8/18 Plaudits for Audits, MN's IRV test, NY's candidate whack-a-mole, Biometrics in Voter ID

The economy continues to impact election administration. Shrinking voter rolls for Annapolis Maryland. Plaudits for (Post-Election) Audits (video) :} The push for voter id in Mississippi continues. In Minnesota, instant runoff voting tested. In New York, one out of every five would-be candidates for local office gets knocked off the ballot. Meanwhile, the PA Supreme Court upheld the practice of charging candidates for the costs of removing them from the ballot. 2 accused of double voting in Arizona. King County has joined most Washington state in all-mail voting, Bolivia will use biometric voter ID. Japan's Twitter-Free Election Campaign.


AZ. 2 in court accused of double voting
If they did, it was error, lawyer says
08.14.2009 The attorney for a Green Valley couple accused of voting twice in the 2008general election says if his clients did so, it was an innocent mistake rather than a malicious act...The Marshalls are accused of voting in the general election in both Kansas — where they lived until relocating to Green Valley last year — and Arizona, court records show
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/304900


GA. First Brief Filed in Georgia Ballot Access Case
August 18th, 2009 On August 17, Faye Coffield filed her first brief in the 11th circuit, in Coffield v Handel, 09-13277, the case challenging the 5% (of the number of registered voters) petition requirement for minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House. As the brief makes abundantly clear, no one has completed this petition since 1964,
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/18/first-brief-filed-in-georgia-ballot-access-case/

IL. Without GOP Support, Quinn Signs Voter Registration Extension
August 18, 2009 ...HB 267 (now Public Act 96-0441), sponsored by Rep. Will Davis and Sen. James Meeks, extends that grace period one additional week, leaving only seven days between the final deadline and the opening of the polls.
http://progressillinois.com/2009/8/17/without-gop-quinn-registration


IN. Election costs and police pay wipe out most of county's new money as budget hearings hit crunch time
http://www.chestertontribune.com/PorterCounty/81891%20election_costs_and_police_pay_wi.htm

IN. Knox mayor says he'll testify before grand jury
Aug 17, 2009 at 4:54 KNOX — Mayor Rick Chambers has been issued a subpoena to appear before a grand jury Wednesday to testify into alleged voter fraud and perjury, he said Monday in a news release.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/53494297.html

KY. Bullitt Fiscal Court to discuss voting machines
August 17, 2009 Bullitt County Fiscal Court will hear an update on buying new voting machines at Tuesday's meeting...Mooney's office is working to redraw precinct boundaries and add new ones, which could require 24 to 30 new machines,
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090817/ZONE10/908170346/1008/NEWS01

MD. Annapolis voter rolls downsized
Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 now
08/17/09 Registered voters in Annapolis are doing two things: turning bluer and disappearing
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2009/08/17-30/Annapolis-voter-rolls-downsized.html

MN. Residents try hand at new voting system
Instant-runoff voting is easier to cast than count, judging by our informal test run that sampled people ranging from our office to a senior citizen residence.
http://www.startribune.com/local/53359392.html?page=1&c=y

MS. Rosamond seeks judicial review of Canton Ward 1 election
August 17, 2009 ... Though Brown has been carrying out alderman duties since his swearing-in in July, Rosamond wants the election results thrown out because of alleged fraud and illegal voting in the May 19 runoff between he and Brown.
http://www.mcherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090817/NEWS/90817004

MS. Lt. Gov. pushes voter ID reform at Starkville meeting
August 18, 2009 ...Bryant’s plea Monday was part of a statewide Republican campaign to gather signatures and allow citizens to weigh in on whether or not voters should have to present valid photo ID.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=2540

NC. Council mulls early voting sites
August 13, 2009 Greenville's City Council is requesting an early voting site be placed at the city's municipal building on Fifth Street following a lengthy debate Thursday night.
http://www.reflector.com/news/council-mulls-early-voting-sites-774465.html

NV. In deal, ex-ACORN official promises to testify against others
Aug. 18, 2009 ...Christopher Edwards, 33, the former Las Vegas field director for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, pleaded guilty to two gross misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/18/deal-ex-acorn-official-cops-voter-quota-scheme/

