In Focus This Week
I. In Focus This Week
The Ghosts of Elections Past — and Yet to Come
Disputed elections, then and maybe now
By Edward B. Foley
Director, Election Law @ Moritz
Charles W. Ebersold & Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law
Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
Twas the week before Christmas and all through the land,
not a ballot was stirring — and wasn’t that grand!
It’s holiday season, so I’d like to offer some good cheer: folks in the election administration business should be glad that they do their work today, rather than in the nineteenth century. As I describe in my new book, Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States, elections in the 1800s had an unfortunate tendency to descend into violence or outbreaks of civil unrest.
For instance, you might have thought Philadelphia was the City of Brotherly Love, but not so in 1834 when four died (and five buildings were burned) during armed conflict over the election in the city that year. Even more atrocious was the Colfax Massacre, when scores of African-Americans were brutally slaughtered during the fighting over Louisiana’s election of 1872. The century ended with an exclamation point of ugliness, when one of the candidates in Kentucky’s 1899 election for governor was assassinated by a bullet fired from the secretary of state’s offices! The secretary of state — the official supposedly responsible for running a fair election.
Compared to these and similar episodes, the tussles over hanging chads in Miami seem altogether tame. You don’t call it a “Brooks Brothers riot” to signify thuggery. And as for the litigation over absentee ballots in Minnesota in 2008, it seems like the epitome of a civilized way to resolve a disagreement over the counting of votes in a super-close and high-stakes election. If we can’t all agree on what ballots should count, the state’s supreme court essentially ruled, then we’ll pick a panel that’s as nonpartisan as possible to resolve whatever disagreement remains.
Thus, if you know an election administrator, or are one yourself, you might appreciate a copy of Ballot Battles for the holidays. (Please excuse this shameless self-promotion.) Reading it will put the present state of the field in some useful historical perspective. The early part of the twenty-first century looks a whole lot better than any part of the nineteenth. Surely, that realization is worth a toast of wassail.
Now, however, I’m afraid that I’m going to turn into a bit of a Grinch. Although we don’t face the risk of vote-counting violence that afflicted America in the 1800s, we do have a problem with the amount of time it takes to finish resolve vote-counting fights. The very polite fight in Minnesota over the 2008 U.S. Senate election did not finish until June 30 of the following year. The Senate seat remained vacant for six months—during a time of acute economic crisis. Not exactly the ideal way to operate a democracy, when major legislative matters were under debate in Congress.
Let’s consider the calendar for a moment. This time next year—on Monday, December 19, 2016, to be precise—the presidential electors in all fifty states are required to meet to cast their official Electoral College votes for president. The Constitution itself provides that “the Day” of these meetings must “be the same throughout the United States.”
If (God forbid) your state is confronted with a disputed presidential election next year, could it complete its resolution of the dispute by December 19? Recent history suggests not. On the equivalent day in 2008, Minnesota wasn’t even finished the automatic recount of its U.S. Senate election—not to mention the six months of litigation over absentee ballots that it still had to look forward to.
The same story was true of Washington State in 2004. On December 15, the day the presidential electors met that year, Washington was still in the midst of recounting ballots in its gubernatorial election that year. It, too, had another half-year of litigation ahead before achieving closure of the dispute over that election.
Washington was not the only state with a major ballot-counting dispute in 2004. North Carolina also had one, affecting its election for the state’s superintendent of public instruction. The state’s supreme court did not issue a ruling in that dispute, which concerned provisional ballots, until February of the following year. Who knows what would have happened if the dispute had affected the state’s presidential electors—and if North Carolina had been pivotal in determining the winner of an Electoral College majority that year.
Current prognostications indicate as many as nine or ten states might play the role of “swing state” next year, with the possibility of remaining “too close to call” even after all the preliminary returns are in on Election Night. The nine states, in order of size, are Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire—with North Carolina added as the tenth, although right now it’s the least likely of the ten to be the one that gives a candidate an Electoral College majority.
Imagine any one of these nine or ten states having a serious ballot-counting dispute next year, of the kind that ensnared Minnesota in 2008 or both Washington and North Carolina in 2004. Which ones, if any, can be confident that they would be able to conclusively resolve the dispute by December 19, the day for their presidential electors to meet and vote?
