Election hangover,Bush V Gore legacy. N.Carolina still counting IRV contest

Champaign Ill Cnty Clerk compares return rate of emailed vs snail-mailed blank overseas military ballots....MN GOP candidate Emmer to withdraw some ballot challenges..MN counties await payment for election docs political parties demanded..Steven Schlesinger,atty for Johnson(D) count..said New York's new optical scanning machines "suck," and estimated 40 percent failed a required audit..Report: Barriers to Voting Access at 3 out of 4 NY Polling Sites..Election Hangover - The real legacy of Bush v. Gore...

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


AL: Jefferson CO, AL: Nell Hunter has retired after servicing 47 years as voter registrar http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006485.html

AL: Illegally placed campaign signs may get the "death penalty" in Huntsville
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/12/illegally_placed_campaign_sign.html

CA: RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Glitch cited for Measure M recount (reporting error)
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_pension03.4207f6a.html
On election night, a computer problem led to early results not properly showing the number of precincts reporting. Officials have insisted the vote totals were accurate. The problem, along with late-arriving voters, led to delays in posting of results

CO: Fort Collins to consider instant-runoff voting
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=54882

CT: Democratic Registrar of Voters Talks Ballots, Cross-Endorsement
http://newtown.patch.com/articles/democratic-registrar-of-voters-talks-ballots-cross-endorsement LeReine Frampton wants to clarify how cross-endorsement works.

IL: FPCA Ballot Return Rates (ballots requested by overseas military voters)
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/12/03/fpca-ballot-return-rates/
For this election, we had 213 voters who requested a ballot through email and 583 who requested it through regular mail. We had a 27% return rate for the email ballots and a 40% return rate for mail ballots. For military voters, who seemed to be the primary focus of the law, we had 16 out of 41 email ballots returned (28%) against 93 out of 155 mail ballots returned (38%).

MA: Easton asked to close schools for statewide elections
http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x652139263/Easton-School-Committee-asked-to-close-school-for-statewide-elections

MN: A Note on Reconcilation in Minnesota
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/comments/index.php?ID=7977
It looks as is if, going forward, "reconciliation" will be the main issue in the still-unresolved gubernatorial election in Minnesota.

MN: Dayton withdraws 'frivolous' challenges
http://www.startribune.com/politics/recount/111236354.html

MN: Emmer to withdraw some ballot challenges
http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/111267109.html But in saying so, he also laid heavy stress on one of the arguments that would likely be used in a court challenge if DFLer Mark Dayton is declared the winner after the recount, a standard known as "reconciliation."

MN: Counties Await Payment For Requested Election Documents
http://www.keyc.com/node/44637 Two weeks ago the County sent letters to both parties requiring a 1,000 dollar down payment.They say the DFL Party has paid...but the Republican Party has not...Kennedy says, "To date we haven't received anything yet."And other counties say they're facing the same problem.
...
Both Nicollet County and Waseca County were threatened with litigation by the Republican Party if documents were not completed in a timely manner.Kennedy says, "Then we were notified that with threatened litigation that if we didn't have that available that they would pursue another means of obtaining that information and or suing the city basically."And now much of the work ready, neither party has arranged to pick up the completed documents in Nicollet County.

MN: Emmer, Minn. GOP weigh risks of election lawsuit
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/nation/emmer-minn-gop-weigh-risks-of-election-lawsuit-1097287.html As a recount in the Minnesota governor's race nears completion with no evidence that it will change the outcome, the Republican candidate and his party face a critical decision: whether to contest the result in court or step aside and let Democrat Mark Dayton take office.

NC: Margin narrows in NC Court of Appeals contest (91 of 100 counties tally in)
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/03/841836/margin-narrows-in-nc-court-of.html
State elections director Gary Bartlett said late Friday election officials in 91 counties had completed counting the second round of instant runoff ballots in the race between Judge Cressie Thigpen and Doug McCullough. The other counties were expected to finish Monday.

ND: Burleigh County Sheriff's Department investigates whether men voted twice
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_9a4b2c58-ff0f-11df-9c94-001cc4c03286.html Glatt said the possible irregularity was discovered during an audit. (2 men may have voted early and on election day)

NJ: Court to decide if Manasquan ballots get recount
http://www.app.com/article/20101202/NEWS/12030321/Court-to-decide-if-Manasquan-ballots-get-recount A Superior Court judge will decide today whether ballots in the still undecided Manasquan municipal election should be subject to a second recount.
...
In the motion filed by the Attorney General's Office, Dinan certified that the recount led to a change in the mail-in ballot numbers. Ferrante's count grew from 78 to 79; McCarthy's dropped from 55 to 54. That puzzled her, Dinan said in the motion.
...
"I could not understand how a vote counted by the optical scanner would not be counted by a hand recount," Dinan said in the motion.

