Counties Ready for 2024: A Summit on Election Administration

On September 10, the U.S Census Bureau published a proposed rule to the 2030 Decennial Census that would create two new parts of the 15 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that among other changes would a) define “usual residence” that excludes foreign persons previously counted that are not U.S. citizens or lawful residents, and b) would eliminate any questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire used to enumerate the population. The proposed ruling outlines only 30 days for public comments, which are due on October 13.  

The USPS released its final rule imposing new requirements on how state and local governments must administer mail-in voting, including new ballot envelope requirements and the creation of a national portal of mail-in voter data.

The U.S. Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend government funding through December 11 and delay the OMB proposed rule on Unform Guidance that governs how every federal grant can be administered.

The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision to allow the Trump administration to move forward with its Executive Order 14399 directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to compile official U.S. citizenship lists to be used in voter citizenship verification and the U.S. Postal Service to impose new mail-in ballot restrictions.

The Senate Appropriations Committee releases CR language to fund the government until December 11 and delay the OMB proposed rule on Uniform Guidance that governs how every federal grant can be administered, a major win for counties.

Federal grant programs represent significant funding opportunities for counties, but technical jargon and limited staff capacity make them especially hard for small and rural counties to access.