Voters Sue Garland, Arkansas Election Officials.Validity of Election Challenged

Voters filed suit against Garland Co Arkansas. Garland Co had 2nd highest turnout yet voters were turned away as polling places were cut from 40 to 2. Those changes were illegal says SOS. "They've tried this before," said attorney Ben Hooten who filed lawsuit on behalf of disenfranchised voters..Scanners at all 55 Nevada Co CA polls failed..Santa Clara has about 100K ballots yet to count..Mahoning Ohio to cut 37 precincts.. Saugatuck Pennsylvania recount fouled..SC touchscreen trouble..Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich..

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

AR: AR-Sen: It’s Never A Good Sign When The Better Answer Is “Utter Incompetence”
http://www.bluehogreport.com/2010/06/07/ar-sen-its-never-a-good-sign-when-the-better-answer-is-utter-incompetence/

AR: Ark. Voting Lawsuit to Move Forward
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=50587
The runoff "was intentionally scheduled by the defendants at two polling sites for the purpose of disenfranchising minority, elderly, poor and the disabled voters of Garland County, Arkansas," the lawsuit said

AR: Runoff Voting Lawsuit Filed in Garland County*
http://arkansasmatters.com/election2010text-fulltext/?nxd_id=320145
Just last night at 10, our investigation revealed the election commission was wrong to reduce
the number of polling places, from 39 to two.
...
The Secretary of State's office says behind Pulaski, Garland county had the secnd highest early voting turnout for this runoff, with 52-hundred voters.
[From video - SOS office said changes were illegal]

AR: Voters sue in Garland County over polling places *
http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=12618225
Garland County had 40 polling places for the May 18 primaries but only two for the runoff
elections.

The suit says it "render(s) the results of this election doubtful" and seeks to void the certification of the results.

AR: Voter Lawsuit Filed in Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln, Bill Halter Senate Runoff
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/08/voter-lawsuit-filed-in-arkansas-blanche-lincoln-bill-halter-se/
"the greater part of the voting electorate are unable to find or reach" the polling places and
are "thereby deprived of their right to vote and were disenfranchised."

"They've tried this before," Hooten said in an interview with Politics Daily. "They tried it in 2008 and I fled suit then. It was a special election on bonds that year, but they closed all the polls citywide, but one."

AR: Fears 'Come to Full Flower' in Garland County, AR, Polling Place Closure Fiasco
Long lines, parking probs reported at county's only two polling places opened for tight Democratic U.S. Senate run-off primary..
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7883

AR: Halter Complains It Was Hard to Vote in Garland Co., Ark.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/08/halter-complains-it-was-hard-to-vote-in-garland-co-ark/
Natasha Naragon, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Secretary of State, said Garland County election officials failed to notify voters of the reduced number of polling stations, as required by state law. Though a local official told the Arkansas press that he had made the decision to save money, Naragon said the state bears all costs for primary and runoff elections.

AZ: Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/opinion/09wed1.html?src=mv
In a burst of judicial activism, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upended the gubernatorial race in Arizona, cutting off matching funds to candidates participating in the state's public campaign finance system.
...
Arizona’s clean elections program was established by the state’s voters in 1998 after a series of scandals provided clear illustrations of money’s corrupting influence.

CA: Voters approve Prop. 14, 'open primary'
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=ywgpkrmg78t2v7&xid=ywgidwk0ejx1ss&done=.ywgpkrmg79i2v7
Over the opposition of political pros, California voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 14, which allows voters to choose any candidate in a primary election regardless of party affiliation and sets the stage for the top two vote-getters to face each other in the general election

CA: In Santa Clara County, nearly 100,000 ballots left to be counted
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15260876?nclick_check=1
Santa Clara County is still counting more than 100,000 ballots from Tuesday's election and is not expected to finish until Friday at the earliest.
The huge number of provisional and mail-in ballots left means the winners of some races are still unknown, including the district attorney contest...

CA: E-Scan Machines at Polls Not Working-Ballots Will Be Counted In
Elections Office *
http://www.knco.com/Local/755050--Scan-Machines-Polls-Not-Working-Ballots-Will-Counted-Elections-Office.html The e-scan machines at polling places around Nevada County are rejecting ballots cast in this primary election. Nevada County Assistant Clerk, Gail Smith, says the same problem is happening with all 55 e-machines at precincts throughout the county.... She says " due to human error while creating the ballot print file for the paper ballot, e-precinct scanners are rejecting the paper ballot."