In light of research conducted for Ballot Battles, there is reason to think that Virginia stands in the best position to handle a disputed presidential election. In recent decades, it has had four major disputed elections, all of which were resolved fairly fast—without the kind of protracted litigation that has affected other states.
In 1978, Virginia had a disputed U.S. Senate election, but that dispute ended on December 17 that year. In 1989, the state had a disputed gubernatorial election, which ended on December 21. Then in both 2005 and 2013, Virginia had races for attorney general go into overtime. These ended on December 21 and December 18, respectively. This track record suggests that, if Virginia were hit with a disputed presidential election next year, it has a decent chance of finishing the dispute by the constitutionally critical date of December 19.
Don’t count on the other swing states being so well-positioned. Florida, for example, was the state with procedures so chaotic that the U.S. Supreme Court shut the process down—and while the state has eliminated its hanging chads, it hasn’t fixed its dispute-resolution procedures; so if the state next year has a dispute over absentee or provisional ballots, that fight easily could be consumed in litigation lasting until late December. And Ohio had a fight over provisional ballots cast in 2010 that lasted until the summer of 2012!
One lesson to be learned from all these experiences is this: don’t wait for completion of the canvass to start a required recount. Most of the major vote-counting disputes that have arisen since 2000 involve issues that concern the canvassing of returns: whether to count questionable provisional ballots, or whether absentee ballots were wrongly rejected, and the like. These issues surface prior to the certification of the canvass, and litigation commences before certification—in part because one candidate hopes to delay certification until after the litigation is resolved. If conducting the recount needs to await certification of the canvass, and certification is delayed because of litigation, then in a presidential election the clock may run out long before the whole process is complete.
Imagine in Ohio a federal court delaying certification while it considers issues concerning the counting of provisional ballots. (This is easy to imagine since it has happened in the past.) Suppose the federal court releases its final order on December 19, the day the state’s presidential electors are required to meet. Okay as far as it goes, but suppose pursuant to state law Ohio has been waiting to conduct its automatic recount until completion of the federal court proceedings—because the recount comes after certification, and certification was suspended during the federal-court litigation. Oops. Now Ohio has no time to conduct the mandatory recount.
With a little legislative adjustment, it would be possible for a state to start (and finish) a recount while canvass-related litigation remains underway. That reordering of the process would give a state like Ohio a much better chance of completing a ballot-counting dispute in a presidential election by the constitutionally mandatory date for the meeting of the state’s presidential electors.
This reordering is an idea that underlies a proposed set of Procedures for the Resolution of a Disputed Presidential Election, under consideration by the American Law Institute. (My colleague Steve Huefner and I are honored to serve as Reporters for this American Law Institute project.) It is an idea recommended to the American Law Institute by election officials who have experience with high-stakes recounts.
Thus, if I seem like a Grinch in raising the risk of a disputed presidential election that takes too long to resolve, at least I offer the gift of the American Law Institute’s proposal for a set of Procedures designed to enable a state to handle this kind of dispute within the constitutionally mandatory deadline.
It’s a gift that’s at least worth opening and inspecting. There is still time—a full year before this constitutionally mandatory deadline arrives—for a state to review its own procedures and to consider how well-positioned it is to handle a disputed presidential election in 2016.
No state wants December 19, 2016 to arrive and to be in the situation in which it does not know who its official presidential electors are—because the state is still engulfed in a battle over the ballots cast by ordinary voters on Tuesday, November 8.
Election officials in Ohio, Florida, and other swing states surely want the holiday season next year to be as calm and relaxing as this one. There is a better chance of getting this wish if, between now and then, they put in place a set of procedures that gives their state the maximum chance of resolving all ballot-counting disputes in a presidential election by mid-December.
Editor's Note
II. Editor’s Note
Just a quick note about the upcoming holiday schedule and our annual In & Out List.
ElectionlineToday will not publish on December 24 and 25, nor will it publish on December 31 or January 1, 2016. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled Monday through Friday postings on Monday, January 4, 2016.
During the next two weeks, electionlineWeekly will only publish once, on December 30. That edition of electionlineWeekly will include our annual look at what’s in and what’s out for the coming year. If you have any suggestions for an In & Out, please email us by December 29.
