Kathy Boockvar’s latest StateScoop op-ed, co-authored with Pam Anderson, senior adviser to the League of Conservative Election Professionals, dives into the operational toll of last-minute election changes as we rapidly approach the 2026 midterms.
Boockvar and Anderson highlight an often-overlooked reality: election administration is dependent on technology, planning, and people. While public debates focus on political implications, the operational challenges receive far less attention. Building, testing and implementing new systems, training election workers, and educating voters — all on a highly compressed timeline— increase the risk of operational errors, technical failures and voter confusion.
For example, in April, the Supreme Court issued its Louisiana v. Callais decision, weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and making it easier for states to create gerrymandered districts. This ruling has triggered a last minute scramble for mid-cycle redistricting before the midterms in many states.
Shifting boundaries is not as simple as moving lines on a map. On the back end, voter databases and GIS systems must be completely reprogrammed, and every voter re-coded so they have the correct candidates on their ballot. Compressing this timeline leaves insufficient room for critical security testing, system audits, and voter education, and bifurcating primaries in some states makes matters worse – doubling workloads and costs for local offices.
Other recent potential threats include a proposed U.S. Postal Service rule that would allow it to reject delivery of certain election mail, attempting to execute portions of an executive order from March. If enacted, this rule would shift the Postal Service from being a neutral carrier to a federal gatekeeper for the casting of ballots, in violation of Article I section 4 of the Constitution and other state and federal laws.
In late June, a federal court correctly blocked portions of this executive order for 23 states and D.C., and hopefully this will continue to be affirmed on appeal. If not, its implementation would require state and local officials to alter and test new systems and workflows, ensure sensitive data protection, redesign and reprint ballot envelopes, train staff, and educate millions of voters, all within a few months and with no funds appropriated.
Once again, it would be government officials who would shoulder the burden, and voters who would suffer the consequences.
For the sake of our voters — and for the dedicated public servants who administer our elections — we must heed the Purcell doctrine and stop making last-minute changes to election rules. This is critical to protect both the integrity of election administration as well as public confidence in government itself.
Read the full opEd here: https://statescoop.com/election-maps-technical-changes/