National: Election Workers Are in Crisis. Will Congress Actually Help? | Sam Brody/Daily Beast

Defiance County, Ohio, does not loom large in the story of the 2020 presidential election. This rural slice of northwest Ohio—population 38,000—went for Donald Trump by more than 30 percentage points. The county has long favored Republicans, and it hasn’t been competitive in a very long time. But for the people who run elections in Defiance County, the job has never been harder. “In the last three years, this job has basically tripled,” said Tonya Wichman, the county elections director. It’s not just the endless stream of calls and letters. It’s what they entail for election workers these days: near-constant harassment and denigration from people who, largely spurred on by Trump’s election fraud conspiracies, have developed a toxic distrust of the election system and those who run it. “It’s a disheartening thing… to have people tell you how bad you do your job when you’re going above and beyond what they expect from you,” Wichman says. “They’re listening to people speak about our jobs without asking us about our jobs.” In response, the Defiance County elections office has upgraded every aspect of its security, and there is an additional physical barrier between staff and those who walk in. They instruct poll workers what to do if they see a suspicious car at a voting location, which Wichman says has not been necessary before. Wichman stresses that election workers love what they do and are committed to protecting the integrity of the system—no matter what. But for some in the field, the work has simply become too overwhelming.

Full Article: Election Workers Are in Crisis. Will Congress Actually Help?

National: Judges are narrowing voting protections. Some fear lasting damage | Carrie Johnson/NPR

The nation’s premier tool to protect voting rights is in mortal danger, threatened on multiple fronts by the Supreme Court and lower-ranking federal judges, scholars and civil rights advocates say. The latest blow to the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 came this week in Arkansas, where a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump dismissed a case over new statehouse maps. The NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the maps diluted the power of Black voters. But the judge said he found no way for the outside advocates to proceed. “Only the Attorney General of the United States can bring a case like this one,” wrote Judge Lee Rudofsky. The ACLU said the decision flouts decades of precedent and vowed to appeal. “This ruling was so radical that there was no choice but to appeal it,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Private individuals have brought cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to protect their right to vote for generations.”

Full Article: The Supreme Court takes on another Voting Rights Act case : NPR

Just what Arizona needs: an imaginary ballot box to combat imaginary election fraud | Laurie Roberts/Arizona Republic

Comes now the latest in the Republicans’ unrelenting and at times unhinged assault against Arizona’s elections. Today’s victim: Arizona’s wildly popular early voting system, a decades-old program that was lauded as a national model until Donald Trump lost an election and Republican leaders lost their minds. Senate Bill 1571 would bar voters who receive early ballots from dropping them in the mail. Instead, we’d have to take our ballots to a “smart” drop box. One that doesn’t exist. This plan comes courtesy of Sen. Kelly Townsend, an Apache Junction Republican who is hoping to convince Tucson that she should represent them in Congress next year. This bill is, at least, a step up from her earlier efforts to outright ignore the results of an election. This time, she’s just trying to make it harder for people to vote in the first place. All this, in the name of eliminating all that supposed fraud that not even the Senate’s own ninja auditors could find after an exhaustive examination of Arizona’s 2020 election.

Full Article: An imaginary ballot box to fight imaginary fraud? Genius plan!

Colorado election officials continue to face threats as lawmakers pursue new protections | Scott Franz/KUNC

Election workers in Adams County are putting on bulletproof vests before they head to the office. More than 150 miles away in Salida, the clerks in the Chaffee County clerk and recorder’s office now talk to residents through bulletproof glass and walls. “It’s like it’s so beyond the pale, the craziness,” Chaffee County Clerk Lori Mitchell said last week after describing the range of threats and misinformation she and her staff are still facing following the 2020 election. “I think that’s why it’s hard to combat back because it’s like, ‘Oh my God, what the heck is going on?’” Mitchell said the threats against her office started on social media. They also targeted a worker at a ballot processing machine company that has been the focus of unfounded claims of fraud. “We did all the proper channels of reporting (the threats) to the sheriff and to the FBI and whatever we had to do,” she said. “But it still was very unnerving for me and my family.” Things got worse last summer. Mitchell was driving about a block away from her office in Salida, a small town on the banks of the Arkansas River surrounded by sprawling ranches and mountains. She said she noticed something alarming.

