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46 St. & Loc. L. News 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/stlolane46 and id is 1 raw text is: AMRCABNASCITO Vol. 46, No.1, Winter 2023 LOCALLAWEI MW~d The Section serves as a collegialforum for its members, the profession, and the public to provide leadership and educational resources in urban, state, local, and tribal government law and policy. A Bird's Eye View of Elections in the United States Looking Ahead to the 2022 Elections Cycle and State and Local Election Administrators By Elizabeth M. Yang As we consider the task facing state and local elec- tion administrators preparing for the 2022 Midterm election cycle it is only natural to look back at recent elections and try to prognosticate about what will go right and what will go wrong. The meat and bones of election administration are done behind the scenes. Hours and hours of planning and detail-oriented work are in the spotlight on Election Day. We may see the faces of our poll work- ers on the day we vote, but they have been there every day, working to make our elections run smoothly and that every vote counts. Elections have almost always been one of the most underfunded processes of our government. Elections come and go, and state and local election officials, both employees and volunteers, toil in anonymity without much fanfare or notice. Since the 2016 and 2020 elections cycles, we are in Elizabeth M. Yang is president of WStrong LLC and previously worked with the American Bar Association for over 23 years. State & Local Law News, Volume 46, Number 1, Winter 2023 a different place. The process has become an everyday topic of conversation, and both election officials and the results of elections are coming under intense scrutiny. State and local election administrators are our unsung, frontline workers of democracy. We now see a disturbing trend to excoriate and threaten the physical safety of elec- tion administrators and their families. Such actions pose serious threats to the integrity of our electoral process. 'The Pew Charitable Trusts reports that election officials fear that misinformation and disinformation are becoming the new normal and that more transparency about the electoral process is necessary to combat these falsehoods.' Physical threats to election administrators and work- ers also are on the rise. In a March 2022 survey2 by the Brennan Center for Justice, 77% of election workers report an increase in threats, and one in six workers has person- ally experienced a threat implying that the recruitment and retention of election workers will be difficult going forward and impact the election process. All of this has a chilling effect on our democracy. As Chris Walker, an election official from Medford, Oregon, has said, [w]e are normal, everyday people. We've been charged with an extraordinary task. We have to continue to do our work. We've not let it control what we do here.3 Election workers like him are our boots on the ground, simply doing their jobs, to ensure that our republic remains vibrant and successful. The hallmark of our continued on page 11 - Chair's Message, page 3 - Section News -New Edition of the Urban Lawyer Now Available, page 2 -ABA Mid-Year Meeting, page 4 -On-Demand Webinar to Encourage Resilient Buildings, page 6 - ABA Section of State and Local Government Law Student Awards, page 7 - Firm Membership, page 10 A Bird's Eye View of the U.S. Elections, page 1 Highlights of Fall Networking Meeting, page 8 Free Download on Free Speech Law, page 12 1