CO: ES&S voting system report raises red flags - Center Post Dispatch
When Secretary of State Scott Gessler held his town hall in Saguache March 15, he told county residents that he had requested the distributor of the M650 voting machine to provide him with a report of Saguache election records. On March 28, Elections Systems and Software (ES&S) sent Gessler a copy of the M650’s Unity software system log and a report on the election tabulation issues for his office to examine. The system log reported the activity on the election reporting software resident on the laptop used by County election staff. The Unity System software logs were preserved on the hard drive of the laptop accompanying the Unity software County Clerk Melinda Myers’ office borrowed to operate then accumulate report results from the M650 voting machine. The laptop was used to transfer data from the M650 machine via zip disks, which were then transferred to the laptop to be printed out and saved. The data was then compiled into reports to be printed on paper and was saved to electronic files. Before Myers sent the laptop back to ES&S Dec. 3, she wiped out the tabulation data on the computer’s hard drive. The software system logs, however, were preserved. The 22-page ES&S report released by the Secretary of State’s Office (SOS) earlier this month has been studied by election and voting system experts across the country. While most are not willing to go on record yet with their findings until further study is completed, they warn that there are alarming indicators within the system logs that show either serious software malfunctions, significant errors by machine operators, improper activities or a combination of all these. Read More
FL: Florida House passes elections law overhaul - St. Petersburg Times
The Florida House passed a sweeping overhaul of election laws Thursday that Republicans say will streamline voting machinery and Democrats say will make it harder for people to vote in the nation's biggest battleground state in 2012. Passage on a 79-37 party-line vote followed two days of intensely partisan debate — a harbinger of next year's presidential election when Florida's newly increased 29 electoral votes and all 160 legislative seats will be at stake in a pivotal reapportionment year. But the closest that any Republican lawmaker came to stating the obvious — invoking President Barack Obama's name — was a passing reference to preventing "the Chicago method" of voting more than once. In another sign of the muscle-flexing power of Republican supermajorities in both houses, the GOP is making changes to voting laws for the next election, and the vastly outnumbered Democrats are powerless to stop it. "This is a great country. Our vote is precious, and we're going to protect it," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, sponsor of the bill, HB 1355. Neither Florida's election supervisors nor the secretary of state requested the most controversial changes, which are among the most hotly debated since the aftermath of the 2000 presidential recount. Read More
HI: Honolulu City Council: No Instant Runoff Voting - Honolulu Civil Beat
Un-American, ill-advised and expensive. The Honolulu City Council has a long list of reasons as to why state lawmakers ought to kill a move meant to improve its current voting system. Council members on Wednesday passed a resolution urging state lawmakers not to pass House Bill 638, which would bring instant runoff voting to Honolulu and other counties. The measure is two steps away from passing with state representatives set to discuss it in a conference committee Thursday morning. Instant runoff voting allows voters to rank their candidates by preference instead of choosing a single candidate. Advocates for the system say it enables the candidate with the most general support to win. If no one wins the majority, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is removed from the race, and the eliminated candidate's votes are transferred to the voters' second-choice candidate. This process continues until a winner emerges. The council's opposition is ironic given that instant runoff voting has garnered public interest in large part because of a December council race. In that race, Tom Berg was one of 14 candidates in a special election to represent District 1 and won with just 2,326 votes — or 4.3 percent of registered voters. Read More
NJ: Advocacy groups, students argue New Jersey should allow voter registration on Election Day - NJ.com
The times have changed, but a key part of the state’s election law is still stuck in the past, according to a coalition of students and advocacy groups that filed a challenge to New Jersey’s voter-registration law today. Instead of requiring 21 days to process a voter registration, the state should get with the times and allow people to sign up on Election Day, the plaintiffs argued. Thousands of residents are locked out of the voting booth every year because they don’t file their paperwork on time, they said, and the law is especially cumbersome for highly mobile people like college students. "People who are moving have a lot of other things on their mind," said Frank Askin, director of the Rutgers Law School Constitutional Litigation Clinic, who is lead counsel for the plaintiffs. "There are nine states that have Election Day registration. Those states have the highest voter turnout in the country." Read More
ND: Jury still out in voting centers issue - Bismark Tribune
"It was a valuable experiment. We learned what worked well and what things didn't," said Burleigh County Auditor Kevin Glatt about using voting centers for this week's special election on Bismarck's smoking ban. One center was placed at the Bismarck Civic Center and one at the VFW Sports Arena. There are now 35 voting precincts and sites throughout the county; of those, 24 are in Bismarck's borders. Glatt downsized voting sites for the special election as a test run for using vote centers in the future. Voter reaction was mixed. Waiting times ranged from a few minutes to more than an hour. Some frustrated voters turned around late Tuesday afternoon at the Bismarck Civic Center when faced with the long lines. Glatt said it's too early to say if a vote center system could be used regularly in the future. His aim has been efficiency and cost savings. "We've been throwing around ideas. We received lots of positive comments. We received some criticism and we will use that constructively," he said. Read More
SC: Voting Machine Critics Get Their Day in the Senate - Columbia Free Times
After a Senate panel heard testimony on April 14 from a handful of election watchdogs critical of the state’s system of electronic voting machines, a rather testy exchange took place in the hallway. “You guys have a tough job,” said USC computer scientist Duncan Buell to Chris Whitmire, the spokesman for the South Carolina State Election Commission. “You have a really tough job, but you’re in deep denial about reality.” Buell has blasted the state agency in charge of South Carolina’s voting machines for some time. In February, after an independent audit he conducted with another computer expert, the two compiled a report that illustrated how the agency failed to count more than 1,000 votes in the November elections in Richland County alone. Whitmire admits that the Election Commission did certify inaccurate results, but says the disparity wouldn’t have been enough to change the outcome of any election. Buell and others want post-election audits to ensure no votes end up in a black hole in the future. They are continuing an independent audit of their own to find out how widespread the problem of missing votes in the state is. During the hearing, Election Commission director Marci Andino testified that the agency has already begun doing some post-election audits. For future statewide elections, the commission plans to have counties conduct their own audits of their results prior to county certification and then have the agency audit a 10 percent random sample to look for discrepancies. The system of electronic iVotronic machines the state purchased in 2004 is about halfway through its life cycle, Andino said, and added that the agency has had its budget cut by 56 percent in recent years. The League of Women Voters of South Carolina has taken the position that there should be a voter-verified paper trail for all votes. The group’s advocacy director Carole Cato, who also testified, says a true recount is impossible with the machines the state currently uses. Read More
WI: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Foes Reach Recount Accord - Bloomberg
WisconsinSupreme Court Justice David T. Prosser Jr. and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg agreed to the recounting of some ballots by hand and others electronically to resolve who won the April 5 election. Lawyers for Prosser and Kloppenburg reached the accord in court today, representatives for both sides said, after the state agency responsible for counting votes sued for permission to do so by mining, and potentially erasing, electronic ballot data. Kloppenburg yesterday asked the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, for a statewide recount after a review of the election results showed the incumbent Prosser had won by 7,316 votes out of almost 1.5 million ballots cast. “The quicker we get started, the sooner we will have the election results reaffirmed,” Brian Nemoir, a spokesman for Prosser, said in a telephone interview. Read More
WI: Wisconsin Agency Sues Over Supreme Court Election Recount - Businessweek
The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board asked a judge to allow the use of electronic voting memory cartridges to speed the recount in a contested Supreme Court election, even if that use might erase the voting data. The nonpartisan agency filed the lawsuit today in state court in Madison, naming as defendants incumbent Supreme Court Justice David T. Prosser Jr. and his challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg. Kloppenburg yesterday asked election officials for a statewide recount after a review of the April 5 election results showed Prosser had won by 7,316 votes out of almost 1.5 million ballots cast. Read More
WI: State Supreme Court election recount could be costly - Leader-Telegram
It's going to cost Wisconsin's taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million to find out who will be the next state Supreme Court justice. Assistant attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg on Wednesday said she will seek a full, statewide recount of the April 5 election in which she is challenging Justice David Prosser for a 10-year term on the bench. "There are two reasons for this recount," she said. "One is to verify the outcome. The other is to restore the public trust in the electoral process." Based on the canvassed vote totals from all 72 Wisconsin counties, Prosser is winning by 7,316 votes, from about 1.5 million cast. The difference in totals is within the 0.5 percent margin that triggers an automatic recount with the taxpayers paying the tab, according to state law. With margins above 0.5 percent, the candidate pays for the recount. Prosser's margin of victory is 0.48 percent. The Pew Center for the States reported in November that statewide recount efforts in Minnesota and Washington state cost an average of 15 cents to 30 cents per ballot. Based on that formula, a full statewide recount effort in this race would cost between $225,000 and $450,000. Read More
