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Election News This Week

Federal Update: In a Time magazine interview published last week, when asked about the possibility of sending federal agents to polling places President Donal Trump responded, “Haven’t thought of it.” And the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement to The Associated Press, said people in the country legally have “nothing to fear” and that: “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations. ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.” The Department also said they are “laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens.” In more Department of Homeland Security news, according to CNN, the Department’s  sweeping election-fraud operation has drawn on tens of millions of records, scrutinized dozens of nonprofit voter-registration groups and considered deploying undercover agents to investigate organizations suspected of helping noncitizens register to vote, according to newly obtained internal documents. Trump released a video on October 3 urging Republicans to vote early and by mail in the midterm election. “Vote early. Vote by mail. Or vote in person on Election Day,” Mr. Trump, who has been using the power of his office to try to restrict mail voting, says in the video, which he posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. According to Reuters, the US Postal Service said it will take a series of extraordinary measures to ​ensure the delivery of millions of ballots for next month’s 2026 ‌congressional elections, including extending hours at some retail branches. USPS said in a memo seen by Reuters that retail branches may extend hours starting Oct. 4 through the Nov. 3 election to handle ​ballots and establish a “Ballot Postmark Only” line at retail counters or a ​drive-through Ballot Mail option. USPS also will conduct expedited handling, extra ⁠deliveries, and special pickups of ballots.. USPS also said that before the election, workers can use ​the Priority Mail Express network to expedite the delivery of completed ballots returned by ​voters that might otherwise not be delivered in time. Starting October 24 through the election, carriers must check every delivery point for outgoing mail, regardless of whether they have incoming mail. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed troops to pause operations for one day in October so they can cast ballots in the 2026 elections.  Those stand-downs should take place by Oct. 15, he said in a video. The Defense Department will continue taking a day off to vote in October of each election year going forward. Hegseth released two videos and a memo this week urging troops to get registered and vote in the upcoming midterms. More than 418,000 active-duty troops — or 23% — were not registered to vote in 2024, according to federal data. 

Unity in Numbers: Across the country, local elections officials are teaming up to get the message out that the 2026 election will be safe, secure and accurate. This week in Utah, 28 of the state’s 29 county clerks signed on to a set of 20 standards they say are meant to answer questions voters may have about the process. The initiative is based on a similar effort clerks from Idaho tried several years ago, according to Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch. “We’re always looking for ways to communicate how elections are run to the voters,” he told KSL’s “Inside Sources.” “We like what they did. We liked the messaging. We customized it here to Utah and decided to put it out and hopefully it helps convey some messages to voters so that they can feel more comfortable about elections and know that they are welcome anytime to talk to us.” In Montana, the Montana Free Press recently sat down with election administrators from three counties – Carbon, Gallatin and Yellowstone – to talk about getting ready for November. In Florida, Local News 10 hosted a roundtable with elections officials from Broward, Miami Dade and Monroe counties to talk about what to expect during the next month. In Georgia, election officials from three coastal counties–Chatham, Glynn and Liberty–participated in a free community forum to answer questions about how elections are administered and protected.

Election Office News: Usually we lump a bunch of election office moves together in one round-up but given how long it’s taken the Mahoning County, Ohio Board of Elections to settle on a new office space, we felt they deserved their own space! The BOE will move to a former elementary school and officials expect to move in before the November 2027 general election. “About 80% of Mahoning County’s voters are within a 20-minute drive to this facility, and it’s also on a WRTA line,” said Denise Bayer, a board of elections member. The BOE has been seeking a new home since 2022, citing the deteriorating condition of its current building and the desire for a larger space. Numerous other locations were considered including a former Bottom Dollar store and the new government center in downtown Youngstown. The Western Reserve Port Authority and the Youngstown City School District agreed for the district to sell the former school building to WRPA for $900,000. Anthony Trevena, WRPA executive director, said that when the county commissioners notified the board of elections members they had the right to look at opportunities to relocate, they reached out to WRPA. For elections, the building needs to be scalable to accommodate nearly 200 parking spaces and a lot of traffic, he said. It also needs ample storage space for voting equipment and to be accessible geographically.  “When you look at all the properties available in this circumference, this just really did do a great job of checking all of those boxes,” Trevena said. “We definitely wanted to keep the board of elections in the city because it’s the county seat, and we’re also cognizant of not wanting to disenfranchise voters,” Bayer said. 

New Technology: Several jurisdictions have launched new technology for voters this election cycle. In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania it’s Mo, an AI chatbot created to answer basic election questions. Mo is a black-and-white, clickable, robotic dog seated on the bottom-right corner of the Montgomery County voter services website. The generative AI chatbot only relies on verified information from the voter services website and the county geographic information system, according to Montgomery County. From locating a polling location to instructions on how to submit a mail ballot, Mo has the 24/7 capability to spit back an answer and translate it into more than 70 languages. Montgomery County created Mo with the aid of Citibot, a Charleston, South Carolina-based software company that specializes in crafting chatbots for local governments. “Given all the disinformation that’s out there, we wanted to compete and be able to get accurate information out into the world and the way to do that is to use AI for public good,” Commissioner Neil Makhija said. Just don’t ask Mo who to vote for. “I’m not able to help with candidate recommendations or voting advice — that falls outside what I’m here for!” is the answer Mo types out when asked according to WHYY. Harris County, Texas recently launched the Harris Votes app that brings several of the county’s most-used election resources into one place. Voters can check their registration status, locate Vote Centers, review a personalized sample ballot, track key election dates and receive official reminders and updates. In a county as sprawling and diverse as Harris County, that kind of convenience is not merely high-tech; it is good public service. “We know voters want election information that is easy to access,” Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said. “The Harris Votes app brings several of those resources together in one place, giving voters another convenient way to prepare for Election Day.”

