In Focus This Week
I. In Focus This Week
National Postal Forum 2018
Who? What? Where? When? & Why?
By Tammy Patrick, senior advisor, elections
The Democracy Fund
Since 1968, the National Postal Forum (NPF)has served as the preeminent “educational venue, trade show, and networking event” for the United States Post Service (USPS) and the industry it serves.
Last week, thousands of thousands of mailers, shippers, postal employees and management gathered in San Antonio for the 50th NPF. The event featured more than 130 workshops and sessions on how to best utilize postal delivery and products.
For the last five Forums, I have had the opportunity to share with attendees the critical role that vendors and USPS play in “Delivering Democracy” to the American Electorate.
This year was different.
It was even better.
For the first time there was an entire day of election mail content at the Forum curated specifically for election administrators, there was a discounted day-rate for election officials, and outreach to inform the community about the event.
“Dan Bentley and team were smart to create a special ‘election mail’ summit at the National Postal Forum where election officials and the USPS could meet to discuss our common objectives. With more jurisdictions turning to vote-by-mail, these conversations are even more important,” said Judd Choate, Colorado election director.
Choate shared how Colorado utilizes National Change of Address services in their voter registration list maintenance efforts in an agenda that seamlessly blended shared experiences from election offices with vendor perspectives and Postal input.
Attendees from more than a dozen states (even though we are in the midst of primary season) had the opportunity to hear from vice presidents in five different areas of the Postal Service, but also from the Deputy Post Master Ron Stroman himself.
Stroman’s personal commitment to election mail is becoming legendary within the election administration community; he understands the important role they play: for tens of millions of U.S. voters they don’t get their ballot from a pollworker, but rather, their postal carrier.
Kathleen Conway, city clerk for Rockville, Maryland had never been to NPF before but thought it was important as her jurisdiction will be the first municipality in Maryland to conduct all-mail elections.
“I know that the USPS is committed to mail delivery. My surprise was hearing the overwhelming commitment of the USPS with Election Mail. Deputy USPS Postmaster General Ron Stroman’s pledge by the USPS ‘to do everything in their power to ensure every voter who wants to vote by mail is able to do so … and to ensure ballots are safe and secure’ was very powerful to me,” Conway said. “The USPS is committed to delivering the mail, which I believe is common knowledge, however I had not heard their commitment to Election Mail delivery and security expressed in this manner.”
Indeed, a commitment to partnership and collaboration that has been a constant with their promotion and receptivity to electionmail.org — the online tool for election administrators to convey issues or challenges that they are facing at the local level.
Ballot delivery and tracking was also a big topic at NPF.
David Bjerke, Falls Church, Virginia registrar of Voters shared his experiences in implementing ballot tracking in 2017.
“Neighborhood polling places are expensive, time limited, and can have long lines, all of which decrease turnout,” Bjerke said. “As more places consider the vote-by-mail/vote-at-home ballot delivery system, costs will decrease, turnout will increase, and with technology like ballot tracking (Intelligent Mail barcodes aka IMb), confidence in this system will increase.”
NPF is the perfect place to network and discuss some of the challenges our voters face globally. One panel, moderated by David Beirne of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) included panelist Charles Martin, management analyst for the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA).
“I came to this year’s NPF to share experiences on how difficult Military deployments and frequent address changes are on updating voting and address lists,” Martin explained. “To inform the stakeholders on processes and procedures being used to mitigate barriers to casting ballots,”
Martin went on to highlight the importance of relationships “…To hopefully, illuminate how critical maintaining relationships between stakeholders (Service Members, FVAP, Election Officials, and Postal providers) is to the entire election process and securing the right to vote for all who are eligible; And finally, learn how we can all work together to improve the reliability of the voting and mailing processes involved.”
For my part, I wanted to emphasize how important effective communication is in serving our voters well. The attendees and panelists made this point an easy one.
As Kim Waltz from Cathedral put it “…[I]t was well worth our time to attend and listen first hand to the other presentations as well as the challenges and concerns of the election mail officials across the country”.
