-by-mail/vote center model. Those opposing the move cited concerns about fraud or making it “too easy” for people to vote.

Legal Updates

VII. Legal Updates

Arizona: The League of United Latin American Citizens and the Arizona Students Association have filed suit charging that thousands of Arizonans are being illegally denied the right to vote in federal elections. The suit contends that state law is trumping federal law and disenfranchising thousands.

Mississippi: A candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives will finally get the chance to challenge a 2015 election loss in court in April. The Enterprise-Journal reports that specially appointed Pike County Circuit Judge James Bell has scheduled the challenge for April 30. Bell also scheduled a ballot review in March. The candidate alleges voting irregularities, illegal campaigning and mishandled ballots. Myers and election officials deny wrongdoing.

Nevada: Democrats are asking a judge to halt three potential recall elections. The suit claims that the recalls would put a burden on the plaintiffs’ right to vote.

New Jersey: Judge Julio Mendez ruled this week that state law does not allow for the review of mail-in ballots before an election. At the center of the suit are 6,100 absentee ballots in Atlantic County. “It would create a very chaotic process that would delay, substantially, the ability of the board to count the votes and issue results, which would undermine the electoral process,” Mendez said, adding the campaign can review the materials as part of an election challenge.

New Mexico: First Judicial District Court Judge David Thomson ruled this week that the state government’s voting leave policy must extend to municipal elections. The suit was filed by two state employees in October.

Also in New Mexico, Judge Greg Shaffer issued an order commanding the city of Santa Fe to use ranked-choice voting in the March municipal election. Shaffer did allow the city at least one more chance to argue why it isn’t ready to switch to the new system.

New York: New York Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards issued an order last week for the immediate relocation of five election districts back the Lefrak City. The city’s board of elections had removed the election districts from the housing complex. Edwards call the move “irrational, arbitrary and capricious.”

North Carolina: Judge Paul Ridgeway ruledthat he lacks the authority to prevent counties from using a software program to check in voters at polling sites Tuesday, despite the concerns of state elections officials. The State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement had enough questions about the functionality and security of the EViD software that they determined it shouldn’t be used in this year’s municipal elections.

Tech Thursday

VIII. Tech Thursday

National Tech: U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) released a new Civic Data and Hosted Systems Products and Services website: http://civicdata.usvotefoundation.org. The new site enables civic tech developers, voter outreach organizations, and elections specialists to review and request access to the datasets and systems that US Vote offers.

The datasets include Election Dates and Deadlines, State Voting Requirements, Local Election Official Contact data, and Voting Methods and Options. The site also presents US Vote’s custom Hosted Systems Solutions, widely used for overseas voter outreach.

“This new civic data site will streamline the systems, data and API requests we receive. We enjoy working closely with new developers and encouraging innovation in civic engagement and outreach. The new site is a way to exponentially expand our reach to US citizens at home and abroad,” said Josh Greenbaum, Chief Technology Officer, US Vote.

US Vote qualifies every licensee to confirm that their purpose aligns with US Vote’s mission: Every Citizen is a Voter. A new developer starter package is also being offered. Qualified developers are supported directly by US Vote.

[Editor’s Note: Democracy Fund, which provides funding for electionLine.org, provided a network grant to U.S. Vote Foundation in 2015 for a Civic Data API Extension and Voter Alerts Project]

Arizona: City and state government officials have told The Arizona Republic that Russian hackers didn’t target the state’s statewide voter registration database, they actually targeted the Phoenix library.

Opinions This Week

IX. Opinions This Week

National Opinions: Voter suppression | Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity | Voting rights | Ex-felon voting rights, II | Millennial turnout | Voting system, II, III | Primary system | Paper ballots

Alabama: Crossover voters

Arizona: Election integrity | Maricopa County

Colorado: Voting rights

Florida: Voting systems | Ex-felon voting rights, II

Illinois: Election rules

Kansas: Kris Kobach, II | Voter fraud

Maine: Ranked choice voting

Massachusetts: Automatic voter registration | Voting rights

Michigan: Detroit clerk, II

New Jersey: Ex-felon voting rights;

New York: New York City BOE, II | Voter apathy

North Carolina: Early voting

Ohio: Voter apathy

Pennsylvania: Voting system | Election security | Voting access | Voting reform

Utah: Vote-by-mail

Virginia: Paper ballots | Early voting

Upcoming Events

X. Upcoming Events

NCSL Capitol Forum 2017— the NCSL Capitol Forum is the meeting where NCSL Standing Committees meet to discuss policy and set the agenda for the states. The NCSL Standing Committees are composed of legislators and legislative staff who are appointed by the leadership of the legislatures. The committees are the main organizational mechanism for serving NCSL members. There are nine committees that deal with both state and state-federal issues. The jurisdictions of the standing committees are similar to those of committees in the state legislatures. When: December 10-13. Where: San Diego.

iGO Mid-Winter Conference 2018 — Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information and registration details on iGO’s mid-winter conference. When: Jan. 5-10, 2018. Where: San Diego.

Joint Election Officials Liaison Committee — Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information and registration details on the Joint Election Officials Liaison Committee meeting. When: Jan. 11-12, 2018. Where: Ritz Carlton Hotel, Arlington, Virginia.

NASED 2018 Winter Meeting — Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information and registration details on NASED’s 2018 winter meeting. When: February 16-19. Where: Washington, D.C.

NASS 2018 Winter Conference — Mark your calendars now and stay tuned for more information and registration details on NASS’s 2018 winter meeting When: February 16-19. Where: Washington, D.C.