International
Canada: Canadians can't Tweet election results - Dalje.com
Canadians who post local results from the May 2 national election online before polling stations close in all six time zones face fines, election law states. The upcoming election is the first one in which huge numbers of people are using such Internet social sites as Facebook and Twitter, but the 1938 Canada Elections Act forbids anyone from revealing election results before all polls in the country have closed to avoid creating a bias in western regions. The law provides for a fine of as much as $25,000 for premature disclosure of vote tabulations, the Calgary Herald reported. Elections Canada spokesman James Hale told the newspaper regardless of its age, the law would be enforced. "As long as the law is on the books, like any other law, it has to be obeyed," he said. Read More
Ghana: No e-voting in 2012, declares Electoral Commission - ModernGhana.com
Ghana will not be using the e-voting technology for the 2012 polls, the Electoral Commission (EC) has declared. The declaration is in response to a campaign for the country to adopt electronic voting for future polls. The system allows eligible voters to select their preferred candidate by pressing a button on a computer. Campaigners say the system ensures greater transparency. But after meeting the various political parties Tuesday, the EC said it would rather implement the biometric registration. Deputy Chairman in charge of Finance at the Commission David Kanga told Joy News:“In principle the commission is not against e-voting…but we know as professionals that there is something that you always miss in e-voting and that thing is transparency because it is not very easy for the voter to see, especially during counting, how somebody arrived at a certain number of votes.” Read More
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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.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Kloppenburg Files for Recount in Wisconsin
MN: Voter ID heads to vote -- or a ballot - StarTribune.com
GOP backers of a plan to require photo IDs at the polls are considering an effort to seek a constitutional amendment if the bill is thwarted by a veto. The controversial voter ID bill is nearing a floor vote after months of hearings and while Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday he is willing to look at the bill, he added he is a "long ways from supporting it." But GOP legislators leaving the Capitol for an Easter break are touting the measure as one of their signature policy proposals of the session, explaining why some lawmakers are crafting legislation that could put it on the ballot in 2012. It faces strong opposition from groups who say it could hinder some Minnesotans from voting. The so-called "voter ID" bill would require registered voters to show Minnesota photo identification to vote and would eliminate vouching as a method for Election Day registration. Read More
NC: Is that ID on the up and up? - News-Record.com
There was a lively discussion on our letters blog today about the proposed Voter ID bill. Supporters of the measure simply can't understand why anyone would see a problem with requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Joyce McCloy of the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting didn't weigh in there, but she forwarded some email correspondence she's had with legislators. One question she asked was what mechanism the bill creates for election officials to verify whether the ID presented is legitimate. After all, the fake ID industry is thriving. Today, at the behest of Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, she received a reply from Kara A. McCraw, staff attorney and legislative analyst for the General Assembly's Research Division. It said: "HB 351 requires the voter to present a photo ID to the local election official assigned to check registration when the voter enters the voting enclosure. Voters are currently required to state their name and address, and HB 351 would add the additional requirement that the voter present one of the forms of photo ID listed in the statute. The bill does not address the issue of "fake" IDs, specify a verification process by the election official, or require other agencies to share databases for verification of IDs. So Ms. McCloy is correct that the bill does not include a system or funding for verification of the IDs, and as a result the remaining questions (computer system for ID verification, electronic pollbooks , cost of such a system, security, etc.) are not addressed in the bill. "In reviewing the laws of the other 8 states which require photo ID, none appear to have established a process or system to verify whether an ID is fake or not at the polling site. The challenge procedure in current NC law established under G.S. 163-87 for challenges on election day could still be used to challenge a voter on any of the grounds included in that statute, such as the person is not who they represent themselves to be, even if that voter has presented identification." What does this mean? For one thing, election workers will have a much tougher assignment without clear guidelines. Because many of us have driver's license photos of questionable quality, or that don't really resemble us, election officials might challenge more voters, which will trigger additional investigation and expense. Responsible election administration might demand that pollworkers undergo training in how to scrutinize IDs, much as bank tellers have to learn how to tell real currency from fake. Yet, they're also trying to keep voting lines moving. Read More
TN: Integrity of the ballot box is crucial - The Tennessean
If Rep. Debra Maggart is really concerned about voter fraud, she should work to implement the 2008 Tennessee Voter Confidence Act, requiring verifiable paper ballots. Without a paper trail, there is no chance of a meaningful recount in the event of close or questionable elections. Electronic voting machines can easily be hacked and election results changed without a trace. That real fraud cannot happen when there is a paper trail following. Instead, Maggart is working to pass legislation that will disenfranchise voters, such as requiring photo IDs to cast ballots, in the name of fighting fraud. But New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice commissioned a nationwide study into alleged voter fraud, and found it virtually doesn’t exist, including here in Tennessee. It found most cases of reported voter fraud were actually the result of human error, not an intent to mislead and cast an ineligible ballot. And in cases where actual irregularities were found, photo ID would not have stopped the fraud, as most happened in collusion with election officials. Read More
WI: Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger files for recount - POLITICO.com
Charging that voting “anomalies” were “widespread,” the liberal challenger in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race filed papers Wednesday afternoon requesting a recount in the close election that has her trailing a conservative incumbent by less than 0.5 percent. JoAnne Kloppenburg arrived at the state Government Accountability Board’s office in Madison barely an hour before the 5 p.m. local time deadline by which she had to ask for a recount or concede defeat. According to the vote count finalized by the state last week, she trails Justice David Prosser by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast in the April 5 election. “Today, my campaign is asking the Government Accountability Board to conduct a statewide recount,” Kloppenburg said at a news conference. The announcement was met with applause and cheers of “thank you.” She’s requesting the recount “in part to determine what the proper outcome of the election will be and to ensure that elections form this point forward will be fair. Read More
WI: Wisconsin court race heads for recount - Reuters
Wisconsin's election oversight agency said on Wednesday that the challenger in the close race for a seat on the state Supreme Court has asked for a recount. The April 5 high court contest was widely seen as a referendum on the state's new Republican leadership and the curbs they have imposed on public sector collective bargaining, which drew national attention as other states weighed similar moves. In a statement, the Government Accountability Board said it was "prepared to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for Supreme Court Justice, as requested by the Kloppenburg campaign today." The announcement came just minutes before JoAnne Kloppenburg, who trails incumbent David Prosser by just 7,316 of the nearly 1.5 million votes in the closely watched race, was scheduled to hold a press conference in Madison outlining her plans. Wednesday was the deadline for her to request a recount. Read More
WI: Kloppenburg Files for Statewide 'Recount' in WI Supreme Court Election - BradBlog
Wisconsin's Asst. Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg has filed paperwork for a statewide, state-sponsored "recount" in the controversial April 5th State Supreme Court election. Speaking to supporters at a press conference moments ago in Madison, Kloppenburg pointed to a number of reported irregularities around the state, including in Waukesha County, as well as Racine and Milwaukee and a number of other areas, that led to her decision to ask for such a count. She also mentioned unusually high undervote rates in a number of areas that the campaign had examined. "I've asked for a recount to determine what the right count is, and also to preserve confidence in the electoral process," she said in response to a question from reporters. Kloppenburg stated that her campaign would be asking for a hand count of ballots in a number of districts, and will work with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.), the state's top election agency, to determine which areas should be hand counted. State recount procedures allow for a machine recount of paper ballots unless hand examination is ordered by a court. Referring to critics of such a post-election examination of results, Kloppenburg was unflinching in her response, saying they've called it "a drama and a circus. Actually, it's called American Democracy." During her remarks, she also called for a special investigator for controversial Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, the focus of a number of anomalies that have appeared in election results since Election Night. "The recount will reveal if there were discrepancies in the Waukesha vote count, but going forward, an independent investigation needs to determine what the clerk did there and why," she explained, while pointing to a number of still-unanswered questions about post-election vote tallies in Waukesha, including why it is that "conservative bloggers" were told about those adjustments before they were announced publicly. Read More
WI: Waukesha County Vote Tallies are Correct, State Elections Review Finds - Port Washington-Saukville, WI Patch
