This blog post originally appeared on The Fulcrum’s Election Dissection. One of the most talked-about questions of this incredibly fraught election has been whether President Trump will concede if defeated by Vice President Joe Biden. Trump has fueled this concern through unsubstantiated accusations of election fraud...
This post originally appeared on foreignpolicy.com. With an incumbent president attacking the electoral process as rigged and refusing to commit to accepting the results, the Nov. 3 U.S. elections increasingly resemble those in struggling democracies and autocratic countries. I speak from experience, having led or managed some 40 election observation efforts in 22 countries over more than 30 years...
Fundamentally, ranked choice voting doesn’t preference either party; it preferences mainstream candidates of both parties over spoilers and fringe candidates. We need this change given the competitiveness of crowded primaries.
This post originally appeared on Medium. By Larry Garber and Thessalia Merivaki. With only a few weeks to go before the Nov. 3 election, Americans are being bombarded by stories in the news and on social media about election irregularities. On a daily basis, voters hear reports that registration applications have been addressed to deceased persons...
This blog post originally appeared on The Fulcrum. Last week, when President Trump complained about Attorney General William Barr's failure to bring charges against his political opponents, the Justice Department lifted restrictions on election-related federal prosecutions. Let's hope these developments do not presage a new kind of October surprise...
Elections experts, law professors, former President of National Association of Secretaries of State urge Congress to pass state vote counting deadline extension to avoid crisis...
This blog post originally appeared on The Fulcrum’s Election Dissection. John Adams issued a mantra amidst the American Revolution: “Ours is a country of laws not men.” In today’s time of turmoil, as President Trump questions the integrity of the upcoming election, the words of the second president should give us some solace. During the…
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 other key phases of an election, but secretaries of states’ decisions make a difference in tight races, and their words and actions significantly impact voter confidence...
Excerpt from "American Should Expect Election Chaos," by Senator Marco Rubio, published in Medium, August 6, 2020. "There are also steps we can take as elected officials. First, we must clearly signal to foreign adversaries that meddling in our elections will be met with a commensurately harsh response. Congress should immediately pass and President Trump should sign my bipartisan Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act...
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…