Michigan election officials see new $8 million security grant ahead of 2022 elections | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

Election officials across Michigan will soon have access to millions in federal funds for a wide range of security improvements ahead of the 2022 elections, from website and election equipment upgrades to active shooter trainings. The Secretary of State's Office notified county and local election officials that its Bureau of Elections will make $8 million in federal grant funding available this year, according to a news release Monday. The funding comes as many Republican voters and politicians continue to doubt the security of the 2020 presidential election. Many election officials around the country have reported an increase in threats and harassment against them and their staff in the aftermath of the last election. Hundreds of post-election audits in Michigan affirmed the outcome of that year's presidential contest — which Joe Biden won by more than 154,000 votes — and a comprehensive investigation by the GOP-led Senate Oversight Committee thoroughly debunked misinformation about the election.

Full Article: Mich. rolls out new $8 million election security grant

Montana’s new voter management system to be tested during 2022 primaries | Sam Wilson/Helena Independent Record

For the first time since 2005, Montana election administrators in some counties will begin running the state's new voter management system alongside the current system in a series of “parallel tests” before a more-broad deployment next year. The current schedule calls for all the state’s counties to switch over to the new “ElectMT” system on the third week of 2023, state Elections Manager Stuart Fuller told lawmakers Thursday. Before that happens, Fuller said, 15 counties will conduct parallel tests during the 2022 primary and general federal elections. That will give those election workers the opportunity to test-drive the ElectMT system while the official election processes — from registering voters to printing, mailing and accepting ballots — will be run on the tried-and-true MontanaVotes system. MontanaVotes was adopted statewide in 2006, and the state has been developing a successor to the aging system since 2019.
Full Article: Test-runs of MT's new election system to begin with 2022 primaries | 406 Politics | helenair.com

Nevada county rejects hand counted paper ballots, sheriffs at vote sites | Scott Sonner/Associated Press

An election reform package has been rejected in northern Nevada with the help of critics that included a lawyer involved in one of the most famous recounts in state history. Alex Flangas, a lawyer in Washoe County for 37 years, told the commission Tuesday hand-counting of ballots has long been widely recognized as the worst way to ensure accurate results. After seven hours of passionate public comment on both sides, the Washoe County Commission voted 4-1 to defeat a resolution that would have posted sheriff’s deputies at all polling places and required most ballots to be cast with paper ballots counted by hand. The push for hand-counting ballots came amid mistrust of elections among many Republicans who believe the false narrative that widespread fraud cost former President Donald Trump reelection in the 2020 presidential contest. The National Republican Senatorial Committee hired Flangas in 1998 to represent GOP Rep. John Ensign’s campaign in a legal battle seeking a recount of his 401-vote loss to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid that year. Flangas disclosed to commissioners that he pushed for hand-counting of ballots in 1998 because he knew it was prone to error and would make the results easier to challenge in court. “I fought for and obtained a hand-recount of the ballots in Washoe County and let me tell you why: because we knew — and everybody knew — that it would produce more error," Flangas said. Full Article: Nevada county rejects paper ballots, sheriffs at vote sites | National News | madison.com

Nevada: Nye County clerk: No time to eliminate electronic balloting | Jessica Hill/Las Vegas Sun Newspaper

The Nye County Commission last week asked the county clerk to consider using only paper ballots in the upcoming primary and general election, part of a larger push from Republican lawmakers to eliminate electronic balloting machines and tallies. But Nye County Clerk Sandra Merlino said it would be impossible for her to implement changes for the June 14 primary. The biggest issue, Merlino said, is that there are no rules and regulations in place, and it would be difficult to get staffing ready. “There’s so many things to consider and right now not enough time to put it in place,” Merlino said. Clerks start preparing for the primary in January, Merlino said, so they’re already halfway through the process. “To stop in the middle and try to purchase all the ballot boxes we need and hire an additional 100 people, it’s about impossible to do with the time we have,” Merlino said. Commissioners do not have the authority to tell her how to conduct the elections, she said, but she is considering whether or not it can be done for the general election in November. She is working with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office to come up with an analysis for how it could work, how much it will cost, what kind of equipment they would need and how transportation of the ballots would work. What’s happening in Nye County is a reflection of what Republican lawmakers are trying to do across the state and country. And if the clerk of a county with about 38,500 registered voters is expressing her doubts, how will a county like Clark, which has 1.5 million registered voters, see this implemented? Full Article: Nye County clerk: No time to eliminate electronic balloting - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper

Pennsylvania: Voting machine maker Dominion wins appeal in GOP election inquiry | Associated Press

Dominion Voting Systems won an appeal in Pennsylvania’s highest court on Monday in a bid to ensure that any inspection of its voting machines as part of Republican lawmakers’ inquiry into Pennsylvania’s 2020 election be done by a laboratory that has specific credentials. The Democratic-majority state Supreme Court ruled 5-2, along party lines, to overturn a January decision by a Republican judge on the lower Commonwealth Court. That judge ruled that Dominion could not intervene in a wider case involving an inspection of its equipment used by heavily Republican Fulton County in 2020′s election.

Full Article: Voting machine maker wins appeal in GOP election inquiry | AP News

Texas: Mail Ballot Rejections Surge, With Signs of a Race Gap | Nick Corasaniti/The New York Times

More than 18,000 voters in Texas’ most populous counties had their mail-in ballots rejected in the state’s primary election this month, according to a review of election data by The New York Times, a surge in thrown-out votes that disproportionately affected Black people in the state’s largest county and revealed the impact of new voting regulations passed by Republicans last year. In Harris County, which includes Houston and is the state’s most populous county, areas with large Black populations were 44 percent more likely to have ballots rejected than heavily white areas, according to a review of census survey data and election results by the Harris County election administrator’s office. The analysis also found that Black residents made up the largest racial group in six of the nine ZIP codes with the most ballot rejections in the county. The thousands of ballot rejections, and the racial disparity in rejections in Harris County, provide the clearest evidence yet that the major voting law passed last year by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature has prevented significant numbers of people from voting. The rejection rate in the state’s most populous counties was roughly 15 percent. By comparison, during the 2020 general election, nearly one million absentee ballots were cast statewide and just under 9,000 were thrown out, a rejection rate of roughly 1 percent. The numbers in Harris County, which has over 4.7 million residents, also appeared to substantiate Democratic warnings that Black voters would face the brunt of the new regulations.

Full Article: Mail Ballot Rejections Surge in Texas, With Signs of a Race Gap - The New York Times

Wisconsin: ‘Let’s sit down and talk about it’: Clerks prepare for public testing of voting machines | A.J. Bayatpour/wkow.com

Lori Stottler knows there's never been so much public interest in the accuracy of the machines her office uses to count Janesville's ballots. To be sure everything is in order ahead of the April 5 spring election, she's conducting three days of pretesting on the city's machines before a public testing. 27 News observed Wednesday's session. Stottler said ongoing skepticism from some conservatives over the 2020 general election leaves her hoping more people will attend Saturday's public test. "Just like anything in life, when it comes to politics, religion, and now, elections, let's sit down and talk about it," Stottler said. "Maybe I can help you understand better and you can help me understand what I need to be doing differently to make sure that I have your trust." A series of legal challenges and recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties upheld President Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin. Still, skeptics have pushed unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud, including theories of foreign actors hacking voting machines. Full Article: 'Let's sit down and talk about it': Clerks prepare for public testing of voting machines | News | wkow.com

Putin’s Failure in Ukraine Could Fuel Russia Election Interference | Sonam Sheth and Grace Panetta/Business Insider

Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has been been an unexpected and historic challenge for Russia: the Russian military is suffering global embarrassment over its inability to tamp down fierce Ukrainian resistance; the Russian economy has been decimated; and the last shreds of Putin's international reputation are in tatters. But experts say Putin's military failures and his status as a global pariah could make him more likely to double down on another of his goals: manipulating foreign elections and sowing distrust in democratic systems. "Because of the resistance Russia has gotten and NATO becoming even stronger, Russia has to show a sign of dominance on the cyber side, just from a playbook perspective," David Kennedy, a former NSA hacker and the CEO of TrustedSec, told Insider. "So Putin and the intelligence agencies are going to look at how to cause as much damage as possible." He added that the voting and election process in the US "is a ripe target" because of its vulnerability and the success Russia saw with its 2016 election interference efforts. Full Article: Putin's Failure in Ukraine Could Fuel Russia Election Interference