Podcast News: High Turnout Wide Margins has another 3-episode arc out this week. In S5E8, hosts Brianna Lennon and Eric Fey speak with Bob Page, the Registrar of Voters at County of Orange. He has had a busy year when it comes to questions about the integrity of the county’s elections — including a lawsuit filed against him by the DOJ. They spoke about how Page responds in the face of such attention, as well as how he works with journalists and spends time educating the public to rebuild trust in California elections. In S5E9, Lennon and Fey spoke with Seth Bluestein. He’s the lone Republican Commissioner on the three-person Philadelphia Board of Elections. They spoke about the scrutiny Philadelphia has received during the last few election cycles, as well as how that attention has influenced the way they are running elections in the city. Plus, Bluestein shares some interesting tidbits about the state’s system of electing some members of a polling location’s staff. In S5E10, Lennon and Fey spoke to Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, the Recorder in Pima County, Arizona. This her second appearance on the podcast — her first being five years ago in Season 1. They spoke about how things have changed, what Cázares-Kelly has learned in her five plus years in the position, and about what’s making her hopeful about the future of American elections. On the most recent episode of the Democracy Optimist, host Joshua Douglas spoke with Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters. Professor Matthew Baum of Harvard Kennedy School joins Terms of Engagement hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to examine new research from the Shorenstein Center in collaboration with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation on Americans’ knowledge of voting regulations in the 2026 Voting Information Trends report.

Sticker News: Voters in Montgomery County, Indiana will receive a very special “I Voted” sticker after casting their ballot ­— one designed by a local student. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County held a competition this summer to have local children design the “I Voted” stickers that will be distributed during the fall 2026 election. The Carnegie Museum received a total of 92 entries, from which 11 finalists were selected among three age groups — elementary school (grades K-5), middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12). A panel of judges then selected the winning design from each age group. A total of 16,000 “I Voted” stickers have been printed and delivered to Montgomery County election officials for distribution during the fall election season. The printing of the stickers was funded by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. After casting their ballot, county voters will receive one of the three winning stickers to display. Ava Barclay, a fifth grader at Sugar Creek Elementary School, designed the winning elementary school sticker; Micaiah Frey, a sixth grade home school student, designed the winning middle school sticker and Livvy Selleck, a sophomore at North Montgomery High School, designed the winning high school sticker.

Personnel News: The Onondaga County, New York Democratic Committee re-elected Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. Rep. Skyler Rude (R-Walla Walla) announced he will resign from the Washington House of Representatives on Oct. 31 to become legislative director for the Office of the Washington Secretary of State. Grace Taylor has been appointed interim clerk in Cabell County, West Virginia. Interim Green Bay, Wisconsin City Clerk Stacy Menke has been given the job permanently. Longtime Schenectady County, New York Republican Election Commissioner Darlene Harris is retiring from her post at the end of the year. Republican Mike Harmon has announced his candidacy for Kentucky secretary of state.  

New Research & Resources

De-Escalation: A Guide for Election Officials: Election officials regularly interact with voters, election observers, members of the public, the media, and others who may arrive to them and their offices with questions, frustrations, or strongly held concerns. From disputes over no-campaign zones at voting locations to First Amendment auditors visiting election offices, potentially contentious interactions can arise in many election settings. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections’ De-Escalation: A Guide for Election Officials provides practical techniques election officials and their teams can use to help restore calm, reduce tension, and prevent difficult interactions from escalating any further. At the center of the resource is the CLARA Framework: Calm, Listen, Affirm, Respond, Address Alternatives. The framework begins with managing your own stress response before engaging with someone who is upset. From there, it emphasizes active listening, finding points of agreement or empathy, providing clear factual information, and offering constructive next steps when an individual’s concerns cannot be fully resolved. The resource also provides actionable guidance on body language, tone of voice, changing the setting of an interaction, and “tapping in and tapping out”—allowing another staff member to step into a difficult conversation and potentially reset its tone. Effective election de-escalation requires more than knowing what to do in the moment. Preparation and practice matter. Election offices should identify likely scenarios, establish clear protocols for when to de-escalate or involve security or law enforcement, and regularly practice realistic situations with frontline staff and poll workers.— Committee for Safe and Secure Elections

