KS vote flipping. NASS-overseas vote must be recountable! DISCLOSE Fails

NASS resolution - State Election Officials: Recountable Process A Must for Overseas Voters. (internet or email voting does not provide that)...The DISCLOSE Act fails..."MONEY & POLITICS: Aetna, Humana, Other Insurers Mull New Group to Influence November Races"...Candidate reports touchscreen vote flipping in Johnson County Kansas...Michigan Sleuths Find Link Between Dem Party Official and the Ballot-Qualified Tea Party...Allegations in Bell, CA that off duty police officers were recruited to to distribute absentee ballots in last year's election and tell people which candidates to vote for...

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


CA: DA probes voter fraud allegations in Calif. city (Bell, CA)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7127322.html It was only one of several allegations the district attorney is looking into in the city where three top officials resigned last week after it was disclosed they were being paid salaries totaling about $1.6 million a year.

CO: KDNK Reports on SOS Memo Looking to Deny Inspection of Ballots
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/07/kdnk-reports-on-sos-memo-looking-to.html

CO: Aspen mulls vote-counting options
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100728/NEWS/100729825/1077&ParentProfile=1058
ASPEN — City attorneys are drafting language for a November ballot item that could replace the controversial voting method known as instant runoff voting for Aspen's May election.

CO: Aspen considers replacing IRV in November
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/141729

CT: Complex voting proposal in charter criticized
http://www.theday.com/article/20100728/NWS01/307289880/1019&town=
Registrar of Voters Bill Giesing said he was concerned that the rank voting plan - which would allow for instant results rather than a runoff election at a later date -as well as one that would have four city councilors represent specific wards, would violate state law.

CT: IRV New London: Residents, Registrar, and Candidate concerns
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/irv-new-london-residents-registrar-and-candidate-concerns/

FL: New voting machines to be used throughout Saratoga County in upcoming September primary and November general election
http://saratogian.com/articles/2010/07/26/news/doc4c4cfa7b17c02632792487.txt
BALLSTON SPA — An army of election inspectors is being trained to operate the new machines county voters will use to cast their ballots in the upcoming September primary and November general election.

GA: Voting chief vows no more tabulation glitches in the future
http://www.thecitizen.com/articles/07-27-2010/voting-chief-vows-no-more-tabulation-glitches-future That “glitch” was due to the fact that elections officials decided to run the early and advance voting numbers through the system first, said Elections Supervisor Tom Sawyer. Because the early and advance voting included voters from each Fayette precinct, the computer system used that information to report that all 36 of Fayette’s precincts had voted when in fact, they had not, Sawyer explained.

KS: Problems Possible with Some Touch-Screen Voting Machines * (also video)
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-joco-election-machines-072710,0,2795262.story?track=rss "The calibration, just like they would on an iPad or any kind of touch screen kind of thing, can be slightly off," said Newby. "If you press a button and you mean to hit candidate a and candidate b comes up, just uncheck it and vote for who you want. Then you get a review screen at the end so you really have two chances to, what we call 'second chance voting', you really have two chances to do that before you hit cast ballot."

KS: “Touchy” vote screen: Toplikar tries to vote for himself but “X” appears for opponent * http://kansas.watchdog.org/4366/touchy-vote-screen-toplikar-tries-to-vote-for-himself-but-x-appears-for-opponent/ County Commission Chair candidate John Toplikar voted today at the Johnson County Election Office for the Aug. 3 primary and was concerned when he pressed the touch screen to vote for himself and the “X” appeared next to one of his three competitors, Annabeth Surbaugh.
...
But Newby was not sure if Toplikar’s machine was uncalibrated. The calibration process tries to ensure a voter’s perception of their press point coincides with a desired selection. Newby said the angle used by a voter in pressing the screen, the length of a voter’s fingernail, or even static electricity can affect how a touch is registered by the machine.

KY: Boone Co. Atty: Recount showed election fair, accurate
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/nkypolitics/2010/07/27/boone-co-atty-recount-showed-election-fair-accurate/ Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore defeated Commissioner Cathy Flaig by 74 votes in the Republican judge-executive primary. A subsequent recanvass and the recount, which Flaig requested and paid for, verified the election night results.

