Virginia touchscreen voting tug of war, an Indiana County limits ties to voting vendor

Some Virginia Registrars are pushing state lawmakers to let them keep buying touchscreen voting machines. This goes against the 2007 law meant to phase out touchscreen voting machines and replace them with paper ballot systems...

Hawaii considers law to keep voting vendors lawsuits from delaying next voting machine purchases...How will Citizens United affect your state's elections and laws? William and Mary Election Law Society is keeping track....

Is Internet voting a good idea? Consider this: "The threat of cyber warfare is on a par with that of nuclear warfare in the 1950s, according to a study published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Britain on Feb."

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

AL: Thousands of Madison County voters could find themselves voting at new location
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/02/thousands_of_madison_county_vo.html

CA: Officials to weigh voting options
Hearing focuses on the changing election process, technology
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100209/A_NEWS/2090315/-1/a_news06
On Monday, state and local election officials met with experts and industry representatives at a hearing in Sacramento to look at how the mechanism of voting has changed in the past 10 years as counties complied with new election laws and what should happen next to ensure accurate and secure elections.

HI: Lawmakers kill bills to overhaul Hawaii's election system
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/breaking/84036192.html

HI: Still No Selection Of Voting Machines
http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Still-No-Selection-Of-Voting-Machines/6jIr7F2zmkmeVutJnimf9Q.cspx
Causing further concern is the possibility that another challenge by a voting machine vendor could further delay the process. To prevent that from happening lawmakers hope to waive the normal procurement process through emergency legislation – House Bill 1901.

IN: County limiting ties to election services company
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/feb/09/county-limiting-ties-to-election-services/
...
But County Clerk Susan Kirk has been negotiating to disengage the county as much as possible from Election Systems & Software

MA: Votes Monday are for mayoral process, not for mayor
http://www.cambridgeday.com/2010/02/08/votes-monday-are-for-mayoral-process-not-for-mayor/

MT: County merges city polling places to just 4
Polling places are only used for federal elections
http://bit.ly/bQ46ej
Billings...Consolidating the 37 polling places allows for less confusion, more control and less need for help, since the county is finding it harder to recruit election judges...

NE: Nebraska Bill to Allow Electronic Signatures on Initiative & Referendum Petitions
http://bit.ly/b9m2iY
February 10th, 2010 Nebraska Senator Bill Avery has intoduced LB 1059, to allow initiative and referendum petitions to be signed electronically

NJ: Provisional ballot challenges suggest racial discrimination
http://njtoday.net/2010/02/09/provisional-ballot-challenges-suggest-racial-discrimination/
LINDEN—A review of voting statistics from the February 2008 presidential primary election reveals what appears to be a pattern of racial discrimination.

NY: All Things Considered: Electronic Voting Costs Dollars and Democracy
http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-things-considered-electronic-voting.html
...BMDs are separate from the Optical Scan Voting Machines and the ballots created can be counted by hand. The issues should not be confused as they often are...

OH: Muscogee elections board to hold Feb. 25 public meeting on consolidating voting precincts
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/breaking_news/story/1007477.html
School district requested polls be removed from some schools
Political activists protesting Columbus' plans to consolidate some voting precincts will get another chance to complain 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 25

VA: Bills would preserve touch-screen voting machines
http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/state_regional/govtpolitics/article/bills_would_preserve_touch-screen_voting_machines/80223/
Susan Greenhalgh, a spokeswoman for Virginia Verified Voting, a coalition that successfully pushed for the ban in 2007, said the computerized systems are more expensive and harder to use.
“They cannot be verified, cannot be recounted and cannot be audited,“ she said. The League of Women Voters also is opposed to the restoration. The State Board of Elections has not taken a stand.

VA: Bills back touch-screen voting machines as cheaper
http://bit.ly/9nYtaU

TX: Upshur clerk: Military residents might miss March 2 primaries
http://bit.ly/a8C9Ex

National:

Citizens United and the States
William and Mary Election Law Society
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/02/10/citizens-united-and-the-states/

Con Games: Bet On Big Oscar Brouhaha
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-conniff/con-games-bet-on-big-osca_b_457263.html
Like the blue folk of Avatar, Hollywood is facing an Oscar scandal of massive proportions without a clue as to what happens in the end.

I know because I live in a town that is still trying to recover from Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), the method of misbegotten democracy just adopted by the Academy Awards in this exponential age of ten nominees for "Best Picture."

Instant Runoff Voting: The Oscars, National Referendum in UK and Much More
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-richie/instant-runoff-voting-the_b_457255.html

Think Tank Warns of Cyber-Warfare Threat
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/02/08/2010020800822.html
The threat of cyber warfare is on a par with that of nuclear warfare in the 1950s, according to a study published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Britain on Feb.

NCSL Legislative Action Bulletin: February 10, 2010
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=19725

International

Automated Elections Do Not Automatically Make Philippines a Democracy
http://bit.ly/baVJx6
Feb 10, 2010 The Philippines will hold its first automated general elections ever in May 2010. However, automation doesn't guarantee fair elections. Does Florida in the 2000 U.S. elections ring a bell?



Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.