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Rep. Shay Waters Evans summarizes NCSL conference takeaways on electronic voting, funding and ranked-choice debate
Summary
Representative Shay Waters Evans told the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee that lessons from a National Conference of State Legislatures meeting suggest limited electronic-voting pilots can help military and overseas voters and some voters with disabilities, but that scaling such systems raises security concerns.
Representative Shay Waters Evans told the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee that lessons from a recent National Conference of State Legislatures meeting suggest limited electronic-voting pilots can help military and overseas voters and some voters with disabilities, but that scaling such systems raises security concerns.
Shay Waters Evans, a representative from Chittenden 5 (Charlotte and part of Hinesburg), said she attended a post-election NCSL conference in Salt Lake City with about 60 legislators and election officials. “It was super cool,” she said, and she urged colleagues to review materials from the conference and from the MIT Election Lab.
Why it matters: the committee oversees election-related statutes and military-affairs issues. The experiences and evidence lawmakers hear can shape proposals on voter access, technology, and funding for election offices.
At the conference, speakers and state election officials described pilot electronic-voting systems used in smaller populations, including in Utah and Alaska. “It’s not ready for prime time yet,” Shay Waters Evans said of expanding electronic voting beyond smaller, controlled groups, adding that while some jurisdictions have operated pilots with “little to no problem” so far, opening systems to larger electorates increases potential risk.
She said the Utah tour of the Davis County elections office underscored two features that boost voter confidence: transparent procedures and the opportunity for the public to observe parts of the process. “The number 1 thing that inspired people to feel confident in their elections and the integrity of them was being able to watch,” she said, describing a county elections room where windows let visitors view equipment and envelope-opening machines.
Shay Waters Evans also relayed recurring themes from a roundtable with secretaries of state: funding. “A lot of it came down to, finances and money and making sure that those offices are well funded,” she said, reporting that secretaries across states emphasized the need for adequate resources.
She said ranked-choice voting and voter ID requirements prompted strong, divided opinions among conference attendees and may resurface in future state-level debates. The representative recommended committee members consult research from the MIT Election Lab and a presentation by Charles Stewart; she said Stewart had offered to share his materials for possible posting on the committee’s website.
On election-day disturbances, Shay Waters Evans said polling-place disturbances most commonly involved someone holding a sign, and that incidents involving firearms were a small share of reported disturbances: “the percentage for either reported or the disturbance involving a firearm was only 2%,” she said.
The representative closed by offering to share conference materials and noting she currently has several bills in play at the legislature. She encouraged colleagues to attend similar conferences in future sessions.