KY: County considers new voting machines
eScans would create paper trail; ease software compatibility
http://mccrearyrecord.com/local/x2105968817/County-considers-new-voting-machines
WHITLEY CITY — Next year when McCreary Countians cast their ballots in the Governor’s race, they could be doing so using a new voting machine.

MI: Michigan Sleuths Find Link Between Democratic Party Official and the Ballot-Qualified Tea Party http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/28/michigan-sleuths-find-link-between-democratic-party-official-and-the-ballot-qualified-tea-party/

MN: Secretary of state's office offers polling place locator for primary
http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2010/07/27/20025/secretary_of_
states_office_offers_polling_place_locator_for_aug_10_primary
http://bit.ly/a5SeMz

MS: 3 face charges in voter fraud case
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100727/NEWS/7270343/3-face-charges-in-voter-fraud-case
Guest said all three indicted last week are convicted felons who either registered or voted after being convicted of a disenfranchising crime.

Together, they're facing multiple counts of false registration, voting by an unqualified person and voter fraud. The penalty is a maximum five-year prison sentence and up to $5,000 in fines.

ND: Plan to reduce poll sites to get more study
http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/541478.html?nav=5010
Minot aldermen are hesitant to slash the number of city polling places without more study.

At a meeting Tuesday, the Minot City Council's Finance and Improvements Committee sent a proposal to trim the number of polling centers from 17 to between one and four back to the liaison committee where it was introduced.

NH: Paul Hodes Gives New Hampshire Voters a Push
http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/231399/paul-hodes-gives-new-hampshire-voters-push The New Hampshire Republican party is filing a complaint with the state attorney general’s office, arguing that Paul Hodes, the Democratic congressman who’s running for Senate in that state, is behind a push poll meddling in the GOP primary. Allegedly, Hodes is hiding the fact that his campaign commissioned the poll, which he is required to disclose under state law.

NY: NY polling sites inadequately handle the disabled, advocacy groups say
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/27/2010-07-27_equal_access.html

TN: Voters purged if ballots weren't cast in last two federal elections
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100727/DICKSON01/100727075/Voters-purged-if-ballots-weren-t-cast-in-last-two-federal-elections
Medley said the names of those registered to vote but who did not vote in the last two November federal elections are purged from the system.

WV: West Virginia Military and Overseas Voters, Submit Your Ballot for the August 28 2010 Special Senate Primary Election! http://www.fvap.gov/global/news/nr18-2010.html

Internet Voting Watch

State Election Officials: Recountable Process A Must for Overseas Voters
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6769 NOW BE IT RESOLVED that, in accordance with current federal and state laws, NASS supports the use of new and emerging technologies that facilitate voting by military and overseas citizens, and in keeping with applicable security standards, ensure that the elections process remains accessible, recountable, and secure.

National

What to Watch at Black Hat and Defcon
http://www.pcworld.com/article/201956/what_to_watch_at_black_hat_and_defcon.html Black Hat conference director Jeff Moss says the work on ATM bugs is reminiscent of the voting machine research that came out a few years ago -- which showed serious security vulnerabilities in the systems and caused many government agencies to rethink the way they were rolling out e-voting.

Baucus, Tester act to thwart Citizens United ruling
http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20100727183132949 Sen. Max Baucus introduced a constitutional amendment restoring Congressional authority to regulate political contributions, and Sen. Jon Tester voted for the DISCLOSE Act, which he co-sponsored. Both legislative actions Tuesday were in response to the recent Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court

Where Voters Stand on Campaign Finance (Citizens United)
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/where-voters-stand-on-campaign-finance/
About two-thirds (68 percent) said they disapproved of the Court’s decision in a February poll by the Pew Research Center. Pew’s question did not note that the ruling allows unlimited spending, just that it “allows corporations to spend on behalf of candidates,”...

NYT Puts Some Blame for DISCLOSE's Failure on Democrats
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016536.html

Alan Grayson: McConnell Smiled At Citizens United Decision
http://protectourelections.org/node/18 (video available)

DISCLOSE Cloture Vote Fails on Party Line Vote
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016533.html

"MONEY & POLITICS: Aetna, Humana, Other Insurers Mull New Group to Influence November Races" http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016541.html

Dept. of Oy
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016544.html CQ Politics: "It didn't take long for new independent expenditure organizations to take advantage of recent court rulings to maximize their impact on the 2010 election.


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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