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CSG Capitol Ideas Magazine2020 ISSUE 4 Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th AmendmentIn this Issue:WOMEN IN OFFICE EMBRACE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 19TH HISTORY’S VOTING MILESTONES THE REALITY OF BALLOT DUPLICATION BUILDING BI-PARTISAN ELECTION CONFIDENCE <Inside Front Cover>Thank You!CSG Leadership CircleAlexionAlkermesCVS HealthEsriHCA HealthcareIntuitMylanNovo NordiskPhRMASunovionVerizonTo learn more about the CSG Associates Program and Leadership Circle, please contact: Maggie Mick, chief advancement officer | p. 859.244.8113 | e.Page 1CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF THE 19TH AMENDMENTISSUE 4/2020ON THE COVERThe recreation of a U.S. postage stamp from 1998 that celebrates the 19th Amendment and women's right to vote.6 THE HISTORY OF THE 19TH After nearly a century of protests for women’s suffrage, the 19thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution resulted in voting rights for some, but not all. Led by trailblazers including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and more, ratification began the fight for voting rights for all. 10 VOTING MILESTONES While the 19th Amendment granted voting rights to many women, citizensacross the country — both male and female and from many different races — were still denied access to cast their ballots. Learn more about historic milestones in voting rights that followed the 19th.14 IN THEIR WORDS In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, 19 glass ceiling-shattering women serving in state legislatures across the country share their experiences, their memories and the significance of casting ballots in 2020 and beyond.26 BALLOT DUPLICATION EXPLAINED The process of transcribing unreadable ballots can seem mysteriousor even nefarious to those not involved in the day-to-day intricacies of state and local election administration. In a year that is paving the way for the future of mail-in voting, learn more about the security of this process.STAY CONNECTED Twitter: @CSGovtsFacebook: CSGovtsYouTube: CSGovtsLinkedIn: company/council-of-state-governmentsPage 2HONORING THE 19TH AMENDMENT / ISSUE 4 / 20204 WHAT’S HAPPENING AT CSG 5 THEY TWEETED IT 32 REGIONAL ROUNDUP | east 33 REGIONAL ROUNDUP | midwest 34 REGIONAL ROUNDUP | south 35 REGIONAL ROUNDUP | west 6 — The History of the 19th Amendment The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution resulted in voting rights for some, but not all. Led by trailblazers including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and more, this began the fight for voting rights for all. 10 — Voting Milestones After the 19th While the 19th Amendment granted voting rights to many women, citizens across the country — both male and female and from many different races — were still denied access to cast their ballots. Learn more about historic milestones in voting rights that followed the 19th. 14 — Votes for Women: Legislators Share Their Stories In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, 19 glass ceiling-shattering women serving in state legislatures across the country share their experiences, their memories and the significance of casting ballots in 2020 and beyond. 26 — Explaining Ballot Duplication Processes The process of transcribing unreadable ballots can seem mysterious or even nefarious to those not involved in the day-to-day intricacies of state and local election administration. In a year that is paving the way for the future of mail in voting, learn more about the security of this process. 30 — Casting Your Vote with Confidence As Election Day approached, COVID-19 sharpened focus on those who fill another essential role — poll workers. Learn more about how poll worker shortage is addressed and how election officials are building assurance in voting processes across the country. 36 — Final Facts: Female Firsts In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, check out some of the most important female firsts throughout history. Page 3Publisher DAVID ADKINS dadkins@ Editor-in-Chief KELLEY ARNOLD karnold@ Managing Editor BLAIR HESS bhess@ Associate Editor JOEL SAMS jsams@ Digital Editor NAVJI DIXON ndixon@ Graphic Designers THERESA CARROLL tcarroll@ STEPHANIE NORTHERN snorthern@ JESSICA RUSHER jrusher@ Emailcapitolideas@ Contributing Writers CASANDRA HOCKEBERRY Senior Policy Analyst chockenberry@ ERICA MILLER CSG West Programs & Communications Manager emiller@ ROGER MOORE CSG South/SLC Policy Analyst rmoore@ MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON Membership Assistant mrobertson@ MICHELLE SHAFER Senior Research Advisor and Elections Technology/Consultant, Overseas Voting Initiative mshafer@ RACHEL WRIGHT Research Associate rwright@ CAPITOL IDEAS, ISSN 2152-8489, ISSUE 4, Vol. 67, No. 1 – Published by The Council of State Governments, 1776 Avenue of the States, Lexington, KY 40511-8536. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Council of State Governments nor the views of the editorial staff. Readers’ comments are welcome. Subscription rates: in the U.S., $42 per year. Single issues are available at $7 per copy. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Capitol Ideas, Sales Department, The Council of State Governments, 1776 Avenue of the States, Lexington, KY 40511-8536. Periodicals postage paid at Lexington, Ky., and additional mailing offices. Mailing lists are available for rent upon approval of a sample mailing. Contact the sales department at (800) 800-1910. Copyright 2020 by The Council of State Governments. An accessible version of this publication is available upon request. Please email capitolideas@. Gov. Laura Kelly KANSASCSG National PresidentRep. Joan Ballweg WISCONSIN CSG National ChairSen. Sharon Carson NEW HAMPSHIRE CSG East Co-ChairRep. Lucy McVitty Weber NEW HAMPSHIRE CSG East Co-ChairSen. Ken Horn MICHIGANCSG Midwest ChairSpeaker Cameron Sexton TENNESSEECSG South ChairSen. Michael Von Flatern WYOMINGCSG West ChairDavid Adkins CSG EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO dadkins@ Wendell M. Hannaford CSG EAST DIRECTOR whannaford@ Michael H. McCabe CSG MIDWEST DIRECTOR mmccabe@ Colleen Cousineau CSG SOUTH DIRECTOR fitzgerald@Edgar Ruiz CSG WEST DIRECTOR eruiz@<HEADLINE> What’s Happening at CSG 1 — CSG National Task ForcesFinalize RecommendationsTwo national task forces established by The Council ofState Governments (CSG) in 2018 will release their findingsin December. The CSG Future of Work National TaskForce, chaired by Kansas state Sen. Carolyn McGinn andColorado state Sen. Nancy Todd, and the CSG HealthyStates National Task Force, chaired by Delaware state Sen.Bryan Townsend and Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson, metvirtually over the summer for the final time to concludediscussions and begin to finalize the findings of the eightsubcommittees — four on each task force. The task forces’recommendations to the states will be published in tworeports and distributed at the end of 2020. To learn moreabout national task forces, visit .2 – Legislative Leaders Attend VirtualMedicaid Policy AcademyCSG convened its Medicaid Leadership Academy for statelegislators who serve in leadership positions on health-relatedcommittees virtually on Sept. 23-25. The program,designed for legislators who are familiar with the basics ofMedicaid policy and are interested in examining more complexissues, featured expert speakers on the topics of theimpact of COVID-19 on state Medicaid programs, flexibilitywith 1115 waivers, the race for a COVID-19 vaccine and theemerging issue of maternal health. More than 40 attendeesinteracted with peers from around the country as well aspresenters from state Medicaid programs, federal agencies,public policy think tanks and health care provider communities.To learn more about CSG virtual programming, visit web.forum.3 — Save the Date for theCSG National ConferenceReimaginedAs a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, TheCouncil of State Governments (CSG) cancelled itsin-person national conference in 2020. In its place,CSG will host daily virtual programming from Monday,Oct. 26 through Friday, Dec. 18. Special onlinesessions will include topics on Medicaid, the impactof federal elections on state government and youthwith disabilities transitioning to the workplace, aswell as policy academies on sustainability and cybersecurity.Visit our national conference website for afull agenda and links to register: web.2020.4 — New Resources Help PolicymakersCreate Successful Programs forYouth with DisabilitiesThe Council of State Governments launched several onlineresources for The Center for Advancing Policy on Employmentfor Youth (CAPE-Youth), a program in partnership withthe K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on EmploymentDisability at Cornell University and the Transitions to AdultCenter for Research at the University of Massachusetts MedicalCenter. This center works to improve employmentoutcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities byhelping states build capacity in state youth service deliveryand workforce systems. These new online resources, includingits Guideposts for Success, provide legislators, policymakersand administrators with practical outlines and solutionsto ensure access and opportunity for young peoplewith disabilities who are transitioning from school toemployment. To access these resources, visit .5 — Fail-Safe Task Force IssuesRecommendations for CountingVotes from Overseas U.S. CitizensAs cases of COVID-19 continued to climb across thecountry, states had to find alternative ways for voters tocast ballots in elections throughout the year. There weremore than 3 million Americans living abroad in 2016, andonly about 7% of them voted in the federal election. In aneffort to help eliminate barriers to voting, the CSG OverseasVoting Initiative assembled a working group in 2020 toaddress increasing global mail disruptions and the impactthese would have on American citizens living and workingabroad as they cast ballots in November. Comprised of 27state and local election officials from across the nation, thisworking group compiled a list of available options forstates to examine as a fail-safe for overseas voters in orderto help prevent potential disenfranchisement. View therecommendations at ovi.failsaferecommendations.Page 5<HEADLINE>THEY TWEETED ITRep. Dan Miller@RepDanMillerAug 13"Talking state policy to improve hiring people with disabilities with @CSGovts right now! #ADA30Rep. Brigid Kelly@brigidekellyJun 25@CSGovts does great work bringing legislators from across the country (and the political spectrum)together to talk about finding policy suggestions and solutions that can work for everyone.BRANDON REED @BrandonReed4KYJuly 29In Celebrating 30 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I'm humbled 2 be selected by the @CSGovts 30 Leaders Impacting Disability Policy. Opening the door 4 Access and Independence is crucial. Facilitation & Building Relationships is the Key! @KYHouseGOP #ADA30 Speaker Pat Grassley @PatGrassley Jun 19 Honored to be profiled in last month's edition of @CSGovts Stateline Midwest, talking about the Legislature, COVID-19, and Iowa's road to economic recovery. Rep. Jason Dunnington @jdunnington Sept 22 Fun to see my friend and @AspenInstitute Rodel Fellow classmate @cyrushabib on the cover of this last month’s edition of @CSGovts Capitol Ideas publication. He is an incredible public servant! Sen. Matt Hansen @MattHansenNE Jun 23 Thanks to the staff of @CSGovts for a great virtual meeting! I'm glad to be a part of the #CSGFutureOfWork taskforce. Senator Bo Watson @SenBoWatson Aug 27Honored to Co-Chair this National Task Force @CSGovts with my friend, @BryanTownsendDE, @tnsenate @TNGOP @hcgoptn @ecfite @TNDeptofHealth Page 6<HEADLINE> A Revolution<SUBHEAD> Nearly a century of protest for suffrage results in voting rights for some, but not all, womenby Blair Hess“The true republic: men, their rights, and nothing more; women, theirrights, and nothing less.”Susan B. Anthony’s suffrage paper, The Revolution, proudly displayedthese words across its masthead in 1868, 52 years before — some, butnot all — women would gain the right to vote in the U.S. On Nov. 5, 1872,Anthony and her three sisters managed to vote in Rochester, New York,alongside about 15 other women. Two weeks later, she was arrested by afederal officer for doing so.By that point, women had been campaigning to get the vote for decades,rallying to improve women’s rights within marriage and calling foruniversal suffrage. In 1848, the movement for women’s rights launchedon a national level with the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, NewYork, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Followingthe convention, the demand for the vote became a centerpiece of thewomen’s rights movement.By the 1870s, women pressured Congress to vote on an amendment— sometimes known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, and laterofficially the 19th Amendment — that would recognize their suffragerights. When progress on the federal amendment stalled, the statesbegan ratifying state suffrage.Wisconsin was the first state to vote in favor of ratifying the 19th Amendment,something Wisconsin state Rep. Joan Ballweg is proud of.