State elections officials said today they found no errors in the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers' certified vote tallies in the state Supreme Court race. The votes reported by the county's approximately three dozen cities, villages and towns match the numbers sent by the Board of Canvassers to the state, according to a statement by the Government Accountability Board. State officials spent four days in Waukesha County reviewing the votes after Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced two days after the election that she had failed to include the entire City of Brookfield votes in her countywide tally on election night. The Brookfield votes, however, were detailed in a Brookfield Patch story posted on election night with information provided by the city clerk after the polls closed. Read More
WI: Waukesha canvass gets OK - JSOnline
The state's top election watchdog agency announced Tuesday that it has satisfied itself that results certified by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus for the April 5 election are consistent with totals reported by municipalities, though "a few anomalies" were found in a four-day investigation. Those discrepancies involved only a handful of votes. "After completing the review of the election materials from Waukesha County, there were some discrepancies found in the Government Accountability Board's evaluation of the Waukesha County election returns that could not be explained based upon the documentation reviewed," the board staff said in a statement. "I am pleased that the Government Accountability Board has concluded that a correction of the canvass is not warranted due to the fact that they found no major discrepancies in our official canvass report," Nickolaus said in an email response. "I have been, and will continue to be, cooperative with the Government Accountability Board throughout this entire process." Although all 72 counties, including Waukesha, certified their results last week, state elections staff reviewed Nickolaus' records and interviewed Nickolaus. The investigation began after Nickolaus announced at a news conference two days after the election that she had erroneously given unofficial election night totals that did not include Brookfield's 14,315 votes. She said she had failed to save the vote totals on her computer, so they weren't tallied in an unofficial summary. The full Waukesha County results ended up reversing the reported outcome, putting incumbent Justice David Prosser more than 7,000 votes ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, who initially appeared on top by 204 votes statewide. Read More
WI: If There Is A Wisconsin Recount, What Happens Next? - The UpTake
The election battle seen as a proxy between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and foes of his anti-union legislation may end or open a new chapter today. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenberg has until 5pm today to request a recount in her very close race with incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. While the margin is close enough for the state of Wisconsin to pay for the recount, Kloppenberg still has to decide if she wants to put herself through what could be several months of legal action and whether she and her supporters have enough money to pay the legal bills of the lawyers that will be needed in the fight. Legal fees for the 2009 US Senate recount in Minnesota ran close to $10 Million for each side and the principle lawyers from that fight have been retained by Kloppenberg and Prosser for this fight. Should Kloppenberg decide to press ahead you’ll see a process somewhat like Minnesota’s recounts, but with some significant differences. Most of the work of the recount happens at the county level. Wisconsin has 72 counties. Each county has a canvassing board that will recount the votes. Unlike Minnesota, not all of the votes will be counted by hand. Only non-scannable paper ballots will be counted by hand. Ballots that were originally counted by optical scanners, will be counted that way again. Should the recount go ahead, the Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board which oversees elections is planning to go to court tomorrow to clear out the memory on the optical scanners or to conduct a Statewide hand count of all ballots in the recount. It is possible that either campaign may request the data from the optical scanners be preserved, which would mean a hand recount. Read More
International
Australia: E-voting should be open source - ZDnet
A consortium of university computer science departments has warned the Federal Government that all future computerised voting systems should be made open source to ensure that no votes will be miscast. In a submission (PDF) to the House of Representatives review into the 2010 Federal Election, the Computing Research and Education Association of Australia (CORE) said that it is crucial, if Australia is to move to electronic voting, that the principles of privacy, integrity, transparency and scrutiny of the electoral system be upheld. "There is no more reason for a secret, unscrutinised electronic voting process than there is for any other secret process that injects votes into the tally without adequate scrutiny," the association said. "Scrutiny improves security because it allows problems to be identified and rectified." The association recommended that — to ensure that this happens — all source code, documentation, reports and physical security procedures should be made available to the public. It also absolutely vital that votes should be private and verifiable by the voters, CORE added. Read More
Egypt: Egyptian companies will provide technology for electronic voting: minister - Ahram Online
Maged Osman, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, today denied reports Egypt is seeking technological support from abroad to conduct electronic voting in the country's upcoming elections. He stressed that the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has full confidence in the ability of local companies to carry out the task, but admitted there may be teething problems when applying the new methods. "The decision to use electronic voting is linked to the confidence of Egyptian society in this new kind of voting, the cost associated with technological solutions, election duration and the consequences of the logistics,” Osman explained. Osman will meet tomorrow with S Y Qureshi, the chairman of the Election Commission of India and other members of Qureshi's group. "This meeting with the Indian side will give the Egyptian government a chance to learn about the international experience of electronic voting," Osman said. "It's important to hear of the maturity of the Indian experience of voting and the many similarities between the Egyptian and Indian situations, particularly in terms of population and social levels. Read More
India: Web cameras will keep an eye on May 13 counting - The Times of India
In a bid to ensure fair and free counting on May 13, the Election Commission, for the first time, will instal high resolution web cameras over each counting table to capture images of the counting process including the final figures that will appear in the electronic voting machines. Chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said web cameras would be used in the counting centres across the state. "We will be installing web cameras over each table where counting takes place", he told TOI. There are 234 counting centres across the state, including three in Chennai. He said installation of web camera ensures that there would be no malpractices during counting. Explaining the process, Praveen Kumar said election officials will also record the images during the movement of EVMs from the strong room to the counting centres. He said for the first time the EC has kept the EVMs in a strong room that is few meters away from the counting centre. "This will avoid long transportation time," he said. He said for the first time one election observer, deployed for each constituency, will also be monitoring the counting process. "We have asked for more observers," he said. On the security aspect, he said that paramilitary forces will be deployed during counting day. "In addition to this, special state police will be pressed into service on the same day", he added. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
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The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
GOP backers of a plan to require photo IDs at the polls are considering an effort to seek a constitutional amendment if the bill is thwarted by a veto. The controversial voter ID bill is nearing a floor vote after months of hearings and while Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday he is willing to look at the bill, he added he is a "long ways from supporting it." But GOP legislators leaving the Capitol for an Easter break are touting the measure as one of their signature policy proposals of the session, explaining why some lawmakers are crafting legislation that could put it on the ballot in 2012. It faces strong opposition from groups who say it could hinder some Minnesotans from voting. The so-called "voter ID" bill would require registered voters to show Minnesota photo identification to vote and would eliminate vouching as a method for Election Day registration. Read More
NC: Is that ID on the up and up? - News-Record.com
There was a lively discussion on our letters blog today about the proposed Voter ID bill. Supporters of the measure simply can't understand why anyone would see a problem with requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Joyce McCloy of the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting didn't weigh in there, but she forwarded some email correspondence she's had with legislators. One question she asked was what mechanism the bill creates for election officials to verify whether the ID presented is legitimate. After all, the fake ID industry is thriving. Today, at the behest of Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, she received a reply from Kara A. McCraw, staff attorney and legislative analyst for the General Assembly's Research Division. It said: "HB 351 requires the voter to present a photo ID to the local election official assigned to check registration when the voter enters the voting enclosure. Voters are currently required to state their name and address, and HB 351 would add the additional requirement that the voter present one of the forms of photo ID listed in the statute. The bill does not address the issue of "fake" IDs, specify a verification process by the election official, or require other agencies to share databases for verification of IDs. So Ms. McCloy is correct that the bill does not include a system or funding for verification of the IDs, and as a result the remaining questions (computer system for ID verification, electronic pollbooks , cost of such a system, security, etc.) are not addressed in the bill. "In reviewing the laws of the other 8 states which require photo ID, none appear to have established a process or system to verify whether an ID is fake or not at the polling site. The challenge procedure in current NC law established under G.S. 163-87 for challenges on election day could still be used to challenge a voter on any of the grounds included in that statute, such as the person is not who they represent themselves to be, even if that voter has presented identification." What does this mean? For one thing, election workers will have a much tougher assignment without clear guidelines. Because many of us have driver's license photos of questionable quality, or that don't really resemble us, election officials might challenge more voters, which will trigger additional investigation and expense. Responsible election administration might demand that pollworkers undergo training in how to scrutinize IDs, much as bank tellers have to learn how to tell real currency from fake. Yet, they're also trying to keep voting lines moving. Read More
