In Focus This Week
Improving Motor Voter registration
A Colorado case study
By Lisa J. Danetz
Special to electionline
Over the past few years, I’ve traveled across the United States working to understand and improve state motor voter registration services, as yet another step towards ensuring all eligible individuals have the opportunity to register to vote in the United States.
My goal has been to learn from each state’s experience, share its findings with others, and encourage strong connections between the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officials – who, through the motor voter process, are now the source of 45% of the nation’s voter registration activity – and the election officials who administer the elections.
Colorado, in particular, has stood out as a state that has implemented one of the more modern, collaborative, and user-friendly motor voter registration systems in the country.
In five years, Colorado implemented motor voter registration upgrades including updated policies and technology, and successfully transformed an inefficient multi-step paper-based system into a modern streamlined electronic automatic voter registration system that complies with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
These changes led to a decrease in DMV transaction time by 20 to 30 seconds, contributed (along with a larger DMV IT system modernization) to a four-minute reduction in the DMV’s initial wait time, and increased access and usage of motor voter registration opportunities.
How Colorado made this happen
While each state has its own set of obstacles to navigate – like differing agency priorities, resource shortages, bureaucratic resistance, and technology challenges– Colorado’s story of success can serve as a guide to overcoming these obstacles to serve a state’s citizens and ultimately improve the strength of our democracy. Most notably:
Relationship Development
In Colorado, relationship development was key. Both Elections Director Judd Choate and DMV Senior Director Mike Dixon recognized and prioritized relationship-building and communication between their offices to address and upgrade the state’s motor voter registration processes. Over several years, the development of a strong and trusted relationship between their teams allowed process upgrades to come to fruition. The initiation of the state’s NVRA Working Group was especially significant, bringing all stakeholders together to provide input and buy-in, and to recognize the potential of the DMV IT system modernization project.
Internal Advocacy
Differing missions and priorities between agencies do not need to be a roadblock. In
particular, while voter registration is one of the core concerns of elections agencies like the Colorado Department of State (CDOS), it is simply one of many responsibilities handled by the DMV—and one for which they often do not receive direct funding. That can make it difficult for an entity like a DMV to prioritize process changes when what’s in place seems to work. The legal memos and explanatory presentations that CDOS prepared for CDOR helped move along the understanding of the need to make process fixes—and the resulting benefits.
Investment of Resources
More frequently than not, process changes involve the investment of significant resources – both time and money – and these process changes were no different. Fortunately, the Colorado DMV was already planning an IT modernization of its driver’s license system. Including motor-voter registration modifications was a cost-effective method to improve that system as well. The costs for the motor voter changes were easily absorbed into the project. In addition, for those upgrades that were not part of the original DMV system modernization, CDOS paid for the DMV motor voter registration technology upgrades and worked with the Colorado Department of Revenue (which houses the DMV) to write the requirements.
Looking ahead to 2020
Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from Colorado’s experience is that our systems must constantly adapt and evolve to fit the changing needs of our citizens and voters. In fact, the Colorado legislature recently passed a bill in May 2019 that requires the state to adopt and implement “Oregon style” automatic voter registration by July 2020.
As the state prepares to implement this latest set of changes, it is the perfect time to examine the breadth of the already-implemented process upgrades and the robust data available about their impacts to date. While what works for one state is not a guarantee that it will work in another, Colorado’s efforts provide important lessons for policymakers to consider in devising their own motor voter registration upgrade plans.
To view the complete case study, please click here.
(Lisa Danetz conducts this work on behalf of Democracy Fund, and has worked in the voting rights, money in politics, and democracy field as a policy expert, advocate, and lawyer for 20 years. She has developed a particular expertise on voter registration through government agencies and, most recently, has been doing work within the AAMVA (DMV) community to provide information and support related to their voter registration and election responsibilities. In addition to her work with Democracy Fund, she has worked with Demos, and the National Voting Rights Institute, among others. She received her B.S. from Yale University and her J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law.)
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Election Security Updates
This week, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner issued a special advisory to local election officials in response to heightened cyber threats due the increased risk of geopolitical tensions in light of the recent actions involving Iran.
“The world we live in today is one where asymmetric warfare is the norm, and cyberattacks have become the weapon of choice for rogue regimes like Iran,” Warner said according to The Journal. “West Virginia’s mantra to ‘protect, detect and correct’ has become the standard protocol used by the nation’s elections community to thwart cyberattacks. Soleimani’s death amplifies our state’s preparations.”