Full Article: Colorado election officials continue to face threats as lawmakers pursue new protections | KUNC

Delaware lawsuit filed to stop early voting | Melissa Steele/Cape Gazette

A lawsuit challenging early voting in Delaware based on a conflict with the state’s constitution was filed Jan. 24 in Delaware Chancery Court. Filed by former Attorney General M. Jane Brady’s legal group on behalf of an election inspector, the lawsuit states that Delaware’s early voting laws, set to take effect in 2022, conflict with and violate the Delaware Constitution because those laws expand the administration of the general election beyond its constitutionally designated day. Per the state constitution, the state’s general election is to be held on a Tuesday after the first Monday in the month of November for an election year. Brady, however, said provisions in the constitution only apply to the general election, not primary elections or special elections, such as the one planned March 5 for the 4th District representative seat. “The language of the constitution itself and court decisions make clear that the provisions we feel are being violated only apply to the general election,” she said. Permanent absentee voting law also violates the constitution, according to the lawsuit. “[Statutes] grant eligibility to vote by absentee ballot indefinitely, and without consideration of the applicant’s eligibility at each subsequent election, as required by the constitution,” the suit states.

Full Article: Lawsuit filed to stop early voting in Delaware | Cape Gazette

District of Columbia: New Bill Would Bring Mobile Voting To D.C. | Martin Austermuhle/DCist

A new bill in the D.C. Council would allow voters to cast ballots from their phones, tablets, or computers, which proponents say would simplify the voting process and enfranchise residents who are otherwise likely to sit out elections. The bill was introduced Friday by Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and seven of her colleagues, and follows a push launched late last year by venture capitalist and former political operative Bradley Tusk to make D.C. the first place in the country to formally adopt mobile voting. … “There is currently no internet technology available that allows for the secure transmission of voted ballots while also maintaining voter privacy and ballot verifiability,” wrote Mark Lindeman, an expert on voting security and audits with Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that focuses on elections and technology, in a recent letter to legislators in Rhode Island considering a bill to allow ballots to be returned over the internet. Additionally, local critics could point to D.C.’s checkered history with various technological advances. In mid-2020, the elections board quietly killed off its unreliable app that allowed voters to register to vote or change their registration; last month the board unveiled its first web-based option for online voter registration, though plans for another app have been delayed. Earlier this month, DC Health discontinued a new web portal that was supposed to allow residents to get access to their COVID-19 vaccine records after the system sent the wrong personal information to some people.

Full Article: New Bill Would Bring Mobile Voting To D.C. | DCist

Florida bill creating election police unit ready for Senate floor | Renzo Downey/Florida Politics

The Senate could soon vote to establish an election crimes investigations unit, ban ranked-choice voting, change vote-by-mail forms and more. After more than two hours of discussion, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted nearly along party lines Thursday to send an elections bill (SB 524) that contains several of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “election integrity” priorities to the Senate floor. Despite bipartisan agreement the 2020 election was possibly the smoothest in Florida’s recent history, the bill is Republicans’ second follow-up measure to strengthen Florida’s voting laws. The legislation, sponsored by St. Augustine Republican Sen. Travis Hutson, proposes many changes to several areas of Florida election laws. “I don’t want one illegal vote in the state of Florida, and I don’t think we should be afraid of our elections being too secure,” Hutson told the committee. Gulf Breeze Republican Sen. Doug Broxson suggested the measure is insurance for the future rather than a reaction to the past. “We’re really looking to the future, to the reality of what seems to be a changing landscape across the country on election procedure,” Broxson told the committee. But Democrats, like Jacksonville Sen. Audrey Gibson, contested the bill’s purpose. “All this is stoking fear. It is wanting to cause division, not only in this state, but in this country,” Gibson said.