NJ: Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small called phone card giveaways wrong
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_ brigantine/article_006455f0-fe93-11df-a50e-001cc4c03286.html

NJ: Outcome of Gloucester County freeholder race unchanged by recount
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20101203_Outcome_of_Gloucester_
County_freeholder_race_unchanged_by_recount.html http://tinyurl.com/2e5wewg
The outcome of the Gloucester County freeholder race was unchanged by a recount that required checking all paper ballots and voting machines, officials announced Thursday

NV: Lawsuit Filed to Stop Card Drawing to Determine Identity of Next Eureka County, Nevada Clerk http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/12/03/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-card-drawing-to-determine-identity-of-next-eureka-county-nevada-clerk/

NY: Difficulties with absentee ballots contribute to lower turnout
http://www.bupipedream.com/Articles/Difficulties-with-absentee-ballots-contribute-to-lower-turnout/16759

NY: Senate Democrats lack cash, time
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Senate-Democrats-lack-cash-time-852302.php
"Whatever the cost, we're going to raise the resources necessary to pay it off," said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. "We're going to exhaust every resource possible to ensure every vote is counted."

NY: 7th Senate Race to be Certified Saturday Morning
2 Supreme Court rules on disputed absentee, affidavit ballots in race. http://portwashington.patch.com/articles/7th-senate-race-to-be-certified-saturday-morning-
...Judge Ira Warshawsky called for the weekend court date after hearing further arguments in his fourth floor courtroom late Thursday afternoon and evening and issuing rulings on affidavit and absentee ballots which had originally been declared invalid. (Craig Johnson,D vs Jack Martins R)

NY: 200k Votes 'Found' a Month After Election in NYC
WTF?! 200,000 votes?! http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8226 Of course, this is just one of the reasons why we always encourage candidates to not concede on Election Night..

NY: Recount Finds 195,000 Votes Were Missed on Election Night
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/nyregion/03votes.html?_r=1
“It’s absurd and disturbing that one in six votes in New York City went uncounted in the election night returns,” said Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party.

NY: Report: Barriers to Voting Access at 3 out of 4 NY Polling Sites
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/0/0/17332
96/WAMC.New.York.News/Report.Barriers.to.Voting.Access.at.3.out.of.4.NY.Polling.Sites
http://tinyurl.com/29ywpjr ALBANY, NY (WAMC) - Despite the new electronic voting machines, one advocacy group has found New Yorkers with disabilities continued to have problems casting their ballots in the November election. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

OH: Portage County Raises Concerns about Voting Machine Problems
http://www.ohiofreepress.com/voting/2010/portage-county-tea-party-raises-concerns-about-voting-machine-problems/ Multiple incidents of touchscreen vote flipping

OH: Hamilton Co. vote recounts delayed
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101202/NEWS0108/12030343/Hamilton-Co-vote-recounts-delayed Hunter filed a federal lawsuit contending that many of the 849 provisional ballots that were thrown out should have counted.

On Nov. 22, U. S. District Judge Susan Dlott ruled that the board must investigate the provisional ballots. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld her ruling.

OR: Oregon: State says GOP claim of missing ballots unfounded
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101202/NEWS/12020312

SC: South Carolina: Voter ID, illegal immigration up for debate
http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=13600366

TX: Just 12 votes decided HD 48
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/politics/just-12-votes-decided-hd-48

WV: Morgantown Residents may Vote by Mail (volunteered for pilot)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40449241/ns/local_news-clarksburg_wv/

National

Election Hangover - The real legacy of Bush v. Gore
http://www.slate.com/id/2276710/ The real lesson of the Florida fiasco (not merely Bush v. Gore) is about something else: the undermining of the public's faith in the fairness of American elections. This has triggered an ongoing war over their administration.
...
Before 2000, most people were confident their votes were going to be counted accurately. After 2000, they are much less so.

2010: Updates in AK, MN, and NY
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/03/5573065-2010-updates-in-ak-mn-and-ny

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