Aspen tries to stop deposition of TrueBallot, US DOJ showdown over GA voter verification, No ballot mulligans

No mulligan rule in elections - The wrong name will be on a ballot for a school board race in St Louis MO and can't be corrected because the voting machines are already programmed and ballots printed..

...The Georgia bill to have troops vote over the internet has passed the house and heads to the senate next. Meanwhile the former Director of National Intelligence told a senate panel that "If the nation went to war today, in a cyber war, we would lose,”...

The Philippines ballot boxes have switched at the last minute -from translucent to opaque black design to protect ballot markings from sunlight. Additionally there will be no audit before poll winners are proclaimed...

Paying our respects: Condolences to Rick Hasen of ElectionLawBlog on the passing of his father.

All this and more in today's voting news below.....

CA: "Initiative would put redistricting back into Legislature's hands"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015340.html

CO: Reply in Support of Defendant’s Motion for a Protective Order- Marks v. Koch (Aspen Election Transparency Suit)
http://bit.ly/bMurHu On February 16, 2010 the Aspen City attorneys filed a memorandum in support of their motion for a protective order to prevent or limit Marilyn Marks from deposing TrueBallot Inc.

CO: August election will be mail-in in Eagle Countuy
http://bit.ly/9ioBw5

GA: The Showdown Over Preclearance of Georgia's Voter Verification Program
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015341.html
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice has rarely exercised its preclearance power under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to stop election adminstration rules from taking effect. But in a letter issued Monday, DOJ declines to withdraw its objection to Georgia's proposed program for verifying voters' citizenship.

GA: Bills aid open records, overseas voting, education
http://bit.ly/cB3QVO
The House passed House Bill 655, which establishes a pilot program beginning with the 2012 general and primary elections, to allow the electronic transmission of absentee ballots by those in the military and for overseas residents.

HI: Hawaii Officials Plan For 5/22 Special House Election
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/02/hawaii_official.php
The HI State Office of Elections has set 5/22 as the target date for the special election to replace Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-01),

MN: Interview with Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie
http://bit.ly/btnC87

MO: Clayton school district error leads to wrong name on ballot *
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/02/22/daily29.html
St. Louis. Susan Buse is running for re-election to the Clayton school board but you won’t find her name on the April 6 ballot.

Instead, you’ll find her maiden name, Susan Bradley. A Clayton school district official miscopied Buse’s name when filling out paperwork to submit to the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners in January.

NE: Soldiers to receive voting confirmation
http://bit.ly/akA6AA

NC: Internet elections (LTE pushing internet voting)
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/24/354595/internet-elections.html

TN: Tennessee Bills Would Remove Recount Authority in Primaries from Political Parties
http://bit.ly/bwKCZK
Bills are pending in both houses of the Tennessee legislature to provide that when a partisan primary election result is disputed, the dispute should be resolved by an administrative law judge, not by the political party’s own officials.

VT: Burlington IRV draws outside money
http://bit.ly/aRFDMc

WA: Lawmakers take aim at Pierce County voting methods while ignoring real problem
http://bit.ly/a3LtZ7
...House Bill 1572 simply mandates all mail-in voting statewide. It's an unnecessary and terribly intrusive mandate. The state has no compelling interest in exactly how Pierce County voters are allowed to cast votes.
...
The obvious fix - requiring that ballots be received by the end of Election Day, as Oregon and virtually every other state that votes mostly by mail does - could not be simpler.

WI: Editorial: State should go slow on National Popular Vote bill
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20100223/OSH0602/2230372
The bill would change the way Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes are assigned. Instead of going to the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in the state, Wisconsin's votes would go to the candidate who won the national popular vote.

National

Condolences to Rick Hasen (Dan Tokaji will be filling in for Rick for awhile)
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015342.html

U.S. Unprepared for ’Cyber War’, Former Top Spy Official Says
http://bit.ly/dwZRrO

"Campaign Finance Shift May Aid Critics"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015336.html

America Facilitates Absentee Voting
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=49247


International

Canada: City moves to paperless ballots for next election
http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2462428
Paper ballots are out for this October's municipal elections in Stratford.
The Internet and telephone are in.

Philippines: Ballot boxes switched at last minute
http://bit.ly/dmf7RS
He said while the commissioners were initially sold on translucent ballot boxes, they had to go with an opaque black design that would shield the security markings from sunlight

Comelec chief: No audit before poll winners are proclaimed
http://bit.ly/bDPG9d
Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo on Wednesday rejected the idea of conducting the random manual audit before the declaration of the winners in the May polls, saying that it will only cause unnecessary delays.

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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