What if guide template: Provisional voting requires poll workers to navigate a series of decisions while also explaining the process to a voter who may already be confused or concerned about why they cannot vote normally. This What if guide template turns complex processes into a clear path, helping poll workers understand what to do and what to say. The template will help you create a short printable job aid where every provisional voting scenario gets: flow charts to help poll workers decide what to do next and scripts for poll workers to follow so they can speak confidently. It’s part of our new provisional voting toolkit, which also has sample social media messages for voters. In early October, we’ll add more tools to the toolkit including: Provisional form checklist job aid; and Take home notice template.— Center for Civic Design

Evaluating How the USCIS SAVE System Performs in Practice: Evidence from Election Offices: In May 2026, Utah reported the results of a “citizenship audit” of its voter registration rolls that it conducted in April. Of more than 2 million voter records analyzed, just 27 were found to be noncitizens, with another 25 likely noncitizens. The audit’s findings are noteworthy because they confirm what previous studies have consistently shown: that noncitizen voting, which is already illegal in every state for federal elections, is extremely rare. But the findings are notable for another reason too: they were made possible by a resource—the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service, a program run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—that was only recently made available to election officials. After USCIS made a series of changes to SAVE last year, election offices in states across the country began adopting the tool with the purpose of identifying and removing noncitizens from voter registration lists (and preventing noncitizens from registering to vote in the first place). Until a federal court’s ruling in League of Women Voters v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security in June 2026, which temporarily blocked the 2025 SAVE expansions (a September 25, 2026 Supreme Court ruling allowed them to resume), many states were using SAVE results to inform decisions about who can register—and who stays registered—to vote. These decisions were affecting millions of voters and potential voters. Yet little is known about how accurate SAVE is, or the administrative burden that it created for officials. Our research project is an attempt to fill that gap.— Bipartisan Policy Center. 

What Voters Think Ahead of the 2026 Midterms: Election Information, Confidence, and Concerns: As voters prepare to cast their ballots in the 2026 midterm elections, the Bipartisan Policy Center worked with Morning Consult to survey 3,144 registered voters between September 2 and 4. Building on similar surveys fielded in 2022 and 2024,1 our 2026 survey questioned respondents about: 

• Where they look for election information 

• How confident they are in the vote-counting process 

• Their concerns about the 2026 midterm elections 

We found that voters continue to look to local election officials for information about how to register and vote and about how elections are run. However, voters most commonly turn to online search engines for this information. Furthermore, our survey shows that confidence in the vote-counting process remains high, with a narrowing of the partisan gap in confidence that existed in 2022 and 2024. Regarding concerns about the 2026 midterm elections, Democrats and Republicans disagree on what is most concerning. However, both groups worry about the potential for misleading information—especially information generated by artificial intelligence—to disrupt the elections. — Bipartisan Policy Center

Chatbots Still Bad at Spotting AI-Generated Images Despite New Law: Author Abdiaziz Ahmed details how some popular AI chatbots cannot reliably detect AI-generated images depicting false incidents of election-related malfeasance even after the implementation of the California AI Transparency Act. The law requires tech companies to embed origin data in AI-generated images, video, and audio; provide consumers with tools to access the origin data; and give users an option to include a visible indicator that content is AI-generated. After rerunning some tests from an earlier Brennan Center study, authors found that most of the chatbots didn’t mention the embedded origin data and still appeared to largely rely on often-faulty visual analyses of the images. — The Brennan Center

Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking

Federal Legislation: Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation is calling for a new federal reporting requirement on voter vouching, a ballot casting method that has been part of Minnesota elections for more than 50 years. Voter vouching allows a non-registered individual to bring a registered voter with them to their polling site to verify they live within that precinct. The registered voter vouches for the unregistered person. The delegation introduced the Voter Vouching Transparency Act, which would require states to provide standardized information after each general election. The bill’s reporting requirements include: The number of people who registered by voter vouching; The number of people who served as voter vouchers; The number of people vouched for by each voter voucher; and The number of registration attempts that were rejected through voter vouching.

Marion County, Indiana: The Marion County Election Board approved a new protocol for poll workers if federal agents, like immigration enforcement, the FBI or other law enforcement, show up at the polls. The policy states that if agents appear at or near a vote center polling location, workers are to note any details about what agency they are from, if they are armed and what time it is. They should then immediately call the election board or an inspector hotline if it occurs on election day. They also should not obstruct or physically block any officers and do not volunteer any information. Poll workers are also checking credentials for other permissible individuals who are allowed to be in voting centers, like election watchers, challengers, pollbook holders and the media. Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell said that while they believe this is an extremely unlikely scenario, they want to be prepared for anything. “This is to help reassure not only voters, but poll workers, that we also see what’s going on in the world, and we have a plan in case things go nutty on election day,” Sweeny Bell said. Marion County Election Board Director Patrick Becker said that he knows poll workers will likely have questions about these concerns. “It’s about us being able to tell them, we hear them too, and we have a plan on how to respond to those things,” Becker told WFYI.

