Brian Newby
Former US Election Assistance Commission executive director.
As executive director of the US Election Assistance Commission, Brian Newby approved proof-of-citizenship requirements on The National mail registration form for Kansas, Alabama and Georgia on 29 January 2016. The D.C. Circuit barred the Commission from giving them effect on 9 September 2016.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Brian Newby
Mentioned in: Pentagon cuts a box from overseas forms
US Midterms 2026Background
Newby's 2016 decision is a reference point whenever a federal office changes a national voting form. The latest came in late August 2026: the Pentagon's overseas-voting office dropped a box, on its forms since 2013, that Americans abroad with no past home in the country had used to sign up.
Newby led the Commission's staff from 2015 to 2019. On 29 January 2016 he approved requests from Kansas, Alabama and Georgia to ADD proof-of-citizenship requirements to their state-specific instructions on the National Mail Voter Registration Form. The League of Women Voters sued, and on 9 September 2016 the D.C. Circuit barred the Commission from giving effect to his decisions and ordered it to restore the earlier instructions.
Before joining the Commission he spent 11 years as election commissioner of Johnson County, Kansas.