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also issued advisories to local elections officials in light of the increasing conflict with Iran.
Election News This Week
New research from the University of Michigan finds that voters who use ballot-marking devices—touted as more secure than DREs because voters can confirm their choices on a paper print-out—rarely actually check those ballots after they are printed. Professor J. Alex Halderman, five graduate students and one high school student asked 241 volunteers to participate in a mock election using BMDs. Researchers made sure that each ballot had at least one misprint on it. Among volunteers who were not specifically encouraged to look for errors, only 40 percent even looked at their printed ballots before casting them, only 6.6 percent reported an error to a poll worker and only 7.8 percent mentioned finding an error during an exit survey. “Based on the performance of 241 human subjects in a realistic polling place environment, we find that, absent specific interventions, error detection and reporting rates are dangerously low,” the researchers wrote. “Unless verification performance can be improved dramatically, BMD paper trails, particularly when used by all in-person voters, cannot be relied on to reflect voter intent if the machines are controlled by an attacker.”
Voters in several upcoming primary states, including California, Minnesota and Utah are struggling with the rules surrounding who is allowed to vote in what primary and what information is made public. In California, voters registered as No Party Preference are required to request a Democratic ballot if they want to vote-by-mail. That deadline was this week. If they did not request a Democratic ballot they will receive a nonpartisan ballot with essentially no presidential races on it. They can take that ballot to a vote center and request a Democratic ballot. It they want to vote Republican they must register as a Republican by February 17. In Minnesota, under a new law voters have to publicly choose which primary ballot they want and that information will then be available to the state’s four major political parties. And like in California, Utah’s unaffiliated voters, about 1-in-3 voters, must register as a Republican by Feb. 3 if they want to vote by mail in that primary and unaffiliated voters who wish to vote in the Democratic primary have until February 25 to request a Democratic mail ballot but they do not need to affiliate.
Following a December ruling by Judge Loretta Biggs that put the state’s voter ID law on hold, the North Carolina State Board of Elections has sent a memo to the 100 county boards of elections outlining steps they need to take in light of the ruling—and the state’s decision not to appeal the ruling until after the March 3 primary. Included in the memo was a directive to county BOEs to stop issuing free photo IDs and to remove any and all signage related to voter ID. Board of Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell told counties that new signage will be arriving soon.
In 2019, New York’s Green Light Law, allowing undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses went into effect. Opponents of the law immediately cited fears of noncitizens being able to register vote as reasons to oppose the law. Last week, the Erie County Board of Elections voted to delay processing all moto-voter registrations by five days to ensure that no noncitizens were registering to vote. According The Buffalo News, the delay will give the County Clerk’s Office time to review the Election Board’s application list and flag any that may have been illegally submitted. If the County Clerk’s Office flags a name, the county Board of Elections will send a letter to the applicant requesting additional proof of citizenship before adding his or her name to the voter registry.
Boone County, Missouri Clerk Brianna Lennon is hoping to use the power of social media to educate voters in the county. Beginning last week, each Friday on the county clerk’s social media accounts Lennon and her staff will host “Facts Friday” where they will post factoids highlighting different aspects of elections including election dates/times, information about polling places and voting rights info. According to The Missourian, the campaign will also include “Why Vote Wednesdays”, with the clerk’s office highlighting different reasons why individuals vote and encouraging others to do so. Lennon described the Wednesday posts as a “fun, educational” way to encourage people to vote. “We’re also trying to create a dialogue about what is preventing people from being more involved in democracy,” Lennon told the paper.
Sticker News: Idaho voters will be able to celebrate casting a ballot and women’s suffrage with new “I Voted” stickers that will be handed out during the 2020 election cycle. Samantha Robson, a student at Kuna High School beat out more than 100 other entrants to have her artwork featured on the sticker. This started as a class project for me but it turned out to be a really exciting part of my year,” Robson said in a prepared statement. “Although it was pretty stressful at first, I am very grateful for the opportunity to put my work out there.”
This week, Vote at Home announced the addition of three new board members: Former Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, director of retirement security at the Economic Policy Institute and Kristin Strohm, president & CEO of Common Sense Policy Roundtable.
We’ll take two! In partnership with Kitsch and When We All Vote, stylist Justine Marjan has launched a “Vote” bobby pin. All the proceeds from the rhinestone all-caps VOTE pin will go to When We All Vote to help with 2020 turnout efforts. “With the upcoming election cycle I want to encourage people to vote in the local elections as well as national so that all our voices can truly be heard,” Marjan wrote on Instagram.
