Osceola CO Florida voting machines shaken too hard? E-voting 'vulnerable'

Osceola County candidate sues over election loss, cites irregularities. "While absentee ballots were being scanned, election workers shook the machines vigorously and often, at times even banging the wall with them."..Tues night Brad Friedman radio interview outgoing Ohio Sec of State Jennifer Brunner...NYT: What the Secret Donors Want..No internet voting for Singapore: "The internet platform while convenient is vulnerable to power outage, hacking and service attacks.."~ Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng....

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


CA: Editorial: Setting a vote-count standard
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_16662610 More than two weeks after Election Day, the California Republican Party is pursuing a lawsuit against Contra Costa County over whether vote-count observers have the right to challenge specific signatures on mail-vote ballots.

CA: Ranked-choice voting complaints mount
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/ranked-choice-voting-complaints-mount-6839
Meanwhile, Oakland election data shows that vote-by-mail voters were far more likely to make mistakes in the mayor’s contest than voters who cast ballots at the polls.

CA: Busy weekend for elections staff: Final results may be available by Thanksgiving
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_16666518 Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich said Friday that her office is still sorting through the almost 1,700 provisional ballots that were cast on Election Day, trying to determine if the voters who cast them were eligible and, if so, where they were registered to vote.

CO: State review confirms Myers-Joseph win - Saguache County
http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=1385&page=72
(County officials initially blocked media from observing claiming meeting was not public. Officials were wrong on legal code & reversed decision after SoS & Colorado Press Assoc. Atty were contacted.)

CO: Election discrepancies explained* Saguache County
http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=1384
One of the primary issues revolving around the retabulation of the votes cast on Nov. 2 was the cause of the error that resulted in the generation of additional votes.
...
Other than the one error loading the wrong group totals into the mail-in group, King said he did not see any procedural issues in his review of the ERM system log.  “My only suggestion is to print the final reports on the 650 itself and use those to verify that the reporting software totals match,” he concluded.

CT: A few bucks for a few more ballots would have changed history
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/A-few-bucks-for-a-few-more-ballots-would-have-823774.php
For less than $1,000, there would have been enough ballots in Bridgeport to handle the flow of voters and there would have been no need to use makeshift photocopies or seek a judge's order to keep a dozen precincts open an additional two hours.
...
Cliff Heintz, who heads the printing operation at Adkins Printing Inc. in New Britain, said that when Bridgeport faxed through its initial request for 21,100, he thought it wasn't going to be enough. "I'm sure that we said that was pretty low," he said, recalling that the price was 30 cents a sheet.

FL: Former Osceola County candidate sues over his election loss
County Commission candidate Armando Ramirez says he lost because of election irregularities http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/os-osceola-elections-lawsuit-20101122,0,1261357.story One of Brett's main contentions has to do with 304 ballots the county's optical scanners didn't read. The machine registers them as "undercounts." Brett thinks that because the margin of victory for Quiñones was only 50 votes, the court should order that those ballots be reviewed for discrepancies and decide whether the election should be voided.
...
While absentee ballots were being scanned, election workers shook the machines vigorously and often, at times even banging the wall with them. At the time, a supervisor of elections spokeswoman said the shaking was intended to prevent paper jams, and that the practice had been approved by the manufacturer.

Guam: Gutierrez Files Lawsuits Seeking to Overturn Results of 2010 Gubernatorial Election http://pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9463:20101119kkgutierrez-suit&catid=45:guam-news&Itemid=156 (alleges ballot box tampering and more)

KY: Coursey says only minor problems with election seen*
http://murrayledger.com/news/article_627e5680-f45e-11df-b1cb-001cc4c002e0.html
According to the reports made available by Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. some irregularities include some voters failing to report changes of address, some security tags broken but machine security still intact, voters pushing the wrong button when casting a vote and some questioning why straight-ticket party lights did not light up on at least one machine.
...
Some voters continue to dislike the new eslate voting machine.

ME: Rundown of runoff voting options (Opinion)
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/bdn/Rundown-of-runoff-voting-options,159587

MN: UPDATED: Minnesota high court hears arguments in Minnesota governor race recount http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/299367/group/homepage/ The Minnesota Supreme Court questioned both sides harshly about Tom Emmer's governor's race case that claims not all 4,136 precincts' election judges made sure the number of ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election matched the number of people who voted.

MN: Prosecutor group says voter fraud probes costly
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=13549740
Kingrey says he knows of only one case that was prosecuted but then dismissed

MN: Report: Photo ID requirement would not prevent voter fraud
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/22/voter-fraud-report-photo-id/
Kathy Bonnifield, the report co-author, said county attorneys investigated 1,500 allegations of ineligible voting in the 2008 election.