“I’m excited to work with our partners at USPS to design a customer centric process for ballot delivery – one that is efficient for Voters and one that achieves operational efficiencies for local election offices and USPS. Better service in an efficient way for our customers is a win-win!” Amber McReynolds, Denver director of elections.
In addition to the electionmail program, NPF offers workshops on mailpiece design, address hygiene, marketing strategies, undeliverable mail, and the numerous data products that can save time and money in a busy election office. (Are you still hiring temps/paying overtime for staff to key in address change data from those yellow stickers? You can get that data directly without re-keying! Look into ACS, thank me later.)
I asked election officials at NPF if they would recommend it to other officials. From officials just getting started in the vote-by-mail “business” to those who have been doing it for a while, they all said yes.
Pam Anderson, who serves as the executive director of the Colorado County Clerk’s Association said the forum is helping her inform her membership since the state moved to the vote-by-mail/vote center model.
“The NPF Election forum was a great opportunity for me to take back important information on serving voters to our association” Anderson said. “It also provided important resources and contacts to enhance our very important partnership with the USPS.”
And Janice Case, from King County, Washington where they’ve been voting entirely by mail since 2011, USPS is a huge partner and key component of making vote by mail successful and the county is always looking for ways to further improve the process whether it is improving the county’s relationship with USPS or utilizing new tools like Informed Delivery.
“I’m so glad they have added this component to their NPF conference and hope they will continue to do so,” Case said.
NPF 2019 will be May 5-8th in Indianapolis. We hope to see you there.
MIT Election Data Lab Update
II. MIT Election Data & Science Lab Update
MIT Election Lab launches new website and newsletter
By Claire DeSoi, communications assistant
MIT Election Data and Science Lab.
Perhaps you’ve already heard of the MIT Election Data & Science Lab (MEDSL), a relative newcomer on the elections scene – but even if you have, we’d love the chance to introduce ourselves to you. We are dedicated to supporting advances in election science, and to improving our collective understanding of how elections are administered. We collect, analyze, and share data on U.S. elections, and work with election officials and scholars around the country to apply new scientific research to the practice of democracy.
MEDSL grew out of the work that has been conducted at MIT over the past two decades to study the role of technology in elections, and to contribute research that advances the scientific side of election administration — a field now called election science. That work has been connected to two major initiatives. The first is the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, which will continue and will be supported administratively at MIT by MEDSL. The second was the work done by MEDSL’s founding director, Charles Stewart, as he worked with the Pew Charitable Trusts on a number of projects, most notably the Elections Performance Index (EPI) and the Survey of the Performance of American Elections.
When MEDSL began, we knew that we would need to share our work in a clear, accessible way with a wide range of readers, from academics to poll workers to voters. So, although the Lab has been at work for more than a year, we knew we needed to take that time to set up a foundation for our launch pad before we blasted off, so to speak. In that time, we’ve grown from two people to a team of staff, accompanied by a number of graduate and undergraduate researchers, and we now count the support and knowledge of a network of practitioner and academic experts. We’re now preparing some really exciting work that we’ll launch later this year — including an update to the EPI.
In March, we set a new website quietly loose on the world, without much fanfare, while we tested some of the features and got feedback from experts and users. Visitors since then have already seen it, but we officially launched it on May 10, and we encourage you to take some time to explore the information and features on it!
Ultimately, part of our mission is to ensure that information and research about elections and election administration is accessible to researchers, decision-makers, and folks who are just interested in how elections work in the United States. We’re proud to be working alongside a host of institutions and individuals to make that information available.
As we look forward, we’ll continue to shape the content on the MEDSL website to reflect our mission, and add to the growing field of election science. One of our top priorities is to identify and collect datasets that help fuel research — the data we collect and post to our site will stay there, free for use for scholars focused on U.S. elections. We’ll also continue linking to other resources and relevant open data sources, and will keep adding the tools we develop that make working with election data easier, like our R-package on GitHub.
At the same time that we’re diving into the data side of things, we think it’s important to demystify important concepts in election science, and to highlight new research. That means ensuring our website has a place that anyone can browse to find in-depth, rigorous reports from national or local experts or our own staff (like this new report measuring voting lines, which we worked on with the Bipartisan Policy Center), as well as straightforward, nonpartisan guides to key issues that matter to voters and policymakers.