“When I was young, my mother always took me along when she went tovote,” said Ballweg, who is serving as national chair of CSG through 2021.“She would point out which levers I should pull.”After nearly a century of protest, the 19th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution granted American women the right to vote on Aug. 18,1920. And while not all women were granted the right to vote with thisamendment, it did open doors to future legislation that would impactwomen — daughters like Ballweg pulling levers in voting booths fortheir mothers — for another century to come.<SUBHEAD> Women’s SuffrageIn America’s early years, women were denied many rights enjoyed bymale citizens. In addition to not being permitted to vote, women couldnot own property and didn’t have legal claim to any money they earned.The campaign for women’s suffrage began in small numbers decadesbefore the Civil War and launched on the national stage in 1848 when reformersStanton and Mott organized the first women’s rights conventionin Seneca Falls to an audience of more than 300 women and men.Stanton and other delegates drafted a “Declaration of Sentiments” document,which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence andoutlined the belief that men and women were created equal and womenshould have the right to vote."We hold these truths to be self-evident:that all men and women are created equal;that they are endowed by their Creator withcertain inalienable rights; that among theseare life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”— From The Declaration of Sentiments, drafted by a groupof delegates led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton modeled afterthe U.S. Declaration of Independence<SUBHEAD> Facing SetbacksWhen the Civil War began in 1861, the suffrage movement lost someof its momentum and many women shifted their focus to helping theircountry through the conflict.At the conclusion of the war, the country passed the 15th Amendmentgranting — on paper — the right to vote to black men. Stanton andsome other suffrage leaders objected to this amendment because itfailed to extend voting rights to American women of any skin color. Butthe passage of this amendment made Stanton — joined by Anthony toform the National Woman Suffrage Association — to set her sights ona federal constitutional amendment that would grant women the rightto vote.<SUBHEAD> Progress in the StatesThere was a victory for voting rights in 1869 when the Wyoming Territorygranted all female residents 21 and older the right to vote. This victoryhelped steer the suffrage movement toward the states after the constitutionalamendment proposal was defeated in the U.S. Senate in 1886.The National American Women’s Suffrage Association lobbied for women’svoting rights in the states, and within six years, Colorado, Utah and Idaho adopted amendments — versions similar but not identical to the19th Amendment — to their state constitutions granting women theright to vote. Between 1910 and 1918, the Alaska Territory, Arizona, Arkansas,California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska,Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota andWashington all extended voting rights to women.<SUBHEAD> (Some) Women Get the Right to Vote On May 21, 1919, U.S. Rep. James R. Mann proposed the House resolution to approve the Susan B. Anthony Amendment granting women the right to vote, and it passed the House 42 votes above the required majority. Two weeks later, the U.S. Senate passed the 19th Amendment by two votes over its two-thirds required majority, and the amendment was sent to the states for ratification. Within six days, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin had ratified the amendment. Kansas, New York and Ohio followed shortly. By March 1920, 35 states had approved the amendment, but it was one state shy of the three-fourths majority required for ratification. Strongly opposed in the southern states, Tennessee tipped the scale with 23-year-old Rep. Harry T. Burn casting the deciding vote. On Nov. 2, 1920, more than 8 million women across the U.S. voted in elections for the first time. But that wasn’t the end. It took more than 60 years for the remaining 12 states to ratify the 19th Amendment. Mississippi was the last state to do so in 1984. <SUBHEAD> Women in Office Women could run for public office before they could vote in the U.S., and many women — particularly minority females — still struggle with modern voting issues including voter ID requirements, lack of language access, polling location closures and consolidations, ballot requirements and redistricting. But women have come a long way since the fight for suffrage. In 2019, women held 2,132 seats in state legislatures including 508 of 1,972 state senate seats and 1,624 of the 5,411 state house seats. Since 1971, the number of women serving in state legislatures has more than quintupled. There are nine female governors and 15 lieutenant governors. For Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the state’s third female governor, it is important that women continue to bring their skills and expertise to public service. “I’d encourage women to think less of what “they want to ‘be’ and more on what they want to ‘do.’ Public service should be the reason anyone runs for office — man or woman,” said Kelly, who is serving as the 2020 CSG national president. “I’d also encourage women to think strategically about what skills and expertise they bring to the table and how they enhance their qualifications for whatever elected position they seek — and to not be shy about it. Finally, I’d encourage women to be both thoughtful and fearless. There’s nothing easy about public service, but if people understand that you’ve put serious thought into an issue or problem, they are more apt to come along with you — even if they may not fully agree.” <SUBHEAD> A TIMELINE OF SUFFRAGE 1840 Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are barred from attending the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England. This inspires them to hold a women’s convention in the U.S. 1850The National Women’sRights Convention is held inWorcester, Massachusetts. 1848 The first Women’s Rights Convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafts “The Declaration of Sentiments.” 1866 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the American Equal Rights Association, an organization dedicated to the goal of suffrage for all regardless of gender or race. The National Women’s Rights Convention is held in Worcester, Massachusetts. 1868 Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Parker Pillsbury publish the first edition of The Revolution. The 14th Amendment is ratified with “citizens” and “voters” defined exclusively as male. 1869Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony found theNational Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), a more radicalinstitution, to achieve the vote through a Constitutionalamendment as well as push for other woman’s rights issues.Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, Julia Ward Howe and othermore conservative activists form the American WomanSuffrage Association (AWSA) to work for woman suffragethrough amending individual state constitutions.1870The 15thAmendmentgives Blackmen the rightto vote.1872Susan B. Anthony casts her ballot for UlyssesS. Grant in the presidential election and isarrested and brought to trial in Rochester,New York. Fifteen other women are arrestedfor illegally voting. Sojourner Truth appearsat a polling booth in Battle Creek, Michigan,demanding a ballot to vote; she is turned away.1878A Woman Suffrage Amendmentis proposed in the U.S. Congress.When the 19th Amendment passes41 years later, it is worded exactlythe same as this 1878 Amendment.1919The Senate finally passes the19th Amendment and theratification process begins.1920Three quarters of thestate legislatures ratifythe 19th Amendment.<SUBHEAD> NAMES TO KNOW<MAIN TEXT>Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) helped lay a foundation for the19th Amendment. In 1869, she founded the National Woman SuffrageAssociation with fellow movement leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton, servingas the organization’s primary leader. In 1890, multiple suffrage associationsmerged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association(NAWSA). Anthony served as president of NAWSA from 1892-1900. Shedied in 1906, 14 years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment.Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) led the first organizeddemand for women’s suffrage in 1848. As a young woman, her study of law— particularly laws that discriminate against women — led her to devoteher life to the pursuit of equal rights. She presented her Declaration of Sentiments,modeled on the Declaration of Independence, during the SenecaFalls convention in 1848 and served as the first president of NAWSA from1890-1902.Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) began lecturing on religious and socialreform issues in 1820. Along with Stanton, she organized the 1848 SenecaFalls convention. She served as president of the American Equal Rights Associationin 1866, wrote prolifically and remained active in reform causesuntil her death.The foremost leader of the abolition movement, FrederickDouglass (1818-1895) was also an outspoken supporter of women’ssuffrage. Born into slavery, Douglass wrote his now-classic autobiography,founded a newspaper, advised President Abraham Lincoln during the CivilWar and achieved high-level appointments in U.S. government. Along withStanton, Anthony and Lucy Stone, he was a co-founder of the AmericanEqual Rights Association and was one of only 32 men to sign the 1848Declaration of Sentiments.Along with other conservative reformers, Lucy Stone (1818-1893)broke ranks with the women’s rights movement in 1869 to form theAmerican Woman Suffrage Association in protest of the more progressiveapproach championed by Stanton and Cade. Stone founded the Woman’sJournal and chaired the executive board of NAWSA after the rival groupsreunited in 1890.Throughout his marriage to Lucy Stone, Henry Browne Blackwell(1825-1909) played a supporting role in key events of the women’s suffragemovement, including the founding of the American Woman SuffrageAssociation.Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883) was an evangelist and social reformer.Enslaved from birth until 1827, Sojourner Truth spoke for the abolitionmovement beginning in 1843, and in 1850, she became the first blackwoman to speak at a women’s rights convention (the first National Women’sRights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts).Having lost her property following the death of her husband,Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was keenly awareof social and legal discrimination against women. A novelist and poet,Harper spoke at the 11th National Women’s Rights Conference,was a director of the American Association of Education of Colored Youth,helped found the National Association of Colored Women and was electeda vice president of that organization 1897.Born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1862, Ida B. Wells was aprolific investigative journalist and suffragist who campaigned tirelesslyfor anti-lynching legislation. Her activism began in 1884 when she refusedto give up her train car seat, and she later took part in the first suffragistparade in Washington, D.C., in 1913.-<HEADLINE>AFTER THE 19TH<SUBHEAD>The ratification of the 19th Amendment was just one step in the battle for voting rightsby Joel Sams<MAIN TEXT>“The colored women of the South will be shamefully treated, and willnot be allowed to vote, I am sure …” wrote Mary Church Terrell in a 1920letter. “We are so helpless without the right of citizenship in that sectionof the country where we need it most.”Less than two months after the ratification of the 19th Amendment,Terrell — a prominent Black activist, journalist and teacher — had beenarrested in Delaware for “disorderly conduct” by a train ticket agent. Her offensewas asking a question about a Black organizer for the Republican Party.The story is recounted in “Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote,”a publication accompanying the Library of Congress exhibit by the samename. Terrell’s experience summarizes the political reality in October1920. The battle for suffrage was over, but the war for voting rights hadjust begun.