TN: Integrity of the ballot box is crucial - The Tennessean
If Rep. Debra Maggart is really concerned about voter fraud, she should work to implement the 2008 Tennessee Voter Confidence Act, requiring verifiable paper ballots. Without a paper trail, there is no chance of a meaningful recount in the event of close or questionable elections. Electronic voting machines can easily be hacked and election results changed without a trace. That real fraud cannot happen when there is a paper trail following. Instead, Maggart is working to pass legislation that will disenfranchise voters, such as requiring photo IDs to cast ballots, in the name of fighting fraud. But New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice commissioned a nationwide study into alleged voter fraud, and found it virtually doesn’t exist, including here in Tennessee. It found most cases of reported voter fraud were actually the result of human error, not an intent to mislead and cast an ineligible ballot. And in cases where actual irregularities were found, photo ID would not have stopped the fraud, as most happened in collusion with election officials. Read More
WI: Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger files for recount - POLITICO.com
Charging that voting “anomalies” were “widespread,” the liberal challenger in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race filed papers Wednesday afternoon requesting a recount in the close election that has her trailing a conservative incumbent by less than 0.5 percent. JoAnne Kloppenburg arrived at the state Government Accountability Board’s office in Madison barely an hour before the 5 p.m. local time deadline by which she had to ask for a recount or concede defeat. According to the vote count finalized by the state last week, she trails Justice David Prosser by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast in the April 5 election. “Today, my campaign is asking the Government Accountability Board to conduct a statewide recount,” Kloppenburg said at a news conference. The announcement was met with applause and cheers of “thank you.” She’s requesting the recount “in part to determine what the proper outcome of the election will be and to ensure that elections form this point forward will be fair. Read More
WI: Wisconsin court race heads for recount - Reuters
Wisconsin's election oversight agency said on Wednesday that the challenger in the close race for a seat on the state Supreme Court has asked for a recount. The April 5 high court contest was widely seen as a referendum on the state's new Republican leadership and the curbs they have imposed on public sector collective bargaining, which drew national attention as other states weighed similar moves. In a statement, the Government Accountability Board said it was "prepared to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for Supreme Court Justice, as requested by the Kloppenburg campaign today." The announcement came just minutes before JoAnne Kloppenburg, who trails incumbent David Prosser by just 7,316 of the nearly 1.5 million votes in the closely watched race, was scheduled to hold a press conference in Madison outlining her plans. Wednesday was the deadline for her to request a recount. Read More
WI: Kloppenburg Files for Statewide 'Recount' in WI Supreme Court Election - BradBlog
Wisconsin's Asst. Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg has filed paperwork for a statewide, state-sponsored "recount" in the controversial April 5th State Supreme Court election. Speaking to supporters at a press conference moments ago in Madison, Kloppenburg pointed to a number of reported irregularities around the state, including in Waukesha County, as well as Racine and Milwaukee and a number of other areas, that led to her decision to ask for such a count. She also mentioned unusually high undervote rates in a number of areas that the campaign had examined. "I've asked for a recount to determine what the right count is, and also to preserve confidence in the electoral process," she said in response to a question from reporters. Kloppenburg stated that her campaign would be asking for a hand count of ballots in a number of districts, and will work with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.), the state's top election agency, to determine which areas should be hand counted. State recount procedures allow for a machine recount of paper ballots unless hand examination is ordered by a court. Referring to critics of such a post-election examination of results, Kloppenburg was unflinching in her response, saying they've called it "a drama and a circus. Actually, it's called American Democracy." During her remarks, she also called for a special investigator for controversial Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, the focus of a number of anomalies that have appeared in election results since Election Night. "The recount will reveal if there were discrepancies in the Waukesha vote count, but going forward, an independent investigation needs to determine what the clerk did there and why," she explained, while pointing to a number of still-unanswered questions about post-election vote tallies in Waukesha, including why it is that "conservative bloggers" were told about those adjustments before they were announced publicly. Read More
WI: Waukesha County Vote Tallies are Correct, State Elections Review Finds - Port Washington-Saukville, WI Patch
State elections officials said today they found no errors in the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers' certified vote tallies in the state Supreme Court race. The votes reported by the county's approximately three dozen cities, villages and towns match the numbers sent by the Board of Canvassers to the state, according to a statement by the Government Accountability Board. State officials spent four days in Waukesha County reviewing the votes after Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced two days after the election that she had failed to include the entire City of Brookfield votes in her countywide tally on election night. The Brookfield votes, however, were detailed in a Brookfield Patch story posted on election night with information provided by the city clerk after the polls closed. Read More
WI: Waukesha canvass gets OK - JSOnline
The state's top election watchdog agency announced Tuesday that it has satisfied itself that results certified by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus for the April 5 election are consistent with totals reported by municipalities, though "a few anomalies" were found in a four-day investigation. Those discrepancies involved only a handful of votes. "After completing the review of the election materials from Waukesha County, there were some discrepancies found in the Government Accountability Board's evaluation of the Waukesha County election returns that could not be explained based upon the documentation reviewed," the board staff said in a statement. "I am pleased that the Government Accountability Board has concluded that a correction of the canvass is not warranted due to the fact that they found no major discrepancies in our official canvass report," Nickolaus said in an email response. "I have been, and will continue to be, cooperative with the Government Accountability Board throughout this entire process." Although all 72 counties, including Waukesha, certified their results last week, state elections staff reviewed Nickolaus' records and interviewed Nickolaus. The investigation began after Nickolaus announced at a news conference two days after the election that she had erroneously given unofficial election night totals that did not include Brookfield's 14,315 votes. She said she had failed to save the vote totals on her computer, so they weren't tallied in an unofficial summary. The full Waukesha County results ended up reversing the reported outcome, putting incumbent Justice David Prosser more than 7,000 votes ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, who initially appeared on top by 204 votes statewide. Read More
WI: If There Is A Wisconsin Recount, What Happens Next? - The UpTake
The election battle seen as a proxy between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and foes of his anti-union legislation may end or open a new chapter today. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenberg has until 5pm today to request a recount in her very close race with incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. While the margin is close enough for the state of Wisconsin to pay for the recount, Kloppenberg still has to decide if she wants to put herself through what could be several months of legal action and whether she and her supporters have enough money to pay the legal bills of the lawyers that will be needed in the fight. Legal fees for the 2009 US Senate recount in Minnesota ran close to $10 Million for each side and the principle lawyers from that fight have been retained by Kloppenberg and Prosser for this fight. Should Kloppenberg decide to press ahead you’ll see a process somewhat like Minnesota’s recounts, but with some significant differences. Most of the work of the recount happens at the county level. Wisconsin has 72 counties. Each county has a canvassing board that will recount the votes. Unlike Minnesota, not all of the votes will be counted by hand. Only non-scannable paper ballots will be counted by hand. Ballots that were originally counted by optical scanners, will be counted that way again. Should the recount go ahead, the Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board which oversees elections is planning to go to court tomorrow to clear out the memory on the optical scanners or to conduct a Statewide hand count of all ballots in the recount. It is possible that either campaign may request the data from the optical scanners be preserved, which would mean a hand recount. Read More
International
Australia: E-voting should be open source - ZDnet
A consortium of university computer science departments has warned the Federal Government that all future computerised voting systems should be made open source to ensure that no votes will be miscast. In a submission (PDF) to the House of Representatives review into the 2010 Federal Election, the Computing Research and Education Association of Australia (CORE) said that it is crucial, if Australia is to move to electronic voting, that the principles of privacy, integrity, transparency and scrutiny of the electoral system be upheld. "There is no more reason for a secret, unscrutinised electronic voting process than there is for any other secret process that injects votes into the tally without adequate scrutiny," the association said. "Scrutiny improves security because it allows problems to be identified and rectified." The association recommended that — to ensure that this happens — all source code, documentation, reports and physical security procedures should be made available to the public. It also absolutely vital that votes should be private and verifiable by the voters, CORE added. Read More