We hope you’ll join the conversation on elections, whether you’re an academic, a local election official, or you simply care about using scientific methods to improve the ways elections work. We’ve also launched a blog on Medium and a quarterly newsletter to provide nonpartisan news and updates from the field of election science, and we hope you’ll subscribe and follow along. We’ll showcase our research, the accomplishments of the experts engaged in research or practice around the country, and innovative ideas about elections and election management. Sign up here to receive the newsletter and hear directly from MEDSL as we continue our work, or follow along on Medium or Twitter.
Primary Updates
III. Primary Updates
Four more states held primary elections this week and other than the show put on by Mother Nature in Pennsylvania, it was, all things considered, a relatively quiet day.
Idaho: A high percentage of incorrectly filled out ballots had officials in Canyon County counting ballots till 3 a.m. Although he was on the ballot and won the race, Bannock County elections officials and representatives in the secretary of state’s office both report receiving numerous calls questioning whether or not Kevin James Brown was still in the race for state rep. It’s unclear where the confusion came from. Although they did not run out of ballots, as some reported, Ada County did scramble to supply enough Democratic ballots after a strong turnout. Incumbent Secretary of State Lawerence Denney (R) will face Democrat Jill Humble in November.
Nebraska: Turnout in the Cornhusker State was just 24.3 percent. In Hall County, where turnout was around 22 percent, a large number of young and first-time voters hit the polls. “So I looked at some of the numbers for teenage voters, first time voters, those kids who are 17-18 years old. We had almost 350 first time voters registered for the election. Of those, 44 were 17 year olds. So I think we have some up and comer voters and I think that’s encouraging for Hall County,” Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet to KNTV. In Gage County, where turnout topped 36 percent, more people voted early than on election day. Republican Bob Evnen will face Democrat Spencer Danner in the race to replace outgoing Secretary of State John Gale.
Oregon: The biggest story out of the Beaver State on Tuesday was the low voter turnout. Although Oregon votes by mail and has automatic voter registration, turnout was just over 33 percent. According to KTVZ that’s the lowest turnout seen in 40 years of primary elections. “The elections turnout was a little disappointing in the primary election,” Secretary of State Dennis Richardson told KTVZ. “But what we find is if there is controversy in major issues, major primaries that are of major concern, then we will have a better turnout.”
Pennsylvania: With turnout already low, Mother Nature crashed the party in the Commonwealth late in the day on Tuesday. Although polling places stayed open, some had to rely on flashlights, back-up generators and paper ballots. In Carbon County a polling place had to be moved late day after two utility poles came down on the building. A storm-related gas leak mean that the polls in Delaware Water Gap Borough had to remain open until 10:30pm. In Wyoming County, although voting continued, ballot counting was delayed due to the storm. It wasn’t the storm that caused issues at one polling place in Luzerne County, it was construction.
Federal-State Updates
IV. Federal-State Updates
According to The Hill, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has arranged for top U.S. intelligence officials to brief members of Congress on the administration’s efforts to guard voting systems across the country from hackers. The meeting, scheduled for press time of electionline, will include Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The meeting will not be open to the public.
Election News This Week
V. Election News This Week
This week, Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) announced that the state would pick up the tab for postage for mail-in ballots in both the state’s primary and general elections. The governor’s office will kick in $600,000 and the secretary of state’s office will kick in another $600,00 to cover postage in 38 of the state’s 39 counties. In announcing the decision, Inslee also noted that the state would not pay for the postage in King County because the county had already voted to do so. Although Secretary of State Kim Wyman did say that she and Inslee would ask the Legislature in 2019 to reimburse King for the 2018 expenditure and to approve a permanent prepaid ballot program. Needless to say, King County officials were not too happy about that part of the decision.
Sometimes, even the best of intentions go awry. Recently, a Paulding County, Georgia elections worker placed a sign outside of McClure Middle School to inform voters that the school will not be a polling place for the May 22 primary. The problem is, the McClure Middle School where the sign was placed is in Cobb County and that county is most definitely using that middle school for a polling place. There is also a McClure Middle School in Paulding and that site will not be used on election day. Apparently, the election worker was new and plugged the wrong McClure Middle School into their GPS.
