National: ‘Every noise makes you jumpy’: Election workers confront threats and abuse with resilience training | Rachel Leingang/The Guardian

Former elections clerk Tina Barton, who faced death threats and harassment during her role in the 2020 elections, now serves as a senior elections expert at The Elections Group and shares her experiences to provide resilience training for elections officials facing ongoing harassment. The threats, often based on misinformation and targeting women and people of color, contribute to stress, worry, and chaos in election offices. Barton’s training aims to help officials manage the daily stresses of their jobs and address issues like hypervigilance, fear, and post-traumatic stress. The mental wellness tools provided in these sessions seek to assist individuals in coping with the systemic problem of ongoing threats and harassment faced by election officials, which has led to a wave of officials quitting their jobs, leaving less experienced personnel in charge. Read Article

Arizona Republicans sue over new election rules, including handling of election results disputes | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

Arizona Republicans filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate election rules set by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat. The contested rules, part of the Elections Procedures Manual approved in December, include requirements for prompt certification of election results by county supervisors and the potential exclusion of votes from counties that fail to meet certification deadlines. The Republicans argue that the secretary of state lacks the authority to create rules regarding the finalization of election results and claim that Fontes’ manual aims to disenfranchise voters and circumvent state election laws. The lawsuit comes amid the 2024 election cycle, raising questions about its potential impact on ongoing electoral processes. Read Article

This Arizona ballot maker had robust security in place before 2020 elections. For 2024, it’s adding more | Sasha Hupka/The Arizona Republic

Phoenix-based company Runbeck Election Services, which prints voting materials for counties across the U.S., is enhancing its security measures ahead of the 2024 election cycle. The company, which already had robust cybersecurity measures, access-controlled facilities, and GPS-tracked trucks, is adding armed officers, additional cameras, and a designated area for election observers with a live video feed. These measures aim to address concerns stemming from false allegations of fraud and threats against election workers during recent elections. The company’s president, Jeff Ellington, highlighted the importance of ensuring employees’ safety and maintaining secure election processes. The move comes as election-related controversies and misinformation continue to contribute to heightened tensions in the political landscape. Read Article

Colorado secretary of state urges Supreme Court to keep Trump off the ballot | Lawrence Hurley/NBC

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has urged the Supreme Court to affirm that the state can legally prevent former President Donald Trump from being on the Republican primary ballot due to his actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol attack. The case revolves around whether Trump “engaged in insurrection” under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which would disqualify him from serving as president. Griswold defended Colorado’s process for determining candidate eligibility and argued that the state should not be forced to include a candidate found to have violated his oath by engaging in insurrection. Read Article

Connecticut: Aging Equipment, Limited Funding a Challenge for Early Voting | Angela Carella/CT Examiner

Connecticut is introducing early in-person voting for the first time, creating challenges for managing voter traffic and security. Additionally, the state’s AccuVote ballot tabulators are no longer manufactured, making it difficult to find replacement parts when needed. The state approved $25 million for the purchase of new tabulators and other items, in October, a  request for proposals for new tabulators was issued and the process of evaluating vendor responses is underway. However, new tabulators will not be ready in time for the April 1 presidential preference primary, or for the Aug. 13 primaries and Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas has said it’s unlikely there will be new tabulators for the high-turnout Nov. 5 election. Read Article

Georgia voting machine trial closes with argument over election security | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The 17-day trial questioning the security of Georgia’s Dominion voting machines concluded with closing arguments, leaving U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to decide whether the machines pose an unconstitutional threat to voting rights. The case, which could impact how in-person voters cast their ballots in the upcoming November 2024 election, focused on the potential vulnerability of the $107 million voting system purchased in 2019. Plaintiffs argued for a ban on touchscreens in favor of hand-marked paper ballots, citing concerns about cybersecurity threats and the reliability of the machines. Totenberg did not indicate when she would issue a ruling. Read Article

Georgia: ‘A recipe for violence’: Election officials on edge for ruling from federal judge | John Sakellariadis/Politico

Five years ago, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg won plaudits from U.S. election officials for forcing Georgia to ditch its electronic voting machines because they were too susceptible to hacks. Now Totenberg is weighing a similar order against the state’s new machines — only this time, a slew of election officials are begging her not to do so. Current and former officials from both parties at the local, state and federal level argue that Georgia’s current voting machines are far less prone to sabotage than their predecessors — which didn’t produce any sort of paper record. But most of all, more than a dozen officials stressed their dread that ordering changes just months ahead of the 2024 presidential vote could undermine trust in the election, overwhelming local election officials and emboldening election deniers all in one breath. Read Article

Nevada Secretary of State defends Dominion voting machines | Mark Robison/Reno Gazette Journal

The Nevada Secretary of State has sent an email to county clerks and registrars in the state defending the state’s Dominion ImageCast X (ICX) voting machines after University of Michigan computer science professor Alex Halderman testified in a federal trial recently in Georgia about the vulnerability of those machines. Nevada uses the ICX as a direct recording electronic DRE system while Georgia uses them as ballot marking devices (BMDs). Nevada also uses a different voting system version. Previously they had been using a Nevada-specific version (DVS 5.12) and last year they upgraded to DVS 5.17, the EAC certified version Dominion developed after a 2021 security analysis co-authored by Halderman. The concern about the encoding of voter selections into QR code that has been an important issue in the Georgia tria is moot in Nevada since no Printed Vote Records are produced by the ICX when used as a DRE. Further arguments about physical and cyber security measures that would require “unlimited access to the voting machines” for the attacks assumes no insider threat. Read Article

Pennsylvania automatic voter registration boosts sign-ups, but not a political party, data shows | Marc Levy/Associated Press

New data from Pennsylvania’s automatic voter registration at driver’s license centers reveals a 45% increase in sign-ups compared to a similar period two years ago. The partisan mix of registrations under the new system shows that 35% opted for Republican, 31% for Democratic, and 34% for independent or a third party. The data challenges accusations by Donald Trump that Democrats would exploit the system. Pennsylvania’s new automatic voter registration system is currently facing a lawsuit from Republican lawmakers. Read Article

Wisconsin: Challenge to absentee ballot rules is a step closer to state Supreme Court | Scott Bauer/Associated Press

Democrats are appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of several voting rules in Wisconsin, including the ban on absentee ballot drop boxes, which was implemented in 2022 after criticism from former President Donald Trump. The appeal comes after a circuit judge ruled that the lawsuit did not meet the high burden required to declare the voting rules unconstitutional in every application. The lawsuit, filed by national Democratic firm the Elias Law Group, seeks to reinstate drop boxes and eliminate requirements such as a witness signing absentee ballots and correcting ballot problems by 8 p.m. on Election Day, arguing that absentee voting is a right protected by the Wisconsin Constitution. Read Article