“While it is important to create these historical benchmarks and to celebratethese anniversaries, we always have to think about what we have gained, atwhat costs, for whom, and what unfinished agenda remains,” said Dr. EstelleFreedman, the Edgar E. Robinson Professor in U.S. History at StanfordUniversity, in an interview on the university website. “What strengths of themovement can we adopt? What flaws do we want to avoid?”Terrell’s fears of voter suppression were prescient. Following Reconstruction,many Southern states had already adopted tactics like literacy testsand poll taxes to deter Black voters. While the 19th Amendment statedthat the right to vote could not be denied or abridged on account ofsex, the Southern apparatus of voter disenfranchisement remained inplace and was deployed against Black women with equally devastatingeffectiveness. Literacy tests were not finally abolished in the South untilthe passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Other groups remained disenfranchised, as well. “The Women’s SuffrageMovement,” a collection of contemporary texts edited by Sally RoeschWagner, notes that Native Americans were not universally recognizedas U.S. citizens until 1924. Chinese Americans were not recognized ascitizens until the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, which hadprohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers and barred Chinese menand women from citizenship since 1882. Originally written to take effectfor 10 years, the act was renewed twice — permanently so in 1902. Asimilar trajectory followed for Filipino Americans and Japanese Americans,Roesch writes, who waited for citizenship until 1946 and 1952.In addition to blatant voter restriction efforts at the ballot box, thesuffrage movement faced lingering ideological resistance. Women’s voterparticipation remained disproportionately low for decades followingthe passage of the 19th Amendment, even among white women notaffected by racist disenfranchisement efforts. The authors of “Shall NotBe Denied” cite a study of the 1923 Chicago mayoral election, whichfound that low voter participation among women was due to a variety ofreasons including “indifference, opposition to woman suffrage, and theobjections of their husbands.” The authors note that women did not votein equal proportion to men until 1980.The promise of universal suffrage was not meaningfully realized for manyuntil a century after the end of the Civil War, with the passage of the VotingRights Act of 1965 (VRA). In “Give Us the Ballot,” a book exploring modernvoting rights, journalist Ari Berman details the impact of the VRA:“It suspended literacy tests across the South, authorized the U.S. attorneygeneral to file lawsuits challenging the poll tax, replaced recalcitrant registrars with federal examiners, dispatched federal observersto monitor elections, forced states with the worst histories ofvoting discrimination to clear electoral changes with the federalgovernment to prevent future discrimination, and laid the foundationfor generations of minority elected officials.”This bipartisan piece of legislation was catalyzed, Berman writes,by the footage of police brutality against Civil Rights protestors inSelma, Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had called for the marchon Selma to protest the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was shotby the police during a protest for voting rights. Jackson had madefive unsuccessful attempts to register to vote in his county.A mere eight days after images of violence shocked and outragedthe nation, President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the VRA. Bermanrelates the President’s words: “It is wrong — deadly wrong — todeny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.”The results of the VRA were seismic, particularly in the South. Accordingto Berman, registered Black voters in the South increasedfrom 31% in 1965 to 73% in following decades, and “Black electedofficials increased from fewer than 500 to 10,500 nationwide; thenumber of Black members of Congress increased from 5 to 44.”The VRA likewise removed obstacles that remained for people withdisabilities. The law requires election officials to allow assistance for aperson with a physical disability, and “prohibits conditioning the rightto vote on a citizen being able to read or write, attaining a particularlevel of education, or passing an interpretation ‘test,’" according to theU.S. Department of Justice.In 1971, the 26th Amendment further expanded the right to vote bylowering the voting age to 18. Long discussed, the idea was included in the 1970 Congressional re-authorization of the VRA. Following a SupremeCourt challenge, Congress proposed the 26th Amendment, whichthe states ratified in less than four months — the quickest ratification inhistory, according to the National Constitution Center.People with disabilities gained further voting access through the Americanswith Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 and the Help America Vote Act(HAVA) in 2002. According to the American Bar Association, the ADArequires accessible locations for voter registration and polling, effectivecommunication (including services like sign language interpretation andalternative material formats) and reasonable modification to accommodateindividual needs. HAVA further requires jurisdictions responsiblefor federal elections to “provide at least one accessible voting systemfor persons with disabilities at each polling place in federal elections,”according to the Department of Justice.The expansion of voting rights may not be a direct result of the enfranchisementof women in the 19th Amendment. But the premise — andthe promise — of the 19th Amendment was equality, and in that fight,women have always been at the fore.The suffrage movement was far from perfect, but it prepared the wayfor change, and it contained the seeds of greater things. For Freedman,the Stanford historian, the enduring lessons of the 19th Amendment arealliance, compassion and cooperation.“I think that one of the things we’ve learned over the decades is theimportance of alliance, of being wary of single-issue causes,” Freedmansaid. “We need to keep our vision broad. What do the rights we seek atany given moment mean for people who are different from us? How canwe support the rights that others seek and find the overlapping linksbetween them?”Graphic: Restoration of Voting Rights After Felony ConvictionsIt is common practice in the U.S. to suspend — often permanently — voting rights for citizens convicted of a felony. Over the past few decades,many states have begun leaning toward reinstating the right to vote of these felons at some point, though the policies vary by state.Source: The Book of the States 2020, The Council of State Governments[Image: Map of United States with data on how each state handles restoration of voting rights for people convicted of felonies.]1. Permanent disenfranchisement for all offenders; states may allow felons to apply, on an individual basis, for an exemption that will restore their voting rights.?OhioKentucky2. Restoration is dependent upon the type of conviction and/or the results of an individual petition to the state government. A 2016 executive order restored the right to vote to all felons in Virginia, regardless of their charge, who had completed their term of incarceration and their term of probation or parole.Virginia3. Restoration of voting rights is dependent upon the type of conviction and/or the results of an individual petition to the state government.?AlabamaArizonaDelawareFloridaMississippiTennesseeWyoming4. Voting rights are not revoked.MaineVermont5. Voting rights are restored after completion of sentence, including prison, parole and probation.?AlaskaArkansasCaliforniaConnecticutGeorgiaIdahoKansasLouisianaMinnesotaMissouriNebraskaNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaOklahomaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTexasWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsin6.Voting rights are restored after release from prison.?ColoradoDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIllinoisIndianaMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMontanaNevadaNew HampshireNorth DakotaOhioOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandUtah<HEADLINE> VOTES FOR WOMEN “There will never be a new world order until women are a part of it,” said Alice Paul, suffragist, women’s rights activist and author of the original Equal Rights Amendment. Paul devoted her life to advocating for women’s suffrage and equal rights for women. She was the main architect behind the 1910s campaign to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which decreed that no citizen could be denied the right to vote based on sex. When it became law on Aug. 26, 1920, some 27 million women became eligible to vote, the largest increase in potential voters in American history. However, this tremendous victory was incomplete. Because of restrictive state and federal laws including poll taxes, literacy tests and ethnic barriers to citizenship, many nonwhite women including African Americans, Native Americans, Latinas and Asian Americans, still could not cast a ballot. We have come a long way in 100 years and have a long way to go still. Today, it is more important than ever that women exercise their hard-earned right to vote. New challenges lead to disenfranchisement and even those who have the right to vote are often prevented from exercising it. In celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020, CSG asked some of its female members to reflect on this legislation and the doors that it opened — or didn’t open — for their current careers. As we celebrate the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, these glass-ceiling-shattering members remember all those who cannot vote in addition to those who can. PARK CANNONState Representative | GeorgiaIn 2008, during the first election that I wanted to vote in, I had to becreative because of my age. At 17 years old, I was a young and publiclypoliticized African-American woman, but I needed to be 18 to cast aballot. I created a dance piece entitled “Yes We Can,” and performed it infront of my school. This motivated students, faculty and families to standin line for hours and encouraged me to vote as soon as I enrolled incollege. Luckily, the Southern university at which I was an undergraduatestudent had same-day voter registration and the permissibility of collegeidentification for voting. It was a learning experience for me to realizethat North Carolina voting laws differed from Georgia voting laws andmotivated me to become more politically engaged in my home state.When I graduated college, I ran for office in Georgia and marched to castmy ballot beside the late Congressman John Lewis. I became the firstopenly queer legislator in the U.S., and to date, I am the youngest femaleelected official in the state of Georgia.DEBBIE ARMSTRONG State Representative | New MexicoFifty years ago, I voted in my first election. The Vietnam War wasraging. Women were fighting for equality. Civil Rights victories hadbeen won, but there was more to do. I couldn’t wait to cast myballot. I knew that my vote mattered. And I knew that my grandmothershadn’t been able to vote for most of their lives — and thatBlack women, Indigenous women and women of color faced (andface today) barriers to voting.My candidates didn’t win every race that year, and we didn’t makeall the changes that I’d hoped for. But our voices were heard.The same was true with women’s suffrage. The 19th Amendmentgranted women the right to vote, but it didn’t change everything.For decades, Black and Brown women faced poll taxes and otherbarriers to the ballot box; Indigenous women didn’t get the right tovote in every state until 1962.One hundred years later, we continue the fight to ensure all women— not just affluent white women — can vote. Voter ID laws,voter-roll purges and limited access to online voter registrationcontinue to disproportionately disenfranchise Black, Brown, Indigenousand poor women.Today, I serve in the New Mexico Legislature. I have three grownchildren and a granddaughter. A lot has changed since I cast myfirst ballot. But still every time that my mother, my daughters and Icast our ballots we vote to ensure it doesn’t take another 100 yearsfor all voices to be