1 in 10 Cuyahoga voting machines fail. GA troops i-voting guinea pigs. Violence fears for Sudan, Philippines elections

Georgia passed bill to use overseas military as guinea pigs in an internet voting experiment...MO. House approves voter ID's, early voting...10 percent of Cuyahoga County Ohio's ES&S DS200 voting machines fail pre-election tests...200+ letters already sent to ex-felons in Virginia telling them to write a "personal letter to the Governor" to get their voting rights restored. Gov spokesperson says letters were sent in error...Lawyers' Committee Objects to Felon Restoration Rules in Virginia: Says Section 5 Preclearance is Necessary...Violence & fraud expected in Sudan and Philippines elections...

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

CO: Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, April 11, on maintaining easier voting participation while preventing voter fraud:
http://www.reporterherald.com/Opinion-story.asp?ID27668
The challenge is to strike a balance between practices that make it easier to vote with those practices that ensure an accurate vote.

CO: Second Meeting of Aspen 2010 Election Commission- comments
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/second-meeting-of-aspen-2010-election.html

GA: Voting measure awaits governor's signature (internet voting experiment)
http://www.forsythnews.com/news/article/4898/
If Gov. Sonny Perdue signs House Bill 665, overseas voters will participate in a pilot program that allows them to vote electronically, instead of mailing paper ballots.

GA: Kemp: No politics in pre-clearance moves
http://onlineathens.com/stories/041410/let_606811761.shtml

MD: "Maryland enacts law to count incarcerated people at their home addresses; First-in-nation law will improve fairness and accuracy of the Census data used for redistricting"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015693.html

MO: Mo. House approves voter ID's, early voting (goes to senate next)
http://www.koamtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12312375

N.M. county clerks receive old voter registration cards
http://www.koat.com/news/23142862/detail.html
County clerks around the state are in limbo Tuesday night wondering what they're supposed to do with completed voter registration cards that dated to the 2008 election.

NY: What Do You Do With Old Voting Machines?
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100401/DCO01/304019907
MASSENA - Now that St. Lawrence County's 115 lever-style voting machines can no longer be used for official elections, the Board of Elections is trying to decide what to do with them.

OH: 10 percent of Cuyahoga County's voting machines fail pre-election tests*
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/04/some_cuyahoga_countys_voting_m.html
With just weeks until the May 4 primary election, the system's manufacturer, Election Systems & Software Inc., has been unable to find what is causing the machines to arbitrarily power down and lock up during a test.
...
But it is hard to tell how pervasive the problem is. Board members were told at their meeting Tuesday that some machines that first passed the test, later failed when the procedure was repeated.

Employees stopped the test after 19 of the 279 machines had problems. Those 19 were put aside, and the staff started the tests on the others all over again. By the time they had retested 200 machines, nine of those that initially passed had failed the second time around.

TX: Commissioner candidate alleges voter fraud
http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=443784
The Precinct 2 Commissioner candidate alleged that mail-in ballot numbers were “blatantly discrepant” with regular in-person voting.

TX: Runoff Voting Underway; Voters Mistakenly Turned Away
http://www.kbtx.com/local/headlines/90748844.html
There was an issue at Aldersgate Methodist Church in College Station Tuesday morning, which acts as Precinct 40. According to county officials, six voters were mistakenly turned away by election workers because they had not voted in the primary.

TX: Voters: Polling stations hard to find in runoff race
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Voters-complain-polling-stations-hard-to-find-in-runoff-race-90783174.html DALLAS — About one percent of Dallas County voters turned out for Tuesday's runoff elections.

While turnout was low, there was still confusion over where to vote, and some residents were turned away from their polling places.

TX: Fresh questions about Dallas primary votes (video available)
http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/New-questions-about-Dallas-primary-votes-90805464.html DALLAS — Mystery votes, allegations of fraud, and conflicting stories about who lives where — new questions in an ongoing News 8 investigation into voter fraud going back to the March primary election.
...
It's all part of the growing confusion and intrigue surrounding an election that is already the subject of inquiry by the Texas Attorney General's office, and could well become part of a criminal investigation.

TX: Polls close hour late after software problem *
http://www.ultimatefortbend.com/2010/04/problem-plagues-fort-bend-polling-places
All polls in Fort Bend County closed an hour later than previously scheduled under a judge's order after problems plagued the electronic polling lists at each voting location.
...
A San Diego, Calif.-based voter registration software vendor found a clue to the problem and provided a fix at about 12:30 p.m., which was tested by the county election office, Oldham said.

VA: McDonnell spokesman says voting rights letter sent to felons 'without approval'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/
AR2010041304600.html
http://tiny.cc/9ybxn RICHMOND -- Letters telling more than 200 felons in Virginia that they had to write a "personal letter to the Governor" to get their voting rights restored were sent in error,
...
Heath said 213 nonviolent felons have applied to have their rights restored since McDonnell was sworn into office in January. Ninety-five percent of them had written letters to the governor by an April 1 deadline, Martin said Tuesday.

VA: Lawyers' Committee Objects to Felon Restoration Rules in Virginia: Says Section 5 Preclearance is Necessary
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015694.html

National

FCC broadband plan embraces voter registration modernization (special to Electionline weekly newsletter)
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/
Reports/Electionline_Reports/electionlineWeekly04.08.10.pdf
or http://tinyurl.com/y748hse

Solving the Epidemic of Disappearing Poll Workers
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/04/14/solving-the-epidemic-of-disappearing-poll-workers-part-1-young-people/
Part 1: Young People - There is a disease spreading throughout our nation’s polling locations. The graying of America is seen most potently behind the polls.

Froma Harrop Column on Rise of Independent Governors in New England
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/04/14/froma-harrop-column-on-rise-of-independent-governors-in-new-england/

Voting After Criminal Conviction 2010 Spring Update
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/voting_after_criminal
_conviction_2010_spring_update/ or http://tinyurl.com/y7fk9rw
As we gear up for a busy spring and summer, here is a brief update on some of our recent work to restore voting rights to people with criminal convictions

International

Philippines: Philippine Elections Plagued by Rumors, Violence and Computer Fears
Philippine elections, notoriously open to fraud, violence and intimidation, are difficult to predict.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/philippine-elections-plagued-by-rumors-violence-and-computer-fears/369470
Voters may be threatened to vote for a candidate or not to vote at all. Bailiwicks are assaulted or homes of ward leaders strafed or burned, and candidates or their campaign managers may be ambushed during the last rounds of negotiations. The election day itself, the two wrote, “is also characterized by a high incidence of death and violence, usually triggered by real or suspected fraud.”

Sudan: Elections Spark New Fears In Darfur Camps
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/14/world/international-us-sudan-darfur.html?_r=1
...In the lead-up to the polls, Bashir threatened to cut off the fingers and tongues of election observers - another worrying signal to Western aid groups after the president threw out leading relief organizations last year.

Internet Voting Watch:

Canada: Forum looks at ‘why people aren’t voting’Online voting, ranked ballots, lowering voting age all on table in talks on electoral reform
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/794899--forum-looks-at-why-people-aren-t-voting Online voting, the party system, term limits, lowering the voting age — everything was on the table at Better Ballots’ first town hall meeting Tuesday night.


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