Michigan: Michigan Sen. Chedrick Greene (D-Saginaw) presented a bill to the state Senate Elections and Ethics Committee that would require Michigan to reimburse county, city and township governments for the cost of conducting a special election.  The legislation, Senate Bill 1186, would cost the state an estimated $4,500 per voting precinct in a given special election based on reimbursements made to local governments for the 2024 presidential primary election, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of the bill. Sen. Paul Wojno (D-Warren), expressed his support for the legislation during Thursday’s hearing. “Being a former municipal clerk, I think every clerk around the state would be supportive of this legislation,” Wojno said. Greene clarified that the bill does not cover any election date where there are already scheduled elections for ballot proposals, bond proposals for schools or any other vote occurring. “If there’s any local municipality that is having a special election for once again recall of a trustee or something to that effect, they cannot submit to the state for the purpose of a special election reimbursement in this bill,” Greene said. “It is only for single issue state legislative purposes that are in the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the state of Michigan.”

Legal Updates

Federal Litigation: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Trump Administration broke the law when it pushed through a last-minute change to the form overseas citizens use to register and request absentee ballots. The lawsuit contends that the Department of Defense made the change by declaring an emergency, which allowed it to eliminate a specific box on the form. That box is typically checked by potential voters who acknowledge they are U.S. citizens but who have never lived in the United States. They are usually the children of U.S. citizens, and 38 states allow them to cast ballots provided they have close family connections. Since 2013, the box has appeared on postcards sent to overseas voters. Republicans have filed lawsuits in multiple states trying to prevent those voters, who typically support Democrats, from casting ballots. Thursday’s lawsuit contends that the administration simply made the change on its own without giving proper notice. “These American citizens pay U.S. federal and state taxes, but now a years-old plan has culminated in a manufactured ‘emergency’ to justify impeding their right to vote in American elections and potentially disenfranchising them entirely,” the lawsuit states.

The Trump administration has been sued over its plans to deploy “a historic number” of election monitors to polling stations during next month’s midterm elections. The bid “stands to jeopardize” the elections and could “interfere with the right of voters to participate in the election free from intimidation”, according to the NAACP, which filed a lawsuit against Harmeet Dhillon, head of the justice department’s civil rights division, who has said she hopes to send 1,000 monitors to midterm polling sites in November. “To be clear, there is no federal statute that gives the US Department of Justice [DoJ] the right to send their so-called ‘election monitors’ to polling sites across the country, and this administration has made clear its intent to disrupt and interfere with the way elections are run in our country,” said Kristen Clarke, the NAACP’s general counsel, who served in Dhillon’s role under Joe Biden. The NAACP lawsuit seeks to force the Trump administration to release records regarding the deployment of the monitors. The NAACP said it requested such records under the Freedom of Information Act on 1 September, but said the Department of Justice had failed to comply.

California: A federal court struck down a California rule that required voters to sign and return vote-by-mail ballots on paper, rather than doing so electronically. The ruling in California Council of the Blind v. Weber, announced October 3, is a victory for disabled voters—but it probably won’t change things much until the next election cycle. Since 2021, California has mailed ballots to all registered voters for all statewide and local elections. Voters with print disabilities—those who are blind or low-vision, or whose physical disabilities prevent them from marking a paper ballot—can request a link to vote electronically. After filling out their ballot on a computer, they must print it, put it in an envelope, seal the envelope, and return it “through non-electronic means.” This is complicated by the fact that many blind people don’t own printers, because they have no use for them. And that’s only one of the obstacles they might face under the current vote-by-mail rules. Christopher Gray, a resident of San Francisco County and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, is blind. Under the current system, as he wrote in a 2024 court declaration, he is unable to vote without assistance. The court ruled that the current vote-by-mail system does exclude some disabled voters, and “denies them meaningful access to the vote by mail program,” as Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim wrote. The court, however, did not specify a resolution. The state of California now has until October 19 to propose a new vote-by-mail protocol, and since California ballots have already been mailed out, any changes made likely will not take effect until the next election cycle.

Florida: US District Judge David Leibowitz dismissed ​a federal case that accused a Jamaican national of illegally voting, finding the law criminalizing noncitizen voting was unconstitutional. The ruling applies only to the case of Florida resident Chelsea Cox, who was charged in October 2025 with illegally voting in the 2020 election. It is not binding for judges in other cases. The ​ruling by Leibowitz, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, appears to be the first time a federal court has found the ⁠1996 law a violation of the US Constitution. Leibowitz wrote that under the US Constitution only states can set voter qualifications, not Congress. Every state requires US citizenship to vote, and Leibowitz said ​it was up to Florida, not the Department of Justice, to prosecute her for violating that requirement. “Can the State of Florida prohibit and punish the exact conduct Defendant Cox allegedly engaged in ​here? This has already been decided elsewhere and is not addressed here: Florida can and does,” Leibowitz wrote. Cox entered the United States as a tourist in 1999 and remained after her visa expired the next year, according to a court filing by the government. She used a fraudulent US Virgin Islands birth certificate to obtain a Florida driver’s license and used those documents to register to vote in 2012. Records show she voted in federal elections from 2012 to 2020, but only the 2020 election was within the statute of limitations. 

