Northeast Florida, southeast Georgia voters head to polls next month for local elections
While the first primaries and caucuses in the 2024 presidential nominating cycle are still several months away, some northeast Florida and southeast Georgia voters will be heading to the polls for Election Day on Nov. 7.
Ohio's Issue 1 would have made protecting abortion rights harder. Data shows why it failed
Ohio voters have rejected a proposal that would've made it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution, including one measure set for the November ballot that would guarantee abortion rights in the state.
Ware County poll workers being shamed out of volunteering, supervisor of elections says
Ware County is one of the areas in Georgia affected by a poll worker shortage. The county is down about 30 poll workers, and the Supervisor of Elections believes it's because people are being shamed out of the position.
EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania
Counting of mailed ballots in Pennsylvania is drawing renewed scrutiny amid a too-close-to-call U.S. Senate primary between Republicans David McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Former President Donald Trump blasted the stateโs elections procedures on social media, even though there are no indications of any wrongdoing with those ballots other than a printing error that was slowing the tally in one county.
Results from elections in Brunswick, other local races in Georgia
The first Tuesday of November is traditionally Election Day and there are high-profile races like the Virginia governorโs race that are getting a lot of attention. In odd number years, many cities and some counties also fill their elective offices.
Report shows big spike in mail ballots during 2020 election
A new report shows fewer than one-third of voters who cast ballots in last yearโs U.S. presidential election did so at a polling place on Election Day as the coronavirus pandemic led states to greatly expand mail-in balloting and early voting.
EXPLAINER: Varying views on how to keep accurate voter rolls
Maintaining accurate voter rolls is a bipartisan concern, but there is little agreement on the best way to do it. Republicans say Democrats are too lax, resulting in bloated voter rolls that undermine confidence and invite fraud. Here is an explanation of how voter rolls are maintained, how states do it differently and the conflicts over this yearโs legislative proposals. WHAT ARE VOTER ROLLS AND HOW ARE THEY MAINTAINED? In 2016, New York Cityโs Board of Elections improperly removed more than 200,000 names from the voter rolls.
Suppression or security? Proposed voting changes cause uproar
AdThe proposed voting changes, which come after millions of voters in Florida and throughout the country opted to cast mail-in ballots amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are causing alarm for elections experts as well as Democrats. Election supervisors in Florida also encouraged the use of mail-in ballots in advance of the November election, and the numbers of mail-in ballots skyrocketed. The measure would require voters to request mail-in ballots prior to every general election. AdTrump has frequently voted by mail, but the former president and his allies have asserted that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to fraud. Ingoglia defended the provision in the Senate proposal that would require voters to sign up for mail-in ballots more frequently.
Florida senator wants to expand scholarships for Ocoee massacre descendants
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. โ A state senator is seeking to expand a scholarship program set up more than 25 years ago because of a massacre in Rosewood to include people whose families were directly affected by the racially motivated 1920 Ocoee Election Day riot in Central Florida. Black residents were killed in the riot, and others fled the community as homes, churches and a fraternal lodge were destroyed. โIโm not under the illusion that people will think this is not enough,โ Bracy said. Last year, Bracy led a successful effort to require public-school students learn about the Ocoee riot, similar to a requirement for teaching about the Holocaust. AdWhen he initially proposed the 2020 legislation, Bracy sought $150,000 per Ocoee victim, a funding level modeled, in part, on a 1994 decision by the Legislature to compensate African-American families because of the Rosewood Massacre.
AP VoteCast: Georgia votersโ view of countryโs outlook shifts after November
Trends and opinions among Georgia voters appear to be shifting since the November election, according to AP VoteCast, which surveys thousands of voters in the state before the presidential race and during the Senate runoffs. One question asked voters whether they believed the country was heading in the right direction. Looking at attitudes toward President Trump among voters choosing Republicans: In the November election, 89% of Perdueโs voters said they had a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the president, in the AP VoteCast survey. Compare that to the results of the AP VoteCast survey for the runoff: Among Perdue voters, views of the president remained similar, with 87% favorable to 12% unfavorable. But I would expect there will be a large chunk of voters who will step away after what they witnessed this week.โ
Biden win over Trump in Nevada made official by court
The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Biden's win in the state official on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, approving the final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)LAS VEGAS โ The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Bidenโs win in the state official on Tuesday, approving the state's final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. Biden got 50.06% of the vote and Trump 47.67%. Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican who has avoided the public eye in recent weeks, presented the results to the court. Jesse Binnall, an attorney for the Trump campaign who is handling an election challenge pending before a state court judge, said Tuesday he intends to prove that so many fraudulent votes were cast statewide that Trump won Nevada.
Transition or tropics? EPA chief looks at final trips abroad
After months of travel to battleground states before Election Day, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency now is looking at taxpayer-funded trips abroad, including the tropics, in the Trump administration's last weeks. Administrator Andrew Wheeler had been invited next month to Taiwan, a trip with an estimated cost of $45,000, EPA spokesman James Hewitt said Thursday. โAdministrator Wheeler remains head of the agency and will continue to advance environmental progress both here and abroad,โ Hewitt said. The New York Times, which first reported Wheelerโs travel plans, said Wheeler and other EPA officials were expected to travel by chartered flight to minimize exposure to the coronavirus. Hewitt, the EPA spokesman, did not immediately respond to a question asking whether Wheeler was doing any planning to help the agency transition from one administration to the next.
Native American votes helped secure Biden's win in Arizona
Native Americans were among the difference-makers who swung the race to Biden in Arizona. That show of force is now translating into leverage for Native Americans seeking more representation in top levels of the federal government. Native voters say they were motivated by many of the same things as other voters. She also was part of a group helping to boost voting among Native Americans. โPeople need to start paying attention to not only Navajo votes but across the board nationally, Native votes,โ Davis said.