The Maine Secretary of State’s office has created a 5-minute video to explain how ranked choice voting in the state’s upcoming June primary will work. Once again, an animated Matt Dunlap takes center stage in the video. In addition to the video, Dunlap’s office has also posted sample ballots, an FAQ and final rules for the voting tabulation process. “These are the final components of our ranked-choice voting resources web page, which we are providing so that voters can educate themselves about this new process before going to the polls or marking their absentee ballots,” Dunlap said in a statement. “I also look forward to meeting with voters to discuss this information with them during my visits this month.” In addition to the efforts by the state on voter education, several advocacy groups are also working to inform voters about the new system.
Congratulations are in order for Heather Doane and Trish Robertson for receiving the Unsung Hero and Rising Star awards from the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. Doane, who received the Rising Leader Award, is the voter education coordinator for the Collier County, Florida supervisor of elections office and Robertson, who received the Unsung Hero Awards, is the communications coordinator for the office.
And congratulations are also in order for Sandra Thomas Moorer, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana registrar of voters who was recognized by having the annual seminar dedicated in her honor when the Louisiana Registrars of Voters Association, Inc. met at their annual conference Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Marksville. This coveted award is presented annually by the Board of Directors and the Seminar Committee to an individual or a group who has made a significant positive impact on the Association.
Personnel News: Rosita Wiggins has been appointed to the Nash County, North Carolina board of elections. Nathan Upchurch is the new chief of staff in the Mississippi secretary of state’s office. Upchurch had previously served as the office’s legislative director. After 30 years on the job, Sandra K. Miller is retiring from the Guernsey County, Ohio board of elections. For 20 years Miller served as the deputy director and for the last 10 has served as director.
Legislative Updates
VI. Legislative Updates
Connecticut: By a 21-14 vote, the Senate has approved legislation that will include the Nutmeg State in the National Popular Vote compact.
Illinois: Lawmakers are considering House Bill 4557 that would require, rather than encourage, school districts to close schools or hold a teacher in-service day on election day if the schools serves as a polling place.
Louisiana: Former felons are one-step closer to regaining their voting rights in Louisiana. This week, by a 24-13 vote, the Senate approved legislation that would restore the voting rights to those who have been out of prison for five years. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.
Maryland: Residents of College Park will no longer require an excuse to vote absentee after a bill sponsored by Sen. Will Smith (D-Montgomery) was signed into law by Gov. Larry Hogan. The law, which takes effect June 1, prohibits municipalities from requiring an excuse to vote absentee.
Minnesota: It’s official. The St. Louis Park city council voted unanimously to move the city to a system of ranked choice voting.
New Hampshire: Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has asked the state’s Supreme Court to weigh in on the constitutionality of House Bill 1264, a bill that would merge the definitions of domicile and residency for purposes of registering to vote. The state’s executive council recently approved the request to move the questions to the Supreme Court.
Legal Updates
VII. Legal Updates
Florida: Circuit Judge Raag Singhal has ruled that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes violated state and federal laws by destroying ballots from a 2016 Congressional race while the ballots were the subject of a lawsuit against the office. According to the Sun Sentinel, based on that ruling, Florida’s Department of State will send election experts to the Broward elections office in the upcoming election “to ensure that all laws are followed,” the governor’s office said. It could also cost the elections office more than $200,000 to pay attorney’s fees for Tim Canova, the defeated candidate who sued the office.
Georgia: Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall has issued an order that Fulton County elections officials should grant the secretary of state’s office “immediate access” to ballots, recaps, tally sheets, voter applications and other documents related to the 2017 Atlanta mayoral contest the secretary of state’s office is now investigating.
Illinois: A group of Kane County voters have filed suit against the county clerk seeking to have a March 20 tax vote voided because there was incomplete information on the ballot. When the mistake was discovered on March 9 during early voting, the county clerk allegedly drew up a plan to address the missing information, but when the voters who are suing cast their ballot on March 14, the missing information was still missing from the ballot.
