Originally published on the PBS NewsHour website. In some states, Secretaries of State also perform non-election roles. They can oversee business licenses, or, as in Arizona, be first-in-line successors to the governorship. The Texas secretary of state publishes the governments rules and regulations, authorizes people as notaries public and acts as a senior advisor on border issues and...
Former White House Counsel and Law Professor Larry Schwartztol cited ERN research in his opinion piece on impartial elections for The Atlantic. The article explains that nonpartisan, professionalized election administration is the norm in many other democracies; the American system of allowing partisan politicians to run elections is an outlier.
This op-ed by ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson originally appeared in GOVERNING. It may be hard to remember now, but Jan. 6, 2021, wasnt the first time the 2020 presidential election nearly went off the rails. Several swing states had already seen organized efforts to seriously challenge results, nowhere more dangerously than in Michigan, where party...
Originally published in multiple outlets by VERIFY, a project of TEGNA. The state's right to run their own elections was granted under the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to the National Constitution Center, the Elections Clause gives each level of state and local government the authority to enact a complete code for elections, including rules...
Originally published in multiple outlets by States Newsroom. Some election denier candidates running this year have close ties to extremist groups. Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem in Arizona has spoken at a QAnon convention and has appeared on a QAnon-supported podcast. Jim Marchant, the GOP candidate for secretary of state in Nevada, also attended the QAnon convention.
Originally published by The Associated Press. In Arizona, with Hobbs now running for governor, Democrat Adrian Fontes has reported raising more than $2.4 million so far for the election to replace her as secretary of state. Records show his Republican opponent, state Rep. Mark Finchem, has raised more than $1.8 million. The Arizona tally doesn't...
This op-ed by ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson originally appeared in The Fulcrum. The threat could hardly be clearer: Some candidates for secretary of state deny the verified outcome of the 2020 election, raising serious questions about whether they'll reject results and the rule of law if they gain office. In response, political opponents...
Originally published in Election Law Blog. It's no secret that trust in U.S. elections is worryingly low. But a new survey points the way towards a promising area for bipartisan reforms to shore up confidence in our elections: impartial election administration. The nationwide poll of 1,498 likely voters commissioned by Election Reformers Network (ERN) and released last week delves more deeply into how voters think elections should be run...
Originally published by The Associated Press. Partisan officials are involved in certifying elections, something experts worry about after nearly two years of conspiracy theories falsely claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Republican former President Donald Trump. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulated voting machines, and reviews in battleground states confirmed Democrat Joe Biden's win. In 45 states, the local boards that handle...
Originally published by the Northwest News Network. A poll released Tuesday by a small nonprofit the Election Reformers Network found that a wide majority of Americans want election administrators to be free from close party ties. In the online survey of 1,498 likely voters, over two-thirds of respondents (including 66% of Democrats, 69%...