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Election Rules & Integrity blog
Four Elections That Tested the Electoral College, From 1800 to 1888A dated tour of four hard cases, a tie, a House decision, a disputed count and a popular-vote loser, and what each one changed.Yard signs, mailers and disclaimers, the rules of the road answeredCan the town make you take the sign down? Who has to say "paid for by"? Eleven plain answers on yard signs, mailers and the law, with the cases that back them.How to read your ballot before you get to the voting boothWalk through your ballot from sample copy to casting it: nonpartisan races, judges, special districts, ballot measures, undervotes and provisional ballots.Ballot access explained, petitions, fees and the deadlines that kill campaignsGood candidates are knocked off the ballot by signature rules and missed deadlines, not by voters. Here is how ballot access works and where to check the rules.Citizenship, Equal Protection and the Ballot in the 14th and 15th AmendmentsA clause-by-clause reading of the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Republican Congress that wrote them, and how the Slaughter-House Cases bent their meaning.Why the National Popular Vote Compact Deserves a Hard No From ConservativesThe compact sounds like simple fairness. Here is its best case, then five reasons conservatives should still say no to it.The 1890 Lodge Force Bill and the Elections Law Republicans Could Not PassCongress has power over federal elections, and in 1890 Republicans tried to use it to protect voters. Here is how the Lodge bill died and what followed.How Ulysses Grant used a brand-new Justice Department against the KlanGrant built the first sustained federal campaign against terror aimed at Black voters, and later courts cut it back. Here is the story in order.How the Electoral College Works, From Election Day to the Joint SessionA dated walk through the calendar the Constitution and Congress set for choosing a President, and why knowing it removes most of the confusion.Serving as an election judge, the questions people ask before signing upFourteen plain answers on applying, training, pay, hours, check-in, provisional ballots and what to do when something looks wrong.Lawful poll watching, what you may see, what you may say, what to reportA poll watcher is a smoke detector, not the fire department. How to get credentialed, where to stand, what to log and who to call.Hayes, Tilden and the Compromise of 1877 That Ended ReconstructionThe closest finish of the 1800s was settled by a commission, a bargain and a troop withdrawal, and it shows why rules set beforehand beat rules made up after.