NY. CASTING A VOTE FOR FAIRER BALLOT ACCESS
When one out of every five would-be candidates for local office gets knocked off the ballot, some say the process needs to change.
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3788&content_type=1&media_type=3

NY. New York Omits Candidate From Absentee Ballots Even Though Court Put Him On Ballot August 17th, 2009
According to this story in the New York Daily News, the New York City Board of Elections has printed absentee ballots in City Councilman Alan Gerson’s race that do not include Gerson’s name.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/17/new-york-omits-candidate-from-absentee-ballots-even-though-court-put-him-on-ballot/

OH. Local election official interviewed by FBI
The FBI has interviewed a local election official about campaign reports. Mahoning County http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=10945254

PA. Monroe judge candidate's nominating voter signatures challenged
Supporters of judicial candidate Jennifer Harlacher, left, are challenging the validity of voter signatures on independent candidate Wieslaw Niemoczynski's.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090818/NEWS/908180316

PA. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Again Upholds Costs for Candidates Whose Petitions Are Rejected August 18th, 2009
On August 18, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court again upheld the unique Pennsylvania practice of charging candidates for the costs of removing them from the ballot.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/18/pennsylvania-supreme-court-again-upholds-costs-for-candidates-whose-petitions-are-rejected/

TN. Administrator of Elections Confronts County Commission Monday Night
...Stedl will argue that the Election Commission’s proposed budget line item for retaining its own legal counsel is justified & is in accordance with Tennessee State law.
http://www.ucdailynews.com/news/local/53422297.html

TN. Day 9 of Operation: Please Offer Proof (P.O.P)
August 18, 2009 It’s been nine days since this proofer asked Secretary of State Tre Hargett and State Election Coordinator Mark Goins to present proof to the voters of Tennessee that even one vote cast during any election using the 100% unverifiable electronic voting machines we use now in 93 out of 95 counties in Tennessee has ever been recorded accurately, as per the voters’ intent.
http://www.liberadio.com/2009/08/18/day-9-of-operation-please-offer-proof-pop/

WA. Cast your ballot: Election Day arrives
But don't go to the polls; It's an all-mail election
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/409352_election18.html

US. Election Reform At Netroots Nation 2009
August 18th, 2009 Repairing our Democracy: Voter Registration Modernization and other Solutions Highly knowledgeable experts on the panel seemed to develop the consensus that the system is broken. CA SOS Bowen: “If we’re disenfranchising people who are serving us it’s time for the states to voluntarily figure out one cohesive consistent way that it works.”
http://www.whytuesday.org/2009/08/18/election-reform-at-netroots-nation-2009/

US. INSIDE WASHINGTON: Election regulators strained
WASHINGTON — Born in the political rubble of the Watergate scandal, the nation's 34-year experiment with limiting the influence of big money in federal elections is being tested as never before...Now, the ideological fight is over whether government can even try to prevent corporations and unions from spending millions on politics.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIqvcpbHZs1HoqbjGcPwSd6hOEZwD9A555UG1

US. Plaudits for (Post-Election) Audits by Mark Lindeman (YouTube video)
Fun and educational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skgCMNF2qlE

Afghanistan On eve of elections, fraud concerns loom (and video)
18 August 2009 A day before polls are set to open across Afghanistan, there are widespread fears that the precarious security situation will provide a smokescreen for election fraud, which could benefit the incumbent
http://www.france24.com/en/20090818-fraud-concerns-on-eve-elections-afghanistan-campaigns

Bolivia. CNE Brings Transparency to Voting with Cross Match Livescan Solution
L SCAN Guardian System Deployment Now Underway Throughout Bolivia
Cross Match Technologies, Inc., a global provider of biometric identity solutions, was selected by Bolivia’s national electoral commission to help modernize its voter registration process...a biometric-based voter registration program
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090817005136&newsLang=en

India. Brisk polling till noon
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 ..Polling was suspended for about half hour in Srivaikuntam due to some malfunctioning in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) but resumed after it was set right, police said.
http://www.samaylive.com/news/brisk-polling-till-noon/647889.html

Japan. Japan's Twitter-Free Election Campaign
Aug. 18, 2009 ...as their names were blared out on the first day of political open season, their campaigns on Twitter and Facebook were silent. One thing that Japanese politicians aren't armed with is the Internet
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1917137,00.html