Creating elections we can trust - Columbia Co New York, Humboldt & Yolo CA

Kudos to Humboldt County CA Registrar Carolyn Crnich, Yolo County. CA Registrar Freddy Oakley, for adopting innovative methods to increase transparency & public involvement in elections..Big applause to Columbia Co New York Election Commish Virginia Martin for hand counting the votes, leaving no doubt about the results....Credibility of Minnesota's election process vindicated.. Nassau SD 07 audit to expand..This headline make my hair explode-Tom Green Co TX: "1,545 local ballots found. Votes would not have changed election results"..

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

AK: Judge hears arguments in Miller's Senate battle; decision won't come before Friday http://www.alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/politics/7770-judge-hears-arguments-in-millers-senate-battle-decision-wont-come-before-friday

AK: Alaska elections director disputes Miller voting claims
http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/10606088/article-Alaska-elections-director-disputes-Miller-voting-claims-?instance=home_news_window_left_top_1
... disputed Republican Joe Miller's allegations that perhaps hundreds of felons were wrongfully allowed to vote in last month's U.S. Senate race.

Gail Fenumiai said the state Division of Elections compares its voter rolls weekly with data from the Department of Corrections and removes those who have lost their right to vote. Asked if she had any concerns that felons were wrongfully allowed to vote, she answered emphatically: "Absolutely not.

CA: Election Integrity Awards in Marin Co., California on 12/16
http://democracyandelectionintegrity.org/ MEET two brave and innovative registrars of voters and their associates who introduced the TEVS open source method to create safer, more transparent elections in their counties and engaged citizens in the process. MEET AND TALK TO THE AWARD WINNERS
From Humboldt County Carolyn Crnich, Mitch Trachtenberg and Kevin Collins
From Yolo County, Tom Stanionis and Freddie Oakley (Freddie is unable to attend)

CA: Board asks elections chief to make changes(Ventura County)
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/dec/08/board-asks-elections-chief-to-make-changes/

CO: Canvass Board submits vote abstract, files complaint* (Saguache County)
http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=1406&page=72 (machines not secured, logic & accuracy not according to rule, ballots altered with sticky tabs, audit not correctly performed, every time ballots scanned machine gave different result, various discrepancies...)

CO: Clerk misrepresents returns (Saguache County)
http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=1407 Contrary to Myers press release, the official canvass board statement found discrepancies in machine vote counts for all races and did not “sign off” on the final “audit” but instead submitted only a vote abstract..

MN: Credibility of Minnesota's election process vindicated. http://ceimn.org/Minnesota_recount_Dayton_Emmer_Governor_Ritchie_elections_voting_SCTimes
The state's elections system works in a credible and accurate way.

NC: Close call: Recount for statewide instant-runoff, judicial election
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2010/ballots_must_be_counted_again_in_statewide_instant-runoff_election

NC: Polston submits new protest of general election
http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2010/dec/09/polston-submits-new-protest-of-general-election-ar-602441/
He wants all results from East Winston center tossed out
Polston is asking the Forsyth County Board of Elections to toss out all the results from the East Winston Heritage Center precinct because blank ballots were found in the box when elections officials conducted a recount.

NY: Your vote counts. By VIRGINIA MARTIN Dem. election commissioner of Columbia Co. http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php/opinions/1675-by-virginia-martin-
Why county is hand-counting all its ballots
...We're using this as an opportunity to boost civic participation in our elections. In a hands-on, see-it-with-their-own-eyes way, we're having individuals count the votes that were cast by their neighbors. No one in our county will speculate that the results were skewed because the machines didn't work right.

NY: Virginia Martin is a hero of American democracy (INTERVIEW)
http://markcrispinmiller.com/2010/12/virginia-martin-is-a-hero-of-american-democracy-interview/
VM: We had to develop a great many highly specific procedures in order to ensure (and, after the fact, to confirm) that the chain of custody would always be unbroken, that no process would be undertaken unilaterally, and that correct results would be reported.

NY: Nassau election: it's almost over (Nassau SD 07 audit to expand)
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle-1.812042/nassau-election-it-s-almost-over-1.2529996 Both parties said the audit would “continue,” but with no timetable to resume the audit. Also, they did not conclude that the machines had “failed,” a threshold in the state law that is not defined.

NY: Tale Of The Tape: With 80,000 New Votes Tallied, Election Night Accuracy Questioned http://www.queenstribune.com/feature/Feature_120910.html “I’m not sure the public really appreciates the extent to which human error plays a role in election results,” said Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest),

NY: Board of Elections employee testifies in front of grand jury
http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2010/12/09/news/doc4d01238475c98703711821.txt

OR: Oregon Republicans want partial recount in governor's race to test Multnomah County http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/12/oregon_republicans_want_partia.html
"Simply put, it's cheap insurance to make sure the tabulation was accurate," said Oregon Republican Chairman Bob Tiernan...

OH: Dispute leaves elections in limbo
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101209/NEWS0108/12100327/Dispute-leaves-elections-in-limbo Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will apparently have to decide how the Hamilton County Board of Elections will carry out a court-ordered review of provisional ballots in the as-yet-undecided juvenile court race, because the board is split along party lines.

OR: Recount starts in State Senator election
http://www.ktvl.com/articles/state-1198050-election-bates.html
MEDFORD, Ore. -- The election for District 3 Oregon State Senator is far from over, as the recount in the Bates-Dotterrer race began Wednesday.
...
"People have to have a real confidence in democracy -- a real confidence in how we run a vote count, and I think when this is done they will feel that way," Bates said.

SD: Election crime deprives at least one student vote
http://www.sdsucollegian.com/news/election-crime-deprives-at-least-one-student-vote-1.1824755 Law enforcement investigating who's responsible turning in voter registration forms past deadline

TX: 2010 ELECTION: 1,545 local ballots found (Tom Green County)
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/dec/08/ballot-box-left-out-of-vote-totals-nov-2/
Votes would not have changed election results
“Once we realized it was something to do with early voting, we realized one of the mobile ballot boxes was missing,” McKerley said. “We found a shelf that had our training equipment, and somehow that piece of equipment had gotten set on those shelves.”
...
McKerley said her office first realized something was wrong during the week of Thanksgiving

TX: Inept step: Decision to disrupt voter registration at naturalization ceremonies ill-considered http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7330909.html

Internet Voting Watch

The Call for Papers for the Conference on Electronic Democracy is extended until January 16th, 2011. http://www.e-voting.cc/

National

FVAP: Overseas Citizens Post-Election Survey
http://www.fvap.gov/reference/overseassurvey.html The survey is one of the few tools we have to gauge what you and other overseas U.S. citizens think of the absentee voting process.

International

India: Bihar opposition want end to voting machines
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/bihar-opposition-want-end-to-voting-machines-1.726994 Parties cite examples of US and Germany which have done away with the practice

Mogeria: Thieves steal voting equipment at Nigeria airport
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013632378_apafnigeriaelection.html
Thieves infiltrated Nigeria's main international airport and stole just-arrived equipment needed to register voters in the oil-rich nation ahead of next year's hotly contested presidential election, an official said Thursday.
...
The theft, while not immediately linked to corrupt politicians, is a troubling sign heading into Nigeria's election. The West African nation emerged from dictatorships into an unsteady democracy only a decade ago, with thuggery and fraud a common feature in local, state and federal elections.

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