News & Insights

ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson speaks with Law360 about the need for impartiality in ballot measure language.

Voters need to know that the election system protects them from rogue behavior. Even modest changes in law and practice could go a long way.

Though implications for the abortion ballot initiative in November have dominated news coverage of August’s Issue 1, the leadership failure atop the state’s election system should not be ignored. Ohio elections need neutral referees just as much as sports do.

In 33 states, the chief election official position is held by the secretary of state (or other state officer) who is elected in partisan elections and takes office with allegiance to a political party. No other democracy in the world selects its most senior election officials this way.

“A politicized, partisan secretary of state can completely distort public understanding of a ballot question through their control of the summary language,” says ERN Executive Director Kevin Johnson.

Across the nation, partisan gerrymandering divides our communities and dilutes the power of our vote so those in power can stay in power. But how do we know when gerrymandering has actually occurred?

After almost four hours of rigorous questioning, the Utah Supreme Court today seemed poised to protect Utahns from unlawful partisan gerrymandering and potentially restore the force of the Better Boundaries initiative that Utah voters approved in 2018.

New Mexico's highest court holds that Republican claims can proceed under legal standard proposed by U.S. Supreme Court's liberal justices

On June 27, 2023, the United States Supreme Court definitively rejected the outrageous theory that state legislatures should be unconstrained by state constitutions or can operate free from state court judicial review when regulating federal elections.

Election Reformers Network details simple steps for states to comply with new federal law before the 2024 election.