Some in GOP want ballots to be counted by hand, not machines | Holly Ramer and Christina A. Cassidy/Associated Press

Growing suspicion about the security of voting systems has kindled a back-to-the future moment among conservatives in some parts of the U.S. Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced legislation that would require all election ballots to be counted by hand instead of electronic tabulators. Similar proposals have been floated within some local governments, including about a dozen New Hampshire towns and Washoe County in the presidential battleground state of Nevada. The push for hand-counting ballots comes amid mistrust of elections among many Republicans who believe the false narrative that widespread fraud cost former President Donald Trump reelection in the 2020 presidential contest. Despite no evidence of widespread fraud or major irregularities, conspiracy theories have proliferated among his allies that voting systems were somehow manipulated to favor Democrat Joe Biden. That has prompted calls to ban electronic tabulators used to scan ballots, record votes and compile race tallies.

Full Article: Some in GOP want ballots to be counted by hand, not machines | AP News

National: ‘Arsonists with keys to the firehouse’: once-obscure state races fuel fears for US democracy | Joan E Greve/The Guardian

Last year, Brad Raffensperger was attracting national headlines for taking a stand against Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election. In a phone call that was quickly made public, Trump demanded that Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, “find” enough votes to deprive Joe Biden of a victory in the battleground state. Raffensperger refused to do so and won widespread praise for his courage. Raffensperger is paying for his actions in a way that reveals how his once obscure elected position is now at the center of a battle for the future of American democracy – and attracting all the big money and political heat that entails. This year, Raffensperger is facing a brutal primary race against a Trump-backed candidate, the US congressman Jody Hice, and trying to cling on to his job. Hice, who has said the 2020 results in Georgia would have been different if the race had been “fair”, has already raised more than twice as much money as Raffensperger. Hice’s impressive haul is partly thanks to the unusually high number of out-of-state donations that his campaign has attracted, as more Americans across the country zero in on secretary of state races.

Full Article: ‘Arsonists with keys to the firehouse’: once-obscure state races fuel fears for US democracy | US midterm elections 2022 | The Guardian

National: An election without ‘I voted’ stickers? Election officials scrambling amid paper shortage | Rick Rouan/USA Today

American elections are the latest industry to feel the squeeze of inflation and global supply chain disruptions. As voters begin to cast ballots in the 2022 primaries, the election industry has been scrambling to get enough paper products to print ballots, stuff envelopes and produce other materials critical to the voting process. Warnings about the availability of paper have circulated among election officials for months. But in February, a working group of election industry officials said in a report that orders typically filled in days or weeks now are taking months. Prices, too, have spiked. With demand ticking up ahead of the election and a smaller supply from paper mills, election officials say they are paying more for paper products, putting more strain on an elections system that advocates say has been underfunded for years. The shortage already is making it harder on voters. In Texas, some vote-by-mail ballots went out later than usual because local elections officials could not get their stock of paper early enough.

Source: 2022 Elections face paper shortages caused by supply chain, inflation

National: Decline in federal grant funding for local elections criticized by advocates | Kira Lerner/States Newsroom

The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week includes $75 million in Help America Vote Act grants — a major reduction compared to years past. Experts say the $75 million is insufficient to fund local elections and leaves local election offices without resources to improve election infrastructure and protect the security of elections. Though Congress has only funded local elections three times since 2010, the $75 million in the latest spending bill is far from the $53 billion over 10 years that election security experts say is necessary. It’s also far less than the $500 million proposed by the House in its original spending proposal.  “It’s always great to see Congress getting resources to state and local election officials and really recognizing their responsibility to help fund elections, but $75 million is far short of what is needed right now to really secure and protect our election infrastructure,” said Derek Tisler, counsel with the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “It’s also considerably less than the funding we saw in recent years leading up to the 2020 election.” In 2018 and 2020 respectively, Congress approved $380 million and $425 million in HAVA Election Security Funds for states to improve the administration of elections for federal office. Full Article: Decline in federal grant funding for local elections criticized by advocates - Idaho Capital Sun

National: Democrats urge DOJ to address ‘insider threats’ from candidates who deny 2020 results | Mychael Schnell/The Hill

