County Election Administration Federal Advocacy Toolkit
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Since 2020, local election administration in the United States has increasingly drawn the attention of national media organizations and state and federal lawmakers.
Elections in the United States are administered in a highly decentralized process through which each state shapes its own election laws. These state laws, in turn, shape the roles counties play in the months and weeks leading up to Election Day.
The federal government also plays a role through the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which serves as the federal clearinghouse for election related technical assistance and makes grants when funding is available to aid states and local governments. Still, the majority of election responsibilities are concentrated at the state and local level.
The intergovernmental partnership is crucial to the integrity of elections, but it requires a delicate balance where one level of government does not overwhelm the others and recognizes the important role counties play in administering a secure and accurate election. The county role in election administration is vital to the democratic process and should be recognized as such.
These early months of this election year are a key time for county leaders to set the stage for this election cycle and communicate to our federal partners that counties administer safe, secure and accurate elections.
In the years following the 2020 presidential election a significantly higher volume of election bills were introduced in both the U.S. Congress and state legislatures across the country as compared to historic levels. As such, it is also a great time for county leaders to advocate for county election priorities to strengthen local election administration at the federal level.
With a split Congress and the slim majorities held by both Democrats in the U.S. Senate and Republicans in the U.S. House, bipartisan compromise will continue to be necessary to advance county election priorities in the 118th Congress.
Resource
The County Role in Elections: How Counties Administer Secure and Accurate Elections
Staffing, funding elections remains a challenge
The rising costs of running elections may make it hard to fund additional safeguards for poll workers, who have faced harassment in some counties.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission expands use of election security funds to include countering AI-generated disinformation
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has expanded eligible uses of Help America Vote Act-authorized election security grant funds to including activities related to combatting election disinformation generated by Artificial Intelligence.
County Countdown – Feb. 20, 2024
Every other week, NACo’s County Countdown reviews top federal policy advocacy items with an eye towards counties and the intergovernmental partnership.
Ten counties to test signature verification for vote-by-mail in North Carolina primary
Ten North Carolina counties are testing out signature verification for absentee ballots cast during the March primary that, if implemented statewide, would make North Carolina the strictest voting-by-mail process in the country.
Federal policy can strengthen election worker safety
There’s a general sense of anxiety about what this year could bring and how typically mundane aspects of election administration could be distorted and misconstrued online.