Birther run for CA Sec of State. Irrational Exuberance for Internet Voting. Auto Voter Registration?

An interesting candidate to run for California Secretary of State, Orly Taitz...Oakland, CA debates whether to use funds from campaign finance towards educating voters about instant runoff voting...Wisconsin considers a bill to automatically register drivers...CNN has an "article" advocating for internet voting. (It reads like a vendor issued press release). CNN's expert? Not a computer technologist or internet security expert but Everyone Counts CEO Lori Steel whose background is in finance. Steel worked as a private wealth advisor at Solomon Smith Barney. Steel bought Everyone Counts in 2006...

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

CA: 'Birther Queen' Orly Taitz to Run for CA Sec. of State
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7751
If elected, plans 'investigation' of Obama birth certificate

CA: California Judge Tentatively Rules Against Electronic Signatures on Petitions
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/03/19/california-judge-tentatively-rules-against-electronic-signatures-on-petitions/

CA: Should Oakland spend $255K for voter education? Mayor Dellums' vote will be the tie breaker at city a council meeting next month.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=59490
On Tuesday night, an Oakland City Council vote about whether or not to redirect $255,000 earmarked for public campaign financing to educate Oakland residents about the city's new voting system resulted in a tie.

CA: De La Fuente Offers New Campaign Finance Plan
http://bit.ly/b8gfTS

FL: Fla. House passes election law changes
http://bit.ly/caTi4o It would still require some groups or individuals engaged in "election-related activities" to register with the state if they raise more than $5,000, but not those focused only on issues.

MT: Montana secretary of state says more election judges needed
http://bit.ly/b8obgT
... to help deal with an anticipated shortage for the fall elections

NC: Beacon Investigates: A closer look at voter registration
http://bit.ly/9pZfAc

SC: Judge may rule on Columbia election today
Arguments for and against April 6 presented
http://bit.ly/adXBbI Columbia City Council schedules an election but makes it impossible for voters to register to vote in that election.

TN: Bill on county election administrators questioned
http://bit.ly/aChQTc State Rep. Bill Dunn's attempt to "clarify" the duties of county election administrators is being criticized as a move to politicize the position and make it easier to fire administrators who were hired by Democrat-controlled election commissions

TX: Dallas County justice of the peace files suit, seeks recount
http://bit.ly/a9Xuvq
The suit alleges mail-in ballots were counted despite procedural violations.

TX: Bickerstaff: The real trouble with corporate cash in campaigns
http://bit.ly/b7whsK the corporate lobbyist is endowed with the implicit threat that, if the officeholder ignores the corporation's legislative needs, the corporation may fund (directly or indirectly) a campaign against the incumbent

WI: Bill would automatically register drivers to vote
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/88416717.html
unless a voter opts out, the state would automatically sign the voter up by sharing information between different databases.

WV: West Virginia Moves on Corporate Campaign Finance Disclosure
http://bit.ly/92Wq0O West Virginia is one of over 20 states affected by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. The state used to ban corporate political expenditures. Now its ban is gone.

Internet Voting Watch

Dust Settles on Internet Voting Debate; Mea Culpa Included
http://bit.ly/cK80bF
We had some intense moments of heated disagreement and heated agreement.

The Looming UOCAVA Internet Voting Debate (includes hate mail)
http://www.trustthevote.org/the-looming-uocava-internet-voting-debate
I am disclosing all of the topics and questions in tomorrow’s (apparently) much anticipated Internet Voting Debate

E-voting to kill hanging chads (reads like advert for internet voting vendor)
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/18/smallbusiness/everyone_counts/

E-vote for fall poll?
http://bit.ly/aWsjA5 St. Thomas ...That's if St. Thomas council gives the green light to a motion from Ald. Lori Baldwin-Sands to introduce online voting for the 2010 municipal election.

Secretary of State Tennant Attends Summit in Germany
http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=77013
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is representing W.Va. at the Overseas Vote Foundation Summit in Munich, Germany.



National

LIVE WEBCAST: When Corporations Become People
http://bit.ly/a4UEUP

"A way for corporations to contribute to political campaigns and preserve democracy at the same time"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015527.html


International

GEC: Ballots To Be Counted Manually
http://bit.ly/8Y1HRd Guam Election Commission Director John Blas says first results would be expected by late Saturday night but it could be hours longer, because for the first time in years, the ballots will be counted manually.


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