heard. HOLLI SULLIVAN State Representative | Indiana Women were barred from making their voices heard when choosing local, state and national leaders until the 19th Amendment was ratified nearly 100 years ago, securing women’s right to vote. This historic anniversary is a great opportunity to reflect on the legacy of the suffrage movement and renew advocacy efforts for more equal representation in our government and society. As we honor those who came before us, we must remember that those who fought for this right never cast a ballot of their own or held an elected office. The dedicated women who worked tirelessly for our right to vote entrusted us with great responsibility — to speak up, lead and participate. As we celebrate and honor the women’s suffrage movement during its centennial anniversary, we should also reflect on the progress women have made in the workforce, earning positions of power and breaking down gender barriers. Work still remains. As a public servant, an engineer, a business owner and president of the POWER Caucus, a group dedicated to empowering women, I remain committed to supporting others and helping to raise our collective voices. History shows the best way to tackle problems is by working together. When women come together, we can meet any challenge and have a positive impact on our state, country and world. LAURA FINE Senator, Majority Caucus Whip | Illinois Growing up, I was very close to my grandmother. Nana Betty was an example of, “never judge a book by its cover.” A sweet, kind woman, she was also fierce and driven by her convictions. Born in Chicago in 1911 to Russian immigrants, Nana experienced many struggles. These challenges molded her, but never defeated her. Betty lost her father as a teenager, worked to help support her family, married my grandfather and then lost everything in the Great Depression. Through it all, Nana set an example for future generations of women in our family. She lived in a time when women were the backbone of family and community but didn’t have a voice. Nana remembered the struggle of women fighting for the right to vote and instilled its importance on others. As a result, in her 96 years, she never missed an election. She would vote with pride, knowing she was shaping the future with her ballot. Her persistence paved the way for upcoming generations of women in our family. She watched her daughter graduate college, get married, become a teacher, put her husband through law school only to be forced to leave her job when she became pregnant with my sister. Nana’s drive lived on through my mother. She taught her daughters what she learned from her mom: be kind, treat everyone with dignity and respect, be fierce, stand up for your beliefs and vote — it is your voice and responsibility to past and future generations. CATHY GIESSEL Senate President | Alaska As leaders are chosen this November, women’s voices must be heard. Leadership requires humility. That means listening to others, not just to one’s self or one’s friends. It requires the courage to accept criticism, even when harsh, cutting and vulgar. And while accepting that criticism, leaders must keep their eyes on the goal of the best outcome for the people. Being a leader means having to make decisions that make your chest hurt and stomach churn. You know you could be making a mistake, but you’ve invested in the work of listening to all sides. This kind of leadership is what women are equipped to recognize in others and to offer themselves. The issues that women care about are the same issues that create social stability: solid educational opportunities, access to good health care and a spectrum of meaningful work.Voting in elections, a right that was hard-fought by those who came before us, gives women the opportunity to have a hand in history. We write the future for our families, friends and communities when we vote. Women, more than 100 years ago, understood the impact of women’s voices and leadership. They had the courage to take those steps that drew harsh, cutting and vulgar criticism. Their decisions made their chests hurt and their stomachs churn. And they did the right thing, for the right reasons, for you and me today. Women, vote like your future depends on it. It does.JOAN B. LOVELYSenator, Assistant Majority Leader | MassachusettsThe passage of the 19th Amendment flung open the doors to greater political participation for women, but it was not the beginning, and is not the end, to the fight for political equality.The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a strong tradition of female politicians. As early as 1868, women in the commonwealth won election to local school committees — more than 10 years before they earned the right to vote for those school committees in 1879 and more than 40 years before the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. In the last 100 years, we have seen a greater shift in not only legislators in our state houses and on Capitol Hill, but a shift in our legislative priorities as well. In Massachusetts, I was proud to champion the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which became law in 2017. Since then, we have passed paid family medical leave and a sweeping pay equity bill. And in 2018, I had the pleasure of witnessing the first ever transfer of the presidency of the Massachusetts State Senate from one woman to another.When women step up and lead, when they take their seat at the table, the laws passed are those that seek to benefit all. As far as we’ve come, there is still much more work to do. We must continue to ensure that our legislatures reflect our electorate, which means electing more women and more women and men of color. We also must seek to pass laws that are just and equitable for all. The 19th Amendment paved the road for women to vote, but we must now ensure that it is wide enough for equal access and participation for all.DONNA BULLOCK State Representative | Pennsylvania Last year, Pennsylvania celebrated its 100th anniversary of its ratification of the women’s right to vote. The night before, at a rally on the Capitol steps, the nine Black women legislators texted each other: “Should we wear white? How do we share in a celebration of a victory that didn’t include us?” As woman across our nation wear Suffrage White for the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment, women of color once again find themselves caught in the cross streets of race and gender. Let’s be clear: white women gained the right to vote 100 years ago, Black women did not. They didn’t gain that right for another 50 years. Today, however, Black women are the most reliable voters in this country. We vote every time — in record numbers. Black women voters have carried elections and have championed policy. We have staffed political campaigns and civil rights movements. We are often seen as the moral conscience of our country. So, as we stand in solidarity and in spirit in our Suffrage White, let’s not forget the power of Black women voters. And as Black women ask legislators and public officials to make difficult decisions to move our country forward, to keep their children safe from gun violence and police brutality, and to address growing health and economic disparities, let’s stand with Black women. BRIGID KELLY State Representative | Ohio We are still fighting for equality — and equity — in many ways, but the ballot box is one place we are all equal. We, as women, need to get out to vote so we have a voice at decision making tables, in policy and in statehouses across the country. ERIN T. HENNESSEY State Representative | New Hampshire In 2019, New Hampshire celebrated the 200th anniversary of its State House. Sitting in Representatives' Hall during the celebration, I tried to imagine how the 400 representatives of 1819 would react to the New Hampshire House of 2019. Would those 400 men be surprised to see that female legislators now occupy one third of the seats? I'm sure. Thanks to the hard work of the suffragists and their supporters, women in New Hampshire have had the right to vote and run for office since 1919. So, as a representative in 2020, I'm also surprised at the make-up of the New Hampshire House —?I'm surprised women hold only one third of the seats.NANCY TODD Senate President Pro Tempore | Colorado With the upcoming 2020 election, I note the importance of looking back to lookforward. Acknowledging the historical relevance of the 100th anniversary of the passageof the 19th Amendment for women’s right to vote is evidence of where webegan. I’m proud that Colorado granted women the right to vote in 1893, but it was not inclusive for all women at that time. It took our nation until 1965 for all people to gain that same right to vote due to the sacrifice and determination of many. Informing ourselves with truth and facts is essential for all women as we cast our ballot in our individual states. I am proud to be an American, living in a country where there is choice, opportunity and protection by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to express my opinions.Additionally, I also urge all voters to read and listen to the views of all candidates and ballot measures to determine what is true, who is supportive and to resolve the answer to, “will it make us a stronger nation for all?”Women make decisions every day for our families, our workplace and our communities. We have the responsibility to ask the tough questions and lead with our voices, our votes and with our service as volunteers or elected officials in the 2020 election. Women will continue to make the difference in the outcome for the future of our nation!ELAINE BOWERS Senator, Majority Caucus Whip | Kansas I was intrigued as a little girl in my small north central town of Delphos, Kansas, by a monument in the city square dedicated to Grace Bedell Billings, known to people in Kansas as “Lincoln’s Little Girl.” Grace Bedell was an 11-year-old girl who in October 1860 wrote to President Abraham Lincoln asking him to grow whiskers. “All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President,” she wrote. She also commented she could get all four of her brothers to vote for him as well. Her life-size letter to him and his back to her are engraved in bronze on the monument in the city square, and I used to follow the cursive writing with my fingers when I visited. I am still amazed that she wrote to him — and amazed he wrote back — with her idea to convince men to vote for him by improving his appearance. A novel thought, but a sad one too, of women convincing men to vote because they could not. However, it was an important lesson to me as a representative for my part of the state —constituent service, regardless of level of government, is very important and has an impact if we take time to listen and respond as President Lincoln did. As women today, we do not need to convince men to vote on our behalf. We can do this ourselves with the 19th Amendment — women’s right to vote. RENA MORAN State Representative | Minnesota The 19th Amendment opened doors for female participation in politics, and while we still have a long way to go, suffrage activists led the way for women to be seen and heard! The activism of women protesting at a time when it was unusual for women to even gather in public was a statement in itself. The women’s suffrage movement created a process where African American women decided they too wanted their voices to be heard and in against Black women and women of color, it attracted them to the movement. After the 19th Amendment passed, Black women did vote and run for office in New York, as opposed to many states that passed state and local laws disenfranchising them. Today, I am a product of the women’s suffrage movement that led the way for Black women to be heard and seen. So, women today continue to run, vote and today are leading the way on women’s and family issues across American — our way. KITTY TOLLState Representative | Vermont“Why is a woman to be treated differently? Woman suffrage will succeed, despite thismiserable guerilla opposition.”The wise words of Victoria Woodhull, who in 1872 became the first female presidential candidate, encouraged women to put words into motion, ultimately cracking open the door for female participation in politics. These pioneers would become the impetus for moving a new and sometimes uncomfortable political agenda. However, it took 48 more years of continued toil before trailblazers like Woodhull would see the ratification of the 19th Amendment, in 1920, finally guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote. It was the actions of brave women like Woodhull who fought tirelessly until this new collection of voices was allowed to