Ever since 1980, the Federal Election Commission has published a book of election returns for federal office. The book is the most accurate reference available. It is even more accurate than America Votes, which is published by a for-profit publisher and which charged $250 for the 2016 volume.

The Federal Election Commission finished the 2016 book many months ago, and it it on-line. The title is “Federal Elections 2016.” It is 197 pages. Unfortunately, even though the FEC would like the book to be printed as a book, instead of just on-line, the U.S. Government Publishing Office seems to be considering never producing the book at all, on the theory that it isn’t needed because it is on-line.

The 2016 presidential election results are the most complicated election returns for any U.S. presidential election in history. There were more candidates on the ballot than at any presidential election in history, and there were more write-ins cast, as a percentage, since any presidential election in history. People who work with election returns appreciate having the complete record in book form.

If you care about this, please contact your member of the U.S. House and ask them to ask the Government Publishing Office to print the book. All members of Congress have large staffs to handle constituent requests like this.

For more, check out the 2016 electoral map.

On April 18, the Oklahoma legislature passed HB 3053. It makes it legal for a voter to photograph that voter’s completed ballot. The vote in the House was 83-5, and in the State Senate, 36-6. It now goes to Governor Mary Fallin.

On August 7, 2018, Michigan holds primaries for the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties. The Libertarian primary ballot will list two candidates for Governor, Bill Gelineau and John Tatar. Any registered voter will be able to choose to vote in the Libertarian part of the primary ballot (the ballot has all three parties on it, but voters must confine their voting to just one party’s portion).

This is the first time that any party other than the Democratic or Republican Parties has had a contested gubernatorial primary in Michigan. Michigan has been holding primaries since 1910. Although all qualified parties nominated by primary before 1931, no previous third party happened to have a contested primary for Governor.

Since 1931, only minor parties that had polled an unusually high vote have been entitled to their own primary. They are American Independent Party in 1970, Anderson Coalition Party in 1982, the Tisch Independent Citizens Party in 1988 and 1992, the Reform Party in 1998, and the Libertarian Party in 2018.