Kansas: The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled that mail-in ballots arriving three days after the November general election will still count in Kansas. It was the latest ruling in a court battle between Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Kansas Appleseed, along with Kansans who believe a 2025 statute eliminating a three-day grace period for mail-in votes violates their constitutional rights. The statute changed state law to say only advance ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day would be counted. “When considering important constitutional challenges concerning election procedure and faced with an upcoming election, courts must be careful to avoid rulings that could cause votes to be lost,” said a ruling from Chief Judge Sarah Warner and Judges Stephen Hill and Kim Schroeder.   Schwab had asked the Kansas Court of Appeals to stay an injunction that forced the state to continue accepting mail-in votes for three days after the election while the court cases proceeded. “Considering the Secretary’s preliminary showing on the merits, the State’s asserted injuries, the irreparable consequences a stay could impose on voters, the public interest, and the rapidly approaching election calendar, we conclude that the Secretary has not met his burden to demonstrate that the temporary injunction should be suspended while this appeal proceeds,” the appeals court ruling said.  The court on Friday agreed to Schwab’s motion to fast-track the appeal but said that still wouldn’t occur on the timetable Schwab requested. He asked the court to hear arguments before Oct. 14, when mail-in ballots would be sent to voters. 

Michigan: Thirty-seven absentee ballots that were found after the 2025 Hamtramck mayoral race will finally be counted, nearly a year after the election took place. Once counted, those could affect who holds the seat. Attorney Mark Brewer, who represents former councilman and mayoral candidate Muhith Mahmood, says the Board of Canvassers has until Oct. 16 to count the ballots. While an order has not been filed, Brewer says it will be done through a public meeting, where the results will be announced that day. The exact date and time of when the count will happen is currently unknown. CBS Detroit has reached out to the Hamtramck city clerk’s office and the Wayne County Board of Canvassers for comment and is awaiting a response. “Nothing like this has taken this long. I really do blame the city and the current mayor. They have been fighting to keep their own people’s votes from being counted for a year,” Brewer told CBS News Detroit.

An Ottawa County woman has been charged for allegedly tampering with her children’s absentee ballots in the August primary election. The Ottawa County Clerk’s Office said the woman had submitted two absentee ballots for her adult children when staff with the Park Township Clerk’s Office noticed discrepancies in the signatures during the signature verification process. Staff also noticed similarities between the woman’s signature and the signatures on her children’s ballot envelopes. Neither of the ballots were counted. The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office was called in to investigate, and the prosecutor’s office charged the woman with absentee ballot tampering. The woman is expected to be arraigned on Oct. 26. “Our election staff followed the established procedures, recognized that something was not right and acted immediately,” said Park Township Clerk Joan Zeerip. “The safeguards surrounding absentee voting exist to ensure that every ballot is cast by the voter to whom it was issued.”

Montana: Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan has ruled a law requiring voters to put their birth year on absentee ballots violated the state’s constitution, and has ruled in favor of Disability Rights Montana and Big Sky 55+, which challenged the legislation. Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election have already been sent overseas, with voter packets headed to Montanans by the end of the week. Some overseas ballots have been sent and returned. “Balanced against the state’s lack of evidence of election fraud and its inability to explain how public confidence in elections is elevated by requiring a birth year on absentee ballots, the state has failed to meet its burden of proving HB 719 is reasonable and serves a legitimate state interest or that its asserted interests are more important than the burden on the right to vote,” Menahan wrote in his decision. The court compared voter data from the November 2024 election, which was before the new birth date law, with an all-mail May 5, 2026, election that was held in 30 counties after it was signed into law. Lewis and Clark County’s ballot rejection rate was 0.29% in 2024 and 0.8% in the May 2026 election. In Gallatin County it rose from 0.47% in 2024  to 2.75% in 2026, court documents state.

New Hampshire: U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante, in a 50-page preliminary order, declined to set aside the law Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed in April (HB 323) preventing a student ID from gaining acceptance on its face as all that was needed for someone to obtain a ballot. This law stands for the Nov. 3 election. However, Laplante said Secretary of State David Scanlan went too far with an April directive he sent out to all city and town clerks which said that student IDs were unacceptable to be offered for anyone to register to vote or cast a ballot. “The Legislature decided and has provided that a student ID is no longer, on its own, a expressly valid form of identification,” Laplante wrote. “It does not follow, and the state has not explained why it should follow, that it also decided that a student ID also may not constitute evidence a polling station official may rely on to establish voter identity when no other form of ID is available at all.” Laplante said Scanlan’s directive was too all-encompassing because the Legislature has yet to strike from the books a second state law that lets voters show student IDs or other documents to prove identity if they lack a photo ID. Known as the “catch-all” or safety valve law, it permits a voter to offer “any other evidence” other than a driver’s license, passport or government-issued photo ID if it “reasonably establishes that it is more likely than not that the person is who they claim to be.”