Happy Holidays!
CSG Overseas Voting Recommendations
III. CSG Overseas Voting Reccomendations
This week, the Council of State Governments’ (CSG) Overseas Voting Initiative (OVI), released best-practice policy recommendations for military and overseas voting.
The CSG Policy Working Group split into four subcommittees to study the following specific areas related to military and overseas voting:
- Voter Communication
- Federal Post Card Applications (FPCAs)
- Online Voter Registration for U.S. Military & Civilian Overseas Voters
- Improved Engagement with the U.S. Military Community
“I am extremely pleased with the work product that has come from the CSG Policy Working Group,” said Matt Boehmer, FVAP Director. “FVAP saw a need for this important research and collaboration and The Council of State Governments is successfully filling this role for us by bringing together election officials and experts from across the nation to focus their attention on military and overseas voting.”
The CSG OVI Policy Recommendations document can be found here. A more expansive report on the work of the CSG OVI Policy Working Group will be issued by CSG during the first quarter of 2016.
In September 2013, CSG launched a four-year, $3.2 million initiative with the U.S. Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to improve the return rate of overseas absentee ballots from service members and U.S. citizens abroad.
Election News This Week
IV. Election News This Week
- More than 6,000 Clark County, Ohio employees — including staff from the county board of elections — have been trained how to react in an active shooter situation. “This is a possible threat for all of us and we need to be prepared for it,” Matthew Tlachac, director of the board of elections told the Springfield News-Sun. Training is conducted by the county sheriff’s office.
- Well this is a potentially interesting turn of events. An ongoing legal battle of a proposed minimum wage hike initiative in the District of Columbia has called into question the legality of the city’s board of elections. Attorneys opposing the initiative argue that the board had no authority to approve the initiative for circulation because at the time it was approved, the terms of all three members of the board had expired — even before the November 2014 mayoral election. Attorneys for the board argue D.C.’s Home Rule Charter says that board members may serve until a successor is found.
- Also in Ohio, Secretary of State Jon Husted told The Associated Press that he plans a series of steps to ensure that problems with postmarks and e-poll books encountered in November 2015 are not repeated in 2016. Husted said he plans to require that all future absentee ballots be returned in letter-sized envelopes to avoid a problem encountered in the Akron area with postmarks. More than 800 ballots in Summit County arrived without postmarks and were discarded because the law requires a postmark for a ballot to be counted. Husted said he also will promote the importance of poll-worker training and encourage the recruitment of tech-savvy newcomers after electronic poll-book issues caused voting delays in Cincinnati. “With every problem that occurred in 2015, we’ve identified the problem, and we’ve identified the solution,” he told the AP. “We will make sure that the (county election) boards are doing what it takes to make sure that these recommendations are implemented.”
- Following a survey of voters in rural voting precincts, Richardson County, Nebraska Clerk Mary Eickhoff has petitioned the state for Richardson to become a “mail-in only precinct” for the 2016 elections.
- It will always be “too soon” for some folks to talk about Bush v Gore — decided 15 years ago this past week end — but we think everyone, including Chad Vader, can appreciate MTV’s tongue-in-cheek take on the Chads in YA novels.
- Personnel News: Thomas Baldino, John Ruckno and H. Jeremy Packard announced that they will not seek another term on the Luzerne County, Pennsylvania election board. Jody Walker, Powell County Clerk and Recorder/Election Administrator has been appointed to serve on the Montana secretary of state’s advisory council. Mac Warner, a Republican attorney from Morgantown has announced that he will seek the West Virginia secretary of state seat in 2016. Michael Bose has resigned as the chairman of the Cumberland County, North Carolina board of elections so that he may run for office. Former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison with all but 30 days suspended. She will also have to pay thousands of dollars in restitution and serve 2,000 hours of community service. Ronald Castorina Jr. has resigned his position as Staten Island’s GOP commissioner for the board of elections in order to run for office. Mark Bishop is the new Lampasas County, Texas elections administrator. Brian Kruse has been appointed as elections commissioner in Douglas County, Nebraska. Albuquerque City Councilor Brad Winter has been sworn in as the new New Mexico secretary of state. Longtime Sebastian City, Florida Clerk Sally Maio announced her retirement this week.
