1 in 10 AZ voters get wrong info. The Kansas Report and voter purges. Nassau ordered to ditch levers

While Michigan, Minnesota, California's Humboldt County and even other cities ..reaffirm citizens' rights to oversight, "Aspen taxpayers are funding an expensive battle to fight election transparency. Aspen, of all places." writes Mike LaBonte in LTE...Mississippi has entered into an agreement with several states to pull together what's been called "The Kansas Report." to purge duplicate voter registrations....Nassau County Bo Elections told to replace Lever Voting Machines...India should ditch EVMs, says expert: "Computers can be programmed to count votes honestly. But since nobody can watch them, they might just as easily be programmed to count dishonestly." ~ Rop Gonggrijp, a security researcher from the Netherlands...

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

AL: Ford requesting investigation, safeguards in possible 'vote fraud'
http://www.thetuskegeenews.com/articles/2010/05/20/news/doc
 4bf4011accea8721501724.txt  http://is.gd/cjIUe
State Senate candidate Johnny Ford of Tuskegee has met with a U.S. Attorney to ask for an investigation into possible voter fraud in Bullock County.

AR: Voting error alters result in Poinsett * (ES&S iVotronic)
http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.php?ID=43278
...Poinsett County Clerk Fonda Condra told the county’s election commission that 53 electronic ballots for justice of the peace in District 8 were thrown out. That changed the total vote count from a 151-142 win for Jones to a 122-118 win for Sadler.

Condra said a poll worker brought up the wrong voting screen at the Bolivar township polling site in Harrisburg.
AR: Arkansas Green Party Trial Moved Into July
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/05/21/arkansas-green-party-trial-moved-into-july/

AZ: Wrong voting info sent to 191,000 Arizona homes *
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/20/20100520arizona-polling-errors-during-sales-tax-vote.html   Leading up to Tuesday's sales-tax election, more than 10 percent of Arizona voters were told to cast ballots at the wrong location — and the reason why is in dispute.

AZ: Ninth Circuit, on 3-0 Vote, Upholds Matching Funds Requirement in Arizona Public Financing Scheme

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016034.html
In this post -Citizens United world, this is a rare win for supporters of reasonable campaign finance regulation.

CA: Attorney General OK's Monterey County election changes
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100520/NEWS01/100520037/1002/NEWS
 01/Attorney+General+OK+s+Monterey+County+election+changes http://is.gd/cjARo
...state senate election to replace Santa Maria Republican Abel Maldonado - now lieutenant governor

CA:  Tulare County absentee ballots on way; cause of delay is not clear (for June 8 election)
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100520/NEWS01/5200313/1002/Tulare-County-absentee-ballots-on-way-cause-of-delay-is-not-clear  Tulare County absentee voters who've not yet received a ballot may ask for a replacement if it doesn't arrive soon, county election officials said.

CA: Thousands of SF voters got wrong mail-in ballot

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15128512?nclick_check=1
SAN FRANCISCO—Thousands of San Francisco voters are holding wrong or duplicate mail-in ballots for the upcoming election because of a blunder by a contractor.

CO: Fighting good public policy (LTE by voting integrity activist Mike LaBonte)
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100521/LETTER/100529970/1020&parentprofile=1061
The arguments against transparency seem to be rooted in fuzzy laws and a misunderstanding of the meaning of “secret ballot.” The same issue came up in Michigan, but Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox explained it quite well in his recent decision that ballots are indeed subject to Freedom of Information Act requests:

CT: Legal History Perspectives on the Connecticut Bysiewicz Decision
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016031.html

HI: Hawaii moves primary to accomodate troups
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/05/ap_military_hawaii_voting_052010/

IN: Hendricks County board to share election records

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100520/LOCAL05/5200450/1020/LOCAL05/Hendricks-County-board-to-share-election-records
DANVILLE -- The Hendricks County Election Board has agreed to give Avon Town Council candidates in two of the Republican primary races access to May 4 election records.
...
election records including poll books, voting machine reports, paper ballots and ballot applications for absentee and early voting be opened for review and inspection.