be present at the table and to be heard. A path was forged, groundwork laid, and a foundation was built to help navigate the turbulent waters that has led to the rightsand freedoms we enjoy today. It was the strong convictions of all the Victoria Woodhulls that have inspired women, like me, to find our power and to use our strengths to not only become voters, but to become effective elected officials who continue to fight for equality. As we celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, we acknowledge the great strides made by women, but our work to ensure empowerment and equality for all women is far from over. MIA GREGERSON State Representative | Washington My first memory of casting a ballot stands out because it was a vote to save our baseball team. Go Mariners! I’m a firm believer that we turn out to vote when we feel passionate about the people on the ballot or when the issues we care about are at stake. This November is a critical moment for American history where we are all reckoning with the restrictions of voting during a global pandemic and multiple attacks on democracy from every angle. We need every woman to feel like she can safely vote and that her vote will be counted. When women vote or run for office, we are honoring and standing on the shoulders of those who fought for us. They knew that we needed to be at the table making decisions when we had been intentionally left out, and they knew that we would push and hold open the door for the most vulnerable.DENISE TEPLER State Representative | Maine Women must vote so women’s concerns will be heard. When I was first elected to the Maine Legislature in 2014 and appointed to the Taxation Committee, I was often the only woman in the committee room other than staff. Thirteen male legislators and me discussing tax policy. One other woman had been appointed to the committee but due to other commitments, she rarely attended. That year there was a push by an outside organization to get constituents to write to Maine legislators about the unfair imposition of the sales tax on menstrual products in Maine. Some discussion ensued in the committee about the large number of emails being received. I proposed we respond to our constituents’ concerns and work on a committee bill to exempt menstrual products from the sales tax. Other members agreed that that might be a good idea, and I began to look into it. Shockingly, it became clear that this would cost the state around $1.5 million each year — that much tax was (and still is) being paid on an absolute necessity. When it came to a vote on creating such a committee bill, however, 12 men voted against it. Maine is a state that has been successful at electing women legislators, and they have served in leadership positions, but that is only in very recent times. It took 99 years for Maine to elect a female governor. A look at the photos in the back of the Maine House Chamber, which show about 50 years of Maine legislative membership, makes clear that women were a rare commodity in the House until after the 20th century. Much of our tax policy was created before the time when women’s voices were consistently heard in these discussions. When women vote, when women participate, when women are elected, a perspective that was left out for the first 150 years of the Republic makes gains. REGINA ASHFORD BARROWState Representative | LouisianaThe 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to American citizens on the basis of sex. Many people do not even realize that, in the past, voting had been a state right. Numerous state legislatures implemented literacy tests, which were tailored to exclude Black people and other minorities from being eligible to vote. The 19th Amendment was a win for women, but not all women. Jim Crow kept Black women from exercising their voting rights for many years. Voting in November is imperative for all Americans, particularly women of color.I first voted in 1984 when I turned 18. As women in America, it is our fundamental right to vote. Voting is the most effective way to say, “My life matters.” Women are heads of households and serve as decision makers in many American families. When one votes to support a candidate or a tax or the amending of the Constitution, she is directly influencing the systems that support the community that she and her family live in.For nearly a decade, I have served as a state legislator in Louisiana. I consider it an honor to receive the vote of confidence from the residents of District 15. Voting is essential to securing social advancements for the next generation of women. Voting is one of the most powerful rights that a citizen has, and voter participation is crucial for an effective, truly representative government. I believe we are at a pivotal point in history that will change the trajectory of this country for the next 50 to 100 years. It is extremely important that women vote this year because many of the issues facing our country will have a direct impact on women and children. Getting women out to vote is essential to securing a better tomorrow for the next generation. RHONDA BAKER State Representative | Oklahoma The first presidential election I had the privilege of voting in was in 1988. George H.W. Bush was the Republican nominee who had served as vice president under President Ronald Reagan. I greatly admired the Reagan administration, and the accomplishments of President Reagan and Vice President Bush led me to register as a Republican. I proudly cast my ballot for George Bush because I wanted continuity with the success we had achieved as a country. I also appreciated his military service and support of education, especially since I aspired to become an educator myself, just like so many in my family before me. It’s interesting to realize that one small act of voting can change a country’s trajectory and shape history forever. Women have the power to do this every election cycle. It’s so important that women make their voices heard in all elections — from school board and city council to presidential elections. They all influence the world we live in every day. The ratification of the 19th Amendment was a turning point in this country. It allowed women to be accepted into societal roles that differed from the standard domestic traditions of past generations. We must empower women around us to continue to use their voices in a positive and strong way to emphasize, as proof, the valuable contributions that we bring to society each and every day. PATSY HAZELWOODState Representative | Tennessee This year marks the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in our nation. It was the culmination of a hard-fought battle for votes for women by women and men that, I’m proud to say, came to fruition when my own state of Tennessee passed the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 2020. Winning the vote — and make no mistake, it was won and not given — was in many ways just the beginning of a journey we are still on to have women be fully involved in the political process. Even before securing the vote, women had long participated, albeit in the background, in politics and campaigns. Even today, women are often the mainstay, the worker bees, in campaigns at all levels. Though we are a long way from gender equality in political offices, as I look around my community, my state and this country, I see more and more women who are willingly stepping up to run for office themselves, and they are not running on homogenous gender platforms, but are representing all parties and many varying viewpoints. Women are not running because they are women, but because they have ideas and experiences that they, and many voters, believe to be both credible and viable for shaping our political future. All of us stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before. Whether exercising our right to vote or running for office, we are walking through the door that was opened by those courageous women and men who fought long and hard to secure the vote for women. BRANDY PYLEState Representative | North Dakota It’s important for women to vote in the 2020 election as women are an important voice inour country. In 2019, the U.S. population was 328.24 million, with women making up 164.12million of that entire population — a little over 50%. This is a powerful voice to make an impact on all levels of our political system when we make the choice to participate! Participation in the democratic process of electing our leaders is an amazing gift and one of our rights as Americans. As women leaders, we have the opportunity to teach our children why it is important to voice our opinions, to cast our vote for leaders, to stand for our values, to treat all with respect and to live life with integrity. Continue to not only ask why, but why not?<HEADLINE> Every Vote Counts <SUBHEAD> Demystifying the Ballot Duplication Process Ahead of Expanded Mail-In Voting <MAIN TEXT>by Casandra Hockenberry, Michelle Shafer and Rachel Wright DEMYSTIFYING BALLOT DUPLICATION?While the term may sound a bit mysterious, or even nefarious, to thosenot involved in the day-to-day intricacies of state and local electionadministration, the reality is straightforward. Ballot duplication is theprocess of replacing a damaged or improperly marked ballot (i.e., a ballotthat can’t be read by the voting system) with a new ballot that preservesthe voter’s intent.Also known as ballot replication, ballot remaking and ballot transcription,the practice is commonly used by election officials throughout the U.S.In all states, Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. territories, groups of voterswho meet certain jurisdictional qualifications can cast remote ballotsusing a vote-by-mail or absentee voting process. In past years, manyof these voters have been military and overseas voters covered by theUniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act who do not havethe option to vote in person within their voting jurisdiction in the U.S.However, in 2020 many of these qualifications have expanded to accommodatethe assumed risk of casting in-person ballots due to COVID-19,and many more voters are eligible to issue mail-in ballots.WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT BALLOT DUPLICATION IN 2020?At its core, ballot duplication is an example of election administrationcontingency planning in action. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic,some states and local jurisdictions have moved to a by-mail or ballotdrop-off voting process, either eliminating or reducing in-personvoting at a polling place. Others have expanded their absentee votingprograms. These states and local jurisdictions are either incorporatingno-excuse absentee voting into their voting programs or expanding legallyallowable reasons for voters to cast their ballots remotely to includeCOVID-19 concerns.As a result, local election officials nationwide may receive higher volumesof ballots in the mail. Many of these ballots may fall into problem areasthat make them unreadable by tabulation equipment. More remotevoting will result in more overall usage of ballot duplication solutions tocount these ballots.HOW BALLOT DUPLICATION TECHNOLOGY WORKSBallot duplication technology solutions are comprised of software andhardware used to automate the transcription of damaged or otherwise machine-unreadable ballots efficiently and accurately within a transparent andverifiable environment. Ballot duplication hardware components are usuallycommercially available scanners, printers and computer workstations.Two specific actions are performed during the duplication of a damagedor machine-unreadable ballot:1. Interpretation of the ballot style — the elections official determinesthe version of a ballot within a jurisdiction that an individualvoter is eligible to vote.2. Preservation of the voter’s choice — the voter’s marked responsesto those specific ballot style choices are preserved onto a newtabulation-ready ballot.The process for transcribing a damaged or machine-unreadable ballot— often referred to as “damaged” — using ballot duplication technologyvaries according to the specific provider and technology used. However,the transcript process typically follows steps similar to these:1. The damaged ballot is digitally scanned, either individually or aspart of a “batch,” or group of damaged ballots requiring duplication.A duplicate ID number, distinct marking or barcode isphysically printed on the scanned damaged ballot by the scannersimultaneously.2. The ballot style of the damaged ballot is recognized and a “cleancopy” of the appropriate ballot style is retrieved from the electronicrepository of available ballot styles for that jurisdiction anda duplicated