In Focus This Week
Director’s Note
Election 2008 – Ready, Steady, GO!
By Doug Chapin
electionline.org
The 2008 presidential election will finally kick off with tonight’s Iowa caucuses – the official starting gun for an election year chock full of high profile contests across the country. [Of course, if you’re an election geek – as many of our readers are – you know that the 2008 election has already begun for voters who cast early and absentee ballots.]
I’ll leave it to the pundits to predict how the results will shake out, but here are some brief thoughts on what to watch for in election administration in 2008 now that we are actually shooting with real ballots:
- Change: The constant companion for election administration since November 2000 – figures to continue reverberating in 2008. Just last month, two more secretaries of states, Colorado’s Mike Coffman and Ohio’s Jennifer Brunner, announced their plans to completely revamp their states’ election systems. To the northeast, New York officials pleaded with a federal court not to force it to change its voting machines too quickly. Elsewhere, election officials and election vendors eye one another warily, waiting to see what will happen next. The Supreme Court is about to hear arguments in a photo ID case that could have consequences for voters across the country. All of this change will have a tremendous impact on the 2008 cycle – often due less to the substance of the change than its timing. As always, change breeds uncertainty, which often is fertile ground for error. If and how this wave of change breeds error will be a key theme of the 2008 vote.
- Controversy: As we get closer to elections in each state – and then again this fall as November approaches – the focus will get narrower and narrower as the inquiry shifts from “is the system working” to “how will it affect the outcome?” This narrowing of focus invariably brings with it fights between parties, candidates and even former allies about how well the various pieces of the system fit together – and how they affect the single most important moving part in the process, the voter. Thus, as the year moves on, we can expect concerns about voting systems and voter registration databases to morph into pitched battles about allocation of voting machines, printing of ballots, and the registration status of individual voters. These will dominate the headlines and could force even more of the kinds of sudden change noted above as courts jump into the fray.
- Chaos: At its root, democracy is a fundamentally human endeavor. Tens of millions of voters will go to tens of thousands of polling places to cast ballots in hundreds of thousands of contests. And along the way, things will occasionally go wrong – as John Lennon wrote, life is what happens while you’re making other plans – and will have a potential impact on the process. Sometimes it will be the expected surprise – bad weather on election day, for example, which not only makes it difficult for voters to turn out but threatens to keep poll workers home as well. Other times, however, it will be something completely unexpected, such as the break-in and theft of voter records at the Davidson County election office in Nashville, Tenn. Whether the thieves’ intent was to steal an election or just some computers, Davidson County will have to adjust – as will every other jurisdiction where real life intervenes in 2008.
- Creativity: The three elements of change, controversy and chaos are potentially huge obstacles in the election field, and yet they also offer an opportunity for new thinking. Google’s Marissa Mayer has made the observation that creativity loves constraint – a concept that we have already seen bear fruit in early 2008, as evidenced by two examples from recent e-mails I’ve received. The Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, frustrated by a lack of public access to voter records, recently launched whovoted.net, an open-source application that harvests voter histories from state voter files. Although the site currently only features data from Florida (other states are being encouraged and invited to join) the concept is promising – an online source of voting information – and it would not be surprising to see other such efforts appear in 2008. I would also not be surprised to see more sites like No Vote, No Voice sponsored by The Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, which aims at younger voters using the full toolkit of the 21st century – a Facebook group, YouTube videos and VoteGopher, an election-specific search engine. Election 2008 is a target-rich environment and well-suited to the kinds of entrepreneurship these sites embody.
The 2008 election promises to be an exciting and compelling wild ride to the finish – regardless of who’s on the ballot or eventually wins.
Ready?
Election Reform News This Week
In all the press coverage of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s (D) plans for election reform in the Buckeye State, one item that seems to have gotten overlooked a bit is Brunner’s call for a modified vote center format in Ohio. Although not a true vote center concept, as currently in place in parts of Colorado, the Brunner plan would eventually reduce the number of polling sites statewide from 11,099 to 1,163. The centers would be located at malls, libraries and other places with large amounts of parking and be available for 15 days of early voting as well. Brunner told the Akron Beacon-Journal that she hopes to test pilot the plan in two or three counties for the March primary. ”Vote centers, the way I’ve described this, may not be the way (to) do it 15 years from now,” she told the paper. ”But for right now, where we are and what we’ve got to work with, I think it’s the most workable (option) in order to guarantee people’s peace of mind that their vote is going to count.”