Poll workers contract virus, but Election Day link unclear
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, poll workers assist a voter on Election Day at Frank McCourt High School, on New York's Upper West Side. Poll workers in some states who came in contact with voters on Election Day are now reporting they have tested positive for the coronavirus despite painstaking efforts to secure election sites. In most places, poll workers were required to wear masks. The cases emerged while election workers continued counting thousands of ballots. It's difficult to trace cases back to polling places because the virus manifests in different ways, and some people never get symptoms.
Post-election stress syndrome: Author shares steps to overcome divisive election cycle
โThereโs a way that we can rein all this in,โ said Dr. Lynda Ulrich. Her advice about breaking the grip of post-election stress syndrome deals with focusing on some positives. She said that happens after you acknowledge those political ads are like the rest of marketing. โAnd then it doesnโt really matter which side of the political equation youโre on. Ulrich explained her four shifts needed to end the election stress for you:
States cite smooth election, despite Trump's baseless claims
But the election was largely smooth, in large part because 107 million voters that cast their ballots early and took the pressure off Election Day operations. Election experts said the large increase in advance voting โ 107 million people voting early in person and by mail โ helped take pressure off Election Day operations. Among the many lawsuits filed since Election Day is one in Nevada by the Trump campaign alleging voter fraud. โOn Election Day, we didnโt have any reports of anything significant," said Lisa Schaefer, who leads the bipartisan County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. โThe system held up given the extraordinary circumstances that election officials faced,โ said Amber McReynolds, who leads the National Vote at Home Institute.
Trust Index: Are โillegalโ votes being counted?
As election officials in states across the country continue releasing vote totals for the presidential election, some claim that ballots counted after Election Day must be illegal. โIf you count the legal votes, I easily win,โ Trump said during a briefing at the White House on Thursday. CLAIM: Votes counted after Tuesday are illegal because they did not reach election offices by Election Day and the counting underway right now is not whatโs usually expected at this point during an election. THE FACTS: The Trust Index team at our sister station in Orlando verified that election laws in many states allow votes to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, even if they arrive later. After reviewing the facts, the Trust Index team has determined that votes being counted after Election Day are legal, as long as state laws are being followed.
Trust Index: Fact-checking President Trumpโs post-election claims
"I really believe thatโs why they did the mail-in ballots where thereโs tremendous corruption and fraud going on. Experts and officials predicted that the record number of mail ballots โ 65 million, double that of 2016 โ would inevitably result in delays. Thatโs because mail ballots take more time to process and verify than those cast in person. And in some states โ including Michigan and Pennsylvania โ itโs against the law to count those ballots before Election Day. After all, the president repeatedly and publicly undermined the legitimacy of mail ballots, making it less likely for his supporters to vote by mail.
EXPLAINER: What is a 'cured' ballot?
Here, Christina A. Cassidy, a reporter for The Associated Press who covers voting and election security, offers some insight into the post-election process for fixing ballots:UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES CAN A BALLOT BE CURED? In states that lack such a process, ballots with these problems are generally not counted. But a few states do not use signature verification to validate a mail ballot, including Pennsylvania. In a few states, if the problem is identified before Election Day, the voter is sent a replacement ballot. Partisan poll watchers can report concerns to party officials, who can raise objections and file lawsuits.
As Biden pulls ahead of Trump in Georgia, state says there will likely be a recount
ATLANTA โ Democrat Joe Biden took a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia early Friday morning. State officials couldnโt immediately provide the number of uncured absentee ballots. Provisional lists are kept at the county level, and there are thousands outstanding statewide that county officials will decide on whether to count by Friday. Donald Trump Jr. spoke Thursday evening at an event in Atlanta, along with several Georgia elected officials and decried the process. Meanwhile, outside the State Farm Arena where the final Georgia votes are being counted, we have a growing crowd.
The count goes on โ with Biden on the cusp of presidency
WASHINGTON โ Democrat Joe Biden stood on the cusp of winning the presidency Friday night, three days after Election Day, as the long, exacting work of counting votes widened his lead over President Donald Trump in critical battleground states. There was intense focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 27,000 votes, and Nevada, where the Democrat led by about 22,000. In Pennsylvania, officials were not allowed to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. In Nevada, there were a number of provisional ballots cast by voters who registered on Election Day, and officials had to verify their eligibility. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded.
Analysis: Trump's vote diatribe both shocking, unsurprising
And he had demanded in advance that the results be known on Election Day, which is never a given. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell waited until Friday morning to tweet that โEvery legal vote should be counted. All sides must get to observe the process.โWhether that dynamic will continue if fuller election results deliver the presidency to Biden is another key unanswered question. If the vote count goes against him, does he really want to be remembered as the president who burned down the building on his way out the door? ___EDITORโS NOTE -- Nancy Benac is White House news editor and has covered government and politics for The Associated Press for four decades.
False claims of Wisconsin voter fraud rely on wrong numbers
The image Eric Trump shared in his post claimed that there was a huge, inexplicable increase in voter turnout in Wisconsin this year. The image showed voter turnout percentages during presidential elections over the last 20 years in Wisconsin, with voter turnout hitting 89.25% this year. The Wisconsin Elections Commission calculates voter turnout based on the entire voting-age population, not just registered voters. But as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported 3,684,726 registered voters. The Wisconsin Elections Commission received โa lot of callsโ about the false rumors, said the state's top elections official Meagan Wolfe.