
NEWS & COMMENTARY
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'Democracy will be on the ballot': Secretary of state races emerge as newest US political flashpoint
By Fredreka Schouten, August 11, 2021
Republicans and Democrats are gearing up for expensive battles to influence a crop of contests next year that often go unnoticed: secretary of state races...

Want Better Elections? Choose Better Elections Officials
By Ellen Kurz, June 16, 2020
Secretaries of state do more than count ballots and issue drivers’ licenses. They safeguard our democracy.

Increasing voter turnout will strike at the heart of the NRA
By Ellen Kurz, March 30, 2018
The most powerful person in Florida politics is not the governor. It’s not a U.S. senator or even the speaker of the state House. It’s Marion Hammer, the lobbyist for the NRA...

Democratic group will spend $5 million to elect secretaries of state, the latest front in ‘voting wars’
By David Weigel, January 25, 2018
For the 2018 elections, iVote commits to spend $5 million across swing states to help elect Democratic secretaries of state. Ellen Kurz, President and Founder, talks about why the 2018 elections are crucial...


Want Better Elections? Choose Better Elections Officials
By Ellen Kurz
The big news from Georgia’s primary election last Tuesday wasn’t who won and who lost. It was the galling meltdown at polling places in black communities across the state. New voting machines were missing or didn’t work. Voters waited hours in line to cast their ballots. Some understandably gave up.


Democratic group will spend $5 million to elect secretaries of state, the latest front in ‘voting wars’
By David Weigel
The left-leaning ballot access group iVote will spend at least $5 million across swing states to elect Democratic secretaries of state — the latest front in the “voting wars” that Democrats worried they have been losing.


Congress Must Defeat the Continued Insurrection Against American Democracy | Opinion
By Rep. Jim McGovern and Ellen Kurz
The Capitol insurrection isn't over. In Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country, the assault on American democracy that began on January 6 rages on.


Increasing voter turnout will strike at the heart of the NRA
By Ellen Kurz
The most powerful person in Florida politics is not the governor. It’s not a U.S. senator or even the speaker of the state House. It’s Marion Hammer, the lobbyist for the NRA.


THESE UNKNOWN OFFICIALS COULD HOLD THE BALANCE OF POWER IN 2020
By Daniel Malloy
When iVote gathered Democratic secretary of state candidates for a training in Boston in December, they heard from MIT computer science professor Ron Rivest on risk-limiting audits of vote totals and the importance of backing up machine votes with paper ballots. “Democrats can talk about that this is a real threat and not be in la-la land like [Republicans] are, talking about no threat from Russia — following the president’s example,” Kurz says.


Secretaries of State: Our democracy's new first responders
By Ellen Kurz
In recent weeks, our nation and our democracy were attacked by our own government. Donald Trump’s “voter integrity” commission demanded each state hand over the names, addresses, and social security numbers of millions of Americans citizens. Led by state secretaries of State, more than 40 states said “no” in whole or part to Trump’s effort.


Behind Katie Hobbs' win: How Democrats flipped Arizona's 2nd-highest office
By Dustin Gardiner
Most of the money that the Arizona Democratic Party spent on Hobbs' behalf, about $3.2 million, came from iVote Fund. ... 'In the general election, Democrats outspent our campaign two-to-one on television,' said Brian Seitchik, Gaynor's campaign consultant. 'In a Democrat-friendly year, [Hobbs's] spending advantage was the difference.


Opinion: Registration is a voter-suppression tool. Let’s finally end it.
By Ellen Kurz
The midterm elections are less than 30 days away, but if you missed the deadline to register to vote in your state — many of which already passed this week — you’re out of luck.

'Democracy will be on the ballot': Secretary of state races emerge as newest US political flashpoint
By Fredreka Schouten
One Democratic group focused on these races, iVote, has raised $3 million and hopes to collect a total of $15 million to shape contests in several key battleground states, said Ellen Kurz, the group's president. Its top targets: Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Minnesota, all of which backed President Joe Biden in 2020.
