This op-ed originally appeared in GOVERNING. Election specialists and national security experts have been gaming out scenarios for this November, assessing how candidates, supporters and media will respond if voting results are delayed or disputed. The 40 secretaries of state who are chief election officials also play important roles in these scenarios. Local-level officials handle ballot-counting and…
Originally published in The Washington Post | July 10, 2020 Across the country, election officials are living with a palpable sense of dread. Their worry is less about who will win or lose on Election Day than about how our vast, diverse system of voting will function amid a pandemic. Evidence from some primaries this…
Originally published in The Fulcrum | July 10, 2020 The Supreme Court has disarmed one time bomb ticking away in our presidential election system — the risk of “faithless” electors throwing an election to an undeserving candidate. Other critical problems remain, which the decision can play a part in helping us address. The court’s conclusion…
July 5, 2020 Election Reformers Network (ERN) joins with democracy activists and organizations around the world in mourning the death of Lorne Craner. Mr. Craner served as foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain, longtime president of the International Republican Institute, and Assistant Secretary of State. As a tireless advocate for democracy, Mr. Craner worked…
Description: Election Reformers Network’s Kevin Johnson leads Project 18 Vote’s Patricia Keefer, Jay Berman, fmr. Chief of Staff for Senator Birch Bayh, American Promise co-founder Jeff Clements, and CEO of Bridge USA, Manu Meel in a discussion about the history of the 18-year-old vote and what we can learn from the 26th Amendment, which was…
June 22, 2020 The Election Reformers Network (ERN) stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement and disadvantaged populations in the United States and around the world. Banishing racism concerns all of us because the conditions that allow for its systemic exercise are deeply rooted in the political, social, and economic fabrics of all…
We join this letter from profound love of our country, and from personal experience with what freedom and democracy in the United States symbolize for people around the world. In working to strengthen democracy and human rights overseas, we have seen nations overcome monumental crises in pursuit of freedom. So often these heroic acts have…
For Immediate Release Contact: Kevin Johnson 617 794 4383 kjohnson@electionreformers.org electionreformers.org Bipartisan Group of International Democracy Experts Calls on U.S. Leaders to Respond to Crisis by Reaffirming Commitment to Fair & Inclusive Elections Washington, DC; April 30, 2020. Fifty leading members of the international democracy promotion community released an open letter today urging political leaders…
Published in The Fulcrum, April 14, 2020 Regrettably, the bipartisan cooperation that enabled last month’s $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package fell short when it came to addressing concerns about coronavirus and elections. Congress did allocate $400 million for state election preparation, but proposals to require more voting by mail and early in-person voting met with…
Originally Published: US News & World Report | April 7, 2020 IT MAY BE A SIGN OF things to come: Wisconsin voters went to the polls Tuesday in what could be a pivotal race for the Democratic presidential nomination and during a time of national crisis. And they won’t know who won for almost a week….