More than a dozen House Democrats are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to address “insider threats to election systems,” which they say are posed by candidates who are running to fill local election positions motivated by former President Trump's false claims about the 2020 presidential election. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland dated Wednesday, the Democratic lawmakers said they are worried that those candidates may attempt to influence the outcomes of future races if they are installed as election officials. “Unfortunately, many of the candidates seeking to fill newly vacated state and local election posts support former President Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are concerned that this new cohort of election officials may be inclined to abuse their authority to directly influence the results of future elections.” They pointed to “the recent resurgence of anti-democratic tactics among election officials in key battleground states,” adding that they are “deeply concerned about bad actors who may dismiss their legal obligations in order to secure victory for their favored candidate or candidates.” The House members said there is an “active effort to recruit and convince election officials at all levels of governance to sabotage future elections by spreading conspiracy theories and promoting the claims of election deniers,” pointing to incidents in Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania and various races for secretary of state and state attorney general. Full Article: Democrats urge DOJ to address 'insider threats' from candidates who deny 2020 results | TheHill

National: Trump White House aide was secret author of Dominion Report used to push ‘big lie’ | Hugo Lowell/The Guardian

Weeks after the 2020 election, at least one Trump White House aide was named as secretly producing a report that alleged Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden because of Dominion Voting Systems – research that formed the basis of the former president’s wider efforts to overturn the election. The Dominion report, subtitled “OVERVIEW 12/2/20 – History, Executives, Vote Manipulation Ability and Design, Foreign Ties”, was initially prepared so that it could be sent to legislatures in states where the Trump White House was trying to have Biden’s win reversed. But top Trump officials would also use the research that stemmed from the White House aide-produced report to weigh other options to return Trump to the presidency, including having the former president sign off on executive orders to authorize sweeping emergency powers. The previously unreported involvement of the Trump White House aide in the preparation of the Dominion report raises the extraordinary situation of at least one administration official being among the original sources of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The publicly available version of the Dominion report, which first surfaced in early December 2020 on the conservative outlet the Gateway Pundit, names on the cover and in metadata as its author Katherine Friess, a volunteer on the Trump post-election legal team. But the Dominion report was in fact produced by the senior Trump White House policy aide Joanna Miller, according to the original version of the document reviewed by the Guardian and a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Full Article: Trump White House aide was secret author of report used to push ‘big lie’ | US elections 2020 | The Guardian

National: Election Officials Say Safety Threats May Drive Away Poll Workers | Daniel C. Vock/Route Fifty

Local election officials have long worried about whether they can find enough people to work in polls on Election Day. After all, the hours are long, the pay is low and, in recent years, workers have worried about the spread of Covid-19. Now they’re worried a new phenomenon may keep workers away: threats to their physical safety. Three out of every five respondents in a new Brennan Center for Justice survey of election officials said they were either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that “that threats, harassment and intimidation against local election officials will make it more difficult to retain or recruit election workers in future elections.” The concerns about danger are part of the fall-out of the acrimonious 2020 presidential election. President Joe Biden clearly won the contest, but former President Donald Trump has fomented challenges based on conspiracy theories and riled up his followers to attack election administrators and workers. “Counties organize about 800,000 volunteers each election cycle, and it’s getting harder and harder,” said Matthew Chase, the CEO and executive director of the National Association of Counties. “During the pandemic, we struggled because a lot of our election volunteers were older and they certainly didn’t want to show up in the middle of pandemic and volunteer,” he said. “Now you layer on the harassment that they’re facing in the community for being a civic-minded individual, and we’re really concerned.”

Full Article: Election Officials Say Safety Threats May Drive Away Poll Workers - Route Fifty

National: Fox News countersues a voting machine maker, saying its damage estimate is inflated | Christopher Dean Hopkins/NPR

Fox News today filed a counterclaim against voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic, saying the company's claim that it suffered $2.7 billion in losses is massively inflated. Fox News argues it warrants punishment under rules, known as anti-SLAPP laws, that are designed to protect the media from abusive litigation. The news network seeks payment of its attorneys' fees and "other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper." A report that Fox News had produced by University of Chicago business law professor Daniel R. Fischel found that Smartmatic had sustained millions of dollars in losses in the years leading up to the election. Year-over-year growth of nearly 75% would be needed to reach the amount it's seeking from the news network, the report said. "While the recovery of fees and costs will not undo all the damage this First Amendment-defying lawsuit has wrought," the lawsuit says, "at least it may cause the next plaintiff to think twice before trying to penalize the press to the tune of billions of dollars in nonexistent damages." Smartmatic's lawsuit, filed in February 2021, stemmed from the network's coverage of fraud claims — which had no basis in fact — by President Trump and his allies following the 2020 election, as well as opinions voiced by some of Fox News hosts. The company argues that coverage amounted to willing participation in a disinformation campaign that hurt Smartmatic's business prospects. Full Article: Fox News countersues a voting machine maker, saying its damage estimate is inflated | WYPR