Personnel News: Amanda Jones is the new Ashland County, Ohio board of elections deputy director. Dana King has retired as the Lenoir County, North Carolina board of elections director after 23 years on the job. Mary Sue Helm has retired as the director of administration and elections in the Kentucky secretary of state’s office. She began her career in 1976 as a deputy clerk in Jefferson County. Heather Quinn will replace Helm. James Allen has resigned as the Birmingham, Alabama city clerk. Avery “Ava” Cook Smith is retiring from her position as Butts County Georgia’s Registrar and Elections Director after 43 years of service to Butts County. Roxanna Mortiz has announced that she will seek a fourth term as Scott County, Iowa auditor.
In Memoriam: Alice Fortunato, former Stamford, Connecticut Democratic registrar of voters has died. Fortunato was registrar from 2002 to 2013. As the Democratic registrar of voters for nearly three terms, she instituted Stamford’s first electronic voter history program while the city was awarded the State of Connecticut Democracy Cup four out of five years in recognition of the highest voter turnout in the state.
Legislative Updates
California: Senate Bill 57 has died in the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee. Authored by Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Nigel) SB57 would have made voter registration through the DMV optional instead of automatic.
Florida: State Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg), chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice has proposed SB 1354 that proposes a single checkbox on voter registration forms that includes the statement “I affirm I have never been convicted of a felony, or, if I have been, my rights relating to voting have been restored.”
Brandes has also filed a bill that would require the address on a voter’s ID to match that on their voter registration.
Kentucky: Senate Bill 2, which would require all voters to show a photo ID and provide free photo IDs to those who do not have them, was introduced on the first day of the legislative session. The bill has the support of Secretary of State Michael Adams.
New Jersey: The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee was set to debate bill S-4315 that would create a mail-in ballot county reimbursement fund with the secretary of state’s office. The measure would provide money to county clerks to implement two recent laws that had the clerks send 600,000 ballots to voters across the state last fall. It would place $4 million into the fund immediately, more than enough to reimburse the clerks for spending on the ballots in 2018 and 2019.
A bill allowing New Jersey to move forward with online voter registration and join 37 other states and the District of Columbia was passed out of an Assembly committee this week.
Sen. James Beach (D-Cherry Hill) is backing away from his proposal that would have allowed county clerks to open and tabulate vote-by-mail ballots one week before Election Day. The bill, S4306, was voted out of committee unanimously. Now, Beach says if it comes to a floor vote, he will offer an amendment that removes the provision that allows the early tabulation of mail-in ballots. “After I looked into it, I’m not so sure it really is a good idea because of safety and security of the numbers,” Beach told WNYC.
New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has signed a bill into law that changes the way affidavit [provisional] ballots are counted. The bill would allow election administrators to count affidavit ballots when they “substantially comply” with the requirements for filling them out.
Also in New York, the push to approve automatic voter registration is set to start as early as press time.
Virginia: A bill introduced by Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) would bring ranked choice voting and open primaries to the commonwealth.
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is pushing a proposal in the General Assembly that would allow for 45 days of early voting before an election. The proposal would also repeal Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday and instead make Election Day a state holiday.
Del. Hala S. Ayala has pre-filed a bill that calls for the state’s department of elections to study the use of blockchain technology to protect voter records and election results. “In conducting its study, the Department of Elections shall (i) determine the kinds of blockchain technology that could be used to secure voter records and election results, (ii) determine the costs and benefits of using such technology as compared to traditional registration and election security measures, and (iii) make recommendations on whether and how to implement blockchain technology in practices affecting the security of voter records and election results.”
Legal Updates
Arizona: Prosecutors in Mohave County are looking into whether as many as 22 people may have voted improperly in the Colorado City election in 2018. The people in question all seem to be members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to the Salt Lake Union Tribune, after three candidates friendly to the FLDS won seats on the town council questions were raised about the residency of voters.
Also in Arizona, a 2018 suit filed by the League of Women Voters of Arizona and Promise Arizona that argued the state’s lack of automatic voter registration updates to match updated motor-vehicle addresses caused voters to be registered the wrong address has been settled. Plaintiffs filed a motion in federal court to have the suit against the secretary of state’s office dismissed. The dismissal is contingent on the state providing more effective voter registration services for people updating their information at motor vehicle offices or online.
