electionline Weekly

Yes, sign me up for the Daily Newsletter.
Yes, sign me up for the Weekly Newsletter.

September 6, 2007

September 6, 2007

In Focus This Week

Director’s Note
Welcome to the Buyer’s Market!

By Doug Chapin
electionline.org

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about my job as director of electionline.org is the ability to watch the issue of election reform evolve. That torrent of stories we post daily at electionline Today really does reveal patterns over time – patterns which not only explain current events but also presage future developments in the field.

We’re seeing such a pattern now – a phenomenon I call the “buyer’s market” in election technology. This is a significant development in the field and will almost certainly shape election reform during 2008 and beyond.

To understand the emerging buyer’s market, consider the context. When the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was enacted in 2002 a seller’s market in election technology ensued. This period – akin to a “gold rush”, as we noted in 2004 – was the result of the combination of HAVA’s (promised) federal funds and tight federal deadlines. Sellers (technology vendors, specifically) enjoyed a significant advantage as states and localities scrambled to purchase HAVA-compliant systems in time to beat the deadlines.

The market began to shift somewhat in 2005 and 2006, as concern about the new breed of voting technology put both vendors and election officials on the defensive. Neither buyers nor sellers had the upper hand, however. Indeed, they were almost bedfellows in that both were on the receiving end of criticism about the new voting machines. 

Beginning last year during the 2006 primary season, we saw the buyer’s market start to emerge. As reports of machine malfunctions arose, secretaries of state in Arkansas, Indiana, and West Virginia went public with their complaints about their vendors and, in some cases, initiated legal action to get them addressed.

In 2007, the buyer’s market has continued to crescendo. The controversial outcome in Florida’s 13th Congressional District – where there were 18,000 under-votes on touch-screen machines in a race decided by just 368 votes – led in part to a decision by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) to abandon the state’s touch-screens and return to paper-based optical scan machines.

The new buyer’s market reached its apex in early August when California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D), upon completing her “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s voting systems, decertified nearly all of them based on security flaws. Bowen’s action was in many ways a high-water mark for the buyer’s market and a sweeping assertion of state power to control its own voting technology. One system was decertified not because of problems but simply because the vendor failed to submit it for review.

California’s review is being closely watched nationwide and has spurred action elsewhere. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) and Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman (R) announced plans to conduct their own reviews. In Kentucky, Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) and Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) tangled publicly about whether and how to submit the Bluegrass State’s voting machines to a similar review. 

The buyer’s market has had other far-reaching consequences beyond just voting technology:

  • The already challenging relationship between state and local election officials is becoming more strained. Bowen’s orders were met with fierce opposition by county clerks in California and were specifically cited by Los Angeles County Clerk-Recorder Conny McCormack when she announced her retirement;
  • Congress’ voting technology debate is further complicated. H.R. 811 (the “Holt Bill”) – which would require voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) for touch-screen machines – is now taking fire not just from election officials who fear its costs but also from advocates who see California’s and Florida’s experiences as evidence that VVPATs are merely a half-measure compared to the abandonment of touch screens altogether. At press time the bill – once thought to be a sure thing in the Democratically-controlled 110th Congress – was still in the House Rules Committee; and
  • States that stayed out of the market may end up being the biggest winners. In particular, New York – initially considered HAVA’s biggest scofflaw given its failure to implement any of the law’s mandates and the first state to be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice as a result – appears to be benefiting from its inaction. The state recently told counties they could continue using their lever machines until the state completes testing of alternatives. In the new environment, it seems, meeting deadlines is less important than avoiding buyer’s remorse.

What remains to be seen is whether the new buyer’s market will help make the 2008 election cycle run more smoothly for election officials and voters alike. 

Either way, it won’t be for lack of trying.

Election Reform News This Week

  • With Congress back in session after the August recess, work resumed this week on H.R. 811 (the Holt bill) with a meeting of the House Rules Committee. The bill’s future was unclear after the meeting when both Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns not only about proposed amendments but the bill in its entirety. The bill is scheduled to come before the committee again on Friday, but its fate after that is unknown. According to Congressional Quarterly, if the bill does go to the floor, it will have to overcome opposition from key lawmakers such as the Administration Committee’s top Republican, Vernon J. Ehlers of Michigan, who said, “The burden it will place on the states is unnecessary and — by all accounts — unimaginable.”

  • A Superior Court judge this week ordered New Jersey to replace all of the states voting machines and gave officials a week to come up with a plan to do so. According to the Star-Ledger, a state law requires all 10,000 of the state’s electronic voting machines to be refitted by January with printers, as a safeguard against digital tampering. But printers from three vendors were found deficient this summer by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the state Attorney General’s Office told the judge yesterday that re-testing will take at least six more weeks. “This is a crisis,” Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg said. “It’s getting too close. You need to tell me what the alternatives are,” Feinberg told Deputy Attorney General Jason Orlando. She directed him to report back by next Thursday, with a hearing to follow Sept. 17.
  • The California Assembly this approved a bill that allows citizens in California who are naturalized before election day but after the end of registration deadlines to vote. The Assembly approved S.B. 382 to extend the registration deadline from one week to election day for those who became new citizens immediately before an election day. Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, told the California Chronicle that SB 382’s purpose is to not turn away the newest citizens simply because their naturalization ceremony fell on the wrong day. “Senate Bill 382 would allow our newest citizens to exercise not only their democratic right to be heard but to also fulfill one of their new duties as full participants in a democracy. Government should not be in a position where bureaucratic delays disenfranchise our newest citizens.” The legislation is supported by the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and awaits action in the state senate.