Legislative Updates
V. Legislative Updates
Federal Legislation: The $1.1 trillion spending bill set to be approved by Congress this week includes $9.6 million for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. An earlier version of the omnibus spending bill had only included $4.8 million, but the final version fully funds the commission.
Arkansas: The Faulkner County Quorum Court unanimously approved the switch to vote centers for the 2016 election cycle. A similar proposal was tabled in Columbia County for lack of a quorum.
Maine: The Legislative Council will decide if a proposal designed to ensure that video recording at polling places doesn’t intimidate voters moves forward for consideration.
Maryland: The state’s top Democrats are considering introducing legislation that would automatically register every eligible voter in the state. According to The Baltimore Sun, the proposal could go further than Oregon and California by culling information from several government databases to create a list of people who are eligible to vote and signing them up they aren’t already registered. They would be given the option to opt out.
Also in Maryland, advocates in Montgomery County are pushing for state approval of a plan that would allow noncitizens to vote in county school board elections. The plan requires General Assembly approval and a statewide referendum vote.
And in Montgomery County, Maryland lawmakers are looking at introducing ranked choice voting for certain countywide elections.
Michigan: In the final hours of the 2015 session, the Legislature approved Senate Bill 13 that eliminates straight-ticket voting. Before the final vote on SB 13, a tie-bar was removed on no-excuse absentee voting legislation. The no-excuse legislation was not approved.
Missouri: Rep. Randy D. Dunn (D-Kansas City) has pre-filed legislation that would require the secretary of state’s office to create a system to automatically register people to vote based on driver’s license information.
Utah: The Iron County commission tabled a vote on moving the county to all vote-by-mail. According to the St. George News, Commissioners Dave Miller and Dale Brinkerhoff both said they felt uneasy about the process for vetting ballots and wanted to take time to make their decision.
Wisconsin: Gov. Scott Walker has signed legislation that will scrap the state’s nonpartisan Government Accountability Board. According to Wisconsin Public Radio the GAB released a statement detailing some of the transition to the new board. “There are still many questions about how the transition will happen, which we hope to answer in coming weeks,” GAB Director Kevin Kennedy said.
Legal Updates
VI. Legal Updates
New York: According to Newsday, Suffolk Conservative Party secretary Michael Torres has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming Republican Elections Commissioner Nicholas LaLota illegally fired him from his $105,000-a-year elections board job because he repeatedly refused to back Republicans’ choice for a District Court judgeship.
North Carolina: Citizens and advocacy groups have filed a federal lawsuit against government leaders over the state’s compliance with the federal motor voter law. According to The Associated Press, The lawsuit in Greensboro federal court comes several months after watchdog organizations wrote elections and health officials and the Division of Motor Vehicles threatening litigation unless they rectified issues associated with carrying out the 1993 federal “motor voter” law. The concerns haven’t been addressed sufficiently, the lawsuit said, and now a court needs to intervene and ensure compliance.
North Dakota: Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued an opinion last week that clarifies the rules for acceptable forms of ID to comply with the state’s voter ID law. Stenehjem opined that as long as a driver has updated his or her address with the DOT, the license is considered current for voting, “even if the licensee did not take the additional step of obtaining a substitute license card.”
Virginia: On Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne suggested that the three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may choose a fix for the constitutionally flawed 3rd congressional district, but make its imposition of a new map conditional on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a redistricting case it is hearing.
Tech Thursday
VII. Tech Thursday
Iowa: Despite the best efforts of elections officials and advocates, Linn County, Iowa was still receiving incomplete or improperly completed voter registration forms. The incomplete forms require staff to issue letters and take additional steps that adds to the workload, especially during a busy election year. In an effort to help improve the forms, the office created a how-to YouTube video to help educate residents on how to completely and accurately fill out their voter registration forms.
Maryland: Internal project-tracking provided to The Washington Post show that unresolved problems with the state’s new voting machines has shrunk from 87 to 24, none of which are high risk, according to the tracking. “The system is performing as expected,” Nikki Charlson, deputy election administrator told paper. “We don’t believe that there’s any issue with the equipment that we have seen that would call into question its ability to run in the primary.”