Full Article: Bill creating election police unit ready for Senate floor

Michigan: Cross Village election data “cloning” case ends with misdemeanor plea | Mardi Link/Traverse City Record Eagle

A woman who faced felony charges after she was accused of plotting to “clone” voting data in Cross Village Township, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a single misdemeanor charge of creating a disturbance. Tera Jackson agreed in 90th District Court to plead no contest, and in exchange the prosecutor dropped two felony charges — common law fraud and unauthorized access of a computer — agreed to a delayed sentence and possible expungement. “The court will enter a conviction to the misdemeanor without you telling me exactly what you did, okay?” explained 86th District Court Judge Michael Stepka. “That’s how no contest works,” Stepka said. “You’ll still have a conviction for creating a disturbance, do you understand that?” “My understanding is, that goes away,” Jackson said, “after the successful — yeah, me continuing my life as I always have, not being a criminal.” Stepka presided as a visiting judge in response to a Feb. 3 order from the state court administrator’s office, he said. Ninetieth District Court Judge Angela Lasher, who was challenged unsuccessfully in the 2020 election by Jackson’s attorney, Robert A. Banner, recused herself from the case.

Full Article: Cross Village election data “cloning” case ends with misdemeanor plea | News | record-eagle.com

Nevada: National Guard, ‘stealth paper ballots’ proposed for Washoe County elections | Mark Robison/Reno Gazette Journal

Commissioner Jeanne Herman is proposing big changes in the way elections are handled in Washoe County — including ensuring the Nevada National Guard is present at every polling location as soon as the 2022 primary — in an effort to preserve the “purity” of voting in Nevada’s second-largest county. All 20 measures in Herman’s resolution, dated Feb. 16, came from suggestions made during 4½ hours of public comment at a recent county commission meeting attended by more than 350 people, she said. “The people need to have a voice to be heard and be satisfied that we have looked at the situation with care and are living up to our job as commissioners,” Herman told the RGJ Friday morning. The resolution will be discussed by the commission at its Tuesday, Feb. 22, meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. Go here to view the agenda; the resolution is listed as item No. 14.

Full Article: National Guard, ‘stealth paper ballots’ proposed for Washoe elections

New Hampshire bill to reprogram automated voting machines has support from election officials | Kevin Landrigan/The New Hampshire Union Leade

The state’s top election official and town clerks have endorsed a bipartisan bill to reprogram automated voting machines to detect ballots that have votes for too many candidates for a single office. Currently, if the machine detects an “overvote” it doesn’t count the votes for anyone for that race, though it does process the rest of the ballot. This change, if it had been made before the 2020 election, would have immediately flagged the absentee ballots that were incorrectly read by Windham voting machines on Election Day because of folds through one of the candidates’ names, said state Rep. Marjorie Porter, D-Hillsborough, the chief architect of the reform measure. Porter said the post-2020 election summary tapes of votes from other towns she and others have seen led her to believe many more votes were invalidated as the machines wrongly read them as overvotes. “This leads me to believe the shadow issue found in Windham may have been more widespread than we know,” Porter told the House Election Laws Committee Wednesday. The amended bill Porter presented would require that these machines kick out any ballot that appears to have votes for too many candidates for a single office. “Our machines can be programmed at no additional cost to reject the ballot, much like that change machine returns the crinkled dollar you try to put in at the laundromat,” Porter said. This ballot would then be placed in an “auxiliary bin” to be hand-counted by local election officials after the polls have closed.

Full Article: A bill to reprogram automated voting machines has support from election officials

Oregon: New bill introduced to better protect elections officials | Madison LaBerge/KOTI

With elections officials across the country facing increasing threats, including in southern Oregon, a new bill is under consideration in Salem. House Bill 4144 is gaining support from elections officials across the state. It would exempt elections officials from disclosing their addresses in public records. Jackson County’s own elections clerk supports the legislation. “Written in these huge, probably six to eight, possibly even 10 foot letters were: ‘VOTE DON’T WORK’ and then just south of that ‘NEXT TIME BULLETS.’ And it literally just, it threw me off,” said Chris Walker, the Jackson County elections clerk, going into her 14th year. She said threatening vandalism was found in the parking lot across the street from the elections office, just one day after the county certified the 2020 elections results. “I can’t believe the stuff we’ve heard about happening around the country, it’s here and now in our own county — in Jackson County. It was very disheartening, and very disturbing, as well,” said Walker.