Arizona state senators block a dozen GOP-sponsored election reform bills | Michael McDaniel/Courthouse News Service

The Arizona Senate blocked a sweeping slate of GOP-sponsored election reform bills Monday that many state Republicans claimed would have addressed concerns of election integrity, following the state's audit of the 2020 presidential election. Twelve election reform bills failed to pass the Republican-controlled Senate due to nay votes from two Republicans. The surprising result came after sponsors and committees spent weeks amending and prepping the bills for their final Senate read. The GOP-dissenters of the bills were state Senators Michelle Ugenti-Rita, a Republican from Scottsdale, and Paul Boyer, a Republican from Glendale. Both have pushed back against claims from many of their colleagues that Joe's Biden 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, and they have received harsh criticism from the Arizona GOP as a result. "I do have some major concerns with this bill and I have a major concern about what we're doing today," Ugenti-Rita said, explaining her vote against Senate Bill 1570. The bill would have prevented some voting equipment from being connected to the internet, in a bid to safeguard against hacking. "I have never seen this amount of bills for one section of law come up over the course of a few days and just be allowed to die. I think that's poor leadership. I've been here for 11 years. That is not how we do things," Ugenti-Rita said. "I don't think it's fair to the sponsors. I don't think it's fair to the other members. And honestly, I think that there's an agenda behind it and I find it inappropriate." Full Article: Arizona state senators block a dozen GOP-sponsored election reform bills | Courthouse News Service

Colorado: Rio Blanco County Commissioners vote 2-1 to defund election equipment | Lucas Turner/Rio Blanco Herald Times

Rio Blanco County Commissioners voted 2-1 this week in favor of defunding Dominion-based vote tabulation machines in the Clerk and Recorder’s office. If implemented, the move would require election officials to hand-count all votes in future elections. The decision came following back-and-forth comments by current/former election officials (who spoke against the measure) and RBC residents who questioned the security of dominion machines (who spoke in favor). “Adoption of this measure will cause chaos in the clerk and recorder’s office during the 2022 election cycle, and will expose RBC to serious liability and litigation,” said County Clerk Boots Campbell Tuesday. She voiced strong opposition to the measure, and pushed back on claims of fraud, miscounts and other alleged discrepancies in the county’s election verification process. She emphasized the matter would wind up before the Deputy Secretary of State, and noted that even if it goes through (following a required public hearing) it will not impact tabulation systems of this year’s elections. Full Article: Commissioners vote 2-1 to defund election equipment | Rio Blanco Herald Times | Serving Meeker, Rangely, Dinosaur & Northwest Colorado

Colorado: Democratic bill targets ‘insider’ threats to state’s election system | Bente Birkeland/Colorado Public Radio

Eight months after Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters allegedly compromised her county’s election machines while searching for proof of fraud in the 2020 election, Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers want to make it illegal for those who run elections to do much of what she’s accused of. A new bill would ban anyone overseeing elections from knowingly or recklessly making false statements about the process. It also adds more training requirements for election staff and officials, bars counties from copying voting machine hard drives without state permission, mandates full-time video monitoring of equipment and increases penalties for security breaches. Supporters believe Colorado is the first state to try this approach to prevent insider threats and disinformation from further eroding public trust in elections, even as others raise concerns about potential First Amendment violations and question the motives behind the entire effort. “I don’t think it's too much to ask to say, ‘if you’re running our elections you can’t lie about our elections’,” said Democratic Senate President Steve Fenberg who is the main sponsor of SB22-153.  While the measure had been in the works for a while, it was officially introduced just two days after Peters was charged with breaching the security of her county’s voting equipment. In the words of the grand jury’s indictment, Peters and her deputy Belinda Knisley allegedly “devised and executed a deceptive scheme”  to give an unauthorized person access to the county's voting machine hard drives and to sit in on a software update. Photos of passwords and copies of data were later leaked online by election conspiracy theorists. Full Article: Democratic bill targets ‘insider’ threats to Colorado’s election system | Colorado Public Radio

