Texas elections yesterday a big mess. NM election chief quits.

Texas' elections were a mess yesterday. There were issues with polling places being moved, some not opening, and some opening late. Voting was delayed at one location where poll workers couldn't get the voting machines started. There were voting machine software problems and some contests had to be counted manually - where votes could be counted manually. Wrong electronic ballots went out to one polling place but paper ballots were used instead. Some election workers were in over their heads dealing with the electronic voting machines....

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

AL: Alabama Bill for Proportional Split of Presidential Electors Gets Hearing
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/03/03/alabama-bill-for-proportional-split-of-presidential-electors-gets-hearing/

CO: Boulder County considers all mail-in ballots for primary election
http://www.dailycamera.com/election/ci_14500476#ixzz0hAMwiEoA
...Local election watchdog Al Kolwicz, a trustee with the Colorado Voter Group, said that it's impossible to prove that mail-in ballots increase turnout, since the character of each election is so different.

"The point is that it's not the mail-in ballot that creates higher turnout, it's the contest, it's the stuff that's going on," he said.

And even if mail-in ballots did get more people to vote, the increased turnout would not be worth the increase in security risks associated with mail-in ballots, according to Kolwicz.


HI: Hawaii's all-mail congressional election set for May 22
http://bit.ly/awB0l6
all registered voters in the 1st Congressional District will receive a ballot by early May. Completed ballots must be returned by 6 p.m. on May 22.

IN: Election officials worry vote centers could be eliminated
http://www.jconline.com/article/20100303/NEWS09/100303017
Phillips said Democratic leadership in the House is looking to trade legislation that extends the vote center pilot program for a "no excuse" version of absentee voting.

NM: New Mexico Elections Chief Quits
http://www.ktsm.com/news/new-mexico-elections-chief-quits
Salazar gave no reason.

NY: New Voting Machines Are on the Way -- Probably
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/governing/20100303/17/3200/

NY: County's election costs will almost double
http://www.herkimertelegram.com/news/x655498789/Countys-election-costs-will-almost-double
Herkimer County residents casting ballots at their polling places in the next general election will notice two additional election workers posted at their station.

PA: Nader Gets D.C. Court Hearing in Case Over Pennsylvania Challengers Access to Nader Bank Funds
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/03/03/nader-gets-d-c-court-hearing-in-case-over-pennsylvania-challengers-access-to-nader-bank-funds/

TN: Administrator says $22K needed for upcoming election (Dickson County)
http://bit.ly/bpDxm2

TX: Graford precinct receives ballots made for Gordon *
Voting machine error not caught before Tuesday
http://mineralwellsindex.com/local/x1004930298/Graford-precinct-receives-ballots-made-for-Gordon
MINERAL WELLS — Election judges around the county had varying experiences. Judges for Precincts 4, 21 and 29 had a small glitch with one machine, but said the county clerk’s office came and fixed it quickly, according to one judge.
...
“For some reason it wasn’t caught until they started voting (Tuesday) morning,” she said of the Precinct 7 snafu. “We gave them paper ballots and nobody was denied a vote, there’s no big story in this, it happens, mistakes are made.”


TX: Hidalgo County Election Results Finally 'Final' *
http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Hidalgo-County-Election-Results-Finally-Final/y122EILeMk6FRhrUWC8DEw.cspx
As CHANNEL 5 NEWS first reported, a computer glitch at the election's office created concern and delays election night. County spokesperson Cari Lambrecht blamed a software malfunction that caused early votes to be counted twice. After they discovered the glitch, workers started re-counting the votes from every precinct. Lambrecht wants to reassure voters and candidates the final numbers are accurate.

TX: South Texas county's results delayed by glitches *
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9E7BUSG2.html
Hidalgo County elections staff on Wednesday set about reconciling a rocky election night vote count while standing behind their late-arriving election totals.

Early Tuesday evening, a formatting glitch led county elections officials to opt for a manual count of Republican primary races, said Yvonne Ramon, county elections director. That labor intensive change delayed results by several hours.

Separately, a mistake in the counting of Democratic primary ballots compounded the delay and led to the initial release of inaccurate voting results, forcing some candidates to concede twice.

