Election Technology

Interactive: A state-by-state look at voter ID laws for 2012 elections

BY: - November 4, 2011

When Mississippi decides on Initiative 27 next week, voters will determine whether or not they’ll have to show photo identification the next time they go to the polls. The election on Nov. 8 will be the final act of what has been a dramatic year for voter ID laws. According to the National Conference of […]

Election Day Mostly Smooth

BY: - November 6, 2008

Six years after being ordered to overhaul their voting systems, states showed they were largely prepared for 2008’s historic election and near-record voter turnout. “I was pretty proud. The story today around the country – unlike in 2000 or in some cases 2004 and 2006 – was not about the election administration, it was about […]

Report: Voting Glitches Could Disrupt Election

BY: - October 21, 2008

In two weeks, the American voting system will be stressed as never before with record voter registration and expected large turnouts. But the greatest pressure will fall on 11 battleground states whose stars are aligned for an election debacle: tight races coupled with radical changes in their voting systems, according to electionline.org , a nonpartisan […]

States Warned to Prep for Election Glitches

BY: - October 17, 2008

Eight years after voting irregularities marred the 2000 presidential election, most states still are not as prepared as they should be for Election Day glitches, from machine breakdowns to a shortage of emergency ballots, according to a new report by voter advocacy groups. The states least-prepared to handle problems that could crop up at polling […]

New Report Faults State Election Websites

BY: - October 16, 2008

Iowa got the highest marks and New Hampshire the lowest in a new 50-state analysis of state election Web sites that finds most of them fail to provide the kind of easily accessible information voters need, such as where and when to vote and what will be on the ballot. “Voters are turning to the […]

States Target Political Robo-calls

BY: - May 22, 2008

As Shaun Dakin phoned a list of Cleveland voters while campaigning for John Kerry in 2004, he wondered whether he was doing more harm than good for his candidate when the voices on the other end became angrier and more aggressive with each call. A volunteer for state and national campaigns since 1988, Dakin learned […]

Will States Fix 2012 Primary Process?

BY: - May 6, 2008

CAMBRIDGE , Mass. – What if the presidential primary worked more like a lottery with all the states having a chance at the ultimate prize of voting first in the nominating schedule, ending the coveted tradition of New Hampshire and Iowa leading the pack?    That’s a simplified version of one of several ideas being […]

Punch Cards Out, Paper Trails In

BY: - March 27, 2006

Glitches in new voting machines in Illinois’ primary elections last week may foreshadow snafus in several states this year, as more than 30.6 million voters are expected to encounter new equipment when they go to the polls. “History show that it’s the first election with new equipment when jurisdictions are most likely to experience problems,” […]

Election Day Dawns Weeks Early in 30 States

BY: - September 30, 2004

An unprecedented shift that makes it easier for voters in 30 states to cast their ballots early means that the first votes of the 2004 election will be in the ballot box before the first barbs of the presidential debate are even exchanged. Gone are the days of citizens across the country converging on polling […]

Three States to Let Overseas Soldiers Vote by E-mail

BY: - September 23, 2004

For the first time, members of the U.S. armed forces stationed in Iraq or other international hot spots can use e-mail to vote in the Nov. 2 election if their legal residence is Missouri, North Dakota or Utah. Those three states are pioneers in trying to make it easier for U.S. troops based overseas to […]

Integrity of Electronic Voting Questioned

BY: - May 3, 2004

State and federal lawmakers are expressing doubts that new ATM-like electronic voting machines – once seen as a cure to problem-plagued punch-card ballots – can be trusted to accurately count the votes of 50 million Americans poised to use the touch-screen devices in November. With just six months to Election Day, lawmakers are heeding the […]

California Mulls A Punch-Card Free Future

BY: - October 3, 2001

The Golden State will become the fourth in the country to outlaw punch cards, following the lead of Maryland, Florida and Georgia. It could also face the most complicated and costly upgrade as it looks to move its punch card machines from polling places to scrap heaps by 2006. California Secretary of State Bill Jones […]