NY new voting machines overvote concerns, Judges initials may impact IL GOP governor election

New York’s new optical scan machines, the ES&S DS200 and Dominion ImageCast will treat overvotes in a way that threatens the voting rights of millions of New Yorkers. The machines do not automatically return overvoted or otherwise erroneous ballots to the voter for correction. A recent Florida study showed that "the ES&S DS200 (the only system in Florida which did not automatically return overvoted ballots to voters) had an overvote rate on Election Day 2008 that was eighteen times higher than that of the systems used in other Florida counties".

Paying our respects: Congressman Jack Murtha, supporter of verified voting efforts, died today, may he rest in peace....Civil rights and labor leader Beth Shulman died on Friday, February 5, she will be missed....

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

AL: Birmingham News Editorial in Favor of Ballot Access Reform
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/02/08/birmingham-news-editorial-in-favor-of-ballot-access-reform/
February 8th, 2010 The Birmingham News of February 8 has this editorial, urging the Alabama legislature to pass Rep. Cam Ward’s ballot access bill.

CA: Secretary of State hearing Monday - Future of Voting in California
http://calvoter.org/news/blog/2010_02_01_blogarchive.html#6542077865288826299

CA: Press release - Secretary of State Debra Bowen Reports One in Five
Voters Now Registered Decline-to-State; More Total Voters
Since Last Statewide Primary in a Gubernatorial Election Year
http://www.sos.ca.gov/admin/press-releases/2010/db10-024.pdf

CA: San Francisco's new election process challenged
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/05/state/n103103S81.DTL&type=politics
Feb 5, 2010...Six people, including unsuccessful Board of Supervisors candidate Ron Dudum, allege in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that voters are disenfranchised because they are limited to only three choices.

FL: Appeals court to hear Palm Beach election challenge
http://bit.ly/bBpAur
February 07, 2010. The Fourth District Court of Appeal will hear attorneys' arguments Tuesday in Gerry Goldsmith's appeal of a judge's decision upholding the result of the town's February 2009 mayoral election and recount

IL: Judges’ Initials in the OpScan Age
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/02/08/judges-initials-in-the-opscan-age/
Champaign County Clerk. With a razor thin margin in the Republican Governor’s race I’m already looking at a potential election contest in light of our new election equipment and new election law.
...
if you cast a vote on paper in the state of Illinois, your ballot being counted is based in large part on whether the judge remembers to initial the ballot.

IL: Dillard wants all ballots counted
http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2010/02/05/dillard-wants-all-ballots-counted
February 5th, 2010. Kirk Dillard, Republican candidate for Illinois Governor, said the ballot counting process in the GOP Primary must continue until all ballots have been verified.
...
Some election officials have said they will wait until February 15 or 16 to count their absentee and provisional ballots...

IL: John F. DiLeo Extensive Commentary on Illinois Democratic Fiasco for Lieutenant Governorship Nomination http://bit.ly/dhAYGF

MN: Cost becomes focus of ranked-choice decision
http://www.republican-eagle.com/event/article/id/64501/
Red Wing Charter Commission. The cost of ranked-choice voting might may be the biggest factor in whether Red Wing city officials embrace it.
...But commissioners say they want to know exactly how much converting to ranked-choice voting would cost before proposing Red Wing adopt the system.

NM: Controversal voter registration bill moves on
http://newmexicoindependent.com/46479/controversal-voter-registration-bill-moves-on
A bill that would allow voters to register and vote on the same day barely cleared the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday

NJ: The Bizarre History of Election Law: The Camden Election Riots of 1870
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/02/08/the-bizarre-history-of-election-law-the-camden-election-riots-of-1870/
February 8, 2010 The Camden Election Riots are a remarkable example of racism and attempted disenfranchisement. Not ten years after the end of the Civil War, partially fought to free black slaves, Northerners were openly attempting to deny blacks the vote.

NY: We're All Concerned About New York's New Voting Machines Now *
http://reformny.blogspot.com/2010/02/were-all-concerned-about-new-yorks-new.html
In short, experiences in Florida and Wisconsin strongly suggest that the way the machines are currently configured will lead to significantly higher error rates for voters, meaning potentially tens of thousands of votes being spoiled for no good reason.

PA: Rep. John Murtha Dies at 77
http://bit.ly/cl8jRB
Wall Street Journal - Naftali Bendavid, Steven Miller - ‎34 minutes ago‎
Rep. John Murtha, the first Vietnam War combat veteran to serve in Congress

TN: Election commission recommends prosecution of felon voters
http://www.stategazette.com/story/1608994.html

National

$300,000 in federal grants are available to fund student mock elections
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/300-000-in-federal-grants-are-available-to-fund-student-mock-elections

Honoring Civil Rights Leader Beth Shulman
http://bit.ly/b9wgCn
February 8, 2010 - Civil rights and labor leader Beth Shulman died from complications with pneumonia on Friday, February 5.


Former GOP Rep. Tancredo: civics literacy test should be required to vote
http://bit.ly/dr5maH
Feb 6, 2010 DENVER - Former Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo told attendees at a Tea Party convention that President Barack Obama was elected because of "people who could not even spell the word ’vote’ or say it in English.’"


International

Ghana: Danquah Institute holds Conference on Biometric Voter Registration and E-voting
http://news.myjoyonline.com/elections/201002/41601.asp

Nigeria: Glitches mar Nigerian's crucial 'test-run' vote
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100206/wl_afp/nigeriapoliticsvote
AWKA, Nigeria (AFP) ...Police assistant Inspector General Isaac Ringim told AFP that there had been two or three incidents of groups trying to capture ballot boxes in the southeastern state and suspects were arrested.
...
"Voter registries are full of inaccuracies and the numbers of people not allowed to vote is significant," said one Western observer.

A senior Catholic priest, who asked not to be identified, said: "On the whole, it's massively rigged and many people have not been given the chance to vote."

Ukraine: Ukraine marches to polls, leaves hope behind
http://bit.ly/9P3IWj




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