Maine: U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy ruled this week that The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting may not intervene in a pending lawsuit seeking to block the use of ranked choice voting in the June primary. In his ruling, Levy said the inclusion of the group in the suit “would complicate a case that badly needs to be expedited.”
New Hampshire: Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has asked the state’s Supreme Court to weigh in on the constitutionality of House Bill 1264, a bill that would merge the definitions of domicile and residency for purposes of registering to vote. The state’s executive council recently approved the request to move the questions to the Supreme Court.
New York: Dutchess County Judge Peter Forman has dismissed a petition to move a Town of Poughkeepsie polling site from a local elementary school to Vassar College. Officials wanted the site moved because it was located outside of the area that it serves. Forman determined that the petition did not establish itself in line with Article 78.
Texas: U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia has given Texas until May 17 to tell him how the state will comply with the National Voter Registration Act. More than a month ago Garcia ruled that Texas was in violation with NVRA and now state officials have a deadline to comply with that ruling.
Also in Texas, Laura Janeth Garza, 38, has been indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on two charges of illegally voting in Harris County after she allegedly stole the identity of a U.S. citizen and using that information to register to vote.
U.S. Virgin Islands: Superior Court Judge Denise Francois has ruled that 13-members of the elections boards from St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John violated recently approved bills to restructure the bodies into one, unified USVI elections board. Francois also invalidated any work done by the boards since the law went into effect. The boards of elections are appealing the ruling.
Wisconsin: According to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, for the second time, Attorney General Brad Schimel’s office has concluded there is no evidence a Democratic activist broke voting laws in 2016.
Tech Thursday
VIII. Tech Thursday
Georgia: Sometimes we wonder about this too when sending emails to general addresses… When Cobb County resident Robert Thompson tried to apply for an absentee ballot by sending the request to the email listed on the county website he was denied because his email was stopped by a spam filter. Janine Eveler, Cobb County elections chief said the spam blocker has now been disabled so that no further requests are missed.
Tennessee: A review of what happened to the Knox County election commission’s website on election night has found that a burst of web traffic and an active attack led to the site’s crash. “While the intention of the attack cannot be definitively known, the overall effect was very similar to a (denial of service) attack,” the summary by Sword & Shield Enterprise Security Inc. states.
Opinions This Week
IX. Opinions This Week
National Opinions: Voting rights | Polling place dress code
California: Secretary of state | Turnout | Handwriting
Florida: Ex-felon voting rights
Iowa: Early voting
Louisiana: Ex-felon voting rights
Maine: Cybersecurity
Michigan: Turnout
Minnesota: Public data
Nebraska: Vote-by-mail
New Mexico: Homeless voters
New York: New York City voting rights | Election legislation | Voter ID
North Carolina: Halifax County
Ohio: Cybersecurity
Oklahoma: Voter ID
Pennsylvania: Open primaries | Cybersecurity | No-excuse absentee voting | Voter shaming
Texas: Voting rights | Online voter registration, II
Virginia: Voter assignments;
Washington: Paid postage, II, III
West Virginia: Cybersecurity | Blockchain voting | Voter ID
Upcoming Events
X. Upcoming Events
New Voter Forum— Hosted by the National Association of Secretaries of State, this forum will focus on voter outreach, education and best practices geared towards young people, minorities, active duty military and the disabled communities. Secretaries of State/Lieutenant Governors, senior state staff and private sector representatives will convene to hold bipartisan discussions on these important topics. Where: Washington, DC. When: May 21.
Cybersecurity Online Training Series — The Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) is partnering with the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to deliver a new cybersecurity training series designed for election officials this July. The series will include 3 courses that will empower your election office to manage cyber threats and communicate with the public about cybersecurity. After completing the series, you’ll have more confidence to safeguard against and respond to cyber threats in your election office. When: July 10, July 24 and July 31. Where: Online.
NASS 2018 Summer Conference — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of Secretaries of State 2018 summer conference in the City of Brotherly Love. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Philadelphia.
2018 NASED Summer Meeting — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of State Election Directors’ 2018 summer meeting in the City of Brotherly Love. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Philadelphia.
NACo Annual Conference and Exposition — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of Counties Annual Conference and Exposition in Music City. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Nashville, Tennessee.
