July 14, 2009 Voting News - Tenn SOS in media storm, Calls for paper in India, Iran unrest

I've cobbled together some news for you today. I'll think about whether to continue this. I don't know if some of you see this, but I like to open with a picture first. Email me at joyce (at) ncvoter.net

The cost of freedom is very high in Iran.



Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi march through Valiasr Street during riots in Tehran on June 13. Iran has arrested seven members of the main opposition group over the post-election unrest that swept the Islamic republic in June, the official IRNA news agency reported.
(AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri)

NEWS: Tennessee is in the news. The Gov of Tennessee is ignorant about the controversy swirling around the SOS efforts to delay paper ballot implementation, and also has fielded questions about the propriety of the Secretary of State sending field agents to the farm of an e-voting activist. The media storm is growing in severity due to pressure exerted by voting activist leader Bernie Ellis and fellow Tennessee activists on the ground. GA residents challenge evoting at State Supreme Court. NY voters test out Dominion machines. These machines were abysmal when used in Scotland in 2007. Calls for bringing back paper ballots in India. Iran - another report on stats indicating fraud and need for more investigation.

AK Yup'ik voters drop suit against city of Bethel
Jul 14, 2009 - Thanks to a court agreement requiring Yup’ik interpreters and other assistance at the polls, Yup’ik speaking voters have dropped their lawsuit against the city of Bethel, according to city clerk Lori Strickler. Alex Demarban, The Dutch Harbor Fisherman. Read More
http://www.thedutchharborfisherman.com/news/story/6603

GA Ga. residents challenge voting machines
July 13th 2009 - Electronic voting machines in Hall County Elections Office. (file photo) ATLANTA - Upset residents are launching the stiffest challenge yet to Georgia's touch-screen electronic voting system, arguing that there's no way to ensure ballots cast are recorded and tabulated correctly.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=221766

MO. PRESS RELEASE: New Case Study Documents Successful Turnaround of Missouri's Public Agency Registration Program - Project Vote
...Project Vote and a coalition of voting rights groups filed lawsuits in Indiana and New Mexico, to compel public assistance agencies in those states to provide their clients with the opportunity to register to vote. Today, Project Vote is releasing a new report,Registering Low-Income Voters through Public Assistance Agencies in Missouri, which shows just how well this program can work.

PA. Gov Rendell signs bill affecting voting machine standards. Senate Bill 33 .. it bars the Secretary of the Commonwealth from approving a voting machine that does not comply with Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-14-2009/0005059972&EDATE=

TN Election commissioners admit violation of sunshine law
Jul 14, 2009 - An attorney defending commissioners serving on the Cumberland County Election Commission admitted the group violated the state's Open Meetings Act (Sunshine Law) in naming Sharon York as administrator of elections. Gary Nelson, Crossville Chronicle. Read More
http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_194174023.html

TN Democrats Continue to Pressure Secretary of State Over 2010 Voting Machines
July 14, 2009 - Last week, Tennessee democrats called for the ouster of Secretary of State, Tre Hargett.
They accuse him of dragging his feat in implementing the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act passed last year that requires a paper trail for all voting machines.
http://www.wdef.com/news/democrats_continue_to_pressure_secretary_of_state_over_2010_voting_machines/07/2009

TN Bredesen Admits Ignorance About Voting Controversy
Jul. 14 2009 Gov. Phil Bredesen admitted today he's essentially clueless about one of the state's biggest political controversies.
http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/2009/07/bredesen_admits_ignorance_abou.php


NJ GOP: Restrict ex-convicts from messenger ballots
Jul 14, 2009 - State Sen. Jim Whelan's legislation placing tougher restrictions on messenger- and absentee-ballot laws has been criticized by Republicans as being too late and too lenient. You can now add "too inclusive" to that list. Michael Clark, Press of Atlantic City. Read More
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/article_8d1354a6-5fae-5715-883e-f358de830317.html

NY. Voters learn how to use new machine
July 14th, 2009 NORWICH – Chenango County voters may learn how to use the new Dominion voting machines this week at a mock election being held in the lobby of the County Office Building....Voters will mark a paper ballot which is then fed into a scanning device. http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2009-07-14/7408/Voters-learn-how-to-use-new-machine/

WV. Putnam County To Gauge Interest on Satellite Voting
Jul 14, 2009 WINFIELD, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A new law in West Virginia will allow counties to establish early voting locations in various areas,
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/50782202.html

National. EAC Public Meeting & Hearing Report for July 14, 2009
Public Meeting: Commissioners approved re-accreditation of the following two EAC voting system test laboratories: SysTest Labs (approved 3-0) and iBeta Labs (approved 3-0). Commissioners received a briefing and presentation on the 2009 Accessible Voting Technology Initiative. For more information, click here.
http://www.congressweb.com/t/l/?BOKLZJRPVBJGZXQ

India. Reintroduce ballot papers: Naqvi
July 14,2009 Reintroduce ballot papers: Naqvi Jaipur
Echoing party stalwart L K Advani's views, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today asked the Election Commission to replace Electronic Voting Machines by ballot papers in upcoming assembly polls in some states
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/622944/Politics/6/80/6

Iran. Statistical Tests Suggestive of Fraud in Iran's Election
July 14, 2009. U.S. News & World Report ‎
An American statistician says strong statistical evidence backs up the claims of Iranian protestors that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June election was fraudulent.Walter Mebane of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor analyzed Iranian election data and found anomalies strongly suggesting that ballot boxes were stuffed with extra votes for Ahmadinejad. Mebane also identified 81 towns where further investigations are likely to find evidence of fraud...
http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/2009/07/14/statistical-tests-suggestive-of-fraud-in-irans-election.html


Joyce McCloy
www.ncvoter.net and www.instantrunoffvoting.us