South Carolina: U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis tossed out a lawsuit from South Carolina civil rights organizations over state absentee voting rules. In the lawsuit, the groups argued a law meant to prevent election fraud makes it harder for people with disabilities to vote. The state NAACP and a trio of disabled nursing home residents filed suit last year challenging limits on assistance with mail-in ballots, arguing the limits violate the federal Voting Rights Act. The 2022 law that created no-excuse-needed early voting set new parameters for voting by mail. People who can’t vote in person during the early voting window or on Election Day, including people with physical disabilities, can request a paper absentee ballot. But to prevent the possibility of fraud, legislators added a cap of five ballots that any one person could request or submit for someone else. Geiger Lewis ruled tthe state NAACP and disabled residents didn’t have grounds to challenge the law. Her order said the three nursing home residents never alleged they’d been denied assistance, only that they could be. “Concern is understandable, but concern is not concreteness. A fear founded on future choices is too fragile for federal jurisdiction,” Geiger Lewis wrote in dismissing the case.

Texas: Fort Worth City Council member Deborah Peoples, in her capacity as a private citizen, is suing Tarrant County’s Republican commissioners and elections administrator, seeking a temporary injunction to halt the approved list of polling sites for the November midterm elections. Peoples filed the lawsuit October 2 with former Judge Maryellen Hicks, former city council member Kathleen Hicks and elected Fort Worth ISD trustee Camille Rodriguez. The lawsuit is against County Judge Tim O’Hare, commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, and elections administrator Clint Ludwig. In their petition, the plaintiffs request an expedited evidentiary hearing as the midterms fast approach. Early voting for the Nov. 3 elections is Oct. 19-30.  The lawsuit comes one month after Republican county commissioners approved Ludwig’s recommended list of polling sites for the midterms that eliminated 92 of the sites used in the 2022 midterms. That decision, which the commissioners court’s two Democrats voted against, came after hours of public testimony from residents, voting rights advocates and candidates on the ballot — the vast majority of whom were opposed to the reduction. The lawsuit asks a district court judge to reinstate the 92 sites and require the defendants to pay attorneys’ costs. Plaintiffs are not seeking monetary damages or the cancellation of the election.  

Washington: The U.S. Supreme Court on October 5 set the stage for another redrawing of Washington state’s political maps. On the first day of its new session, the court accepted a legal challenge to the boundaries, then remanded it to a lower court to determine if the way a federal judge drew the lines in 2024 complies with a ruling earlier this year in a Louisiana redistricting case. The action will not affect next month’s election. But it could lead to the state’s legislative district boundaries changing before they’re next scheduled to be redrawn in 2031, depending on the pace at which the process proceeds. Those contesting the 2024 map and the state attorney general had each asked the Supreme Court to take this step.  This case dates back more than four years. It started when a group of Latino voters contested the 15th Legislative District borders adopted by the state’s redistricting commission and approved by the Washington Legislature in early 2022. Their lawsuit contended the final map violated the federal Voting Rights Act because it impaired the ability of Latino voters in the Yakima Valley to participate equally in elections. The case included a trial in June 2022 featuring testimony from commissioners and voting experts.

Wyoming: The Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the state’s crossover-voting ban, ruling that the 96-day period in which voters are prohibited from changing party affiliation ahead of Election Day does not violate their constitutional rights.  “After balancing the right to vote against the legislature’s duty to ‘secure the purity of elections’ and to ‘guard against abuses of the elective franchise,’… we conclude the party affiliation deadline is not an unconstitutionally onerous burden on Appellants’ right to vote and does not violate equal protection guarantees,” the court stated in its unanimous ruling.  The decision clears the way for November’s general election to proceed as it has since 2023, when the Wyoming Legislature adopted a law that prohibits what’s known as crossover voting. Prior to the crossover-voting ban, Wyoming voters could change their party affiliation at the polls on Election Day.

Opinions This Week

National Opinions: Election security | Voting rights | Election deniers | Poll watchers |

Alaska: Ranked choice voting, II, III, IV |

Arizona: Federal interference, II |

California: Voter ID, II, III | Election security | Election deniers |

Colorado: Election security |

Florida: Accessibility |

Indiana: Vigo County | Election integrity | 

Kansas: Artificial Intelligence | Voter registration |

Maryland: Poll workers |

Massachusetts: Same day registration | Election monitoring |

Michigan: Federal interference | Secretary of state race | Election security |

Minnesota: Noncitizens |

Nevada: Washoe County |

New Hampshire: Voting rights |

New Jersey: Early voting |

New York: Vote by mail | Cayuga County |

North Carolina: Turnout |

North Dakota: Voter fraud |

Ohio: Voter ID | Secretary of state race, II |

Oregon: In-person voting |

Pennsylvania: Primaries, II | Election deniers |

South Dakota: Secretary of state race |

Texas: Voter registration |

Utah: Voting age |

Washington: Voter registration |

Upcoming Events

What Can Go Wrong (and What Can Go Right) with November’s Midterm Elections?: The Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA promotes research, collaboration, and advocacy under the leadership of UCLA Law Professor Richard L. Hasen; one of the nation’s leading election scholars. The Safeguarding Democracy Project is built upon the premise that tackling issues of the U.S. election integrity must be collaborative: across ideologies, across scholarly disciplines, and as a bridge between theory and practice. Our events this semester are focused on the 2026 midterm elections. Speakers: Jonathan Diaz, Campaign Legal Center; Matt Germer, R Street Institute; and Justin Leavitt, Loyola Law School. When: October 13, 3:15pm Eastern. Where: Online. 