Full Article: New bill introduced to better protect elections officials – KOBI-TV NBC5 / KOTI-TV NBC2

Oregon legislature passes election worker safety bill | Jamie Parfitt/KGW

A bill aimed at shielding Oregon’s election workers from intimidation and threats has now passed both chambers of the legislature, heading to Governor Kate Brown’s desk for a signature. House Bill 4144 allows election workers to keep their home addresses from public disclosure, and makes the crime of harassment against an election worker punishable by a maximum 364 days in prison and a $6,250 fine — upgrading it from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor. The 2020 election became a particular hotbed of hostility and harassment, much of it directed at the workers and elected officials who oversee vote-counting throughout the country. While Oregon was far from the worst example, there were enough incidents that some lawmakers and county clerks felt that something had to be done. Jackson County Clerk Chris Walker, a nonpartisan elected official, championed HB 4144 after her office became the target of threats. Shortly after the 2020 election, someone painted a message in a nearby parking lot: “vote don’t work” and “next time bullets.”

Full Article: Oregon legislature passes election worker safety bill | kgw.com

Tennessee: New evidence undermines case against Black US woman jailed for voting error | Sam Levine/The Guardian

I have an update in my reporting on the case of Pamela Moses, the 44-year-old Black Lives Matter Activist in Memphis who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote. The case has attracted significant national attention because many see Moses’ sentence as too severe and a clear example of disparities in the US criminal justice system. The prosecution’s case is built around the argument that Moses knew she was ineligible to vote because she was on probation, and people on felony probation in Tennessee cannot vote. Indeed, a few months before she tried to register, a judge had issued an order telling Moses her probation was ongoing. But nevertheless, prosecutors argued, she convinced a probation officer into signing a form saying she was eligible to vote and then knowingly submitted the document knowing it was false. “You tricked the probation department into giving you documents saying you were off probation,” W Mark Ward, the judge who sentenced Moses, said in January. Moses, for her part, told me she did not know she was ineligible and her lawyers have said she went to the probation office genuinely seeking clarity about whether she could vote. A new email I obtained through a public records request adds to evidence undercutting the claim that Moses tricked the officer.

Full Article: New evidence undermines case against Black US woman jailed for voting error | US voting rights | The Guardian

Texas firm Authentix backs GOP push for high-tech ‘fraud-proof’ ballots | Rosalind S. Helderman/The Washington Post

Holographic foil. Special ink designed to be sensitive to temperature changes. Nearly invisible “stealth numbers” that can be located only using special ultraviolet or infrared lights. Those are among the high-tech security features that would be required to be embedded on ballots under measures proposed in at least four states by Republican lawmakers — all promoters of false claims that the 2020 election was marred by mass fraud — in an attempt to make the ballots as hard to counterfeit as passports or currency. But the specialized inks and watermarks also would limit the number of companies capable of selling ballot paper — potentially to just one Texas firm with no previous experience in elections that consulted with the lawmakers proposing the measures. Mark Finchem, an Arizona state representative spearheading the initiative, said in an interview that he developed ideas for the proposals after discussions with executives of Authentix, a company in Addison, Tex. The firm has since hosted other GOP lawmakers at its office and given presentations about the idea to legislators in two states, according to participants and social media posts.

Full Article: Texas firm Authentix backs GOP push for high-tech ‘fraud-proof’ ballots – The Washington Post

Utah House committee rejects baseless claims of election fraud; soundly defeats bill to end universal vote by mail | Bryan Schott/Salt Lake Tribune

The “stop the steal” conspiracy theory ran into reality as a bill to end Utah’s universal mail-in balloting went down in flames during a House committee meeting on Wednesday evening. Hundreds of Utahns who championed former President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent packed into several rooms at the Capitol in support of HB371 from Rep. Phil Lyman. They left disappointed as the committee voted 7-3 to kill Lyman’s bill. Lyman’s massive bill, more than 2,000 lines, was a radical overhaul of Utah’s elections and contained several ideas that have popped up in the wake of Trump’s 2020 loss. Utah’s universal mail-in balloting would be replaced with same-day, in-person voting counted by hand. Most absentee balloting would be eliminated except under certain circumstances. Registering to vote would be more difficult. There is also a provision for an independent audit of the election results. Lyman said he was prompted to push for the election overhaul because people don’t trust election results. “Every single vote should count,” Lyman said. “In Utah, we have a crisis of confidence in our elections.” Lyman kept returning to his belief that an outside audit is crucial to restoring the lost election confidence. Legislative leaders authorized an audit of the state’s election systems in December, which removed some of the urgency behind Lyman’s push. Much of the rationale behind arguments for overhauling Utah’s elections was flimsy and relied on anecdotes.