Missouri: According to a review by the Center for Technology and Civic Life, 52 of the 115 election authorities in Missouri have no election website at all and others are inefficient.
Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Department of State has won the 2015 Pennsylvania Excellence in Technology Award for the commonwealth’s new online voter registration system. “The goal of the online site was to increase participation in our electoral process by making voter registration more convenient, accessible and secure,” Secretary of State Pedro Cortés said in a statement. “This honor affirms what voters have already made clear – that online registration is a welcome addition to traditional registration methods.”
Opinions This Week
VIII. Opinions This Week
National Opinions: Redistricting, II | Bush v Gore, II, III | Voting rights | Native voting rights
California: Voting system
Florida: Ex-felon voting rights
Kansas: Voter registration
Maine: Ranked choice voting, II
Massachusetts: Early voting
Michigan: Election reform, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII
Missouri: Voter ID
New Jersey: Voting age
New York: Election reform, II
Pennsylvania: Voter registration
Utah: Turnout
Available Funding/Partnerships
IX. Available Funding/Partnerships
The Pluribus Project and New Media Ventures
The Pluribus Project – a special initiative with the Aspen Institute dedicated to building the political power of the many – and New Media Ventures – an expert in impact investing and catalyzing innovation in civic technology – are joining forces for this Open Call in order to tackle the big and urgent challenge of fixing our democracy so that our nation’s government better represents the American people. Specifically, they are seeking efforts that incentivize more genuine representation in the republic so it comes closer to truly being of the people, by the people, and for the people. Have a project we should consider? Learn more and apply now!
Erase the Line
Erase the Line is looking for election officials who are interested in using data to better understand and improve their election-day logistics. A Data Team is a group of election workers who collect key data about operational details at polling places on Election Day. Data Teams measure lines and wait times at different stations, as well as the time needed for election workers to complete different processes, such as checking in a voter or setting up a ballot. The data will impart a precise understanding of your jurisdiction’s polling place operations and identify strengths and weaknesses. Over time, this information can reduce costs, eliminate wait times, build data sets for online tools, provide performance indicators and improve customer service. Erase The Line is looking for jurisdictions that want to tap into their operational analytics and help improve the data team process for the future. For more information or to find out how you can get involved, contact Lester Bird at the D.C. Board of Elections. Email: lbird@dcboee.org Phone: 202.727.5407 Twitter: @EraseTheLine
The Foundation Center
The Democracy Fund and seven other foundations have formed a partnership to create a data visualization platform that maps out how foundations support democracy and political reform in the U.S. The tool, hosted by The Foundation Center, is the only known source of information on how foundations are supporting U.S. democracy and provides direct access to available funding data. The tool enables nonprofits to:
- Identify additional funding sources that are an appropriate fit for their work;
- Learn what funders and peers are doing;
- Better understand the priorities and practices of specific funders; and
- Build effective collaborations.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Grants
EAC Grants Management Division is responsible for distributing, monitoring, providing technical assistance to states and grantees on the use of funds, and reporting on requirements payments and discretionary grants to improve administration of elections for federal office. The office also negotiates indirect cost rates with grantees and resolves audit findings on the use of HAVA funds.
Upoming Events
X. Upcoming Events
Please email upcoming events — conferences, symposiums, seminars, webinars, etc. to mmoretti@electionline.org.
NASS Winter Conference: The National Association of Secretaries of State will hold its 2016 Winter Conference at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. February 10-13, 2016. This event will bring together government and industry leaders to showcase Secretary of State initiatives and highlight all the latest developments in state and federal policymaking circles. NASS President Kate Brown and other speakers will focus on many important topics and leadership opportunities for members, including a special new member orientation session for newly-elected or appointed Secretaries of State! Where: JW Marriott, Washington, D.C. When: Feb. 10-13, 2016. For more information and to register, click here.