ballot image is created.3. The same duplicate ID number, distinct marking or barcode thatwas printed on the damaged ballot as it was scanned is producedand associated as a digital overlay on the new duplicated ballotimage. Having the same duplicate ID number on the damagedballot and the newly created ballot results in a duplicate ID matchand allows these two ballots to be associated, providing a chainof custody of the duplication process for auditability.4. After being electronically matched, the scanned damaged ballotimage and the duplicated ballot image are displayed side by sideon screen and reviewed for approval by a team of bipartisan electionworkers, often called a “ballot board.” These boards are taskedwith approving all ballots requiring duplication following thejurisdiction’s election laws and procedures.5. Upon approval by the ballot board, the new duplicated ballotimage is printed — if required — and routed for tabulation.6. The new duplicated ballot is counted by the jurisdiction’s tabulationsystem.PREPARING FOR FUTURE ELECTIONSThe CSG Overseas Voting Initiative expects that elections conductedduring the coronavirus pandemic will likely yield a higher volume ofballots returned via mail or other methods.As state primaries have come to a close, this assertion has often provento be true. In the West Virginia presidential primary alone, slightly morethan half of the state’s 436,000 votes were returned by mail. According toWest Virginia Secretary of State Andrew “Mac” Warner, this constitutes aroughly 47% increase from previous presidential primaries.This drastic uptake in by-mail voting has significant implications for theprocess of ballot duplication and, subsequently, election officials’ contingencyplanning. As the number of voters who mark their ballot outsideof a polling place increases, so do the opportunities for a ballot to bedamaged. In order to ensure the November election progresses smoothly,it will be necessary for election officials to discuss how to properlymanage the duplication of these ballots as well as how to instill voterconfidence in this process.To learn more about ballot duplication and recommendations for electionsofficials suited for 2020 elections and beyond, visit ovi.blogs.<GRAPHIC>: Map of the United States with data on when states allow for ballot processing.1. Prior to Election Day (timing not specified)KansasOhioSouth DakotaUtahVirginia2. Upon receiptColoradoGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaMassachussetsNevadaNew JerseyTennesseeTexasWashington3. 14 or more days priorArizonaCaliforniaConnecticutFloridaNebraskaNorth CarolinaMarylandRhode Island4. 7 days priorAlaskaArkansasMaineMinnesotaOregon5. 2-5 days priorDelawareMontanaMissouriNew MexicoOklahoma6. 1 day priorDelawareIowaNorth DakotaSouth CarolinaVermont7. On Election DayAlabamaKentuckyLouisianaMichiganMississippiNew HampshirePennsylvaniaWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingWHAT IS BALLOT DUPLICATION? According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, ballot duplication is the process for replacing damaged or improperly marked ballots (i.e., the voting system cannot read the ballot) with a new ballot that preserves the voter s intent. The ballot duplication processes create a clean ballot with the voter s choices that can be read by ballot tabulation equipment. The process also ensures that the original voter-marked ballot is retained for the record including any required auditing. It is the duplicated or transcribed clean ballot, and not the damaged one, that is counted by tabulation equipment. WHY CONDUCT BALLOT DUPLICATION? In almost all local jurisdictions, paper ballots are tabulated electronically, using some sort of ballot scanning technology. Four common problems can render paper ballots difficult or impossible to process with a ballot tabulation system: 1. Ballots can be damaged during the life cycle of a ballot. Anything from coffee spills to wrinkles and tears can interfere with the scanning of the ballot by a tabulation system. 2. Ballots filled out with inappropriate marking implements — pencils, highlighters, colored pens, chalk, cosmetic pencils, paints, crayons and colored art pencils — cannot be processed by a tabulation system. 3. The voter s intent may be clear under a state s election laws but marked in a way that a tabulation system cannot read. For example, the voter may mark the ballot inappropriately, by circling a candidate s name when instructions indicate a bubble must be filled in. Additionally, stray marks on the ballot can interfere with the tabulation system s ability to scan the ballot. 4. The returned ballot may not be 1.) the appropriate paper stock quality and weight, 2.) the correct orientation (portrait or landscape), or 3.) sized so that the voting marks and ballot positions can be read by the scanner and so that the ballot can be tabulated. WHAT BALLOT DUPLICATION IS NOT It is important to note that the term duplication or replication should not be interpreted as a type of corrupt process to create additional ballots, either voted or unvoted. Ballot duplication is simply the transcribing of damaged or otherwise machine-unreadable ballots as described above so that these ballots can be tabulated with the others. IMPROVING BALLOT DUPLICATION The CSG Overseas Voting Initiative Working Group of state and local election officials studied and issued recommendations to improve ballot du plication for state and local election officials with military and overseas ballots as the focal point. Those recommendations include: Continually evaluate ballot duplication procedures, manual or automated solutions, staffing levels and equipment needs well in advance of each future election. Explore and consider avenues for remote observation of the ballot duplication process by the public — voters, candidates and the media — to enhance transparency. Develop educational videos, FAQ landing pages and documents and infographics representing the ballot duplication process. Take extra care in handling ballots and any duplication and tabulation equipment. Review current remote voter instructions and consider providing additional language to help prevent damaged or machine unreadable ballots due to use of hand sanitizer or sealing adhesives. Learn more about these recommendations at: ovi.resources. <HEADLINE> Casting with Confidence<SUBHEAD> Confronting the poll worker shortage and building assurance in election processes<MAIN TEXT>by Joel Sams The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential function of many professions, from food production to supply chain management to education. As Election Day approached, the virus also sharpened focus on those who fill another essential role — poll workers. Difficulty recruiting poll workers isn’t a new challenge. In 2016, the biennial Election Assistance Commission survey reported that nearly 65% of jurisdictions found poll worker recruitment “somewhat difficult” or “very difficult.” In 2020, risks associated with COVID-19 have exacerbated the shortage. In the runup to the November election, states took steps to solve the immediate poll worker shortage and looked ahead to longterm solutions. According to Kentucky Assistant Secretary of State Jennifer Scutchfield, recruiting poll workers in the state has been an ongoing struggle due mainly to funding. The minimum pay for precinct election officers in Kentucky ($60 per day) has not been increased in about 25 years. In 2020, Scutchfield says, the challenges were further sharpened by the aging population of poll workers and an executive order passed by Gov. Andy Beshear allowing counties to reduce the number of polling places as a result of risk posed by COVID-19. “We’re going to have more people that show up to vote, I believe, this year,” Scutchfield said during an interview in late summer. “If we don’t have sufficient workers and sufficient polling locations, you’re going to have a wait. Secretary [Michael] Adams has only been in office now nine months, but he knew going in that, even without the pandemic, poll workers would be something we needed to look at.” Kentucky expanded poll worker recruitment efforts using an online form that sends poll worker applications to the relevant county clerk. The state also ramped up its messaging with a campaign called “SOS from your SOS.” Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams partnered with four craft breweries to create beer labels directing readers to the online poll worker application. Another new development allowed attorneys to receive 1.5 hours of continuing legal education for participating in poll worker training. These initiatives met with some success, but Scutchfield says a long-term solution to the national poll worker shortage will depend on funding and support from legislatures, and that lessons learned during 2020 will have no staying power without further investment. She points to the state of Washington, which implemented statewide vote-by-mail in 2011, as an example of what’s required to make lasting change. “Washington state has clean voter rolls, so they are able to mail out the application for the ballot to every voter,” Scutchfield said. “But [Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman] will tell you it has taken 10 years to ramp that up. It was not an overnight decision. So that ask we’re putting forward to our county clerks, our voting registrars — it’s enormous.” In Michigan, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum likewise identified poll worker recruitment as a challenge that long pre-dates the 2020 election. In Michigan, one challenge is finding partisan balance. “Many do not want to be publicly associated with a political party, but in Michigan, it’s required,” Byrum said. “We need to have a balance of Democrats and Republicans. It’s been an issue for well over a decade. Finding willing, qualified individuals of both parties has been ongoing challenge.” Recruitment efforts for the November election generated interest, and Byrum was cautiously optimistic about increased participation in the months before the election. But she reiterated that it’s a tough job, and people often don’t realize what will be required. And, as in many states, a significant number of poll workers are older adults, many of whom were expected to stay home this year. Byrum said a long-term solution would be helped by funding — especially at the local level — and by making election days paid holidays. Most importantly, though, she called for trust between legislatures and election administrators. “When election officials are asking for resources and legislation to improve our process, the legislators should trust those professional election administrators,” Byrum said. “We’re on the front lines and run across these issues first-hand. That’s a big issue, especially right now.” Without the funding and personnel, Byrum says, results take longer. “Our Michigan elections are fair and secure, and there are a lot of security checks, but as a result, it takes time for a ballot to be processed,” she said. “If we are not afforded sufficient resources and human capital, it’s going to take much longer to get results, and the more eyes on our election, the better.” Better communication goes a long way, too. Byrum urges all state leaders to identify their election administrators, talk to them and learn more about how the election process works. “The election administrators that I have met from around the U.S., and certainly in Michigan, are some of the hardest working, most dedicated individuals I have ever met,” Byrum said. “And they would welcome the opportunity to educate their legislators and other leaders about election administration.” <SIDEBAR> Building Bi-Partisan Election Confidence<SIDEBAR MAIN TEXT>Representing both major political parties, Scutch field and Byrum agree that election administrators are subject to criticism from all sides — usually from individuals who don’t understand how the election process works. The solution? Encourage those with questions to get their information from the correct source. “We deal with the naysayers that say it’s rigged, we have the people who say you’ve got outside influence,” Scutchfield said. “We’re getting hit every day with something we need to make sure is accurate and it’s done with integrity. If you have a question about elections, go to the election official. Don’t get your information from second-hand sources. Trust the election official only.” Byrum reiterates the need to trust official sources and offers a challenge, as well. “When people think our elections are rigged, I challenge them immediately to serve as a precinct inspector,” she said. “Because by serving as a precinct