In that incident, election workers uploading the memory cards from precinct machines forgot to first clear the system of earlier voting totals. The result was a double count of the first 10 precincts to report their votes.

TX: Collin County election results delayed amid heavy voter turnout *
http://bit.ly/bwmzhZ
"A lot of locations probably could have used more [voting] machines," Seals said.

TX: UPDATE: Last-minute change leaves voters in lurch *
Usual polling place at Richland College moved to nearby Richland Elementary
http://bit.ly/cOsN43
...
Toya Owens, who works in the communications and marketing department, said they received many calls from voters who came to Richland College just to find they were in the wrong place.

A Richland employee speaking on the condition of anonymity said voting machines had been delivered to campus previously, but were removed yesterday.

TX: A Late Start For Voting (LTE) *
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=114d1fb27e863a00
The polling location for precincts 146 and 148 located at Calvary Baptist Church, 517 18th Ave. N., in Texas City, wasn’t ready to accommodate voters until 7:22 a.m. Tuesday.

As paper ballots are no longer available, voters were forced to wait until those manning the polls figured out how to operate the electronic hardware. Volunteers assigned to one of the two registration tables were uninformed as what to do as well.

TX: Starr Co. mail-in ballots impounded *
http://www.themonitor.com/news/rio-36024-ballots-starr.html
RIO GRANDE CITY — Authorities have impounded several mail-in ballots on suspicion they may have been tampered with...
...
Silva said a post office clerk reported an individual trying to drop off dozens of mail-in ballots at once.

TX: Precinct problems: Some Democratic polls relocated in Houston area (Harris County, precincts 347 and 709)*
http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Precinct-problems-Some-Democratic-polls-relocated-in-Houston-area-86018817.html

VA: Marginal mayhem
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2010/03/03/marginal-mayhem/
The University Board of Elections should educate the student body further about its voting methodology Lead Editorial / Opinion March 3, 2010

Though polls are closed for the University-wide student elections, questions remain about the University Board of Election’s preferential voting procedures. For those unfamiliar with this system, the UBE uses a technique called instant-runoff voting.

VT: Burlington Voters Repeal Instant Runoff Voting
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/87372/

VT: Burlington rejects instant runoff voting
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100303/NEWS02/100303003/Burlington-rejects-instant-runoff-voting

WA: Washington Secretary of State Web Page Helps Anyone See Documents in Pending Lawsuit Against Top-Two Primary System
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/03/03/washington-secretary-of-state-web-page-helps-anyone-see-documents-in-pending-lawsuit-against-top-two-primary-system/

WV: Internet Absentee Voting Program To Be Tested in May
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/535119.html?nav=510
Marshall County has been chosen to participate in an online absentee voting project in the upcoming May primary election.

The goal of the project is to give all out-of-state military personnel, as well as overseas voters, the opportunity to cast their ballots through a secure Web site.
...
Jackson, Kanawha, Monongalia and Wood counties will also be participating in the pilot program. If the program is successful during the primary election, it may be used in the November general election as well.


National

EAC Chair Donetta Davidson to receive 2010 NASS Freedom Award
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/nass-to-honor-donetta-davidson-as-2010-freedom-award-recipient

For background on Davidson, see article on Davidson:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chair, Donetta Davidson, Knew About Problems of Voting Machine Test Labs But Kept Quiet
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4144


International

Canada: Elections Committee to report on elections ‘irregularities’
http://ubyssey.ca/news/elections-committee-to-report-on-elections-infraction
(Alma Mater Society of UBC Vancouver )..every single race on this year’s elections ballot could be affected, and that the problem only affects online voting.

Canada: AMS Electoral Fraud Presumed; Everything on Ballot Under Review
http://blogs.ubc.ca/ubcinsiders/2010/03/02/ams-electoral-fraud-presumed-everything-on-ballot-under-review/ What has been revealed is that the fraud was not targeted to any portion of the ballot. It has to do with entire ballots being cast illegitimately. Therefore, every single thing on the ballot could be affected, from executive positions, BoG reps, Senate reps, to the single referendum that passed, and even VFM.


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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