  •  Leaders in the newly established city of Sandy Springs, Ga. recently realized that the cost of their independence is a bit higher than expected. Fulton County, which runs the elections for the independent city, recently submitted a bill totaling $324,000 to Mayor Eva Galambos for the city’s first election in 2005 and an upcoming special election. Galambos told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she was flabbergasted at the sum. “When I saw this invoice, with all the line items, I hit the ceiling,” she said. Despite grumbling, council members voted to pay the bill.

  • In Kanawha County, W.Va., county officials discovered that the cost of a recount was actually lower than expected. According to the Charleston Daily Mail, County Clerk Vera McCormick sent an invoice for $5,496 last week to Mia Moran-Cooper, the citizen who requested the recount. County officials initially speculated that the bill might be upward of $7,000. Before the recount, county leaders had guessed counting all the votes in all the precincts might cost $15,000. But opponents asked only for the votes from 44 precincts to be counted. In filing the paperwork requesting the recount, Cooper had agreed to pay the costs associated with it. The recount cost included hourly wages for 29 people, including sheriff’s deputies, county employees and poll workers.

Opinions This Week

National: Voting technology, II, Holt bill

California: Absentee voting, Electoral College, II

Colorado: Paper ballots

Michigan: Voter privacy

Mississippi: Voting rights

Pennsylvania: Voting technology

South Dakota: Election consolidation

Utah: Primary voting

Virginia: Disenfranchisement

Some sites require registration

Job Postings This Week

All job listings must be received by 12 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday for publication in our Thursday newsletter. Job listings are free but may be edited for length. Whenever possible, include Internet information. Please email job postings to mmoretti@electionline.org

Elections Director — Wayne County, N.C. This position is responsible for planning, managing, conducting all federal, state, county, municipal and special elections held in Wayne County, North Carolina; administer all operations in the board of elections office including voter registration, election preparation, budget preparation, management of office personnel, precinct management, precinct official training, voter education, and GIS/Mapping services. Qualifications: The successful candidate should have a Bachelor’s Degree in Public or Business Administration, Accounting, Political Science, Information Technology, or a closely related field; and preferably two years of progressively responsible experience in conducting governmental elections, including one year in a supervisory or management capacity; OR equivalent combination of education, training and experience. Salary grade and range: $50,359 – $55,585. Application: Submit Wayne County Employment Application to: County of Wayne; Attn: Human Resources Director; PO Box 227; Goldsboro, NC  27533. Wayne County Employment Applications may be obtained from the Wayne County Human Resources Department, located at 100 Ormond Ave., Goldsboro, NC  27530 or http://www.waynegov.com/hr. Deadline: Sept. 14, 2007, 5 p.m.

Election Deputy Director III — Anne Arundel County, Md. Position is the supervisory or managerial level of work assisting an Election Director in conducting elections in local jurisdictions within the State.  Employees supervise office support staff, which may include subordinate supervisors. Employees receive general supervision from an Election Director.  Employees may be required to work evenings and weekends.  The work may require travel throughout the State to exchange information regarding the election process and promote voter registration. Qualifications: Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate; four years of experience applying federal, state and local election laws and regulations applicable to conducting elections. Employees in this classification are required to be registered voters in the State of Maryland in accordance with the Election Law Article, Section 2-207(d). Employees in this classification may not hold or be a candidate for any elective public or political party office or any other office created under the Constitution or laws of this State in accordance with the Election Law Article, Section 2-301(b). Salary: $40,268-$68,626. Application: Applications may be obtained by visiting our website at: www.dbm.maryland.gov; by writing to DBM, OPSB, Recruitment & Examination Division, 301 W. Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201; or by calling 410-767-4850, toll-free: 800-705-3493; TTY users call Maryland Relay Service, 800-735-2258. Deadline: Sept. 28, 2007

Program Officer— The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF. Program Officer manages the development and direction of the Global Governance portion of the Democratic Practice Program, including the formation of program objectives, strategies, and initiatives in consultation with a wide range of experts in fields related to RBF interest areas. The Program Officer reports to the Program Director of the Democratic Practice Program and is accountable for the administration of this designated grantmaking program as it pertains to the Fund’s overall goal of promoting peace, justice, and sustainability; leadership on critical issues of importance to RBF; teamwork amongst RBF staff in grantmaking, administration, and program definition; and in general the furthering of RBF goals and activities across program and administrative areas. Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a strong generalist and multi-disciplinary education (BA/BS degree required, with an advanced degree and/or graduate level experience in a related subject area preferred) and a minimum of three to five years of prior work experience drawing on analysis, problem solving, writing, and oral presentation. Salary: The Rockefeller Brothers Fund offers a salary commensurate with qualifications and experience, a generous benefits package, and a pleasant work environment. Application: To apply, please send a letter explaining your interest in the position and qualifications for it with salary requirements, along with a resume and a writing sample limited to five pages to: Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Attn: Human Resources; Program Officer for Democratic Practice Program Search; 437 Madison Avenue, 37th Floor; New York, NY 10022. For additional information about the RBF, please visit the foundation’s website at www.rbf.org.

< >
In Focus This Week

Previous Weeklies

Aug 30

2007

Aug 23

2007

Aug 16

2007

Aug 9

2007

Aug 2

2007

Jul 26

2007

Jul 19

2007

Jul 12

2007

Jul 5

2007
Browse All Weeklies