NY's ballot quirks. Shelby Tenn. elections - 'There must be reforms.' GOV2.0 elections

Why did Benton Co AR Election Commission meet in secret?...North Carolina: Potential mess looms in judicial election..NY voting machine quirk may be problem for fusion voters..Best audit ever! Columbia CO New York to do 100% hand count of new opscan ballots...Shelby Co Tennessee "screw-up cast doubt on the entire process of voting in Shelby County and will fuel distrust and animosity for years to come...There must be reforms."..At GOV2.0 Summit: "Why We Need Open Source Electronic Voting Systems"...The sordid world of electronic voting...Deep problems trouble Afghan vote...

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

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AR: HOW WE SEE IT Commission’s Action Veiled In Secrecy (Benton County)
http://www.nwaonline.com/mailfriend/61/244618/ec20f21954/
WHAT’S THE POINT? The Benton County Election Commission erred on the side of secrecy when it entered executive session to discuss its chairman.
...
A public body needs to err on the side of openness.

When it errs on the opposite side, we are left to wonder what that public body is trying to hide, and why.

AZ: Arizona Justices Nix Secret Ballot Measure
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/09/07/30150.htm
A proposed constitutional amendment protecting Arizonans' right to cast secret ballots violates the state Constitution, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled.
...
The Arizona Supreme Court agreed that Proposition 108 violates this rule, because it attempts to modify both election law and labor law.

DC: Fenty campaign: Gray supporters lure voters with gift cards
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/09/fenty_campaign_gray_supporters.html
In the shaky video, one woman tells the woman with the hidden camera she has to "get on the van" if she wants a $10 gift card.

"We are going to buy you lunch," the one woman says. "If you get in our van, and go vote, if you get back on, I will be right here."
Video here:
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/bbdf4cd58bf86ff24debc22a6c7656b8/video/18263269

HI: Isles on course for election
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100912_Isles_on_course_for_election.html
Budget cuts forced the elections office to eliminate 97 of the 331 polling places used in 2008.

HI: WHERE TO VOTE (since many polling places have been eliminated)
http://elections3.hawaii.gov/ppl/ To confirm your polling place and precinct number, go to elections3.hawaii.gov/ppl/ and follow the instructions, or call the Office of Elections at 453-8683 or 800-442-8683 from the neighbor islands.

KS: City charters out from state election legislation
http://www.augustagazette.com/newsnow/x863084905/City-charters-out-from-state-election-legislation Augusta City Council approved a Charter Ordinance Tuesday night exempting the community from state legislation regarding primary elections.

MA: Secret Ballot? Not!
http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2010/09/10/secret-ballot-not?blog=205
...it may come as a huge surprise that their party affiliation and address are on file, available to anyone with an internet connection.

NC: Potential mess looms in judicial election
Three choices for one appeals seat complicate Nov. 2 ballot.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/09/1679301/potential-mess-looms-in-judicial.html
In some respects, Instant Runoff Voting is at odds with state requirements for transparency in voting and for counting all votes at the precinct where they are cast. And a system for counting ballots in counties that don’t have optical scanners has yet to be determined.

NC: Subject: Not so quick: Instant runoff in N.C. requires preparation
Pub: North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
http://www.dolanmedia.com/view.cfm?recID=629450
(officials still do not have tallying procedures approved)

NY: Testing out the new ballot marking device(& scanners. 100% hand count/audit)
http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2010/09/10/news/doc4c89ae58c903b252030467.txt
Columbia County, Dominion optical scanners. All ballots in all districts in the entire county will also be subject to a hand count, and great steps are being taken locally to ensure the process will be secure and confidential, according to the commissioners.
[An election commissioner makes good on pledge not to certify a computer-counted election without an appropriate audit
http://www.wheresthepaper.org/09/TestimonyInNYCHearingShocksAssemblymembers.htm ]

NY: New ballots bring new complications in New York
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1135ap_us_new_york_voting_challenges.html
Even the most jaded New Yorkers might consider this a recipe for chaos: New electronic voting machines are being introduced in the Sept. 14 primary. State and city budget cuts mean not enough staff has been trained to help voters use them. A glitch in the computer programming will let people mistakenly vote for too many candidates.

And the machines come with paper ballots so hard to read, voters will be offered magnifying glasses.