inspector, people start to get a real handle on everything that is done to make sure our elections are secure and safe. And if they don’t want to serve as a precinct inspector on election day, then by golly, they should serve as a recount worker. In Michigan, we have recounts, and they are hand recounts. That would afford people the opportunity to really understand how elections are run, and how I can sit here and tell you that I know the elections in Ingham County, certainly, but the elections in Michigan are absolutely safe and secure.” REGIONAL ROUNDUPTHE EASTCT ? DE ? MA ? MD ? ME ? NH ? NJ ? NY ? PA ? RI ? VT ? NB ? NS ? ON ? PE ? PR ? QC ? VI IMPROVING SCHOOLS New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1558 into law, which issues improvements to state public schools. The legislation provides safety guidance, access to behavioral health resources and training programs, updated policies on discipline and suspension, brain injury recovery, sexual abuse prevention training, multi-tiered systems of support for behavioral wellness, change of school assignment, reporting violence in schools and criminal history background checks of school bus drivers and attendants. It also gives school districts across the state greater flexibility to address fiscal concerns when budgets and revenues are uncertain, increases reserve limits, provides funding to districts transitioning to full-day kindergarten and creates a clearer pathway for businesses to participate in economic revitalization zones and graduate retention incentive partnerships. COVID EXPOSURE APP Pennsylvania launched its COVID Alert PA app to significant success, with 165,000 Pennsylvanians downloading the exposure notification mobile app in the first week. This free, voluntary mobile app was developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in partnership with Near Form, UPenn and MIT Lincoln Laboratory using the Apple and Google Exposure Notification System. The app’s features include an interactive COVID-19 symptom checker, alerts of potential exposures to the virus, updates on the latest public health data about COVID-19 in Pennsylvania and public health guidance for what to do if you have a potential exposure. PINK TAX New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new reforms prohibiting businesses from charging a “pink tax,” otherwise known as the practice of charging different prices for similar consumer goods or services that are marketed to different genders. The new law mandates that any individual or entity, including retailers, suppliers, manufactures or distributors, are prohibited from charging a price for two “substantially similar” goods or services, if the goods or services are priced differently based on the gender for whom the goods or serves are marketed. It also seeks to empower consumers by giving them the right to receive, upon request, a written prices list from any business that provides a service. ELECTRIC BUSES Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled the first two battery-electric buses entering public service in late September. The buses feature zero tailpipe emissions and will use 125 kilo-watt-hour electric bus chargers installed at the Greater Bridgeport Transit bus maintenance facility. Each replacement of a diesel bus with an electric bus will avoid 230,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of planting 5,000 trees. These are the first buses to enter service under the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s electric bus initiative and will be a gradual transition at first that will accelerate as the costs for battery electric buses and facility upgrades become more affordable at scale. COVID-19 MICRO-SUMMITS The Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference Council on Communities of Color (CCC) organized a series of micro-summits — conversations called “CSG East on COVID-19.” The discussions offer insights, analysis and solutions on numerous challenges communities and governments face as the COVID-19 crisis ensues. This series narrows the lens on communities of color. These unique convenings bring together state and local policymakers, experts and thinkers concerned about the massive equity gaps exposed and worsened by the global coronavirus pandemic. These one-hour panel discussions explore the gaps in public policy and the ways in which districts, policymakers and communities can creatively collaborate and address them now. Learn more at . STATES AND LOCALITIES GRANTED FUNDS FOR AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS The Airport Improvement Program (AIP) airport grant program funds airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting and airport markings with the goal of strengthening U.S. aviation infrastructure. To supplement the funding that AIP provides to airports each year based on passenger volume, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can award additional discretionary funding. This year, the FAA will aware more than $1.2 billion in additional airport safety and infrastructure grants. More than $1 billion is from the AIP and another $152 million is in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding with a 100% federal share. Awards will be made to 405 airports in 50 states as well as Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Palau and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the East, four Connecticut airports will receive funding, as well as New Castle airport in Wilmington, Delaware, 11 airports in Massachusetts, eight airports in Maryland, 11 airports in Maine, one in New Hampshire, two airports in New Jersey, 15 airports in New York, 10 airports in Pennsylvania, three airports in Puerto Rico, Theodore Francis Green State airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, two airports in the Virgin Islands and two airports in Vermont. To learn more about the funding allocations, visit . For more on CSG East, visit: capitolideas. and csg-. THE MIDWESTIA ? IL ? IN ? KS ? MI ? MN ? ND ? NE ? OH ? SD ? WI ? AB ? MB ? ON ? SK TEACHER SHORTAGESNorth Dakota is partnering with one of its public universities to help school districts addressa persistent, widespread workforce challenge: the shortage of licensed special educationteachers. Using a $750,000 grant from the state, Minot State University will create a newscholarship program that allows 20 education paraprofessionals to earn a degree in specialeducation. North Dakota is using a portion of its money from the federal CARES Act to fundthe scholarship program, which will cover seven semesters of instruction for each recipient.This kind of “grow your own” strategy is being used by an increasing number of states as theytry to address teacher shortages.LEGALIZING MARIJUANAThe future of South Dakota’s marijuana laws will be decided by the state’s voters in November.Currently, the state is one of six in the Midwest where both recreational and medical use ofmarijuana is legal. Two different proposals will appear on South Dakota ballots in November— one an initiated measure to legalized marijuana for medical purposes, the second a proposedconstitutional amendment to legalize recreational and medical marijuana. Four yearsago, in neighboring North Dakota, voters chose to legalize medical marijuana. In Michigan,the use of medical and recreational marijuana has received voter approval over the past 12years.ELECTRONIC PRIVACYA ballot measure in Michigan aims to add a few words to the state’s Constitution to addressthe potential privacy implications of law enforcement’s use of increasingly sophisticatedtechnologies. The language would add the words “electronic data” and “electronic communications”to a section of the state Constitution securing a person’s houses, papers and possessionsfrom unreasonable searches and seizures. Michigan state Sen. Jim Runestad led effortsto get the bill on the ballot as a legislatively referred initiative.PROTECTING MOST VULNERABLEAs the COVID-19 pandemic grinds on, one trend has become clear and consistent: the virus ismore deadly if introduced and spread in adult long-term-care facilities, which are accountingfor a smaller percentage of cases, but almost half of all deaths nationwide since early May,according to an issue brief published in September by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Minnesotadeveloped a Five-Point Plan to Protect our Most Vulnerable which includes expanding testing for residents and workers in long-term care facilities, providing testing support andtroubleshooting to more quickly remove barriers to effective testing, getting personal protective equipment to facilities when and where needed and ensuring adequate staffing levels for even the hardest-hit facilities.LIVESTOCK ASSISTANCEIowa livestock producers helped markets for the abundance of animals left as a result ofthe closure of meat processing plants across the country due to health concerns and illnessamong employees and falling prices for meat. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig oversawa Resource Coordination Center in Iowa to help farmers make informed decisions, and heteamed up with other state agriculture leaders along with producers and industry organizationsto share information and develop creative alternatives. Direct support for farmersimpacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was available including up to $2,000 per farmer to helpwith transition to direct-to-consumer sales. The Iowa Economic Development Authority allocated $60 million to livestock producers impacted by the pandemic.PROPERTY TAX RELIEFNebraska lawmakers met at an unusual timeof year for legislative session — in the middleof the summer, due to the postponementof session days caused by the COVID-19pandemic. But they were faced with a familiarchallenge: How can we reduce the propertytax burden for homeowners, farmers andbusinesses? Their answer was the passage ofLB 1107, a bill being hailed by proponents asa major breakthrough after previous years oftrying to address this perennially high-priorityissue.The bill passed with overwhelming legislativesupport and was signed by Gov. Pete Rickettsin August. It relies on the state’s income taxsystem to provide the relief. Homeowners,businesses and others will be eligible for arefundable income tax credit based on theamount they paid in property taxes to theirschool district. The amount of credits willbe $125 million in 2020 and is expected tothen increase in subsequent years. However,LB 1107 includes language that ties futureincreases to growth in Nebraska tax collectionsand the size of the state’s cash reserves,which cannot dip below $500 million.But by 2024, the amount of tax credits mustreach $375 million, and starting in 2025,the size of these credits will increase basedon changes on the assessed value of realproperty in Nebraska. According to theFederation of Tax Administrators, propertytaxes accounted for 38.2% of total revenuesfor state and local governments in Nebraskain 2017. In the 11-state Midwest, only Illinois ismore reliant on the property tax as a revenuesource. Property taxes tend to be a veryminimal source of revenue for state governmentsthemselves. However, two states inthe Midwest do collect a significant amountof statewide property taxes. Collectionsin Minnesota go to the state general fund;Michigan’s property tax is earmarked for K-12education. In Saskatchewan, the provincialgovernment establishes a uniform rate forproperty taxes.For more on CSG Midwest, visit: capitolideas. and . THE SOUTHAL ? AR ? FL ? GA ? KY ? LA ? MO ? MS ? NC ? OK ? SC ? TN ? TX ? VA ? WV AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY High school students in 16 Virginia school districts now have the option to take an African American history course as an elective, Gov. Ralph Northam announced at the end of August. The course surveys African American history from precolonial Africa through the present day, introducing students to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction and civil rights era. The development and introduction of the course follows Northam’s directive last year requiring the state Department of Education to collaborate with educators to develop a course that provides an African American perspective. Teachers responsible for leading the course will receive professional development and support throughout the year. PLUTONIUM SETTLEMENT South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that the federal government reached an agreement to pay the state $600 million and clean up weapons-grade plutonium from the Savannah River Site (SRS), a nuclear weapons complex, following years of litigation. In the 1990s, the federal government announced that it would ship 34 metric tons of the nation’s surplus weapons-grade plutonium as feedstock for a mixed oxide fuel plant. However, the federal government abandoned the fuel plant project in 2018, citing untenable delays and cost overruns, leaving anywhere from 7 metric tons to 10.5 metric tons of plutonium at SRS. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. Department of Energy is obligated to remove the plutonium by 2037. FLOOD PREPARATION Kentucky announced a new online mapping tool to help local officials and first responders develop emergency plans for vulnerable dams. The interactive map provides approximate areas, or inundation zones, which could be affected by damaged or collapsed dams. Using satellite imagery, the map identifies properties, roads and geographic areas that could be impacted. So far, nearly 3,000 business structures and 14,000 residences fall within the state’s high hazard dam inundation zones. The map is part of a broader initiative to raise awareness of dam-related risks in the state. MAGNOLIA FLAG A state commission selected the Magnolia Flag as the next flag of Mississippi. The flag, selected among 3,000 proposals submitted to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for consideration, includes a magnolia flower and 21 stars — representing Mississippi’s entry as the 20th state to join the U.S. and one gold star for Native Americans who originally inhabited the land — along with the words “In God We Trust,” which was a requirement under rules adopted by the Legislature. Voters will decide in November whether to approve the flag or restart the process to find a new design. BUSINESS SUCCESS Gov. Brian Kemp announced that Georgia was named the top state for doing business for the seventh year in a row by Area Development, a magazine covering corporate site selection and relocation. The magazine ranks states based on weighted scores in overall cost of doing business; cooperative and responsive state government; a favorable regulatory environment; business incentives; workforce development programs; competitive labor environment; speed of permitting; logistics and infrastructure; available real estate; energy availability and costs; site readiness programs; corporate tax environment; and access to capital and projects. Georgia received the top ranking in 10 of the 13 categories and was among the top five in the other three categories. BROADBAND EXPANSION Gov. Kay Ivey announced that Alabama allocated $100 million of federal coronavirus relief funds to expand and improve internet access for K-12 students who started the school year virtually. The program, known as Alabama Broadband Connectivity for Students, provides internet vouchers for families of students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. Slightly more than half of Alabama’s 723,000 students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the federal funding for the program, in partnership with CTC Technology and Energy, an independent consulting firm. The plan was formulated with the input of the Broadband Working Group, comprised of legislators and industry experts. The internet vouchers, which were distributed at the beginning of September, provide almost $400 of internet service, including installation, equipment and monthly fees/charges, for 250,000 students through Dec. 30. Internet providers contracted with the state to offer access using existing lines and technologies, including broadband, wireless hot spots, satellite, fixed wireless, DSL and cellular-on-wheels. The type of service in an area depends on the closest available existing infrastructure. Senior education officials in the state, including Superintendent Eric Mackey, have pushed for more internet access, particularly in rural areas and households that are unable to afford reliable internet access. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 20% of Alabama households did not have access to internet in 2018. As many as 17% of households lack a computer of any kind, and another 8% have access to smartphones but not another type of computer. For more on CSG South, visit: capitolideas. and . THE WESTAK ? AZ ? CA ? CO ? HI ? ID ? MT ? NM ? NV ? OR ? UT ? WA ? WY ? AB ? AS ? BC ? CNMI ? GU USE OF FORCEIn a special session, the Oregon Legislature passed, and Gov. Kate Brown signed into law legislation that overhauls statutes that govern the circumstances under which law enforcementcan legally use force. These statutes — which had not been revised in over 40 years accordingto state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum — establish the parameters under which an officer’suse of force can become excessive under state law, triggering a range of consequencesup to and including criminal prosecution of the officer. HB 4301 aligns Oregon’s deadly forcestatutes with modern standards of policing by requiring that law enforcement only use deadlyforce against people who pose a genuine risk of causing death or serious physical injury, encourage consideration of de-escalation when possible and give a verbal warning before forceis used.SUPPORT FOR SMALL BUSINESSESCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills into law aimed at providing relief to smallbusinesses during COVID-19. AB 1577 will allow small businesses to exclude paycheck protectionprogram (PPP) loans from gross income for state taxes. SB1447 authorizes a $100 millionhiring tax credit program for small businesses and SB 115, a budget trailer bill, accelerates $561million in state bond funding for construction projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has presentedsignificant challenges to small businesses and Small Business Majority survey data foundthat up to 44% of businesses are at risk of shutting down. In California, small businesses createtwo-thirds of new jobs and employ nearly half of all private sector employees. The state ishome to 4.1 million small businesses representing 99.8% of all businesses in the state.LIABILITY PROTECTIONThe Idaho Legislature passed a bill providing schools and businesses some limited protectionfrom lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus. HB 6 passed through the House and Senateand was signed by Gov. Brad Little. Under the bill, a person, school district, college or universitywould have immunity from civil liability for damages or injury resulting from exposure tothe coronavirus, reports the Idaho Statesman. The bill also grants immunity to corporations,churches, cities and counties but does not extend the protection to Idaho public health districts, the state or federal government.FISH AND WILDLIFEGov. Jay Inslee called for the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife to alter itsrules for managing the state’s wolf population. The directive comes after the governor acceptedthe appeal from the Center for Biological Diversity that challenged the department’sdecision to deny the center’s petition to amend current wolf management rules, which itclaims fail to prioritize non-lethal management of endangered wolves. Inslee did not outlinespecific policies to include in the new rule, he asked the Department of Fish and Wildlife toinclude “clear and enforceable measures in its proposed rules that would end the need forannual lethal removal among other things.HOSPITALITY INDUSTRYNevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a bill designed to extend protections to workers in thehospitality industry and includes measures for workers as well as liability shielding for businesses. This legislation requires businesses to enact a number of health-related regulationsto afford greater worker protections in the hospitality industry. These include COVID-19 testsfor workers returning to work, as well as a minimum of 10 days of paid leave for workers whohave tested positive for the virus. In addition to these and more worker protections, the lawexpands immunity from COVID-19 related lawsuits to nearly all businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. This immunity does not extend to entities that cause aCOVID-19 transmission due to gross negligence, and to qualify, the businesses must adhere tokey standards and meet health and safety requirements at the federal, state and local levels.WILDFIRES RAGE ACROSS THE WESTUnprecedented weather conditions,fast-moving heat and wind-fueled wildfires inmultiple western states — including California,Oregon and Washington — have brokenrecords in 2020 with 94 recorded large firesburning 4.6 million acres — a figure thatcontinues to grow.California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a billallowing inmate firefighters to have theirrecords expunged, clearing the path for themto be eligible for firefighting jobs upon theirrelease. The bill lets prisoners with appropriatetraining to petition the courts to dismisstheir convictions after completing theirsentences. This will make them eligible toreceive EMT certification, which is a hiring requirementof municipal fire departments butsomething former inmates were previouslyprohibited by state law to pursue. Individualsconvicted of violent felonies includingmurder, kidnapping and sex offenses, are excludedfrom this program and cannot applyto have their records cleared.“Inmates who have stood on the frontlines,battling historic fires should not be deniedthe right to later become a professional firefighter,”Newsom said following his signingof AB 2147.California has used inmate firefighters to battlewildfires for more than 80 years throughits Conservation Camp Program, which aimsto support state, local and federal governmentagencies as they respond to emergenciessuch as fires, floods and other natural ormanmade disasters. There are approximately3,100 inmates currently working at fire camps.About 2,200 of those are fire line-qualifiedinmates.<HEADLINE> Female Firsts <SUBHEAD> In honor of the 19th Amendment, take a glance at these other female firsts. <MAIN TEXT>In 1933,Frances Perkins joins President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s cabinet as the U.S. Secretary of Labor. The appointment marked the first time a woman was asked to serve in a U.S. Cabinet position. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, earns some R-E-S-P-E-C-T on January 3,1987 when she takes the title of FIRST WOMAN elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. MARGARET ABBOTT, the first American woman to win an Olympic event, finishes first in the women’s golf tournament at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games. On January 23,1849, ELIZABETH BLACKWELL graduates from New York’s Geneva Medical School, making her the first woman to earn a MEDICAL DEGREE in the U.S. Anna Sutherland Bissell takes over the EXECUTIVE BOARD of the famous Bissell vacuum company in 1889 and becomes the first American woman to serve in a CEO role. In 1865, Mary Edwards Walker becomes the first woman to receive the MEDAL OF HONOR. Still the only woman to receive the honor, she was recognized for her work as a surgeon during the American Civil War.Janet Guthrie races into the history books in 1978 when she becomes the first woman to drive a car in the INDIANAPOLIS 500. <HEADLINE> CONNECT WITH CSG! <SUBHEAD> We know you’re busy, so we’re making it easier than ever to connect with CSG! Find us on the web, in your email inbox or on our social media channels. We’re sharing our latest work, member stories, new reports and other great content. Keep up with all of the exciting things happening at CSG in 2020 and connect with your fellow members! LIKE Like The Council of State Governments on Facebook. We’ll share announcements, top news from the states, member stories and more! FOLLOW Follow @CSGovts on Twitter. You’ll get instant, up-to-the-Tweet access to what's happening in state governments at our CSG offices across the country. LINK Link with The Council of State Governments on LinkedIn. We’ll post organizational news and help you connect with a network of the nation's top state officials. VISIT Visit . You’ll be seeing new information and updates soon. Visit the CSG website for information on our convenings, programs, publications and more. LISTEN Look for upcoming podcasts from CSG! We’ll share those through our social media channels for a deeper dig into some of the top issues impacting state leaders. SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to The Current State E-newsletter. We’ll send member stories, state successes and other information to your inbox every week! No extra time or work needed. <BACK COVER AD>CSG 2020 National Conference Reimagined (Oct. 26-Dec. 18)REGISTER FOR VIRTUAL SESSIONS! web. The Council of State Governments 1776 Avenue of the States Lexington, KY 40511 ................
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