Election officials in eight Illinois jurisdictions are suing Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) claiming that he did not give them enough time to prepare when he scheduled the special election for the 14th Congressional district. According to the Daily Herald, the 15-page complaint, to be filed in U.S. District Court, asks the court to approve new deadlines for various tasks that must be completed in relation to the Feb. 5 special primary and March 8 special general election to replace retired U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, who resigned Nov. 26. The existing deadlines do not give the election officials enough time — as outlined in state election code — to accept applications for absentee ballots and conduct a final canvass, among other duties, the complaint says. “What we’re trying to do is abbreviate all the necessary dates so it’s possible to run these elections so close together,” Robert Saar, executive director of the DuPage County Election Commission told the paper. “It would be impossible without altering the schedule.”
As electionlineWeekly goes to press, county clerks in Colorado are pleading their case for all vote-by-mail election in November at a public hearing before the state Legislature and Secretary of State Mike Coffman (R). According to The Rocky Mountain News, many clerks are hoping that Coffman will allow them to install software upgrades to their scanners, if not; Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall told the paper that vote-by-mail was the best way to go.
With each passing day, the cost of the moved-up presidential primary in Michigan inches higher. According to The Associated Press, the cost of overtime for clerk’s offices throughout the state has been growing as the offices deal with several issues surrounding absentee ballots. “We’re burning through a lot of OT in my office,” said Lansing Clerk Chris Swope. Swope estimated that three or four employees have been working two to three hours a night to keep up with absentee applications in recent weeks. The state, which will reimburse local governments’ costs to run the primary, once estimated a $10 million price tag. But secretary of state spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said its likely extra costs have been incurred, but she couldn’t yet provide an estimate. “I hope the state doesn’t get sticker shock,” Swope said.
Opinions This Week
National: Voter ID, II, III, IV; Electronic voting, II
Arizona: Presidential preference primary
California: Vote-by-mail, II, III
Colorado: County clerks; Voting system, II, III, IV; Vote-by-mail
Florida: Voter ID
Georgia: Voter ID
Guam: Election Commission
Idaho: 2008 election cycle
Maryland: Improving elections
Massachusetts: Voter ID
Michigan: Early primary
New Hampshire: Youth vote
New Jersey: Protecting voters, Monmouth County
New York: HAVA compliance, II
Ohio: Voting system, II; Election system; Vote centers; Presidential primaries
Texas: 2008 election cycle
Washington: Vote-by-mail
West Virginia: Voting machines
Wisconsin: Accenture
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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
Executive Assistant — The Brennan Center. We seek an energetic, motivated, well-organized individual who will provide administrative support and research assistance to the Democracy Program Director and Deputy Directors. The Special Assistant will work closely with the Democracy Program’s dynamic management team as they address key voting rights issues in a critical period. Responsibilities include: Managing calendar (includes scheduling and confirming meetings); drafting correspondence; communicating with internal and external constituents; coordinating key projects and meetings; making travel arrangements; answering and screening incoming calls; filing and general administrative support. Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree; keen attention to detail and an ability to multi-task; an openness to evolving responsibilities; excellent oral and written communication skills; an interest in politics and public policy; sense of humor and an ability to build positive working relationships; proficiency in MS Office including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Salary: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package. Application: Please send cover letter, resume, and brief writing sample by e-mail to brennancenterjobs@nyu.edu, with Democracy Assistant in the subject line. No phone calls, please. Deadline: Application deadline is January 15, 2008, but applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Web site: www.brennancenter.org.
Fellowship — The Brennan Center. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is seeking a junior attorney with up to five years of experience for a one-year fellowship with the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. The Program seeks to bring the ideal of representative self-government closer to reality, by eliminating barriers to full and equal political participation and by striving to ensure that public policy and institutions reflect the diverse voices and interests that make for a rich and energetic democracy. This position involves work principally on voting rights (including the rights of people with felony convictions) and reform of election administration (including voter registration restrictions, photo ID requirements for voting, and other practices likely to suppress the vote and have a disproportionate impact on communities of color). Activities include legal and policy analysis and counseling; legislative drafting at federal, state, and local levels; administrative and legislative advocacy; public education and scholarship; and litigation in trial and appellate courts. Ideally, the position will commence in January 2008 or very soon afterward. Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a J.D., up to five years of legal experience (including clerkships, if any), and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Excellent legal research, analysis, and writing skills; initiative, imagination, and versatility; organizational skills; ability to deal with diverse clients and to coordinate work effectively with other organizations. Legal or other advocacy experience, especially on voting rights and elections at the state level, organizing experience, and demonstrated commitment to public interest law are real pluses. Salary: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package. Applications: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and a decision will be made as soon as an appropriate candidate is identified. Please send cover letter, resume, two writing samples, and the names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of three references to brennancenterjobs@nyu.edu, with “Voting Rights Fellow” in the subject line. The Brennan Center is a nonprofit, non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and justice. The Center now has approximately 55 staff members, including attorneys, researchers, and public affairs professionals. Web site: http://www.brennancenter.org.