Georgia: Investigation blames human error for issues in Fulton County election audit | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia election investigators reported Wednesday that they found repeated human errors during an unofficial hand recount of the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, but the overall results appeared to be correct. The State Election Board then voted 3-1 to refer the case to the attorney general’s office for further investigation into whether Fulton’s elections office violated election rules. Investigators reviewed Fulton’s recount in response to concerns raised by Gov. Brian Kemp, who told the board in a November letter that he had vetted allegations of inconsistencies in the hand recount, part of a statewide audit of all 5 million ballots cast. Overall, the results of the hand recount — both in Fulton and all of Georgia — were similar to two machine counts, showing that Democrat Joe Biden won the state by about 12,000 votes against Republican Donald Trump. Two Houston County residents had claimed to Kemp there were batches of Fulton ballots with 100% of votes for Biden, duplicated batches and incorrect data. The investigation indicated that the allegations can be explained by mistakes by election workers during the first-ever statewide election audit, which included a review of over 525,000 Fulton paper ballots.

Full Article: State Election Board advances case alleging problems in Fulton recount

Indiana governor signs bill requiring paper backup for all voting machines by 2024 | Margaret Menge/The Center Square

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill recently that requires all counties using MicroVote voting machines to have a paper trail before the next presidential election in 2024. More than half of the counties in Indiana now use MicroVote voting machines – machines that have no paper record showing votes cast, making it impossible for election workers or outside officials to do a risk-limiting audit following an election, or to recount votes in the event of a close election or a legal contest. The new law requires counties using MicroVote machines to have external printers for all of these machines by July 1, 2024 – printers called vvpats, for voter verified paper audit trail. Before the bill being signed this week, counties had until December 2029 under state law to either replace their MicroVote voting machines or buy vvpats for all of them. The vvpats attach to the voting machines and record votes on a roll of thermal paper that stays inside the machine, similar to an internal cash register tape. Voters are to verify their votes by looking through a clear glass or plastic window on the voting machine after voting to see the selections on the paper match the candidate selections they just made. At a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 24, Barbara Tully, of Indiana Vote by Mail, testified in opposition to vvpats, saying the entire voting rights community opposes vvpats and they are “troublesome for a number of reasons” – including that the thermal paper can smudge easily and unlike actual paper ballots, they are difficult to use in an election audit.
Full Article: Indiana governor signs bill requiring paper backup for all voting machines by 2024 | State | shelbynews.com

Kansas: Unbothered by cost concerns, state senators approve ballot watermark bill | Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector

The Senate on Tuesday approved a senator’s efforts to ensure all voting systems in Kansas use a paper ballot with a distinctive watermark. Senate Bill 389, introduced by Sen. Richard Hildebrand, R-Galena, also requires a hand audit of these ballots after the election. Currently, Kansas requires election clerks to physically stamp each ballot, but Hildebrand brought the bill to ensure human error does not come into play. In a hearing earlier this month, voting rights advocates raised concerns about the impact of the bill on Kansans with disabilities and the cost for counties to print new ballots. The concerns were echoed by Senate Democrats who said this would not address any real issue. “I am happy to support things that will make our election process more secure. I don’t see any way that this would do that,” said Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, during debate over the bill on Monday. “I also know that we are putting all the cost of this on our counties, and it is not something that any of my county residents have asked for.” Hildebrand countered that the cost was with the perceived security. “How much is peace of mind worth? Two cents? I’ll put my two cents in,” Hildebrand said. The state would not incur any costs, although counties would incur costs related to ballot printing and additional wages for election board workers. The Senate gave preliminary approval to the bill on Monday, then passed it 27-11 on Tuesday. Full Article: Unbothered by cost concerns, Kansas senators approve ballot watermark bill - Kansas Reflector

Maine’s top election official seeks funding to conduct post-voting audits | Randy Billings/Portland Press Herald