2018 iGo Annual Conference — Mark your calendars now for the International Association of Government Officials 2018 Annual Conference in The Biggest Little City in the World! Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 16-21. Where: Reno, Nevada.
Election Sciences Reform and Administration (ESRA) — The conference brings together political scientists and other experts in election administration to develop rigorous empirical approaches to the study of how law and administrative procedures affect the quality of elections in the United States. Participants will identify major questions in the field, share new insights, foster collaboration between election administrators and election scientists, and connect senior and junior scholars. When: July 26 and 27. Where: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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.
Chief Information Officer, U.S. Election Assistance Commission — the Chief Information Officer (CIO) establishes strategic direction and oversees EAC’s information and information technology (IT) programs and services through IT policies, strategic plans, and the development and procurement of IT services and equipment. As a senior management official, the CIO shares overall responsibility with the Executive Director on matters involving leadership and direction in the formulation, development and execution of EAC’s IT management program. The CIO is also tasked with ensuring the security and reliability of EAC systems and information. Salary: $126,148 to $148,267. Deadline: May 29. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Customer Support Consultant, Hart InterCivic— Hart InterCivic is looking to add a Customer Support Consultant to our team. A Hart Customer Support Consultant is a great listener and communicator who responds to requests for assistance from Hart InterCivic customers for all Hart InterCivic products. The primary responsibilities for this position are to answer, resolve and route customer queries (usually by phone or email), work with customers in a professional manner and read and interpret documents such as user guides and training manuals and translate the information to the customer in a manner which they can understand. We are looking for individuals who have technical skills, have been in support roles in the past and, preferably, have elections experience. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Data Manager, The New York City Campaign Finance Board — the New York City Campaign Finance Board seeks a Data Manager to collect and maintain data related to voter participation, election administration, and campaign finance and serve as the agency’s Open Data Coordinator. This position will report to the Deputy Director of Public Affairs. Responsibilities include: Maintain and document data management policies and practices for Public Affairs; Serve as the agency’s Open Data Coordinator and ensure compliance with the NYC Open Data Law; Manage acquisition and collection of data both internally and from external sources; Evaluate federal, state, local, and community data sources to incorporate into internal data research; Oversee data entry with the Document Processing Unit and ensure quality assurance of all internally-collected voting data; Create visualizations and dashboards from campaign finance and voting data; Work with Public Affairs and agency staff to supply data for decision-making or project needs; Assist in developing an overall data strategy. Salary: $65,000-$75,000. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Management Analyst, New Mexico Secretary of State — this position will serve as a liaison to the county clerks for election related issues and support. This position performs complex research and analysis regarding best practices in regards to the administration and implementation of the election code, develops guidelines, documentation and training material. Position will led efforts related to election specific projects and maintain operational guides. This position must demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills and will be required to communicate project status, interface with public officials and conduct trainings. Salary: $31,782-$55,307. Deadline: May 21. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections and Voter Services Manager, Montana Secretary of State’s Office — this position serves as the Manager of the Elections and Voter Services Division and reports to the Elections and Voter Services Director for the Office of the Secretary of State. This position is responsible for ensuring the integrity of elections, aligning resources with the strategic direction of the Elections and Voter Services Division, interpreting state election laws and ensuring implementation uniformly throughout the state, and interpreting, analyzing, drawing conclusions, identifying trends, and presenting voting data. This position supervises three positions within the Division and is responsible for all aspects of performance management. Salary: $75,000. Deadline: Open until filled: Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Embedded System Software Engineer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem. The successful candidate will build and enhance full software stack of highly available applications using primarily Python that interface with front-end web applications implemented in JavaScript and HTML5. The application software deploys on OEM based hardware, with optical scanner, battery backup, and full touchscreen UI, running a custom configured version of Linux OS. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills, solid understanding of developing for embedded systems, a good working knowledge of the Linux architecture, and software integration with OEM hardware devices. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Field Sales Director, Hart InterCivic — the Field Sales Director works primarily on the road and from a home office when he/she is not on business travel. The Field Sales Director is responsible for creating news sales with prospects and existing clients in a defined region. Today, this role is a single contributor and does not directly manage people. This position will report to the VP of Sales. Application: For the complete job listing an to apply, click here.
