Unsafe at any cost – Internet voting. Illinois special election a $30M travesty?

Political Barriers to Military Voting...Unsafe at any cost – Internet voting..New York Leveling the playing field for mail-in voting?..Keeping Tax-Subsidized Corporate Money out of Politics...Illinois Special Election A $30 million travesty?..FOI to Riverside County over vote count mess...Illinois special election for Burris seat would cost $30 Million to have winner serve a 4 week term...Internet voting challenged in Gujarat India...

All this and more in today's voting news below

Running a correction today, see article on Harrisonburg Virginia...

CA: Riverside County vote-count mess leads to records requests
http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_Local_D_polnote05.22bbe73.html
Former Palm Springs Police Chief Gary Jeandron, who unsuccessfully challenged Supervisor John Benoit, filed a two-page request.

He is seeking a host of communications between the registrar's office, the Board and Supervisors and county CEO Bill Luna and other documents relating to the disputed vote-by-mail ballots.

CA: UC Red Team report shows how e-voting machines and ballot counting machines can easily be rigged
http://www.resistnet.com/group/californiapatriots/forum/topics/uc-red-team-report-shows-how?xg_source=activity So, the newer 400-C/WinETP based Sequoia systems that were used this time, also had the above vulnerability, by exploiting which the outcome from scanned votes can be changed. Also, only 9 of the 47 defects that were found by the Red Team have been rectified in the latest Sequoia version.

CA: Ballot count finally complete: Runoff elections to be held for four local races
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15427295?nclick_check=1
Humboldt County.

IL: A $30 million travesty
Remember why this is happening.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-election-20100706,0,2890623.story We hope it doesn't come to this, but it's possible the state's Democratic kingmakers didn't just saddle us with embarrassingly ineffectual U.S. Sen. Roland Burris — they saddled us with a $30 million special election to pick a senator to replace Burris for maybe four weeks

IL: Seating a Presumptive Winner
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/07/06/seating-a-presumptive-winner/
However, another problem raised by opponents of the special election needs to be addressed, the short period of time in which the Senator would serve. In determining the length of that time, people are using the final canvass of votes as the determinant for when the new Senator would take office.

NC: On the ballot (constitutional amendment)
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/05/563109/on-the-ballot.html
The amendment - hard to believe it's necessary, but there it is - would prohibit felons from serving as sheriffs.

NY: New York: Leveling the playing field for mail-in voting?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3334 There has been quite a stir in New York about the setup of their new optical scan voting systems. It may disenfranchise voters by not adequately warning them about overvotes.

OH: Board Of Elections Benefits From Voting Equipment Lawsuit
http://www.northcentralohio.com/newsboard/single.asp?Story=41924
The board on Tuesday found out it and 44 other boards of elections in Ohio will receive some goods and services from the settlement.

OH: Absentee voting helps military
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/8389812/article-Absentee-voting-helps-military-?instance=homefirstleft “If you meet the qualifications to register to vote in Tennessee, but have not registered prior to requesting an absentee ballot and you fall into one of the above categories (military and residing out-of-country), your application for absentee ballot will be treated as an application for temporary registration.

VA: City Mopping Up Poll Mess* (Subscription required)
June 15 Confusion Triggers Response By Electoral Board
http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=48573&CHID=1
HARRISONBURG - On the morning of the June 15 special election for the 26th House District, poll official and Democrat Bill Ney witnessed confusion at the Waterman Elementary School polling place. The electronic poll book used to sign in voters failed because of an error in programming the device. The same error shut down poll books in all five of Harrisonburg's voting precincts for more than an hour that morning.

SC: Judge Vic Rawl joins Brad on Tonight's 'Malloy Show
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7930

Internet Voting Watch

Unsafe at any cost – Internet voting
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3327
Based on the MOVE Act, many states and jurisdictions are experimenting with various forms of email, fax, and Internet voting. Washington, D.C. for example is setting up a pilot program.
...
High tech solutions to military and overseas voting seem like the equivalent of a star wars sledgehammer to hit a small nail.

The D.C. Pilot Project: Facts vs. Fictions – From Our Viewpoint
http://www.trustthevote.org/dc-pilot-project-facts-vs-fictions-osdv-viewpoint

Guj HC Issues Notice to Govt on Online Voting
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?686833
The Gujarat high court has issued notice to the state government on a petition challenging e-voting which it plans to introduce in the local bodies elections to be held later this year.

The petition filed by Congress leaders Himmatsinh Patel and Sailesh Parmar has prayed for scrapping of online voting.

Nick Clegg announces date for voting reform referendum, as VeriSign claims that online voting will be the norm but will be difficult for the UK to implement
http://www.scmagazineuk.com/nick-clegg-announces-date-for-voting-reform-referendum-as-verisign-claims-that-online-voting-will-be-the-norm-but-will-be-difficult-for-the-uk-to-implement/article/173960/ In order for the UK to implement an electronic voting campaign it would need to issue credentials to its electorate. Developing the business case and value proposition needed to undertake this kind of effort to support electronic voting alone would be very difficult.

National

OVF Research Newsletter May-June 2010
https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/files/researchnewsletterJune2010.pdf
# Featured Article: Political Barriers to Military Voting: A Brief Historical Overview by Dr. Donald S. Inbody
# Indicators for Success: Measuring Military Voter Turnout by Dr. Claire M. Smith
# Voices from the Military: Remarks from Summit 2010
...
As of March 31, 2010, there were 1,428,868 active duty military personnel. 21.7% of active duty personnel were stationed overseas.

DISCLOSE Act Heading to Senate Filibuster?
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016357.html

Scalia's secret ballot tutorial
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_688745.html
In fact, after the Founding, more than a century would pass until the secret ballot became commonplace in America

The push to DISCLOSE
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/07/05/the-push-to-disclose/

"KEEPING TAX-SUBSIDIZED CORPORATE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016349.html

Ruling widens the meaning of ‘media’
Political film group gains a protection
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/07/05/fec_finds
_partisan_film_group_free_from_disclosure_rules/ http://is.gd/di388
WASHINGTON — A little-noticed Federal Election Commission ruling that expands the definition of “media’’ to include a partisan film production group is the latest in a series of actions eroding legislative limits on the influence of money in politics.
...
The commission voted June 10 to designate the filmmaker Citizens United a “press entity,’’ equating its often highly partisan work — including films attacking Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Obama — with the work of nightly newscasts.

International

New Zealand: Make Sure You Can Vote In Upcoming Auckland Elections
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/make-sure-you-can-vote-upcoming-auckland-elections/5/54094 http://is.gd/dfO6q Almost 100,000 Aucklanders are not enrolled to vote in the upcoming local Auckland Council elections - making up four out of every ten people in New Zealand not enrolled.

Nigeria: Nigcomsat Takes E-Voting Plan to INEC
http://allafrica.com/stories/201007050045.html
The Nigcomsat says intends to sale the electronic voting machine it developed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today, saying it holds the potential to solve Nigeria's balloting challenges.

UK: Clegg announces date for AV referendum (has video of Parliament discussion)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8788000/8788869.stm

UK: Nick Clegg swipes away opponents but receives little support from Liberal Democrats during historic Commons statement
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/wintour-and-watt/2010/jul/05/electoralreform-nickclegg
Long wait for electoral reform brings little joy to Lib Dems who see proposed AV system as a compromise

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VotingNews and at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link:http://tinyurl.com/votingnews To assist with Daily Voting News, please send links to news articles to us at votingnews@earthlink.net

=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.