Full Article: Utah House committee rejects baseless claims of election fraud; soundly defeats bill to end universal vote by mail

Wisconsin GOP seeks more election oversight but faces likely vetoes | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Republicans in the state Senate approved measures Tuesday that would change voting rules for those who are confined to their homes and allow lawmakers to cut funding for state agencies that they believe aren’t strictly following election laws. Those bills and others related to elections face likely vetoes from Gov. Tony Evers if they get to him. At least one of the bills the Senate approved Tuesday likely won’t get to the Democratic governor because of opposition from Republicans in the Assembly.  Senate Bill 214 would allow officials to begin counting absentee ballots on the day before election day. Election clerks have pushed for the idea for years to ease their workload and help them avoid reporting their results in the middle of the night. The Senate passed the bill 20-13, with Republican Sen. André Jacque of DePere joining all Democrats in opposition. Democrats have generally supported allowing absentee ballots to be processed before election day but didn’t like the particulars of the Republican-drafted bill. Despite the overwhelming support of the measure from Senate Republicans, their counterparts in the Assembly are reluctant to vote on it. “I’d say it’s unlikely at this point,” Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke of Kaukauna said of taking up the bill. Under the bill, election officials could begin processing absentee ballots starting at 7 a.m. on the day before election day. They could not tally the results or publicly report them until after the polls closed at 8 p.m. on election day.

Full Article: Wisconsin GOP seeks more election oversight but faces likely vetoes

Wisconsin Republicans seeks to jail officials in 2020 election review | Patrick arley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Assembly Republicans sought Friday to jail the chairwoman of the state Elections Commission, Racine’s mayor and other officials as part of their months-long review of the 2020 presidential election. The court filing marked the latest shift in approach for Michael Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice who is leading the review for the Republicans. Three days ago, he abandoned far-reaching subpoenas he issued in January to the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera Action. A month ago an attorney working with Gableman told a judge he was hoping to avoid trying to jail the mayors of Madison and Green Bay. But on Friday Gableman intensified his efforts, telling Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez he should incarcerate those mayors and others if they don’t sit for interviews with him behind closed doors. The officials have said they are willing to talk to Gableman but don’t believe he should be able to do so out of the view of the public. They argue the interviews should be conducted before a legislative committee.

Full Article: Wisconsin Republicans seeks to jail officials in 2020 election review

Lawmakers want more time to inspect options for Louisiana voting machines | Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator

A panel that’s evaluating Louisiana’s next choice for voting machine technology chose Wednesday to give itself more time to take a closer look at their options. A state law approved in 2021 calls for the state to move on from the electronic devices it has used since the early 2000s to a system that scans paper ballots, yet some on the panel say the current system only needs to updated. The Louisiana Voting System Commission has been holding meetings since November. Its agenda for Wednesday included making a recommendation on the state’s next voting system to Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, who chairs the 13-member group that includes four state lawmakers. One of its members, Rep. John Stefanski, R-Crowley, asked the commission to delay its recommendation until their next meeting until he and other legislators could “physically inspect” the ballot marking devices and scanners under consideration. Stefanski was tasked with leading redistricting efforts in the House of Representatives during an 18-day special special legislative session that ended Friday. He told members he had yet to see any of the options being considered. Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, who led redistricting in the Senate, also sits on the commission and sponsored the legislation that created it. Her legislation to pull together a voting system panel came after supporters of former President Donald Trump descended on a legislative committee last year and repeated Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.