Michigan: A federal whistleblower suit filed by two former employees of Macomb County Clerk Karen Spranger has been settled for $110,000. The employees had sued alleging they were fired in retaliation for ethics complaints they filed against Spranger for her hostile treatment of employees and other violations of county laws and policies. “For the present, we are done with Karen Spranger,” County Corporation Counsel John Schapka told The Detroit Free Press.
North Carolina: Attorney General Josh Stein has said the state will appeal the recent ruling that put a halt to voter photo ID in the state, but he said that the state will wait until after the March 3 primary to pursue the appeal. To avoid any further voter confusion in the primary election in which absentee voting begins in just 11 days and to ensure that the primary election proceeds on schedule and is administered in an orderly manner, the Department will not seek a stay of this injunction before the primary,” he said in a release.
Texas: In a federal lawsuit filed this week, the state Democratic Party and the campaign arms for national Democrats allege that the state is violating the U.S. Constitution and federal and state law by rejecting voter registration applications without an original signature. According to The Texas Tribune, In the lawsuit, the Democrats argue the secretary of state’s signature requirements are unconstitutional and impose “an arbitrary requirement that limits access to the franchise.” While the state allows eligible Texans to submit registration applications in person, by mail or by fax, Texas law “makes no reference” to requiring an original signature, they argue in the legal challenge.
Utah: According to the Moab Sun News, the Utah County officials are reviewing whether to pursue criminal charges against San Juan County Clerk John David for electioneering. An investigation into claims of electioneering on the part of Nielsen was completed by the Weber County Sheriff’s Office in November. However, the Weber County Attorney declined to take on screening the investigation’s report for possible criminal charges.
West Virginia: The long-running dispute about whether or not to count certain provisional ballots in a Harpers Ferry June 2019 election continued this week with court briefs filed this week by the secretary of state’s office and two candidates in the disputed race. According to The Spirit of Jefferson, Secretary of State Mac Warner wrote, —as he did earlier in circuit court—that West Virginia law requires the provisional ballots to be accepted. As part of his 11-page brief, Warner states that the ballots should be accepted despite clerical address errors made during voter registrations. “The outcome of this process tilts strongly toward counting votes unless there are concerns beyond merely technical ones,” the secretary of state’s brief states.
Wisconsin: Late last week, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which successfully sued the state Elections Commission to have roughly 234,000 residents removed from the voter rolls is calling for the Elections Commission to be held in contempt of court because they have not yet moved forward with the removal. In the same case, late on Tuesday the Wisconsin Court of Appeals announced that it will not intervene with an Ozaukee County judge’s order to immediately purge the state’s voter rolls. The appellate court said it is waiting for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear the case.
Also in Wisconsin, Chad Armstrong, 81, has been charged with election fraud for voting in the 2018 election even though he had been convicted of a felony.
Opinions This Week
National Opinions: Chief Justice, II, III | Ex-felon voting rights | Election security, II | List maintenance
Alabama: Fair elections
Alaska: Ranked choice voting, II
California: Election preparation | Ranked choice voting
Florida: Citrus County | 2020
Georgia: Voting system | List maintenance | Election integrity
Indiana: Voter access | Polling places
Kentucky: Voting rights
Massachusetts: Automatic voter registration
Montana: Secretary of state
New Mexico: Suffrage | Nonvoters
North Carolina: Voter ID, II, III, IV, V, VI
Pennsylvania: Voter ID | Election problems
Wisconsin: Voter suppression
Upcoming Events
U.S. Election Assistance Commission 2020 Elections Summit – Ahead of the 2020 elections, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) will host an all-day summit to highlight important issues facing state and local election officials as they work to prepare for the 2020 primaries and general elections. State and local election officials, representatives from federal agencies that support elections, and other key election stakeholders will discuss election security and combating foreign interference in elections, preparing for high turnout, ensuring access for voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency, and recruiting and training effective poll workers, among other topical issues. Where: Washington, DC When: January 14
Getting Election Reform Right — Join BPC for the release of a new BPC Elections Task Force report, which highlights recommendations across key areas of election administration. The Task Force, comprised of state and local election officials from across the country representing both Republican and Democratic jurisdictions, offers a holistic, logical slate of bipartisan election reforms for 2020 and beyond. Where: Washington, D.C. When: January 16
IGO 2020 Mid-Winter Conference — The International Association of Government Officials will hold its 2020 Mid-Winter Conference in Isle of Palms, SC on January 24-30, 2020. This conference will offer approximately 30 hours of continuing education with 9 hours hosted by iGO’s new Certified Public Leader (CPL) Partner, Pepperdine University! Join iGO at Wild Dunes Resort this January to further your education on best practices, industry trends, and emerging technology, all while creating and strengthening professional relationships. iGO’s conferences provide the perfect combination of education and networking events to appeal to current members, prospective members, and non-members alike. Where: Isle of Palms, South Carolina. When: Jan. 24-30.
