New York Voting machine problems. The 'sovereign' power of voting machines

"Voting machines have acquired the sort of “sovereign” power that only voters should enjoy in a true democracy. What would you call it but a travesty of democracy where the people are relegated to the background and the unverifiable machine records (which can be wrong, manipulated) become the sole basis for declaring elected representatives?" ~ G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a leading election analyst and a political commentator in India...

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

AL: Alabama: "I see dead people" on the voting rolls
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006439.html
TPMmuckraker reports: J. Christian Adams, the former DOJ lawyer at the heart of the New Black Panthers case, has sent letter to 16 states warning them that they are breaking voter law by not removing dead and ineligible voters from their rolls.

CA: Federal judge upholds city's IRV system
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Federal-judge-upholds-citys-instant-runoff-voting-system-102831014.html

CT: Connecticut Democrat Sues Secretary of State Over Denial of Ballot Access Due to Lost Paperwork http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/09/14/connecticut-democrat-sues-secretary-of-state-over-denial-of-ballot-access-due-to-lost-paperwork/

CT: Hartford Courant joins in fighting last [election] war
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/courant-joins-in-fighting-last-election-war/

NC: Bladen County elections investigation update
http://www.wwaytv3.com/bladen_county_elections_investigation_update/09/2010
BLADEN COUNTY, NC... The candidates and campaign workers who were implicated, including McCrae Dowless and Levi Roberts, have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

State elections investigators are still looking into other allegations, including potential problems with absentee ballots.

NC: A Statewide Race To Use Instant Runoff Voting
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/6368/26/ The Instant Runoff system is not without its critics, who say the equipment used for voting will have a hard time handling such a process.

NY: Update: E-voting machine woes stop some voters N.Y. * (various problems)
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6776
Machine shutdowns reportedly cause long delays in casting votes in New York primary election

NY: Share Your Stories From the Voting Booths * (voters report problems)
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/share-your-stories-from-the-voting-booths/
Send us your comments and observations, so we can establish a water cooler on how New York’s latest democratic foray (with a small “d,” of course) played out.
...
Sample comment: "Something tells me my vote is going to end up in Raleigh-Durham like a piece of misrouted luggage."

NY: NY Primary Program in the News
http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/news?id=0258

NY: Election Watchdogs Positioned to Record Voting Mishaps Caused By New Ballots
http://beta.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2010/sep/13/election-watchdogs-positioned-record-voting-mishaps-caused-new-machines/
Advocates and election watchdogs say the new machines -- and the new paper ballots they come with -- set voters up to make several mistakes.

NY: New York State Makes Arbitrary Choice to Credit Over-Votes for a Fusion Candidate to the Democratic and Republican Parties
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/09/14/new-york-state-makes-arbitrary-choice-to-credit-over-votes-for-a-fusion-candidate-to-the-democratic-and-republican-parties/
the New York State Board of Elections has made a quiet decision to credit the votes to the Democratic and Republican Parties, when a voter votes for one candidate twice (once on the ballot line of one of the two major parties, and once on the line of a smaller party).

OH: Elections board reduces precincts to save money (Lucas County)
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100914/NEWS09/100919839
Voters are to receive a letter in the mail in the next few days telling them their new precinct number and voting location. That information also is available on the board's Web site, www.lucascountyvotes.org.

Linda Howe, director of the board of elections, said yesterday that the board reduced the number of precincts from 495 to 397 last year and this summer further reduced that number to 354.

National

THERE MIGHT BE A VOTE ON JUST THE DISCLOSURE PROVISIONS OF THE DISCLOSE ACT http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017002.html

"JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IG TO INVESTIGATE VOTING RIGHTS SECTION"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016996.html

Not So Fast on the Draw: “Trigger” Funds Provisions Come Under Fire
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/09/13/not-so-fast-on-the-draw-%E2%80%9Ctrigger%E2%80%9D-funds-provisions-come-under-fire/
There has been another wave of challenges, however, that targets not contributions from outside sources but the “matching” or “trigger” funds provisions of various states, including Arizona, Connecticut, and Florida. In these states, if a candidate spends over a predetermined limit the state may provide public money to the other candidate to “match” that spending.


International

Losers must trust election results, not just winners
http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=460
Ironically, the electronic voting machines have rendered candidates totally powerless and made the officials and agencies involved in the conduct of elections supremely powerful. If the electronic count shows that a candidate has lost, that is to be taken as gospel truth.

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