Egypt: Egyptian companies will provide technology for electronic voting: minister - Ahram Online
Maged Osman, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, today denied reports Egypt is seeking technological support from abroad to conduct electronic voting in the country's upcoming elections. He stressed that the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has full confidence in the ability of local companies to carry out the task, but admitted there may be teething problems when applying the new methods. "The decision to use electronic voting is linked to the confidence of Egyptian society in this new kind of voting, the cost associated with technological solutions, election duration and the consequences of the logistics,” Osman explained. Osman will meet tomorrow with S Y Qureshi, the chairman of the Election Commission of India and other members of Qureshi's group. "This meeting with the Indian side will give the Egyptian government a chance to learn about the international experience of electronic voting," Osman said. "It's important to hear of the maturity of the Indian experience of voting and the many similarities between the Egyptian and Indian situations, particularly in terms of population and social levels. Read More
India: Web cameras will keep an eye on May 13 counting - The Times of India
In a bid to ensure fair and free counting on May 13, the Election Commission, for the first time, will instal high resolution web cameras over each counting table to capture images of the counting process including the final figures that will appear in the electronic voting machines. Chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said web cameras would be used in the counting centres across the state. "We will be installing web cameras over each table where counting takes place", he told TOI. There are 234 counting centres across the state, including three in Chennai. He said installation of web camera ensures that there would be no malpractices during counting. Explaining the process, Praveen Kumar said election officials will also record the images during the movement of EVMs from the strong room to the counting centres. He said for the first time the EC has kept the EVMs in a strong room that is few meters away from the counting centre. "This will avoid long transportation time," he said. He said for the first time one election observer, deployed for each constituency, will also be monitoring the counting process. "We have asked for more observers," he said. On the security aspect, he said that paramilitary forces will be deployed during counting day. "In addition to this, special state police will be pressed into service on the same day", he added. Read More
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The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
IN Senate fixes election code for White's successor, Pfrrosser will fight recount in WI
CO: Senate Dems kill voter ID, immigration crackdown proposals - KWGN
Senate Democrats have killed two more bills from the GOP-controlled House, both of which dealt with the issue of illegal immigration. A controversial proposal to reduce alleged voter fraud, House 1252 would have allowed the Secretary of State's office to cross-check the state's voter rolls with immigration databases and to send letters demanding further proof of citizenship to any registered voters whose status appeared to be in doubt. Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican voted into office last November, was pushing for the bill and worried that thousands of people may have been voting illegally in Colorado's elections. H.B. 1252, sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, passed the House, but ran into trouble in the Democrat-controlled Senate. After testimony from several progressive groups who argued that there's no evidence of voter fraud, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted the bill down Monday afternoon on a 2-3 party-line vote. Read More
FL: Florida Legislature cracks down on … voting? - St. Petersburg Times
Having solved all other problems, the Florida Legislature now turns to the most dangerous threat of all …Voting. No kidding. The 2011 Legislature is considering, and its committees have approved so far, bills that would:
Cut Florida's early-voting period (nearly one out of five ballots were cast early in 2010) from two weeks to one.
Bar anyone who has moved or changed a name, such as newly married women, from updating their information at the polls on Election Day and receiving a regular ballot. They would have to cast "provisional" ballots instead.
Crack down on, and expand penalties for, groups that try to register new voters — which used to be considered an all-American activity.
Make it even harder for citizens to change the Florida Constitution by setting an earlier expiration date for petition signatures.
Read More
IN: Senate OKs plan to alter election law - The Indianapolis Star
Despite howls from Democrats that Republicans were changing the rules because they fear the outcome, the Senate on Monday approved a provision that would let the governor appoint a new secretary of state if Charlie White is found ineligible to have been elected. The provision would overturn current law that says the second-highest vote-getter -- in this case, Democrat Vop Osili -- would be declared the winner. The amendment, offered by Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, would minimize the fallout for Republicans if White is found ineligible. Not only would it let the Republican governor choose White's replacement, but Republicans would keep political perks based on the number of votes a party's candidate for secretary of state wins, especially getting their candidates on ballots without going through the petition process. White has been indicted in Hamilton County on seven felony counts stemming from his having voted in the wrong precinct in the May primary. The grand jury and Democrats allege White did so deliberately in order to cover up that he had moved out of the Fishers Town Council district he represented; White insists it was an innocent mistake. Read More
KY: Voter identification becomes issue in debate by secretary of state candidates - The Courier-Journal
People would be required to show a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship before they could register to vote in Kentucky under a proposal by Hilda Legg, aRepublican
candidate for secretary of state. Legg, former head of the federal Appalachian Regional Commission, made the proposal during a televised debate Monday night with GOP opponent Bill Johnson, a western Kentucky businessman. Johnson said he opposes the proposal, instead suggesting that only voters who have photo IDs be permitted to cast ballots.The two Republicans and two Democrats participated in back-to-back debates on Kentucky Educational Television. Read More
MN: Kiffmeyer optimistic voter ID bill will pass - Minnesota Public Radio News
The chief House sponsor of a bill to require a photo ID for voting in Minnesota said Monday she expects the Legislature to pass it soon -- and that supporters are likely to bring the issue directly to voters if Gov. Mark Dayton vetoes it. "That is absolutely still an option," said Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, the bill's chief sponsor and Minnesota's former secretary of state. Dayton, while not directly threatening to veto, has raised concerns about the bill, which critics have openly feared could make voting more difficult for senior citizens, college students and other young people who change addresses frequently, and new citizens. Kiffmeyer said she still hopes to find common ground with Dayton on the issue. But, citing polls that have shown large majorities of Minnesota in support of such a requirement, she said a Dayton veto could result in sponsors reintroducing the bill as a constitutional amendment and sending it to the statewide ballot in 2012. "We're going to try to make it acceptable to the governor and to work with him," Kiffmeyer said. "But there's a strong base of support for this regardless of where he ends up." The House Transportation Committee approved Kiffmeyer's bill Monday, one of numerous committee stops for the House and Senate versions of the bill. Kiffmeyer said floor votes by the full House and Senate could come as early as next week, after lawmakers return to the Capitol from a weeklong break that began Monday afternoon. Read More
WI: Prosser Campaign Vows to Block a State-Sponsored 'Recount' in WI Supreme Court Election Debacle - The BRAD BLOG
Via Eric Kleefeld at TPM... "Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser held a press conference at the state Capitol on Monday, in which he declared victory in his reelection race --- and at which his campaign advisers said they would object to any recount that might be requested by Prosser's opponent, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg."
International
Egypt: Chief Election Commissioner of India visits Egypt, IBN Live News
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, is visiting Egypt to apprise the top officials in the country about the electoral system in India and the usage of EVMs, as it prepares itself for democratic process after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak regime. Quraishi is accompanied by a 5-member team from the Election Commission of India which is on a five day visit to Egypt from today. The visit ends on April 23. Egypt's military rulers had last month announced an interim constitution and said presidential elections would be held by November after Mubarak was ousted in a popular revolution. During the visit, the Chief Election Commissioner of India is scheduled to have meetings with Yehiah Al Aziz El Gamal, Deputy Prime Minister, Mohamed Abdelaziz El Gendy, Minister of Justice, Nabil El Araby, Foreign Minister, Magued Osman, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He will also interact with the Egyptian Supreme Committee for Presidential Elections and Egyptian High Election Committee for Parliamentary Elections. During his stay in Egypt, Quraishi is also scheduled to have a meeting with the members of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. The Indian delegation will brief the Egyptian dignitaries about the system followed in India for conducting different elections and also make a presentation on the use of Electronic Voting Machines that have been in use in India for some years. The polls may be held in November. It will be the second presidential election in Egypt's history, following the 2005 election and presidential confirmation referendum in 1999, 1993, and earlier. Mubarak had been President from 1981, following the assassination of Anwar Sadat, until his resignation in February 2011. Potential candidates include Mohamed ElBaradei (the ex-Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and joint recipient, with the Agency, of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize), Amr Moussa (the current Secretary-General of the Arab League, and former Egyptian Foreign Minister) and Ahmed Zewail (Egyptian-American scientist, and the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), among others.
