Capacity & Local Elections Administration: Voting in the Era of COVID-19

Professor Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center (EVIC) at Reed College, quipped in the New York Times:

“Everyone’s focusing on the rate of voting by mail, which is going to easily double what it was in 2016 — somewhere north of 80 million ballots…But people aren’t paying attention to what might happen if there’s a spike in the pandemic or a shortage of poll workers and there’s a last-minute reduction in in-person voting.”

Gronke’s comments on the nationwide conversation on voting amidst the COVID-19 pandemic pivots our thinking towards issues of capacity. Should Local Election Officials become unable to work due to COVID-19, already stressed election districts could experience unprecedented difficulty conducting the election.

Imaginative solutions backed by a flock of volunteers will be necessary to ensure a safe and successful election this November.

Read the full story here.

Mapping out the Challenges for Implementing Vote by Mail

A new piece in Belt Magazine maps out challenges facing the national call for expanding vote by mail. EVIC’s Director, Dr. Gronke notes the transition is a challenge akin to moving from “Walmart to Amazon” in short period of time. Along with other election administration scholars, this piece surveys the questions election administrators face. Read more here: “Democracy by Mail.”

Older voters dominate early voting in Erie County, NY

I’m following news coverage of the first election with early voting in New York State. I’ve been studying early voting for over fifteen years, and have dealt with a lot of journalists over time. It’s a learning experience for journalists new to the early voting “beat.”

One pattern that we see in almost every state is that older voters gravitate toward early voting (though this pattern typically changes as the system matures, as voters and campaigns adapt to early voting).

But otherwise, these first patterns are always fascinating. The linked story is from Erie County, NY does a nice job unpacking why elderly voters are so heavily represented among the early vote.

First, it looks like most early voting centers were places in senior citizen homes and community centers. And voter response is predictably high among those who frequent these locations.

Second, it’s a low profile election, and these are typically dominated by frequent voters, and elderly voters are far more likely to be frequent voters.

Good job, Buffalo NPR, WBFO!

Important new Brennan Center report on AVR

Hot off the presses! https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/avr-impact-state-voter-registration

 

“No Stamp, No Problem” is the mantra in California. How will this change patterns of ballot return.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has a new mantra for California voters: “no stamp, no problem.”

That’s great for equity and voter access, but it will be fascinating to see how this changes voter behavior. In California, voters may choose to return ballots to a local precinct place or the county office, in addition to using the mail. How many will continue to use these options when postage is provided? It will be interesting to see how many do so in the next few election cycles, and how this alters ballot processing across the state.