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows asked state lawmakers on Monday to provide funding for five new positions so the state can conduct regular election audits and provide year-round training for municipal election clerks. Maine is one of only six states that does not have a formal election auditing program and the only state controlled by Democrats that does not conduct post-election audits. The Legislature passed a bill last year to add the positions, estimated to cost about $525,000 a year, but the bill has been sitting on the appropriations table, waiting to be funded. Bellows urged the State and Local Government Committee and the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee to recommend including the funding in the supplemental budget being negotiated in the Legislature. “We would be very willing and eager to move forward, should the committee decide to suggest those five positions as an amendment to the budget,” Bellows told the State and Local Government committee. Gov. Janet Mills proposed a list of spending priorities in her supplemental budget proposal, with half of the projected $822 million surplus going to rebate checks to taxpayers. But Mills also left about $12 million for lawmakers to spend on other priorities. Mills is expected to submit a change package this week, which outline plans for an additional $411 million in revenue projected through mid-2023, so that figure could increase. Full Article: Maine’s top election official seeks funding to conduct post-voting audits - Portland Press Herald

Nevada: Officials in Nye County endorse hand count, paper ballots | Ken Ritter/Associated Press

Elected officials in a rural southern Nevada county say they want paper votes counted by hand during primary and general elections this year, although their top elections official said Wednesday she can’t immediately commit enough staffing or supplies and doesn’t have regulations to follow. “It would be physically impossible for me to implement this for the (June 14) primary election,” Nye County Clerk Sandra Merlino told The Associated Press following the all-Republican County Commission’s unanimous Tuesday vote endorsing the measures. “I have made a commitment to look at it.” Merlino, an elected official who has had her job since 2000, has authority to accept or reject the recommendation from the five-member commission. It followed presentations from several speakers on unproven conspiracies and doubts about the results of the 2020 election, according to media reports. Commissioner Debra Strickland called for the vote, saying she wanted to reassure county voters that their voice is heard and their ballots are accurately recorded, the Nevada Independent reported.

Full Article: Officials in Nevada county endorse hand count, paper ballots | AP News

New Mexico State Auditor finds problems with Otero County’s election audit contract | Nicole MaxwellAlamogordo Daily News

The New Mexico Office of the State Auditor (OSA), issued a letter to Otero County on March 14 stating it found concerns and potential violations of county and state code with Otero County's with EchoMail to audit the 2020 General Election. The concerns included contract oversight deficiencies, potential Governmental Conduct Act violations and possible violations of the Otero County Purchasing Policy. Otero County has until March 29 to respond to the State Auditor's Office letter. The Otero County Commission has supported the audit since the first discussions of it in 2021. "I speak for myself, but I think the other two commissioners feel the same way that we strongly support this audit," Otero County Commission Chairwoman Vickie Marquardt said. The Alamogordo Daily News reached out to Otero County for comment but had not heard back as of 3 p.m. on March 14. "Through our fact-finding procedures, review of documents received from the County, and review of public meetings regarding the procurement, the OSA has identified concerns and potential violations we want to bring to your attention, as the OSA seeks to deter waste and abuse in government," the OSA letter states.

Full Article: New Mexico finds problems with Otero County's election audit contract

Texas mail ballot rejections soar under new restrictions | Paul J. Weber and Acacia Coronado/Associated Press

Texas threw out mail votes at an abnormally high rate during the nation’s first primary of 2022, rejecting nearly 23,000 ballots outright under tougher voting rules that are part of a broad campaign by Republicans to reshape American elections, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Roughly 13% of mail ballots returned in the March 1 primary were discarded and uncounted across 187 counties in Texas. While historical primary comparisons are lacking, the double-digit rejection rate would be far beyond what is typical in a general election, when experts say anything above 2% is usually cause for attention. “My first reaction is ‘yikes,’” said Charles Stewart III, director of the Election Data and Science Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It says to me that there’s something seriously wrong with the way that the mail ballot policy is being administered.” Republicans promised new layers of voting rules would make it “easier to vote and harder to cheat.” But the final numbers recorded by AP lay bare the glaring gulf between that objective and the obstacles, frustration and tens of thousands of uncounted votes resulting from tighter restrictions and rushed implementation.