NASED Winter 2020 — Twice a year, the National Association of State Election Directors members gather to discuss the latest developments in election administration. Members of the public are welcome to attend at the non-member registration rate. Check back here for more information about the Winter 2020 Conference. Where: Washington, DC. When: January 30-February 2.
NASS Winter 2020 — The National Association of Secretaries of State will hold their Winter 2020 conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C.’s West End. Check back here for more information about the Winter 2020 conference when it becomes available. Where: Washington, D.C. When: January 30-February 2.
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.
Advanced Data Analyst, North Carolina SBOE— This position is responsible for technical and analytical work with an emphasis on data analytics. Employee uses their knowledge and expertise to participate in the collection, preprocessing and analysis of structured, unstructured, and geospatial data, analyze data from disparate sources to discover trends, propose solutions and strategies to business challenges, and present information using various data visualization tools and techniques. The employee should be able to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams as well as independently with minimal supervision. Salary: $82,485 – $95,000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Assurance Engineer, Free & Fair — Free & Fair (F&F) seeks an experienced assurance engineer—a developer who is thrilled to work on high-assurance open source elections technologies that demonstrate what is possible with modern applied formal methods-based development processes, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Our focus on national critical infrastructure, transparent engineering, and formal assurance makes this opportunity unique. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Database Administrator, North Carolina SBOE— Responsible for the administration of all county and state campaign finance and elections databases and database server instances. Collaborate and consult with the Infrastructure Group personnel on issues relating to data storage, access, backup/restore, and data archiving. Implement measures to provide for database integrity, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and business continuity. Establish data security and access policies/practices. Based on knowledge of agency systems and supported applications; develop complex SQL code to automate routine administration tasks, continuously monitor infrastructure resources and processes and generate timely operational and maintenance alerts (including the disposition of county/state transactions, replication, scheduled database jobs, and the status of servers and services). Establish and administer database management, design, and coding standards. Create and maintain technical and procedural documentation. Model database entities and attributes and maintain data dictionary. Communicate database related issues and problems with relevant agency team members, developers, testers, and managers. Recommend and employ third party database tools to enhance efficiency and support capabilities. Salary: $82,485 – $95,000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Deputy Director of Elections, Douglas County, Colorado — Directs, administers, and coordinates the Core Services of the Elections Division of the Clerk and Recorder’s Office, including voter registration, conducting elections, voter education and outreach, and precincting and boundaries. Performs complex administrative and supervisory work in a variety of management functions including personnel management, statutory compliance, and execution of the integrated processes to conduct all primary, general, coordinated, and other special elections within the county. Responsible for strategic planning, policy/procedure development and implementation, and continuous improvement. Salary: $7,295.58 – $9,119.42 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Clerk I, Douglas County, Colorado— This position serves as office support for the Elections Division of the Clerk and Recorder’s Office. The Election Clerk provides customer service, assists with clerical functions, and performs data entry for voter registration. Other duties in support of the conduct of elections or mail ballot processing may be assigned. Must be detail oriented, well organized, productive, and able to adapt in a high change environment. This role requires both independent judgment and the ability to work well as a part of a team. Professional representation of the Clerk and Recorder’s Office to the public is required to include standards outlined in the Vision, Mission, and Core Values of the Office. Salary: $2,304.00 – $2,879.00 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Outreach Coordinator, Thurston County, Washington— The Thurston County Auditor’s Office is looking for a candidate to join our outstanding team as our Election Outreach Coordinator. In this role, the successful candidate will coordinate activities related to candidates, voter and election outreach. This position also develops and produces election information and voter education materials and prepares and disseminates informational materials to encourage citizen participation in the election process. Salary: $3,952-$5257/month. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Specialist, Douglas County, Colorado — This position is focused on routine customer service and general office/clerical support including data entry, communications, and processing mail. This is a support role capable of performing a variety of tasks, with problem solving abilities, managing multiple competing responsibilities and prioritizing to maintain a continuous flow of election office operations. This is a visible and crucial position requiring exceptional computer, customer service, and communication skills. This position may require technical work in a lead role capable of performing a variety of complex tasks, with solving problem abilities, managing multiple competing tasks and prioritizing to maintain a continuous flow of operations and temporary support. This position may be classified as an Elections Specialist I or II dependent upon the skills of the candidate and the department’s business needs. Salary: $2,842.00 – $4,017.00 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Specialist, King County Elections — The Department of Elections – is searching for energetic and resourceful professionals who like to “get stuff done”. The Administrative Specialist II positions in the Voter Services Department combines an exciting, fast-paced environment with the opportunity to cultivate talents and apply a variety of skills. The ideal candidate will have a desire to help ensure the democratic process through public service. They will thrive in an innovative environment and will not hesitate to roll up both sleeves, work hard, have fun, and get the job done. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Warehouse Worker, Douglas County, Colorado — This is a highly physical position with a heavy emphasis on warehouse work, requiring the ability to continually lift equipment weighing more than 50 pounds. This position will perform routine maintenance on voting equipment, identify non-routine repairs to election equipment and mark and track equipment for follow up maintenance. incumbent will coordinate equipment and maintain records documenting device history. Forklift certification is a plus. Salary: $2,445.00 – $3,056.00 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Embedded Systems Engineer, Free & Fair— Free & Fair (F&F) seeks an experienced embedded systems engineer—a developer and engineer who is thrilled to work on a high-assurance open source elections technologies that demonstrate what is possible with modern development processes, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Our focus on national critical infrastructure, transparent engineering, and formal assurance makes this opportunity unique. One component of the BESSPIN Voting System is a custom-built, open source, open hardware platform for demonstrating secure hardware. It includes low- and mid-range FPGAs running softcore RISC-V CPUs, simple I/O devices, and an RTOS. This platform is called CASCADES (Configurable, Affordable System-on-Chip for Analysis and Demonstration of Election Security) and is a CrowdSupply project. A prototype for CASCADES is the Smart Ballot Box that we brought to DEF CON 2019. We call this role an embedded systems engineer, since much of the development that we do spans hardware, firmware, and software design and development. Moreover, we use a mixture of low-level and high-level languages, COTS and novel (FPGA-based) development platforms, and traditional and novel operating systems. We hope that potential applicants do not put themselves in an unnecessarily small box. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Executive Director, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners— The Executive Director serves as the chief administrator, providing leadership and implementing policies and programs to carry out the work of the Board. The Executive Director directs an annual operating budget of approximately $34M and leads a staff of 130 full-time employees broken into 7 Divisions comprised of: Registration; Information Technology; Human Resources; Finance; Community Services/Poll Workers; Pre-Election Voting & Logistics; and, Warehouse Operations. All full-time employees, including the Assistant Executive Director, are compensated through the City of Chicago and subject to the benefits offered to City employees, although they are employees of the Board and not the City. Although an employee of the Board, the Executive Director is compensated through Cook County and receives employee compensation and benefits in line with County policies. By statute, the Executive Director must take an oath of office before the Cook County Circuit Court. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Grants Specialist, U.S. Election Assistance Commission— The Grants Specialist will assist the Grants Director to manage and administer the grants program for the EAC pursuant to 5 USC §3109 (See 42 USC §15324(b)) and §204 (6)(c) of HAVA. The incumbent provides expert advice to EAC leadership regarding grants management; provides advice and guidance to States and U.S. territories regarding the use of funds provided by EAC to ensure State/U.S. territory compliance with HAVA, Appropriations Law and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars; conducts pre- and post-audits to review how funds have been spent; and makes recommendations to the Executive Director for audit resolutions. Salary: $69,581 to $128,920 per year. Deadline: June 17, 2020. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Project Manager, Hart InterCivic— Project Managers at Hart InterCivic are highly motivated “self-starters” who are enthusiastic about providing exceptional customer service. Working with other members of the Professional Services and Operations teams, the Project Manager directs activity, solves problems, and develops lasting and strong relationships with our customers. Hart InterCivic’s unique and industry known culture of innovation, transparency, and customer-centric focus creates an environment where team members will continually grow and be challenged to develop their careers. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Research Manager, Center for Election Innovation and Research — The Research Manager will report to the Executive Director and will be responsible for the execution of CEIR’s research agenda. The Research Manager will assist or lead research activities generally associated with the conduct of elections and voting. Under the supervision of the Executive Director, the Research Manager determines objectives and milestones, builds effective relationships within the team and with partners, and performs the following activities: Manage day-to-day operational and tactical aspects of multiple research studies, delegating or coordinating duties with research staff as appropriate; Develop and manage project activity timelines, study budgets, and tracking documents for study management, progress tracking, and general logistics; Design and manage research studies, including the development of methodologies and data collection tools; Lead and supervise research and support staff. Provide and oversee appropriate training of research staff; Develop and maintain research-team specific standard operating procedures and training materials; Submit routine (informal) progress reports to the Executive Director; Work closely with the operations manager on issues related to budget, grant compliance, and other financial issues; Collaborate with public and private sector partners, including academic and research organizations, to facilitate implementation of project objectives; Conduct data analysis and draft study reports; Conduct literature reviews to identify research and emerging data relevant to projects. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Rigorous Systems/Software Engineer, Free & Fair — Free & Fair (F&F) seeks several experienced systems/software engineers—developers who are thrilled to work on high-assurance open source elections technologies that demonstrate what is possible with modern development processes, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Our focus on national critical infrastructure, transparent engineering, and formal assurance makes this opportunity unique. We call this role either/both system engineers or software engineers, since much of the development that we do spans hardware, firmware, and software design and development. Moreover, we use a mixture of low-level and high-level languages, COTS and novel (FPGA-based) development platforms, and traditional and novel operating systems. We hope that potential applicants do not put themselves in an unnecessarily small box. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Software Sales Specialist, VOTEC— VOTEC’s Sales Specialist is responsible for creating news sales with prospects and existing clients in targeted areas in the US. We are looking for an election professional comfortable using insight and consultative selling techniques to create interest that offers unique solutions on their operations, which link back to VOTEC’s solutions. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
UI/UX Engineer, Free & Fair — Free & Fair (F&F) seeks an experienced UI/UX engineer—someone who practices user-centric design, finds usable security a fascinating area of R&D, someone who appreciates usable and accessible technologies, and a developer and engineer who is thrilled to work on high-assurance open source elections technologies that demonstrate what is possible with modern development processes, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Our focus on national critical infrastructure, transparent engineering, and formal assurance makes this opportunity unique. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
VP of Engineering, Free & Fair— Free & Fair (F&F) seeks an experienced systems engineering development leader—an executive who can step in and build a dynamic, distributed engineering team, deliver solutions to the market, and execute challenging development activities focused on national critical infrastructure. The VP of Engineering at F&F will be responsible for executing on the Company’s overall technology vision and driving its development execution. This person will recruit world-class talent, manage and evolve development processes and methodologies, and foster an organizational structure to help our high-performing development team deliver applications to the market. This person will keep abreast of and influence research and technology trends, standards, and stakeholders. This person will have the ability to bridge technology with business acumen, will bring experience in developing state-of-the-art customer-facing applications, and will develop and sustain a culture of passion, hard work, and innovation. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Voting Equipment/IT Technician, Alamance County, North Carolina— An employee in this class performs election duties as it pertains to the certified voting equipment, including but not limited to coding, programming, testing and performing required maintenance on all equipment, requiring application and compliance with the Election Laws of North Carolina and Federal/State/Local voting regulations. This position performs technical and complex support activities associated with the preparation for and conduct of elections to include calibration of equipment, developing test scripts, collecting and auditing tabulation data. Employee will perform yearly ADA site evaluations and assist in assembly and distribution of precinct supplies. Employee within this position will need to possess proficiency in organizational skills, a strong aptitude in math, and knowledge of, or the ability to learn and adhere to State and local statutes/regulations affecting elections and elections process. Public speaking will be required for training classes for election workers. This position covers a variety of hardware and software support for Board of Election and their devices (PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, Photo ID Camera). Work is performed in accordance with Alamance County and Board of Election policies and procedures that are compliant with HIPAA, CJIS, and PCI. Responsibilities include but are not limited to supporting hardware and software applications, resolving technical issues through diligent research. Employee may consult with precinct officials, vendors and others to resolve technical issues. The Employees IT work will be coordinated through the Alamance County IT Network Team and compliant with the safety and security protocols set forth by the County’s IT Department. Application: For the compete job listing and to apply, click here.
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