Election Hero Day: Election Hero Day is a nonpartisan, national celebration recognizing the tremendous contributions that election officials, their staff, and poll workers make to ensure a safe, secure voting experience for all Americans. Taking place on October 20, 2026, nonprofits, business leaders, brands, public officials, and more will unite to honor the election heroes in our communities.  With your support, Election Hero Day will help boost election official morale ahead of Election Day and send a clear message to the public that we support our friends and neighbors who play such a vital role in preserving our democracy. When: October 20. 

Wikipedia Editing Workshops-Local Election Issues: Have you ever been interested in editing Wikipedia? Join us for some free upcoming live editing sessions. We will provide background on Wikipedia policies (neutrality, sourcing, etc.), teach you how to make meaningful edits, and review your content as it goes live. We will be focusing on articles related to the 2026 midterm elections – local ballot initiatives, individuals running, and articles that can help inform voters. All sessions last two hours. You don’t have to stay for the duration. Whether you have years of editing experience or are starting from scratch, you are welcome to attend. When: October 20, 1pm Eastern; October 23, 12pm Eastern; October 28, 2pm Eastern and October 30, 1pm Eastern. 

Vote Early Day: When Americans vote early, they ensure last-minute problems, long lines at the polls, confusing election laws, or voter disinformation cannot prevent us from casting our ballot. Vote Early Day is a tentpole moment for partners nationwide to engage with voters and empower them with the tools to cast their ballots early. When: October 27. 

Assessing the Fairness and Integrity of the November Elections: The Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA promotes research, collaboration, and advocacy under the leadership of UCLA Law Professor Richard L. Hasen; one of the nation’s leading election scholars. The Safeguarding Democracy Project is built upon the premise that tackling issues of the U.S. election integrity must be collaborative: across ideologies, across scholarly disciplines, and as a bridge between theory and practice. Our events this semester are focused on the 2026 midterm elections. Speakers: Bill Gates, Arizona State University; Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Harvard Law School; Charles Stewart, MEDSL; Susan Stokes, University of Chicago and Tammy Patrick, Election Center. When: November 16, 3:15pm Eastern. Where: Online. 

2026 Elections Summit: In a time of rapid change and evolving challenges to our electoral processes, collective reflection and forward-looking strategy are more important than ever. Bipartisan Policy Center’s 2026 Elections Summit will convene a diverse group of election practitioners, policymakers, and thought leaders to debrief the November election and chart a course forward for U.S. election administration. Be part of a defining moment for democracy as we gather in Washington, DC, to shape its future together. When: December 7, 9am to 4pm Eastern. Where: Washington, DC.

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.