Full Aerticle: Lawmakers want more time to inspect options for Louisiana voting machines – Louisiana Illuminator

National: Election officials are on the frontlines of defending democracy. They didn’t sign up for this. | Zach Montellaro/Politico

Voting for the 2022 midterms is already underway, and the nation’s top election officials are caught fighting a two-front war: Battling disinformation stemming from the last election, while simultaneously preparing for the next one. The officials are no longer just running elections. They’ve become full-time myth-busters, contending with information threats coming from the other side of the globe — and their own ranks. In interviews with 10 state chief election officials — along with conversations with staffers, current and former local officials and other election experts — many described how they have had to refocus their positions to battle a constant rolling boil of mis- and disinformation about election processes. They’re dealing with political candidates undermining the election systems that they still run for office in, and conspiracy theories that target even the most obscure parts of America’s election infrastructure. And they say the country will face the same issues this year as it elects a new Congress and decides control of three dozen statehouses. “The biggest challenge that we face is disinformation, about the 2020 election in particular, and more generally about the election system itself,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said in an interview. Their battle against mis- and disinformation comes at a tenuous time for American democracy, as an already diminished faith in the U.S. electoral system risks slipping further still in 2022. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that 64 percent of Americans believed democracy was “in crisis and at risk of failing.” 

 Full Article: Election officials are on the frontlines of defending democracy. They didn’t sign up for this. – POLITICO

Transparency or conspiracy? Bill seeks public ballot reviews | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It was a rare bipartisan election proposal: Make paper ballots public in Georgia so anyone who doubted election results could see for themselves. But a bill to make that idea a reality quickly sparked resistance. Opponents fear the legislation would enable endless “audits” driven by losing candidates who will never accept defeat, turning any ambiguity or mistake into the next stolen election claim. Democrats withdrew support for the measure following criticism from Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group that Democrat Stacey Abrams started, concerned that the proposal would do more to undermine elections than increase confidence in them. Georgia election officials conducted three ballot counts and repeated investigations of the 2020 election, finding isolated problems but no widespread fraud. Nonetheless, former President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have continued to spread conspiracy theories about the results. The bill’s backers say it would allow the public to verify elections, identify errors, detect counting mistakes and hold election officials accountable. Republican state Rep. Shaw Blackmon, the bill’s lead sponsor, said transparency is the key to building trust in elections. “This bill would give voters more confidence and help them understand more thoroughly our process,” said Blackmon, who represents Bonaire. “Both parties wanted a paper ballot because people are more comfortable working with real documents. And this makes those documents open to public inspection.”

Full Article: Bill would bring public ballot inspections to Georgia

National: Election experts sound alarms as costs escalate and funding dwindles | Mike DeBonis and Amy Gardner/The Washington Post

When a global pandemic threatened to throw the 2020 presidential election into chaos, hundreds of millions of dollars flowed to state and local election agencies to ensure they had the resources to conduct a fair and accessible election, ultimately allowing administrators to manage record turnout with relatively few hiccups. Two years later, that money is gone and while the pandemic has ebbed it has not disappeared, and new challenges have arisen, including rising security threats, supply-chain disruptions and escalating costs for basic materials such as paper ballots, which have gone up by as much as 50 percent around the country, according to some estimates. Election officials and voting experts are now warning as the midterm elections get underway that new funding is needed to avoid significant problems in November. “The scale of the need is in literally the tens of billions of dollars,” said Tiana Epps-Johnson, executive director of the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that distributed more than $300 million in grants to election agencies in 2020, funded by donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. If Congress does not act quickly, “there will be gaps that could have a really negative impact on election departments’ ability to administer a safe and secure process this November,” she added. “That’s how you end up with lines that wrap around city blocks.”

Full Article: While Trump keeps focus on last election, election officials sound alarms about next one as costs escalate and funding dwindles – The Washington Post

National: County election systems just got a (simulated) stress test | Benjamin Freed/StateScoop

Officials from county governments across the U.S. on Friday theorized what they’d do if an election in their jurisdiction was upended by a blizzard, power outage, phishing attack, ransomware or disinformation campaign — or some combination of those events. On the first day of the National Association of Counties‘ annual legislative conference in Washington, the county officials, including some elected leaders and chief information officers, played out a tabletop scenario that asked them to describe how they’d respond to an election-night disaster. Tabletop exercises have become increasingly common in the election-administration community, with federal agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency holding nationwide, often closed-door events every year. The NACo event featured officials who, while maybe not directly involved in election work, could potentially have to help respond in case of an emergency. The NACo tabletop focused on a fictional community in Tennessee — Pictoria County, population 220,000 — with an election staff of 10 and IT workforce of 20, who assist with testing voting equipment before and on Election Day. In the first scenario, Pictoria County was hit with a freak, early-November snowstorm strong enough to knock down power lines, prompting the election director to ask the IT director how voting equipment will be delivered to all 150 precincts.