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Senate Democrats have killed two more bills from the GOP-controlled House, both of which dealt with the issue of illegal immigration. A controversial proposal to reduce alleged voter fraud, House 1252 would have allowed the Secretary of State's office to cross-check the state's voter rolls with immigration databases and to send letters demanding further proof of citizenship to any registered voters whose status appeared to be in doubt. Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican voted into office last November, was pushing for the bill and worried that thousands of people may have been voting illegally in Colorado's elections. H.B. 1252, sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, passed the House, but ran into trouble in the Democrat-controlled Senate. After testimony from several progressive groups who argued that there's no evidence of voter fraud, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted the bill down Monday afternoon on a 2-3 party-line vote. Read More
FL: Florida Legislature cracks down on … voting? - St. Petersburg Times
Having solved all other problems, the Florida Legislature now turns to the most dangerous threat of all …Voting. No kidding. The 2011 Legislature is considering, and its committees have approved so far, bills that would:
Cut Florida's early-voting period (nearly one out of five ballots were cast early in 2010) from two weeks to one.
Bar anyone who has moved or changed a name, such as newly married women, from updating their information at the polls on Election Day and receiving a regular ballot. They would have to cast "provisional" ballots instead.
Crack down on, and expand penalties for, groups that try to register new voters — which used to be considered an all-American activity.
Make it even harder for citizens to change the Florida Constitution by setting an earlier expiration date for petition signatures.
Read More
IN: Senate OKs plan to alter election law - The Indianapolis Star
Despite howls from Democrats that Republicans were changing the rules because they fear the outcome, the Senate on Monday approved a provision that would let the governor appoint a new secretary of state if Charlie White is found ineligible to have been elected. The provision would overturn current law that says the second-highest vote-getter -- in this case, Democrat Vop Osili -- would be declared the winner. The amendment, offered by Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, would minimize the fallout for Republicans if White is found ineligible. Not only would it let the Republican governor choose White's replacement, but Republicans would keep political perks based on the number of votes a party's candidate for secretary of state wins, especially getting their candidates on ballots without going through the petition process. White has been indicted in Hamilton County on seven felony counts stemming from his having voted in the wrong precinct in the May primary. The grand jury and Democrats allege White did so deliberately in order to cover up that he had moved out of the Fishers Town Council district he represented; White insists it was an innocent mistake. Read More
KY: Voter identification becomes issue in debate by secretary of state candidates - The Courier-Journal
People would be required to show a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship before they could register to vote in Kentucky under a proposal by Hilda Legg, a
MN: Kiffmeyer optimistic voter ID bill will pass - Minnesota Public Radio News
The chief House sponsor of a bill to require a photo ID for voting in Minnesota said Monday she expects the Legislature to pass it soon -- and that supporters are likely to bring the issue directly to voters if Gov. Mark Dayton vetoes it. "That is absolutely still an option," said Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, the bill's chief sponsor and Minnesota's former secretary of state. Dayton, while not directly threatening to veto, has raised concerns about the bill, which critics have openly feared could make voting more difficult for senior citizens, college students and other young people who change addresses frequently, and new citizens. Kiffmeyer said she still hopes to find common ground with Dayton on the issue. But, citing polls that have shown large majorities of Minnesota in support of such a requirement, she said a Dayton veto could result in sponsors reintroducing the bill as a constitutional amendment and sending it to the statewide ballot in 2012. "We're going to try to make it acceptable to the governor and to work with him," Kiffmeyer said. "But there's a strong base of support for this regardless of where he ends up." The House Transportation Committee approved Kiffmeyer's bill Monday, one of numerous committee stops for the House and Senate versions of the bill. Kiffmeyer said floor votes by the full House and Senate could come as early as next week, after lawmakers return to the Capitol from a weeklong break that began Monday afternoon. Read More
WI: Prosser Campaign Vows to Block a State-Sponsored 'Recount' in WI Supreme Court Election Debacle - The BRAD BLOG
Via Eric Kleefeld at TPM... "Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser held a press conference at the state Capitol on Monday, in which he declared victory in his reelection race --- and at which his campaign advisers said they would object to any recount that might be requested by Prosser's opponent, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg."
The Prosser campaign went on the offensive at the presser in hopes of keeping a state-wide examination of ballots, meant to ensure the true winner of the 10-year term on the state's high court, from taking place at all. As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Patrick Marley reports Prosser campaign attorney Jim Troupis said, "We will take every and any step to prevent this frivolous matter going forward." In other words, they will do everything they can to block the verification of the unverified vote tally for a 10-year term on the state Supreme Court --- despite state law which allows for such a verification if opted for by one of the candidates in such a close race. "Reporters asked multiple times what grounds the Prosser campaign would use to object to a recount, given that state law entitles a candidate losing by less than 0.5% to request one at state and local expense," writes Kleefeld. "When a reporter bluntly asked Troupis whether he would say what grounds would be listed in an objection to a recount, compared to what is in state law, Troupis simply responded: 'No.'" Read Mor
International
Egypt: Chief Election Commissioner of India visits Egypt, IBN Live News
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, is visiting Egypt to apprise the top officials in the country about the electoral system in India and the usage of EVMs, as it prepares itself for democratic process after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak regime. Quraishi is accompanied by a 5-member team from the Election Commission of India which is on a five day visit to Egypt from today. The visit ends on April 23. Egypt's military rulers had last month announced an interim constitution and said presidential elections would be held by November after Mubarak was ousted in a popular revolution. During the visit, the Chief Election Commissioner of India is scheduled to have meetings with Yehiah Al Aziz El Gamal, Deputy Prime Minister, Mohamed Abdelaziz El Gendy, Minister of Justice, Nabil El Araby, Foreign Minister, Magued Osman, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He will also interact with the Egyptian Supreme Committee for Presidential Elections and Egyptian High Election Committee for Parliamentary Elections. During his stay in Egypt, Quraishi is also scheduled to have a meeting with the members of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. The Indian delegation will brief the Egyptian dignitaries about the system followed in India for conducting different elections and also make a presentation on the use of Electronic Voting Machines that have been in use in India for some years. The polls may be held in November. It will be the second presidential election in Egypt's history, following the 2005 election and presidential confirmation referendum in 1999, 1993, and earlier. Mubarak had been President from 1981, following the assassination of Anwar Sadat, until his resignation in February 2011. Potential candidates include Mohamed ElBaradei (the ex-Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and joint recipient, with the Agency, of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize), Amr Moussa (the current Secretary-General of the Arab League, and former Egyptian Foreign Minister) and Ahmed Zewail (Egyptian-American scientist, and the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), among others.