NY: Trouble Ahead For Minor Parties With New Voting System?
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/09/trouble-ahead-for-minor-partie.html
The focus is on the primaries right now, but a quirk in the way some ballots will be counted with the new computerized machines could cost the three minor political parties votes in the Nov. 2 general election, our Frank Lombardi reports..

NY: Minor parties in N.Y. face major tests this election
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100912/NEWS01/9120360/1002/NEWS

TN: Truth Will Out. Let It.
http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/truth-will-out-let-it/Content?oid=2288324
What is undeniable, as we have previously said, is that there was inexcusable carelessness on the part of the commission and its employees in permitting the certifiable reality of at least one major election-day glitch
...
But that screw-up cast doubt on the entire process of voting in Shelby County and will fuel distrust and animosity for years to come, regardless of how the ongoing litigation turns out. There must be reforms — and serious ones — to ensure that in the future there is no repetition of the confusion left in the wake of this election.

TX: Houston voting irregularities could impact general election
http://america20xy.com/blog6/2010/09/12/houston-voting-irregularities-could-impact-general-election/

WI: State resolves overseas ballot issue
http://www.wrn.com/2010/09/state-resolves-overseas-ballot-issue/
Wisconsin voters living overseas will have until November 19th to return ballots for the state’s November 2nd general election,

Internet Voting Watch

Online voting - or the horse-and-cart option?
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/online-voting--or-the-horseandcart-option-20100910-1543g.html ...
Having just gone through an election where it has taken two weeks to get to only 85 odd per cent of the vote counted, the idea of an online ballot is looking pretty attractive for a public put through the electoral wringer.
...
The problem for online voting is a difficult and possibly unresolvable one. It all boils down to the problem of how do you prove who you are online? Histories can be deleted, IP addresses could be used by different people, and multiple email addresses easily created. There are options, using passport numbers or some such, but it’s a tricky one.

National

Opinion: the sordid world of electronic voting
http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-the-sordid-world-of-electronic-voting-21037.html
A few months ago, news came out that serious security problems had been found in the machines used for electronic voting in India.

This research was lead by Hari K. Prasad who demonstrated the vulnerability of these machines showing how voting results and voting records could both be altered.
...
The harrowing part of this tale is not of the potential for wide scale fraud, but of what happened after this research was announced. Hari Prasad was arrested by the Indian police, and taken from his home to Mumbai, a 14 hour drive away...

"Why We Need Open Source Electronic Voting Systems"
Bryan Sivak at GOV2.0 Summit 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7kZdMXkx1Y&feature=player_embedded
Gov 2.0 Summit 2010 website
http://www.gov2summit.com/gov2010

Fair Courts at Risk
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/opinion/10fri2.html?_r=1
“Left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that the courts are supposed to uphold,” Sandra Day O’Connor, the retired Supreme Court justice, wrote in a foreword to the report. The fight for basic reforms, such as switching from judicial elections to a merit-based appointive system, and adopting tough rules barring judges from ruling in cases involving major financial supporters, must be pursued with fresh urgency.

International

Afghanistan: US govt watchdog: Deep problems plague Afghan vote
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gH6zTk0Z
vJGljIu7bpEh3P2uECEwD9I6E92O0 http://tinyurl.com/278skfu The 2009 presidential vote took months to resolve as allegations of ballot-box stuffing and results tampering poured in to observer groups. A U.N.-backed anti-fraud watchdog group eventually threw out a third of Karzai's votes, forcing the incumbent into a runoff.

Afghanistan: Poll violence, fraud could fuel anger against Karzai, U.S.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/12/100431/poll-violence-fraud-could-fuel.html
...f the polls are marred — as many fear — by a repetition of the bloodshed and fraud of August 2009, popular anger could intensify against the corruption-tainted government and against Western-style democracy.

Australia: THE OFFICIAL 2010 FEDERAL ELECTION RESULTS
http://vtr.aec.gov.au/Default.htm
The two party preferred count is 89.10% complete.
...The election results on this website were last updated at 12/09/2010 11:53:15 AM.
This website was last published at 13/09/2010 8:28:58 AM.

India: Centre, EC''s case against Hyd engineer bogus: Janata Party
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/centre-ecs-case-against-hyd-engineer-bogus-janata-party/315856.html

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