ES&S wins NYC bid, Lobbyist indicted, The Limitations of Paper Ballots and Recounts

Editor note: our apologies, voting news was not published yesterday due to incidents out of our control. Normally you can expect voting news to be published 5 days a week. Thank you for your patience.
New study asks: "Burning question for California: Was Prop 8 Straight"...Ballot-look-alike mail stirs up controversy in Oregon...I guess they couldn't afford a stamp? Nearly all Oregon governor hopefuls have skipped voting. Only former secretary of state is a consistent voter...

Department of Defense has started training thousands to help millions register to vote...Some military internet voting experiments on the horizon even though experts say there are too many issues with internet voting.....

Ten Virginia civil-rights and faith-based groups address Virginia's Governor:
“Gov. Kaine has the opportunity to make history and reverse one of the last vestiges of Jim Crow segregation. It is time Virginia joins the ranks of the 48 other states who restore voting rights for former felons when they have paid their debt to society."


CA: Was Pro 8 Straight?
http://www.wasprop8straight.org/index.html
Election Watchdogs and GLBT Rights Groups Call For Investigation!

CO: Bar association weighs in on Worcester-Election Commission conflict
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/138642

HI: Mail-in ballot might boost special election turnout
http://www.starbulletin.com/editorials/20100106_Mail-in_ballot_might_boost_special_election_turnout.html

IN: Bill would allow voters to cast ballot by mail without excuse
http://www.fox59.com/news/sns-ap-in-xgr--votebymail,0,2884850.story

KS: Grant pays for new ballot-counting machines in Cherokee County
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_007212836.html
COLUMBUS, Kan. — New ballot-counting machines will be in place for April city elections in Cherokee County, because of a $17,388 federal grant.

MI: Detroit: The Limitations of Paper Ballots and Recounts
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2753
January 7, 2010 The value of paper ballots and recounts depends on the chain-of-custody and the integrity of election officials. Bev Harris reports in a letter the almost unbelievable, sad situation in a Detroit Mayoral race recount..

MI: Michigan clerks back online registration
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20100107/NEWS15/1070604
Jan 08, 2010 - With so much of every-day life centering around the computer these days, local clerks are by and large in favor of legislation that would allow residents to use the computer to register to vote. Brad Kadrich, Observer & Eccentric.

MT: Citizens United and Montana corruption through history
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=7184
January 8, 2010 The Flathead Beacon has it all this morning for history buffs in this article about Citizens United: a copper magnate, 1912 elections, and bribing state legislators for their votes in a senate election

NM: Some Anthony residents experience voting problems; election otherwise going
http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_14127150
01/05/2010 ANTHONY, N.M. — Some Anthony residents trying to vote in the community's incorporation election today are being turned away because they don't live in the boundaries of the proposed new city —a requirement to vote.

"We're getting quite a few of those," said Doña Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins. "These are people with an Anthony address but don't live within the area proposed for incorporation."

NY: A Day Late... » *
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/01/a-day-late.html
January 6, 2010 One day after the Board of Elections commissioners awarded Election Systems and Software of Omaha a multimillion-dollar contract to provide the city with new electronic voting machines, US Attorney Preet Bharara has indicted one of the firm's lobbyists on corruption charges.
...
Anthony Mangone, described by the Journal News as a "political fixer", was charged with conspiring with a former Yonkers lawmaker to accept bribes and no-show jobs in exchange for pushing two development deals through the local Council.

NY: Monopoly, ES&S, and Nassau County – UPDATED
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2010/01/07/340
Thursday, January 7, 2010 By Bo Lipari
Update 7PM – I’ve posted a copy of the ES&S purchase proposal that I received from several independent sources. See below for an update on the terms of the deal.

OR: Ballot-look-alike mail stirs up controversy
http://www.katu.com/news/local/80758657.html
SALEM, Ore. - The Oregon League of Women Voters said Tuesday that a mailer being sent out by the anti-tax campaign against tax increases on higher wage earners and corporations is meant to drive down voter turnout because it gives voters the impression they’ve already voted.
...
“We have anecdotal evidence it was targeted to senior voters – certain senior voters – and that concerns us,” said Marge Easley president of the Oregon League of Women Voters. “It refers to itself as a ballot – not a poll – so that causes us to be a little more concerned than normal about this,” she said.

OR: Nearly all Oregon governor hopefuls have skipped voting
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100106/NEWS/1060397/1001/news
Only former secretary of state is a consistent voter

UT: Utah Republican Convention Change Could Change Strategy for Candidates
http://utahpolicy.com/featured_article/utah-republican-convention-change-could-change-strategy-candidates
There’s one big change coming to the Republican State Convention in May. The central committee has scrapped “instant run-off voting” in favor of the more traditional multiple-ballot system to determine their nominees.
...
“There was some concern that there was manipulation going on with the ballots as campaigns tried to manipulate who delegates should list as their second choice,” says Hansen

VA: The right to vote
http://augustafreepress.com/2010/01/05/the-right-to-vote/
January 5, 2010 Groups urge Kaine to restore voting rights for ex-felons
Ten Virginia civil-rights and faith-based groups have joined together to ask Gov. Tim Kaine to issue an executive order that would restore voting rights to most or all of Virginia’s 300,000 individuals who are being denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction, and to put in place a process for automatically restoring rights to others who complete their sentences in the future.

WA: Washington State Bill to Warn Petition Signers That Their Names and Addresses May be Public
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/01/08/washington-state-bill-to-warn-petition-signers-that-their-names-and-addresses-may-be-public/

WA: Reed wants fax and email voting for military
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1514/story/854507.html
Olympia Secretary of State Sam Reed wants Washingtonian citizens overseas or serving in the military to have the option of returning their ballots by fax or e-mail.

He’s asking the Legislature for a bill that would allow voting by fax or e-mail as long as the voter’s signed declaration is returned with the ballot

WV: County officials want to offer Internet voting
http://www.dailymail.com/News/201001060585
Program is aimed at members of military and others who are overseas
Thursday January 7, 2010
Although their satellite-voting proposal has been defeated, Kanawha County officials said they also are working on a separate measure to increase access to the polls for some county residents.

Officials plan to take part in a pilot program recently established by the Legislature that will enable military and overseas voters from Kanawha County to cast ballots via the Internet in this year's primary and general elections

WV: Military And Satellite Voting
http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/80952387.html
Jan 7, 2010. Internet voting for Wood County military personnel may be happening, but satellite early voting may wait for the next election cycle.

Computer Technologists' statement on internet voting
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5867

National

DoD trains Thousands to help Millions Register to Vote
http://www.fvap.gov/global/news/nr1-2010.html
On behalf of DOD, the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) kicked off its training program geared to help voting assistance officers at military bases worldwide at a 2010 Election Year press conference Jan. 7.

Thousands of voting assistance officers will help an estimated 6 million uniformed and overseas citizens vote absentee. DOD and DOS directives require a voting assistance officer at the unit level and at every embassy and consulate to facilitate this effort.


What Is Why Tuesday?
http://www.whytuesday.org/2010/01/07/what-is-why-tuesday/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+whytuesday+%28Why+Tuesday%3F%29
Jan 7th,2010 We’re a non-partisan, nonprofit group working to increase participation in elections

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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