NACo Legislative Conference: The NACo Legislative Conference is held on an annual basis in Washington, DC. This meeting brings over 2,000 elected and appointed county officials from across the country to focus on legislative issues facing county government. Attendees hear from key Administration officials and members of Congress and are offered a myriad of additional educational opportunities addressing current and hot topic issues. A day of lobbying on Capitol Hill the last day rounds out an information-packed conference. Where: Washington, D.C. When: Feb. 20-24, 2016. For more information and to register, click here.
NACRC Winter Education Conference: National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials, and Clerks (NACRC) has its winter education conference in February in Savannah, GA. Among the topics will be a presentation by the Brennan Center for Justice report on the aging electronic voting machines across the country, and what elections officials can do about it. We’ll also discuss the movement to lower the voting age to 16, how to maintain clean voter registration databases, and a nationwide elections-only roundtable discussion. Hear from veterans and newcomers in the field about their innovations to tackle issues faced across the country. All this networking and learning will earn you credits towards the NACRC Certified Public Official Program. Where: Savannah, Georgia. When: Feb. 22-23. For more information and to register, click here.
Job Postings This Week
XI. Job Postings This Week
electionlineWeekly publishes election administration job postings each week as a free service to our readers. To have your job listed in the newsletter, please send a copy of the job description, including a web link to mmoretti@electionline.org. Job postings must be received by 5pm on Wednesday in order to appear in the Thursday newsletter. Listings will run for three weeks or till the deadline listed in the posting.
Customer Relations Associate, Reno, Nevada / Carson City, Nevada area — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a highly motivated and skilled, Customer Relations Associate, in Nevada! This role will responsible for managing one or more customer accounts to include product support, problem resolution, and placing product and service orders. As well as managing customer projects such as election support, new product implementations, trainings, upgrades and any additional customer services. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Manager, Placer County, California — the County ofPlacer, California is seeking a highly skilled professional for the position of Recording-Elections Manager (Elections Manager). The position serves the citizens of Placer County through active supervision of the county’s elections needs and interacts with elected officials, school and special district personnel, county department heads and managers, the media and the public. The manager provides the necessary day-to-day management and administration of the division in an efficient and transparent manner, focused on customer service and in compliance with all applicable laws, codes and regulations. The Elections Manager recommends priorities for division resources, serves as a member of the department’s management team, exercises direct supervision over supervisory, professional, technical, clerical and temporary personnel and reports directly to the Assistant Recorder-Registrar of Voters. This position has management responsibility for planning, organizing and directing the day-to-day operations of all elections program areas, including voter registration and outreach, candidate and campaign services, polls and precincts coordination and vote-by-mail processing. Salary: $42.13-$51.21/hourly. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Hardware Engineer III, Toronto, Ontario — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic Hardware Engineer III for our downtown Toronto office. The key responsibilities for this role will be to work as a lead member of the mechanical engineering team helping to develop new products from concept to production, as well as supporting production runs and any field requirements for existing and legacy products. Salary: $70k base + benefits (negotiable). Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Junior Product Support Specialist, Toronto, Ontario— Dominion Voting Systems is seeking an out-going, technology savvy, Junior Product Support Specialist, to be based in our downtown Toronto office. This position is responsible for supporting installation, operation, repair, and maintenance of all Dominion Voting Systems products; as well as developing and executing training sessions; and assisting with warehousing and logistics. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Network & Systems Specialist, Denver, Colorado — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a tech-savvy and detail oriented, Network & Systems Specialist, to be based in our downtown Denver, Colorado office. This role is responsible for assisting with the deployment and troubleshooting of advanced elections hardware and software system configurations; providing support to the logistics associated with procuring elections systems and equipment; performing tests and evaluations of various voting solutions; and providing election support to customers both remotely and/or on-site. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Product Support Specialist, Toronto, Ontario — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking an experienced and motivated, Product Support Specialist, to be based in our downtown Toronto office. This position is responsible for supporting installation, operation, repair, and maintenance of all Dominion Voting Systems products; as well as developing and executing training sessions; and working closely with the Operations and Development Teams on a number of critical projects. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Programming Specialist, Toronto, Ontario — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a highly-driven and detail-oriented, Programming Specialist, to be based in our downtown Toronto office. This position is responsible for elections design and programming; ensuring elections systems meet all performance criteria, standards and requirements; developing and executing trainings; implementing Dominion Voting System products; and providing technical support to customers, co-workers and election officials. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus target & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Project Coordinator (Temporary), Future of California Elections, Los Angeles — The Future of California Elections (FoCE), a project of Community Partners, seeks a temporary full-time Project Coordinator to serve as a California-based staff person responsible for administration and program support of all the activities of the Future of California collaboration, a coalition of election officials, civil rights organizations and reform advocates dedicated to an open, transparent and well-functioning system of democracy in California. The position is based in Los Angeles from January 11, 2016 – March 4, 2016. The project coordinator will accomplish the following duties: 2016 conference planning, project management/member relations, policy and other duties as specified. Salary: $14-$17/hourly based on experience. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Regional Sales Manager, North Carolina / South Carolina — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a highly-motivated and experienced, Regional Sales Manager, in the North Carolina / South Carolina region. This position will be responsible for long term sales (3-5 years) of the company’s election products and services in a specified geographic region to governmental agencies. This position uses technical, organizational and customer knowledge to influence customers and assist them in applying the products and services to their needs, resulting in revenue generation. In addition, the position provides input and participates in the marketing, market planning and technical development of products and services. Salary: Negotiable base + commission & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Regional Sales Manager, Texas — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a highly-motivated and accomplished, Regional Sales Manager, in Texas. This position will be responsible for long term sales (3-5 years) of the company’s election products and services in a specified geographic region to governmental agencies. This position uses technical, organizational and customer knowledge to influence customers and assist them in applying the products and services to their needs, resulting in revenue generation. In addition, the position provides input and participates in the marketing, market planning and technical development of products and services. Salary: Negotiable base + commission & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Sales Director, Everyone Counts— Everyone Counts is transforming the $31 billion public and private sector voting/elections industry from purpose-built, antiquated hardware and error-prone manual paper processes to a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Every democracy in the world, and every organization that has members who vote, needs Everyone Counts solutions. Support the often lengthy buying process from prospecting to closing of deals valued at $200k – $10M+. This involves education, support in developing RFPs and competently working with buyers in understanding the benefits of switching to our solution vs. competitive offerings or the status quo. Our sales are achieved through teamwork internally and externally. Build a valuable and convertible pipeline. You will expertly segment the market, qualify for relevance and size while prioritizing for timing and likelihood of winning. Your relentless drive to understand the pursuit context and details will allow us to make good decisions. Become expert at the “Election 2.0 pitch approach” at all relevant levels of a buyer’s constituencies. Adopt a modern data-driven lead generation and sales approach. You employ an effective and state-of-the-art sales methodology. Using CRM tools and working in an open and challenging team setting greases your engine to consistently meet and exceed the set targets. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Software Engineer, Center for Technology and Civic Life, Chicago or Washington, D.C. — We’re looking for a Software Engineer with a passion for civic engagement to help us continue to provide relevant, local civic data to people across the country. The Software Engineer will be the technical lead on the execution of CTCL’s civic data programs. The Software Engineer will, in collaboration with the Director of Civic Data, be responsible for the maintenance and expansion of CTCL’s existing codebase that standardizes and publishes the datasets created by the Civic Data team. Additionally, the Software Engineer will be responsible the technical implementation for new civic datasets, from database construction to publication. In addition, the Software Engineer may be asked to consult on or assist with the creation of technical assets for CTCL’s programs more broadly, with the understanding that any such responsibilities will be of secondary priority to the execution of civic data work. This position reports to the Director of Civic Data. Salary: $65,000-$70,000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Marketplace
XII. Marketplace
electionline provides no guarantees as to the quality of the items being sold and the accuracy of the information provided about the sale items in the Marketplace. Ads are provided directly by sellers and are not verified by electionline. If you have an ad for Marketplace, please email it to mmoretti@electionline.org
Voting equipment
Siskiyou County, California has surplus voting equipment for sale, including AccuVote optical scan voting units, AccuVote Memory Cards, AccuVote ballot boxes, AutoMark voting units and supplies. All units have been serviced and maintained per California requirements. For more information, please contact Colleen Setzer or Laura Bynum at (530) 842-8084, or email Colleen Setzer, colleen@sisqvotes.org