"The only type of conviction was due to felons," she said. "In total, 26 people were convicted because they had not completed their sentence and voted, while an additional 12 convictions were because felons registered to vote, but they did not vote."
Press conference video at this link http://theuptake.org/2010/11/22/citizens-for-election-integrity-examine-voter-fraud-allegations/

NC: Elections board denies Warner's request for new election
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/11/22/1050006?sac=Home
Warner lost to state Rep. Rick Glazier, a Democrat, by 46 votes for N.C. House District 45.
...
She also had a sworn statement from Douglas W. Jones, an associate professor at the University of Iowa's computer science department, that said between a third and two-thirds of voters using touch screens don't notice errors they have made ...
...
Warner lost to Glazier by 123 votes from ballots - almost exclusively using touch-screen machines - cast during one stop. She won by 37 votes among those cast on Election Day, not including provisional or absentee ballots received in the mail. Among provisional ballots, she lost; among absentee ballots by mail, she won.

NC: Pender County: Every vote counts!
http://watchdogs.blogs.starnewsonline.com/14187/pender-county-every-vote-counts/
But a further review found 19 of the 22 provisional ballots in questions actually did include real addresses, some that were apparently so new that they had yet to be inputted into the state’s computer system.

NC: Editorial - Money from anonymous groups has grip on elections
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20101121/ARTICLES/101129987/1108/editorial?Title=Editorial-Money-from-anonymous-groups-has-grip-on-elections
The public has no idea who is behind some of the most expensive efforts to influence elections.

NH: Ballot machines good example of appropriate technology (Opinion)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/900330-196/ballot-machines-good-example-of--appropriate.html

NJ: Freeholder recount set for Nov. 30 to Dec. 2
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2010/11/freeholder_recount_set_for_nov.html Voting machines and over 7,000 paper ballots will be recounted for the freeholder race here in Gloucester County, said Stephanie Salvatore, superintendent of elections.

NJ: Assemblywoman Quigley responds to letter that said vote-by-mail leads to abuse
http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/10407234/article--Assemblywoman-Quigley-responds-to-letter-that-said-vote-by-mail-leads-to-abuse---?instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column

NY: Ritchie files lawsuit in 48th District election
http://www.valleynewsonline.com/viewnews.php?newsid=85780&id=1 New York State Senator-elect Patricia Ritchie has filed a lawsuit against the election commissioners in the three counties representing the 48th District and Senator Darrel Aubertine.

The lawsuit seeks to preserve Ritchie’s rights under state Election Law to provide for court review of all ballots, including all emergency ballots, absentee ballots, affidavit ballots, special ballots, federal ballots and military ballots, if necessary.

OH: Tuesday November 23 at 9PM eastern, Brad Friedman to interview Ohio Secretary of State live on the Mike Malloy show. Election admin changes. Will Ohio 2012 be like Ohio 2004? See www.bradblog.com for details and to listen online. Call in!

OH: Hunter sues to stop juvenile court election count* (poll worker error)
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2010/11/22/hunter-sues-to-stop-juvenile-court-election-count/ In the lawsuit, filed by attorney Jennifer Branch, Hunter said there were 849 provisional ballots that the board of elections did not count in the final result because the voters voted in the wrong precinct. Hunter’s lawsuit contends that many of those voters went to the right polling place but to the wrong precinct table; and were not directed by the precinct poll workers to the proper table.

PA: Swearing on Bible may have been inappropriate
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=1236458
The church and state collided in Pennsylvania on Election Day.

On November 2, a voter in Fairmont who had changed addresses was asked to swear, with her hand on a Bible, to her new address

TX: Did straight-ticket votes affect Victoria County election?
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/nov/20/gs_election_analysis_112110_117110/?news&local-news The voting trend was less pervasive in Victoria County, at least during the recent election.

TX: Texas Bill to Abolish Straight-Ticket Device on Ballots
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/11/22/texas-bill-to-abolish-straight-ticket-device-on-ballots/

TX: South Texas recount continues for Rep. Ortiz (hand count in Cameron County)
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/11/house-undecided-races-solomon-ortiz-dan-maffei-/1

WI: Men deserve voting rights hearing, judge says
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/109291274.html
Defendants say justice system has inherent bias

WV: Only 1 W.Va. city applies for vote-by-mail program (Morgantown)
http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/201011220442

Internet Voting Watch

Singapore: Elections Department rules out internet or postal voting for overseas voters http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1094907/1/.html
Mr Wong said, "The internet platform while convenient is vulnerable to power outage, hacking and service attacks. Without a printed voting slip, auditing the voting result in the event of a petition to the Election Judge can be problematic.

"As regards [to] postal voting, there is no guarantee of voting secrecy as we do not know who marked the ballot paper. It is also difficult to ensure that all ballot papers would be mailed back to the Election Department on time to be counted. Missing votes will also cast doubts on the integrity of the process."

National

What the Secret Donors Want
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/opinion/22mon1.html?_r=1&src=twrhp
According to tax records unearthed by Bloomberg News, the health insurance lobby secretly gave $86.2 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2009 to try to prevent the health care bill from becoming law. The huge contribution — 40 percent of the chamber’s spending for that year — allowed the group to run ads against the bill without tainting the insurance industry,

International

Bangladesh: PM wants e-voting: commissioner
http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=179503&cid=2
She said that transparent ballot boxes will not be needed ...

New Zealand: Government backtracks on electoral finance law
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10689429
Political parties have finally reached a consensus on electoral finance laws with both sides compromising on public disclosure of donations and spending caps on lobby groups

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