Full Article: County election systems just got a (simulated) stress test

National: Paper Shortage for Ballots Could Pose Difficulties for Elections | Andre Claudio/Route Fifty

With this year’s election season right around the corner, officials are warning that a shortage of paper for ballots, envelopes and other voting materials could create problems. The paper required for ballots must be a specific type that is higher quality than other kinds, explained Tammy Patrick, a senior adviser with the Democracy Fund, a nonpartisan foundation that focuses on elections and other issues. “It’s difficult to know exactly what the impact will be because we are not sure at what point these supply deficits will be filled,” Patrick told Route Fifty. “We have a situation where we have this high-quality ballot paper stock that we need for things ranging from voter registration forms, envelopes, provisional ballot forms, applications for ballots and even something as simple as a voter identification card,” she said, adding that U.S. elections are “still deeply rooted in the use of paper.” Patrick and others raised the issue of potential paper shortages affecting elections, along with rising paper costs, during a National Association of Counties meeting in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. As with other goods during the past year or so, supply chain kinks and labor shortages are among the factors blamed for shortages in the paper industry. The Electoral Knowledge Network notes that printing ballots involves extensive quality control measures and can involve using paper with features like watermarks.

Full Article: Paper Shortage for Ballots Could Pose Difficulties for Elections – Route Fifty

National: State judges across the U.S. face growing GOP pushback against rulings in election cases | Kira Lerner/Georgia Recorder

In mid-December, Texas’ highest criminal court revoked the state attorney general’s ability to use his office to prosecute election-related cases without the request of a district or county attorney. In an 8-1 opinion, the all-Republican court weakened Attorney General Ken Paxton’s power to independently go after perpetrators of voter fraud, a problem he says is rampant but is actually exceedingly rare. The decision angered Paxton, who took to Twitter to say the ruling “could be devastating for future elections in Texas.” But he didn’t stop there. In addition to filing a motion for a rehearing, he embarked on a campaign across conservative media calling on his voters to pressure the judges to reverse their ruling. His crusade is the latest example of how Republican officials are trying to discredit state court judges who rule against them or issue rulings they disagree with in election-related cases. Officials in other states, including Tennessee and Pennsylvania, are also using the tactic to undermine the judiciary and to sow doubt among voters about whether judges can be independent arbiters of fact when it comes to decisions about the administration of elections.

Full Article: State judges across the U.S. face growing GOP pushback against rulings in election cases | Georgia Public Broadcasting

Arizona: GOP-led Senate panel votes to hand-count all ballots | Bob Christie/Associated Press

Republican state senators on Monday advanced legislation that would require every ballot cast in Arizona’s elections to be counted by hand, with GOP proponents who embraced former President Donald Trump’s false narrative of massive voter fraud calling it a needed reform. The proposal from Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, was approved by the Senate Government Committee Monday afternoon on a 4-3 vote with no Democratic support. The measure is one of scores of election bills making their way through the Legislature this year. Rogers said her proposal for an all-hand count tabulation was prompted by comments made by Doug Logan, the CEO of the firm the Arizona Senate hired to recount 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots last spring, Cyber Ninjas. “This does away with the machines,” Rogers said. “When I interviewed cyber forensic expert Doug Logan … he told me that the biggest finding he has from the audit is that the more technology we use, the more chance there is to cheat.” Logan’s hand-counting operation used hundreds of people, lasted weeks and only recounted the presidential and U.S. Senate races. He confirmed that President Joe Biden won, as the original machine count had found. Jen Marson, executive director of the Arizona Association of Counties, said the proposal was simply unworkable. “As we know, we cannot get enough people in many of our counties to conduct the limited hand count that happens post-election,” Marson told the panel. “I struggle to believe that we would have enough people to hand count the entire election and all of the different ballot styles associated with that election in any kind of timely fashion.”