Full Article: Texas mail ballot rejections soar under new restrictions | AP News

Wisconsin Elections Commission pushes back on Gableman report | Shawn Johnson/Wisconsin Public Radio

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is pushing back on a Republican-ordered report released this week that cast doubt on the 2020 election in Wisconsin, saying the review was full of misunderstandings and outright falsehoods. The report includes an assertion by Republican special counsel Michael Gableman that votes from "incapacitated" nursing home residents had cast doubt on the outcome of the election. Gableman issued his report earlier this week and more than eight months after he signed a contract with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate the 2020 presidential election in the state. Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice, made a wide range of broad allegations that the 2020 election was conducted illegally, focusing much of his presentation to Assembly lawmakers on votes cast by elderly people at residential care facilities. In March 2020, the Wisconsin Elections Commission decided that special voting deputies — people deputized by the county clerk to administer absentee voting in nursing homes and qualified care facilities — wouldn't be able to enter those facilities because of COVID-19 concerns. Instead, residents who wanted to vote could request absentee ballots and get help from staff at the homes to complete them. During Gableman's presentation, he showed video interviews of nursing home residents who voted in 2020 being asked to choose between hypothetical candidates based on policy positions, like whether they supported tax cuts. The residents in the video were often confused. Full Article: Wisconsin Elections Commission pushes back on Gableman report | Wisconsin Public Radio

National: The elections police are coming | Fredreka Schouten and Kelly Mena/CNN

A measure moving through the Republican-controlled Georgia legislature would hand new election policing powers to the state's bureau of investigations. The bill under consideration in the Georgia House would give the Georgia Bureau of Investigations the power to probe election fraud allegations -- supplementing the work currently overseen by state election officials. If the proposal becomes law, the Peach State would become the second state in recent weeks to beef up enforcement of election fraud -- a crime that federal and state officials say is exceedingly rare. Last week, the Florida legislature created a scaled-back version of a new election police force that had been sought by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is on the ballot for reelection this year and has presidential ambitions for 2024. The measure, headed to DeSantis' desk for his signature, would establish an Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State with a staff of 15 to conduct preliminary investigations of election fraud. In addition, the measure calls for DeSantis to appoint up to 10 law enforcement officers to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to probe election crimes.
The Florida measure also makes it a felony to return more than two mail-in ballots on behalf of other voters.
Full Article: The elections police are coming - CNNPolitics

National: States Want to Boost Protections for Threatened Local Election Officials | Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline

From her second-floor office window in Medford, Oregon, elections administrator Chris Walker vividly remembers reading the unsettling words painted in big white letters on the parking lot below in late November 2020: “Vote don’t work. Next time bullets.” Her heart sank, she recalls, wondering whether or when the threat would materialize. Former President Donald Trump had won her southern Oregon community, and despite his lie that the election was stolen, she never expected this anger. While her office is nonpartisan, Walker, the Jackson County clerk, has been a registered Republican for as long as she’s been able to vote. She’s frustrated to see the amount of election misinformation from members of her party. The pressure from constituents has not let up over the past two years. In emails, she is called a crook and a criminal just for doing her job: running elections. “It really was shocking,” she said. “We are normal, everyday people. We’ve been charged with an extraordinary task. We have to continue to do our work. We’ve not let it control what we do here.” Walker is one of many election officials around the country who have faced violent threats and harassment since the 2020 presidential election, as Trump and his allies continue to perpetuate repeatedly disproven myths about voter fraud. This pressure, meant to exhaust and scare local officials into resigning, could usher in new election personnel who seek to skew results, election experts say. Full Article: States Want to Boost Protections for Threatened Local Election Officials | The Pew Charitable Trusts

Another way to protect voting rights: Hack-proof our elections | Matthew Germer/The Hill

In recent years, leading computer scientists and network security experts have found real vulnerabilities in election technology that could allow even lower-tier hackers to pose threats. As this technology ages, dozens of states are now in dire need of new equipment and support for managing security issues. Public reports from the Director of National Intelligence and other cybersecurity experts suggest that threats could come from Russia, Iran, China or North Korea, as well as non-state actors with radical agendas. But all is not lost. There is growing agreement across the political spectrum on how to improve election security: voter-verified paper ballots that create permanent, physical records of votes; risk-limiting audits that use robust statistical analysis to ensure accurate counts and ample, consistent funding for state and local election administrators in order to carry out trustworthy elections for years to come. There is also support for even stronger protection from hackers and foreign interference through improved federal oversight of voting machine vendors and by keeping voting and tabulation infrastructure off the internet.

Full Article: Another way to protect voting rights: Hack-proof our elections | TheHill