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Prosser opposes "frivolous" recount
CO: Gessler says Saguache election not certified - Center Post Dispatch
Three Saguache residents met with Secretary of State Scott Gessler and his staff in Denver last week for an update on Gessler’s lawsuit against Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers and to discuss election-related issues. Former commissioner’s candidate, Republican Steve Carlson, Democrat Lisa Cyriacks, who served on the Saguache Canvass Board and Library District proponent Judy Page, also Aspen vote integrity advocate Marilyn Marks, met with Gessler for over two hours. In the course of conversation, Marks asked Gessler if the Saguache County election was ever certified, a question Gessler declined to answer at the town hall meeting held last month. Gessler told the group that the local election has not been certified but that for various reasons, no certification was necessary. Now citizens are wondering when the election contest period began and if it has ended yet, another question Gessler sidestepped at the March town hall meeting. Marks said that attorneys are currently discussing the implications of Gessler’s remark. Read More
NY: Why paper-ballot vote is best - The Observer
In the article headlined "New voting process a step backward" (March 19), the writer queries: "With the technology available, why not use a touch-screen computer? Really, who made this decision?" I did, along with the other people who showed up at a trade fair graciously hosted by Fredonia Place at 50 Howard St, Fredonia, on Dec. 6, 2006 in cooperation with the Chautauqua County Board of Elections. The fair had been publicized by The OBSERVER on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006. Everyone who showed up had an opportunity to use the twelve or so different models on exhibit and assess each one with a rating sheet. The Election Commissioners tabulated these results and took them onward to the New York State Board of Elections. I personally rated most highly the paper-ballot counting model which has become standard throughout New York State since 2009. I voted in Miami-Dade County in November 2000 and subsequently formally trained as a Democratic Party Ballot Recount Inspector. My service was aborted when the Florida Supreme Court stopped the recount just before Thanksgiving Day. In a subsequent meeting with the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections staff at North Miami Beach City Hall in January 2001, I opposed their enthusiasm for computerized voting machines because of my long experience with computers. My experience is that computers are subject to unpredictable counting errors as well as breakdowns. The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires paper ballots in U.S. elections. This Act did not finally come into effect in New York State until 2009. The reason for paper ballots is to permit a recount when an election is contested. Mechanical voting machines register votes only by upward ratcheting of a dial. Election inspectors read the dials at the close of voting. If a dial jams unknownst to the voter, that vote is lost. Read More
SC: Bipartisan support for paper trail voting in South Carolina - Examiner.com
It’s no secret that opposing political parties frequently disagree. But when it comes to voting machines currently used in their state, South Carolina Democrats and Republicans unite in demand for improvement. Distrust in the use of electronic voting machines is noted in the 2011 resolutions of both state parties. Both call for changes to include verification, if not complete replacement, by paper records. The Abbeville County Republican Party forwarded a resolution, recently passed at its county convention, to the state GOP calling for an end to use of all types of voting machines in the state, and recommending “use (of) paper ballots exclusively from this point forward(.)” This resolution will be voted on at the SCGOP 2011 convention, scheduled for May 7 in Columbia. Resolutions of the state Democratic Party will include similar terms, according to Susan Smith, a Georgetown County representative to the SCDP’s Executive Committee. A member of its subcommittee on resolutions, Smith says a 2011 resolution will call for a paper trail verification of votes. SCDP delegates will vote on all resolutions at its April 30 state convention. Read More
SD: Secretary of State announces appointments to Board of Elections - Radio 1380
South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant announced today the appointments of new and returning members of the South Dakota Board of Elections. Rapid City attorney and former state legislator Linda Lea M. Viken was re-appointed to the State Board of Elections by Senator Jason Frerichs (D – Wilmot). Viken has served on the Board of Elections since 1999, and is currently one of the longest serving members of the panel. Newly appointed to the board by Speaker of the House Val Rausch was Deuel County Auditor Pam Lynde. Lynde has been Deuel County Auditor for 16 years and was recently elected to her 5th term as Auditor. Prior to serving as Auditor, Lynde was the finance officer for the City of Clear Lake. Chaired by Secretary Gant, the South Dakota Board of Elections has four primary functions under state law. The board has rule-making authority to promulgate administrative rules dealing with aspects of election conduct. The board makes recommendations to the Secretary of State regarding desirable election law changes. The board is charged with resolving complaints filed under the Help America Vote Act. And the board certifies automated ballot tabulating systems before they may be used in South Dakota. Read More
TN: GOP majority revising state elections - Knoxville News Sentinel
Mandating photo identification for voting is just one part of a reshaping of Tennessee election laws by the Legislature's Republican majority that also includes resolution of a three-year dispute over installing new voting machines statewide. In a compromise last week, Republicans backed off of bills to repeal outright the Voter Confidence Act of 2008, which mandated use of $37 million in federal funds to place machines providing a paper trail for ballots in all 95 Tennessee counties. The compromise, approved as an amendment to SB1202 by the Senate State and Local Government Committee, basically allows each county election commission to decide when, and if, current machines will be replaced. State Election Coordinator Mark Goins said the federal funding can be held for use as needed - perhaps for the next 10 years. Dick Williams, chairman of Common Cause in Tennessee and longtime advocate of paper trail ballots, called the move "a friendly amendment to an unfriendly bill by a friendly sponsor," the latter being Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman. Read More
WA: Pierce County's polls are closed, scanners sent packing - The News Tribune
There’ll be no last hurrah for Pierce County’s optical-scanner voting machines. No red-white-and-blue farewell to the last traditional polling places in Washington. No one-last-chance for 85-year-old Erika Cranmer of Lakewood to exercise the democracy she cherishes so by helping conduct an election at her neighborhood polling place; nor for 90-year-old Morry Kenton of Gig Harbor to make his 70th in-person trip to a traditional voting station. We all knew the Legislature approved statewide all-mail voting last month, forcing Pierce County – the only holdout – to fall in line with the state’s other 38 counties. Close your polls, legislators said. All-mail elections are more cost-effective. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5124 into law two weeks ago, making Washington the second state behind its southern neighbor to implement vote-by-mail. Read More
WI: Prosser urges against a "frivolous" recount - POLITICO.com
Wisconsin Supreme Court justice David Prosser said Monday that he’s won a “decisive” victory in his race for a 10-year term on the court and that a request from his opponent for a state-funded recount would be “frivolous.” “The result of the election is not in doubt,” the conservative judge said Monday at a press conference in the state capitol in Madison, referring to the tight margin by which he leads challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. “A funny thing happened to me on the way to my concession speech: The people of Wisconsin told me to tear it up and go back to work.” Prosser declared victory on Friday after the state released final vote totals that put him up by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast. Kloppenburg has until the end of the day Wednesday to decide whether she will request a recount. Her campaign said Monday that she hasn’t made a decision yet, the Associated Press reported. Prosser’s attorney Jim Troupis warned against a recount, saying the campaign “will take every and any step to prevent this frivolous matter going forward.” And a spokesman for Prosser, Brian Schimming, said the justice notched “a strong enough win” that for Kloppenburg “to ask for a recount in any form will be enormously costly to the voters of this state.” Schimming also cautioned that there is “no evidence there to suggest that a recount is going to change the outcome.” Read More
WV: Voting machines: Costly, risky contracts - Charleston Gazette
Sometimes, it seems that government has lost its capacity to run elections. Consider the double-edged sword of electronic voting machines: In some ways, new optical scan or touch-screen machines are more convenient. They certainly tabulate faster than former machines or humans counting paper ballots. They're also expensive. In 2005, then-Secretary of State Betty Ireland entered West Virginia into a single-source contract with Election Systems & Software. Whether counties choose touch-screen or optical scan machines, all 55 must buy their equipment, paper and other supplies and pay regular programming and maintenance fees to ES&S. Not surprisingly, the price of a single-source, no-bid contract is pretty high. Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick estimates future maintenance costs of Kanawha's machines will be at least $66,000 a year. That's not counting programming fees. Read More
International
India: Election Commission gives in on paper-trails in EVMs? - Real Time News India