Full Article: GOP-led Arizona Senate panel votes to hand-count all ballots | Hosted

Colorado elections clerk is sued after passing on voting data | and Alexandra Ulmer/Reuters

A Colorado elections clerk was sued on Thursday after he copied data from voting machines with the help of two men with ties to groups supporting the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from former Republican President Donald Trump. Dallas Schroeder, who oversees elections in Elbert County, east of Denver, was sued by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold for making two copies of his county’s voting system hard drives and then handing the images to “unauthorized people”, according to the lawsuit. In the civil lawsuit, filed in Elbert County District Court, Griswold demands that Schroeder return the copies and hand over the device he used to make them. Schroeder did not immediately respond to a Reuters email for comment. Schroeder is the second Colorado elections clerk to come under scrutiny for allegedly breaching voting systems as part of an “election integrity” effort by Trump supporters who falsely claim the 2020 election was marred by fraud. Suspected breaches are under investigation in other states, including in Michigan, where authorities last week said an unnamed third party had been given unauthorized access to a county voting system. In August, the FBI opened an investigation into a suspected security breach of voting equipment in Mesa County in western Colorado. Griswold, a Democrat, has accused Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters of facilitating that breach.

Full Article: Colorado elections clerk is sued after passing on voting data | Reuters

Georgia: Cybersecurity agency reviews hacking risk to voting system | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

A confidential report alleging Georgia’s voting touchscreens could be hacked is now being reviewed by the federal government. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency wrote in a court filing late Thursday that it will assess potential vulnerabilities and decide whether updates or patches are needed to mitigate risks. CISA’s action came in response to a report by a computer scientist who said votes could be changed if someone gained physical access to Georgia’s voting touchscreens or election management computers. Georgia election officials say the state’s voting systems are secure and that vulnerabilities discovered in a lab would be difficult to exploit in a real election. There’s no indication that Georgia’s election computers manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were hacked in the 2020 election, but an ongoing election security lawsuit alleges the touchscreens could be exploited in future elections. Three ballot counts and multiple investigations checked the 2020 election results. Both Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and plaintiffs in the lawsuit have called for a redacted version of the hacking report to be made public, but CISA urged a judge not to disseminate further information for now.

 

Full Article: Feds assessing allegation of vulnerability in Georgia voting system

Indiana lawmakers say they want to secure elections. Voting groups say the focus is wrong | Kaitlin Lange/Indianapolis Star

Indiana lawmakers are advancing legislation that they say would further ensure confidence in Indiana’s elections amid a national focus on election security. But voting rights groups say the state is focusing on the wrong tactics with House Bill 1116, which passed out of the Senate elections committee on Monday despite opposition from Democrats. In order to request an absentee mail-in ballot online under the legislation, a voter would have to provide either their driver’s license number or the last four digits of the their Social Security number. State election officials say the bill codifies a process that was already implemented in 2020 when online ballot requests were first allowed and agreed upon by the co-directors of the Indiana Election Division. Voting rights groups, though, argue the requirement could limit who decides to request a ballot. Indiana Vote by Mail, Indiana League of Women Voters, Verified Voting and Free Speech For People sent a letter to lawmakers emphasizing that outfitting Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines with printers produces a paper trail that is “difficult or impossible” for Hoosiers to verify their votes or for election officials to use in audits. The font can be challenging to read and thermal paper used can rip or fade, the groups said in their letter.

Full Article: Indiana voting rights to look different under bills in House, Senate

Indiana: Voting Groups Urge Move to Paper Election Ballots | Tom Davies/Associated Press

A proposal for improving Indiana’s election security by adding small printers to thousands of electronic touch-screen voting machines is being criticized by voting rights groups as relying on ineffective and outdated technology. An Indiana Senate committee is scheduled to consider a bill Monday that includes moving up the deadline for counties to add such devices to any paperless voting machines to July 2024, 5-1/2 years earlier than current state law. The Indiana League of Women Voters, Indiana Vote by Mail and other groups argue that the state should end the use of all such machines and have all counties use paper ballots that voters mark before they are scanned for counting. The voting rights organizations said in a letter Thursday to legislators that the printer technology relies on lightweight thermal paper that is easily damaged and lets voters see only a portion of their ballot at a time through a small window. They call the estimated $2,600-per-machine price tag “an extraordinary cost for a poor solution.”

Full Article: Voting Groups Urge Indiana Move to Paper Election Ballots | Indiana News | US News