CA: Human error stokes confusion at one Venice polling station
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0609-venice-20100609,0,2322269.story
When the election inspector fails to show, poll workers and L.A. County officials scramble to make do. For several hours, casting a provisional ballot is the only option.
...
What if you held an election and the person who was supposed to bring the ballots didn't show?

CA: I Was Unable to Cast a Vote on L.A. County's ES&S E-Voting System (Again)
Today * http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7884 I spent more than two and a half hours not casting a vote on the system before eventually I, the poll workers, and, apparently, the folks at the L.A. County Registrar's central help desk call center, simply gave up. A complete and total failure of the e-voting system for disabled voters in the nation's largest voting jurisdiction.

CA: Nevada County voters face computer glitches*
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=83176&catid=29
Assistant Clerk Recorder Gail Smith said the scanners that read ballots at all the county's polling stations were not set up properly, so voters' ballots could not be counted there electronically.

CA: Dude, Where’s My Ballot?
http://www.trustthevote.org/dude-wheres-my-ballot
I just finished voting in CA’s primary — whew! 47 contests, 76 candidates total, and for on-paper voters, 4 sheets! But today, instead of hand-marking a ballot (my preference explained in an earlier posting), I used a DRE.

CA: Fresno City Council Race, District 3 Controversy (allegations)
http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=12618823
The Fresno County Clerk has confirmed there is an investigation into possible voter fraud
against the campaign of Fresno City Council District 3 candidate Mike Briggs.

Investigators with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department are responding to allegations
regarding paid voters by the Briggs Campaign.

IA: Printer didn't work, Smithland's data card just arrived
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/article_70383d44-7377-11df-9051-001cc4c002e0.html
SIOUX CITY Woodbury County

IN: Rokita: Online Voter Registration Comes In July
http://www.wibc.com/news/Story.aspx?ID=1239251

LA: Kenner woman sues Jefferson County to get better access for disabled voters
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/06/kenner_woman_sues_jefferson_pa.html

ND: Technology Helps Voters With Special Needs (ballot marking devices)
http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=40657

NJ: State probe of recount sought
http://www.northjersey.com/news/95932164_State_probe_of_recount_sought.html
PATERSON — City Council candidate Kenneth McDaniel is asking the state to investigate what he alleges are election irregularities and possible voter fraud surrounding 49 mail-in ballots that appeared last week before a recount of the May 11 municipal elections.

OH: Printing mistake is costly to board* (ballot on demand printed ballots)
Summit elections panel pays $17,000 in overtime to hand-count ballots
http://www.ohio.com/news/95933244.html
The Summit County elections board still doesn't know what caused a printing error that required employees to hand-count 9,000 absentee ballots from the May 4 primary.

OH: Mahoning elections board to cut 37 precincts
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/09/mahoning-elections-board-to-cut-37-preci/?newswatch
Mahoning County Board of Elections officials say they’ll eliminate at least 37 precincts by the November election and make other cuts in an effort to reduce operating expenses.

OR: Parties object to being abbreviated on Oregon ballot
http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/06/parties_object_to_being_abbrev.html
The Oregon secretary of state's office, saying that a new fusion-voting law is putting a squeeze in space on the ballot, plans to have each party listed next to a candidate's name by a three-letter abbreviation.

CORRECTION, MI (not PA): Who made mistake that spoiled Saugatuck Township recount? Clerk and election officials disagree http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/who_made_mistake_that_spoiled.html

CORRECTION, MI (not PA): Saugatuck Township clerk denies lawsuit's allegation of misconduct in recount controversy http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/saugatuck_township_clerk_denie.html

SC: Balky machine frustrates voter *
http://www.thestate.com/2010/06/08/1322331/8-am-update-nice-weather-short.html
Northeast resident Jim Lawrence reported problems with a voting machine in the North Springs precinct this morning.
A poll worker eventually had to close out his ballot and move him to another machine, Lawrence said, because his original machine wouldn’t record his choices.
..
One voter called the Richland County elections office to complain that the callers’ ballot had the wrong Congressional race. Cinnamon said that could have been a result of human error — a poll worker reading the wrong line on the registration list

International

Dutch voters set to give right victory in national vote dominated by economy, immigration (ballots counted by hand)
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/09/dutch-voters-set-right-victory-national-vote-dominated-economy-immigration/ Polls close at 9 p.m., and the state-funded NOS broadcaster will publish exit polls that in the past have proven to be within a few seats of the final result. The vote count will take several hours, as voters returned to paper-and-pencil balloting over worries about the reliability of electronic voting machines.


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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