Job Postings This Week

XI. Job Postings This Week
electionlineWeekly publishes election administration job postings each week as a free service to our readers. To have your job listed in the newsletter, please send a copy of the job description, including a web link to mmoretti@electionline.brinkdev.com. Job postings must be received by 5pm on Wednesday in order to appear in the Thursday newsletter. Listings will run for three weeks or till the deadline listed in the posting.

Elections Administrator, Tarrant County, Texas — the county elections administrator, in accordance with Section 31.043, 31.044, 31.045 of the Texas Election Code, shall perform the duties and functions of the Voter Registrar; performs election-related duties that the law requires to be handled by the County Clerk in Counties where there is no Elections Administrator. Essential duties and responsibilities: With assistance from the Secretary of State, interprets and applies the Texas Election Code provisions to election process procedures to protect the voting rights of all County citizens. Serves as the custodian of election records and filing agent for Candidate and Officeholder Title 15 reports. Acts as service provider for election services contracts for political subdivisions within the County. Performs all other related duties involved in the operation of the business as required by law. Salary: Negotiable. Deadline: November 22. Application: For the complete job list and to apply, click here.

Elections Services Manager, Virginia State Board of Elections — manage the Election Services Division of the agency including supervision of election administration staff, policy analysts, campaign finance specialists, and voting system certification specialists. This position supervises the work of the team responsible for election administration guidance, training of local election officials, certification of election technology, campaign finance, and election policy and legislation review. In consultation with senior agency management, sets direction for policy analysts in the review of introduced legislation, interpretation of statutes and regulations, and effectively communicate policy interpretation to agency leadership. Manage agency requirements associated with the legislative session, including ensuring the accuracy of and timely submission of analysis/documents, and tracking and coordinating the implementation of enacted legislation. Manages and set direction of campaign finance staff in the processing of campaign finance reports, addressing campaign finance violations and managing records in accordance with statute and regulations. Plans, designs and manages the voting system and electronic poll book certification programs to ensure the security, integrity, and accuracy of elections in Virginia. Leads development of policies, standards, and procedures relating to voting systems performance, security, and auditing. Analyzes and documents election administration processes and data, identifying efficiencies and opportunities to improve performance. Possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to provide analytical reports of election administration processes throughout the Commonwealth. Works closely with vendors, developers and business analysts for successful election administration management. The position will assist agency senior management in determining best practices in voting equipment management, evaluation trends in election administration, and will act as a liaison with system vendors, federal certification entities, and election administrators in other states. Manages training staff to ensure compliance with relevant requirements and develop a culture of continuous learning among election officials across the state. Salary: up to $134,764. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Elections Technician, Marion County, Oregon — provides assistance to the Elections and Recording Manager.  Assumes primary responsibility for specific technical and operational functions of the elections process for Marion County.  Manages multiple tasks in compliance with state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.  Does related work as required. Works under the supervision of the Elections and Recording Manager, who assigns work, sets goals and reviews work for accuracy and conformance to department standards and laws governing the elections process. Supervision of employees is not a responsibility of positions in this class; however, exercises lead direction, and trains regular and temporary employees, and election board workers. Salary: $16.86-$22.58 per hour. Deadline: November 30. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

GIS Specialist, Polk County, Florida — This position consists primarily of technical work using geographic information system software to create and maintain maps and street index representing political subdivisions in Polk County, Florida. Illustrative duties include: Identify voter registration addresses; Assist with creation of precincts; Maintains districts and voter addresses on maps; Research residential land parcels; Maintain accurate street index; Provide members of the public with maps and data; Assists with ballot layout and proofreading; Maintain and update website maps; and Performs related duties as required. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Hardware Engineer III, Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking an accomplished and passionate Hardware Engineer III to be join our team in Toronto! This position will be responsible for provision of electronics, software and mechanical engineering support to new product development, manufacturing and field support teams. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Payroll & AP Administrator, Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking an experienced Payroll & AP Administrator to be join our team in Denver, CO! This position will be responsible for managing and organizing of all functions related to payroll administration and accounts payable, including, but not limited to: recording, processing and obtaining approvals; and Processing all matters in a timely and accurate fashion, including following up on items related to the various accounts payable, payroll and month-end deadlines. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Product Specialist, Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking two experienced and passionate Product Specialist. One of the positions will be in our Denver, CO office and the other will be in our San Leandro, CA office! These positions are will be accountable for the readiness of Dominion’s voting systems to perform properly in assigned jurisdictions; which includes defining the functionality of the D-Suite system, monitoring the development of the system in accordance with the required functionality, and managing its testing and preparation for delivery to the market; this position also provides significant input to the system release visions, diagnoses and resolves obstacles and challenges as they arise. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Regional Sales Manager (West), Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking is highly-motivated and accomplished Regional Sales Manager to work remotely and be based in the Western United States; preferably California. The Regional Sales Manager is responsible for long term sales (3-5 years) of the company’s election products and services in a specified geographic region to governmental agencies. This position uses technical, organizational and customer knowledge to influence customers and assist them in applying the products and services to their needs, resulting in revenue generation. In addition, the position provides input and participates in the marketing, planning and development of products and services. Salary: Negotiable base + commission & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Marketplace

XII. Marketplace
electionline provides no guarantees as to the quality of the items being sold and the accuracy of the information provided about the sale items in the Marketplace. Ads are provided directly by sellers and are not verified by electionline. If you have an ad for Marketplace, please email it to: mmoretti@electionline.brinkdev.com