Full Stack Principal Software Engineer, Clear Ballot— Clear Ballot is looking for an accomplished Principal Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical and leadership skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem: Bringing transparency to democratic elections. The successful candidate will have the ability to look at the bigger picture and deal with complex and competing requirements to design effective solutions. Extensive knowledge of and experience with large data structures and algorithms will be key. The backend implemented in Python and uses a SQL data base. The front end is implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical and leadership skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in security, performance, and resilience. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Full Stack Software Developer, Clear Ballot— Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem. The successful candidate will build and enhance enterprise-level, highly available applications using primarily Python and MySQL that interface with frontend web applications implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in performance, security and resilience. One of the hallmarks of our system is its emphasis on new visualization techniques made possible by sophisticated data structures that enable high-performance in a multi-user environment. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Full-Stack Software Engineer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem – to modernize America’s voting systems and to bring transparency to democratic elections. The successful candidate will build and enhance enterprise-level, highly available applications using primarily Python and MySQL that interface with frontend web applications implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in performance, security and resilience. One of the hallmarks of our system is its emphasis on new visualization techniques made possible by sophisticated data structures that enable high-performance in a multi-user environment. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Python Developer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot seeks a talented python developer in the Boston area to assume responsibility for an existing suite of python scripts to create files for use with ClearVote(TM) digital voting system. Job responsibilities: Maintain and enhance existing python scripts that read PDF formatted ballot styles and produce the files needed by ClearVote (TM) digital voting system to tabulate said ballot; Run existing python scripts to generate marked test ballots for use in testing ClearVote(TM); Develop and execute test plans to guarantee ClearVote tabulates marked ballots correctly; Expand PDF parsing capabilities as new customer’s ballot styles are introduced; Leverage analytics you gather to improve performance through script and/or hardware changes; Must perform these duties within aggressive timelines that often require working outside of normal business hours. Application: For the complete listing and to apply, click here.
Research Associate, Center for Election Innovation & Research — the Research Associate will conduct original research and provide written quantitative and qualitative analyses. The Research Associate will work full-time in the Washington, DC Metro Area, usually in CEIR’s office, although sometimes working from home may be possible. Job Duties include: Conduct original research covering a variety of election-related issues pertinent to CEIR’s mission; Draft papers, blog posts, and other writings, to be published by CEIR and/or other outlets; Attend convenings, hearings, and other meetings; and Interact with election officials and other election experts. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Manager, Technical Product Support (Denver, CO) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a tech-savvy, passionate Senior Manager, Technical Product Support to join our team in Denver, CO! This position is responsible for strategically leading and developing a multi-state team of election technology software and hardware Product Specialists through a number of critical projects throughout the Western United States. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
State Election Technology Associate, Clear Ballot— our growing team has an immediate need for a new member to manage testing, approval and certification campaigns of election technology in new states. This position works directly with State Government to test and approve voting systems. Certification and approval is key to success in the election systems domain. Diplomacy and empathy alongside professional and tactful communications are key contributors to smooth state certification campaigns of new election technology. All voting system components (ballot layout, in-person voting, absentee voting, results reporting and audit) and their associated documentation are certified by state agencies; evaluation is performed by demanding government laboratories. Requirements vary across the States; and these requirements are found in statute, Rule, by written and oral tradition, and sometimes are ambiguous and even unwritten. Attention to detail is paramount to success. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Systems Engineer, Clear Ballot — We are looking for a talented Systems Engineer who has both a technical and services/support background which enables them to quickly assess customer needs and offer value to Clear Ballot’s customers. The Systems Engineer will gain a deep understanding of how Clear Ballot’s products operate and their optimal configuration to build a streamlined installation process of the Clear Vote election system. The ideal candidate for this position can prioritize mission critical tasks and coordinate the implementation and expansion of our systems. They will be able to work directly with customers, display innovation, think conceptually and act tactically to build consensus around system installation and enhancement and meet deadlines. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Marketplace
XII. Marketplace
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