Account Executive, VotingWorks– We are looking for a trusted sales leader who understands that election administrators don’t buy voting machines, they buy trust, both in the equipment and in the vendor. All 83 of Michigan’s counties will soon open at once, and we are in the running for the state RFP enabling us to sell our voting machines. Incumbents will have to re-earn their contracts, and we’ll be competing on equal footing for the first time. This opportunity is time bound. Trust matters deeply in this market. Your job is to build relationships and earn credibility quickly with state and local election officials. You will own the full Michigan territory. You’re responsible for the entire sales process: building pipeline, running demos, navigating procurement, and closing deals. We want sustainable sales contracts that are technically sound, politically supported, and set up for a clean handoff to Customer Success. For your first demos, you’ll be paired with our Executive Director and our Head of Customer Success to learn the messaging and the product. Once you take on demos on your own, you should still know when to bring in executive support and when to handle things yourself. This is a competitive market with a real window of opportunity. If you want to sell something that actually matters to Democracy, and you’re energized by moving fast when the timing is right, we’d like to meet you. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Assistant Executive Director, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners–This full-time exempt position reports directly to the Board’s Executive Director and is responsible for overseeing the Board’s daily administrative operations, including Human Resources, Finance, and Purchasing. Working closely with the Executive Director, the Assistant Executive Director will also oversee general office functions, including but not limited to the mailroom, the copy room, and receptionists. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Direct supervision of the human resources, finance and procurement functions of the Board. Assess Board policies and develop business strategies to ensure coordination across the various administrative functions in the Board’s downtown and warehouse offices. Monitor performance and provide feedback to senior administrative management, including teaching, supporting and modeling logistics in line with Board policies and procedures. Advise the Executive Director on matters impacting administrative operations. Participate in Board of Election Commissioners meetings, providing updates on current and long-term projects impacting the administration of the Board. Oversee Board financial matters, ensuring best practices for procurement, contracts, grants, and staffing. Direct supervision of ADA and Communication staff. Attend external meetings at the request of the Executive Director, including City/County budget hearings, civic events, intergovernmental matters, conferences, etc. Oversee the operation and selection of staffing of Election Central for Election Day support. Execute other duties as directed by the Executive Director. Salary: $144,000 – 154,000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Customer Support Center Consultant Level 1, Hart InterCivic– The Customer Support Center Consultant Level 1 (CSC 1) provides Tier 1–2 support for Hart InterCivic products, helping customers troubleshoot issues and keep election operations running smoothly. The CSC I’s primary responsibilities are to: Resolve and route customer issues via phone, email, and remote tools; Document cases in the CRM and communicate status through resolution; and Use product documentation to deliver clear, customer-friendly solutions. This role researches and resolves issues, supports hardware/software configuration and deployment, and provides training or on-site support as needed. It also documents processes and partners with other departments to improve service delivery. This position follows the Proprietary Information and Intellectual Property Agreement and is responsible for protecting company information, including when working off-site or outside normal hours. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Cybersecurity Assessor (Election Security), Apollo Information Systems: The Technical Assessor conducts in-depth technical and program-level cybersecurity assessments of client environments, identifying risk, measuring control maturity, and producing clear, actionable guidance that advances each client’s security posture. This is an experienced assessor role: the individual independently leads assessments end to end, evaluates complex environments against multiple frameworks, and is a trusted voice in front of both technical teams and executives. The assessor also helps mature Apollo’s assessment method. Salary: $80K – $120K. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Election Worker – Office Assistant (Extra Help, Seasonal), San Mateo County, California– The Elections Division is an exciting, fast-paced environment, especially as elections approach. This is an excellent opportunity to work with a group of dynamic, well-organized, and highly efficient individuals committed to the democratic process. The San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division is seeking full-time, seasonal Election Worker – Office Assistants to assist in the upcoming November 3, 2026, Statewide General Election. This is an excellent opportunity to be involved in the election process! We are currently seeking dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working individuals for temporary, full-time positions to be hired into one of the following areas: Ballot retrieval, vote by mail, voter registration/clerical support, voter helpdesk support, supplies, field techs/warehouse.  This is an extra-help, at-will assignment, paid on an hourly basis. Extra-help hours are dependent on the business needs of the department and therefore work hours may vary from week to week. Extra-help employees shall not exceed 1,040 hours of work per fiscal year. Some extra help positions are eligible for benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Extra-help employees are not guaranteed permanent status at the end of the assignment. Salary: $24.91/hour. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Elections Data and Analytics Manager, Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office – Responsible for statewide election data governance, voter registration data integrity, business intelligence, reporting, analytics, data integration, and performance measurement. This position serves as the Division’s subject matter expert on election data and ensures accuracy, security, compliance, and accessibility of election information. This position assists ballot review and approval, producing and analyzing election-related state and federal reports, maintaining and assisting in updating elections mobile app. Assist in planning and coordinating the computer functions and responsibilities for the Elections Division which includes, but is not limited to: data processing, integrating the statewide voter registration system with county voter registration systems, improve election reporting capabilities; analyzing and resolving technical software issues (25%) for the Division of Elections and 95 county election commission offices, which includes, but is not limited to cybersecurity practices, and performing other duties as assigned. Salary: Commensurate with experience and State of Tennessee benefits package. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

Elections Finance Administrator, King County, Washington: This is an amazing opportunity to be engaged in the election process! The Department of Elections is searching for energetic and resourceful professionals who like to “get stuff done”. The Elections Finance Administrator position in the Elections Department combines an exciting, fast paced environment with the opportunity to cultivate talents and apply a variety of skills. The ideal candidate will thrive in an innovative and fast-paced environment and will not hesitate to roll up both sleeves, work hard, have fun, and get the job done. We are seeking an Elections Finance Administrator to join a mission-driven team that supports essential department operations. The Elections Finance Administrator is a self-motivated administrative professional with strong judgment, accuracy, and a customer-focused approach. In this role, you will support a wide range of core administrative functions including accounts payable, purchasing, payroll, process improvement, and records management. Salary: $38.38 – $48.79 Hourly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

GIS Specialist, Palm Beach County, Florida– Help power accurate, well-run elections through smart mapping and rock-solid data. As a GIS Specialist II with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, you’ll own core geospatial datasets, turn complex information into clear maps and insights, and improve the workflows teams rely on to plan and execute election operations. Your work helps ensure precinct, polling place, and district data is accurate and easy to use—supporting operational readiness, transparency, and timely decision-making. You’ll maintain and enhance GIS databases, produce print and web-ready map products, perform quality control and spatial analysis, and keep GIS synchronized with the Voter Registration System. You’ll collaborate with both technical and non-technical teams, document standards and changes, and provide training and troubleshooting support. Salary: $72,800 to $87,000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here. 

IT Assistant Manager, Palm Beach County, Florida–The Assistant IT Manager plays a vital and supportive role in ensuring the smooth operation of the IT department, aligning both the technical infrastructure and the team with the organization’s goals. This position involves collaborating closely with the Election Technology Director to oversee the implementation of technology solutions that meet the organization’s needs. The Assistant IT Manager helps maintain an efficient and effective IT environment. The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office is committed to hiring talented individuals with diverse experiences that will enhance the services we provide to the residents of Palm Beach County. We are always looking for dedicated individuals who do all things with Integrity and Accountability, who excel in Customer Service, and believe in Transparent, Secure Democracy. At the Supervisor of Elections Office, we strive to help our employees find passion and purpose. Join us in being the best place to vote. Salary: $85000 to $125000. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.

Marketplace

electionline provides no guarantees as to the quality of the items and the accuracy of the information provided about the 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