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Election Dissection
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The election went remarkably well. Here's how to make the next one even better.

We haven't yet seen evidence that would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election — even with the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, the threat of foreign interference, civil unrest and greater turnout than any time since 1900. That counts as a resounding success.

Once the final tallies are certified, we need to thank the election administrators and poll workers whose heroic efforts preserved American democracy. After that, we need to assess what worked best and what needs to improve, so we can identify achievable steps to make future elections even more secure.

Based on what we know so far, here are five things that should be on the U.S. elections to-do list:

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Election Dissection

A centrist bloc at the Supreme Court?

A lot of coverage of the Supreme Court's recent election-related decisions has focused on the new conservative majority, and how that may be a dark development for voting rights. Election Dissection contributor Edward B. Foley has an alternative take in The Washington Post.

Three recent decisions show that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh may become centrist swing votes on some election issues, Foley says. Roberts and Kavanaugh are charting a middle ground between the court's three liberals and three staunchest conservatives, he says.

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Election Dissection
Wikimedia Commons

Four ways to fix voting before the next election

With only five days remaining before Nov. 3, it's not too early to take stock of how things should have been different. Here are four things that need to happen before the next election. All four reforms derive from actual controversies over the past six months, things that never should have been the subject of extended legal or political battles.

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Voting
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Ballot extensions in 2 key states survive Supreme Court, but Pa. fight not over

Ballots that arrive several days late in the pivotal battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and North Carolina will get counted. But whether all those votes will actually count in the contest for president is still not sure.

That's the main takeaway from back-to-back rulings Wednesday from the Supreme Court. They were likely the last important voting decisions before an Election Day where the ground rules have been whipsawed as never before by partisan litigation fueled by a pandemic.

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