...
Yackey's petition claims that errors may have been made during the election in which some Avon voters may have been given out-of-town ballots in which the Avon Town Council races didn't appear.

NJ: McCormick Calls For Fair Election
http://njtoday.net/2010/05/21/mccormick-calls-for-fair-election/
Voting machine flaws discovered in the February 2008 presidential race have not been corrected, according to a Democratic candidate for County Clerk.


KY: Whitely county voters switch to paper ballots
http://thetimestribune.com/homepage/x1414107929/Whitley-County-voters-switch-to-paper-ballots

MS: Hosemann: Many voters dually registered

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100520/NEWS01/5200346/1002
More than 27,000 voters on Mississippi's rolls also are registered in other states - which is illegal in the state, according to the Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann
...
Hosemann said the state has entered into an agreement with several states to pull together what's been called "The Kansas Report."

NY: Non-Party Nassau County Board of Elections Ordered to Implement Order Related to Replacing Lever Voting Machines  http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016030.html
As someone who regularly teaches Remedies, I found this order quite unusual, given what I understand to be the power of a court to order a non-party to comply with an injunction or consent decree

OH: Printer error has Summit recounting absentee ballots by hand * (ballot on demand )

http://www.ohio.com/news/94622934.html
...
Summit County elections board employees will be working this weekend to count 8,000 absentee ballots by hand, thanks to a printer error.

The ballots were produced on a ballot-on-demand printer that incorrectly lined up the issues portion of some ballots. This meant the ovals filled in by voters were skewed, making it impossible for the optical-scan machines to read them properly.

Board employees discovered the problem Wednesday when doing remakes on ballots that had been improperly filled out by voters.
OH: Summit elections board reluctant to pay up  ($197,000)

http://www.ohio.com/news/94543494.html
The Summit County elections board plans to appeal a decision that said Summit County Children Services was improperly charged to place its 2007 levy on the ballot.
VA: McDonnell trims wait times for felons applying for voting rights

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/05/mcdonnell_trims_waittimes_for.html
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) announced today that he is reducing the time that must pass, from three years to two, before a nonviolent felon who has completed his sentence can apply to have his voting rights restored.
...
Thirty-nine states automatically return voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences. In Virginia, rights are revoked upon conviction and can be restored only by action of the governor.


WV: NEW INFO: Votes to be Recounted, Names of Dead on Absentee Ballots

http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/93158104.html
In Lincoln County, some are questioning the validity of those votes after the names of deceased people showed up on absentee ballots.

WV: More Suspicions Surface After Lincoln County Election

http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=80129
One county official says at least 11 dead people requested absentee ballots for the May primary.
...
Vance added voters were misled. He alleged voters who took advantage of early voting unknowingly signed absentee ballot applications when they registered for early voting.


National

Fair Elections Act commitment: Congress says goodbye to $2 million
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fairelectionswisconsin/message/2369

ES&S Completes Agreement to Sell Premier Election Solutions Intellectual Property and Other Assets

http://www.prlog.org/10691839-ess-completes-agreement-to-sell-premier-election-solutions-intellectual-property-and-other-assets.html   Resolution will allow jurisdictions using Premier voting technology to move forward in election planning by selecting the vendor that best meets their needs
...
“ES&S retains ownership of Premier which retains the rights to support currently installed Premier products,”

International

Ghana: Avoiding a hasty adoption of E-voting in Ghana
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=182419

India: Tamper-proof? Scientists show EVMs can be hacked
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tamper-proof-Scientists-show-EVMs-can-be-hacked/articleshow/5956051.cms  ...Rop Gonggrijp, a security researcher from the Netherlands, said: "Such machines have already been abandoned in Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Florida (US) and many other places. India should follow suit

Ireland: Tactile ballots urged for blind voters
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0519/1224270654932.html

 
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