After coming under fire from transparency activists, including Anna Hazare, the Election Commission of India seems to have given in to the demand for paper-backed election instead of purely electronic recording of votes. The Election Commission had come under fire after Hari Prasad, an activist was arrested for securing an EVM from Mumbai in his efforts to prove that the machines can be compromised. Several political parties, including the main opposition, BJP, have been requesting for paper trail EVMs which would make it difficult for the stored 'vote values' to be manipulated after the votes are cast and the EVMs are under safe-keeping. For example, the Kerala elections were over on April 13, but the EVMs will be opened only on May 13. In a new statement, the Election Commission said it has discussed the possibility of introducing paper trails -- which act as a back-up in case of disputes -- into the EVM system. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Three Saguache residents met with Secretary of State Scott Gessler and his staff in Denver last week for an update on Gessler’s lawsuit against Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers and to discuss election-related issues. Former commissioner’s candidate, Republican Steve Carlson, Democrat Lisa Cyriacks, who served on the Saguache Canvass Board and Library District proponent Judy Page, also Aspen vote integrity advocate Marilyn Marks, met with Gessler for over two hours. In the course of conversation, Marks asked Gessler if the Saguache County election was ever certified, a question Gessler declined to answer at the town hall meeting held last month. Gessler told the group that the local election has not been certified but that for various reasons, no certification was necessary. Now citizens are wondering when the election contest period began and if it has ended yet, another question Gessler sidestepped at the March town hall meeting. Marks said that attorneys are currently discussing the implications of Gessler’s remark. Read More
NY: Why paper-ballot vote is best - The Observer
In the article headlined "New voting process a step backward" (March 19), the writer queries: "With the technology available, why not use a touch-screen computer? Really, who made this decision?" I did, along with the other people who showed up at a trade fair graciously hosted by Fredonia Place at 50 Howard St, Fredonia, on Dec. 6, 2006 in cooperation with the Chautauqua County Board of Elections. The fair had been publicized by The OBSERVER on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006. Everyone who showed up had an opportunity to use the twelve or so different models on exhibit and assess each one with a rating sheet. The Election Commissioners tabulated these results and took them onward to the New York State Board of Elections. I personally rated most highly the paper-ballot counting model which has become standard throughout New York State since 2009. I voted in Miami-Dade County in November 2000 and subsequently formally trained as a Democratic Party Ballot Recount Inspector. My service was aborted when the Florida Supreme Court stopped the recount just before Thanksgiving Day. In a subsequent meeting with the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections staff at North Miami Beach City Hall in January 2001, I opposed their enthusiasm for computerized voting machines because of my long experience with computers. My experience is that computers are subject to unpredictable counting errors as well as breakdowns. The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires paper ballots in U.S. elections. This Act did not finally come into effect in New York State until 2009. The reason for paper ballots is to permit a recount when an election is contested. Mechanical voting machines register votes only by upward ratcheting of a dial. Election inspectors read the dials at the close of voting. If a dial jams unknownst to the voter, that vote is lost. Read More
SC: Bipartisan support for paper trail voting in South Carolina - Examiner.com
It’s no secret that opposing political parties frequently disagree. But when it comes to voting machines currently used in their state, South Carolina Democrats and Republicans unite in demand for improvement. Distrust in the use of electronic voting machines is noted in the 2011 resolutions of both state parties. Both call for changes to include verification, if not complete replacement, by paper records. The Abbeville County Republican Party forwarded a resolution, recently passed at its county convention, to the state GOP calling for an end to use of all types of voting machines in the state, and recommending “use (of) paper ballots exclusively from this point forward(.)” This resolution will be voted on at the SCGOP 2011 convention, scheduled for May 7 in Columbia. Resolutions of the state Democratic Party will include similar terms, according to Susan Smith, a Georgetown County representative to the SCDP’s Executive Committee. A member of its subcommittee on resolutions, Smith says a 2011 resolution will call for a paper trail verification of votes. SCDP delegates will vote on all resolutions at its April 30 state convention. Read More
SD: Secretary of State announces appointments to Board of Elections - Radio 1380
South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant announced today the appointments of new and returning members of the South Dakota Board of Elections. Rapid City attorney and former state legislator Linda Lea M. Viken was re-appointed to the State Board of Elections by Senator Jason Frerichs (D – Wilmot). Viken has served on the Board of Elections since 1999, and is currently one of the longest serving members of the panel. Newly appointed to the board by Speaker of the House Val Rausch was Deuel County Auditor Pam Lynde. Lynde has been Deuel County Auditor for 16 years and was recently elected to her 5th term as Auditor. Prior to serving as Auditor, Lynde was the finance officer for the City of Clear Lake. Chaired by Secretary Gant, the South Dakota Board of Elections has four primary functions under state law. The board has rule-making authority to promulgate administrative rules dealing with aspects of election conduct. The board makes recommendations to the Secretary of State regarding desirable election law changes. The board is charged with resolving complaints filed under the Help America Vote Act. And the board certifies automated ballot tabulating systems before they may be used in South Dakota. Read More
TN: GOP majority revising state elections - Knoxville News Sentinel
Mandating photo identification for voting is just one part of a reshaping of Tennessee election laws by the Legislature's Republican majority that also includes resolution of a three-year dispute over installing new voting machines statewide. In a compromise last week, Republicans backed off of bills to repeal outright the Voter Confidence Act of 2008, which mandated use of $37 million in federal funds to place machines providing a paper trail for ballots in all 95 Tennessee counties. The compromise, approved as an amendment to SB1202 by the Senate State and Local Government Committee, basically allows each county election commission to decide when, and if, current machines will be replaced. State Election Coordinator Mark Goins said the federal funding can be held for use as needed - perhaps for the next 10 years. Dick Williams, chairman of Common Cause in Tennessee and longtime advocate of paper trail ballots, called the move "a friendly amendment to an unfriendly bill by a friendly sponsor," the latter being Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman. Read More
WA: Pierce County's polls are closed, scanners sent packing - The News Tribune
There’ll be no last hurrah for Pierce County’s optical-scanner voting machines. No red-white-and-blue farewell to the last traditional polling places in Washington. No one-last-chance for 85-year-old Erika Cranmer of Lakewood to exercise the democracy she cherishes so by helping conduct an election at her neighborhood polling place; nor for 90-year-old Morry Kenton of Gig Harbor to make his 70th in-person trip to a traditional voting station. We all knew the Legislature approved statewide all-mail voting last month, forcing Pierce County – the only holdout – to fall in line with the state’s other 38 counties. Close your polls, legislators said. All-mail elections are more cost-effective. Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5124 into law two weeks ago, making Washington the second state behind its southern neighbor to implement vote-by-mail. Read More
WI: Prosser urges against a "frivolous" recount - POLITICO.com
Wisconsin Supreme Court justice David Prosser said Monday that he’s won a “decisive” victory in his race for a 10-year term on the court and that a request from his opponent for a state-funded recount would be “frivolous.” “The result of the election is not in doubt,” the conservative judge said Monday at a press conference in the state capitol in Madison, referring to the tight margin by which he leads challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. “A funny thing happened to me on the way to my concession speech: The people of Wisconsin told me to tear it up and go back to work.” Prosser declared victory on Friday after the state released final vote totals that put him up by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast. Kloppenburg has until the end of the day Wednesday to decide whether she will request a recount. Her campaign said Monday that she hasn’t made a decision yet, the Associated Press reported. Prosser’s attorney Jim Troupis warned against a recount, saying the campaign “will take every and any step to prevent this frivolous matter going forward.” And a spokesman for Prosser, Brian Schimming, said the justice notched “a strong enough win” that for Kloppenburg “to ask for a recount in any form will be enormously costly to the voters of this state.” Schimming also cautioned that there is “no evidence there to suggest that a recount is going to change the outcome.” Read More
WV: Voting machines: Costly, risky contracts - Charleston Gazette
Sometimes, it seems that government has lost its capacity to run elections. Consider the double-edged sword of electronic voting machines: In some ways, new optical scan or touch-screen machines are more convenient. They certainly tabulate faster than former machines or humans counting paper ballots. They're also expensive. In 2005, then-Secretary of State Betty Ireland entered West Virginia into a single-source contract with Election Systems & Software. Whether counties choose touch-screen or optical scan machines, all 55 must buy their equipment, paper and other supplies and pay regular programming and maintenance fees to ES&S. Not surprisingly, the price of a single-source, no-bid contract is pretty high. Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick estimates future maintenance costs of Kanawha's machines will be at least $66,000 a year. That's not counting programming fees. Read More
International
India: Election Commission gives in on paper-trails in EVMs? - Real Time News India
After coming under fire from transparency activists, including Anna Hazare, the Election Commission of India seems to have given in to the demand for paper-backed election instead of purely electronic recording of votes. The Election Commission had come under fire after Hari Prasad, an activist was arrested for securing an EVM from Mumbai in his efforts to prove that the machines can be compromised. Several political parties, including the main opposition, BJP, have been requesting for paper trail EVMs which would make it difficult for the stored 'vote values' to be manipulated after the votes are cast and the EVMs are under safe-keeping. For example, the Kerala elections were over on April 13, but the EVMs will be opened only on May 13. In a new statement, the Election Commission said it has discussed the possibility of introducing paper trails -- which act as a back-up in case of disputes -- into the EVM system. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wisconsin Investigates 5 Years of Waukesha Elections, Printers for India's Electronic Voting Maachines?
AK: Alaska Legislature passes voter intent write-in bill | Alaska Dispatch
A measure that makes it clear a voter's intent takes precedence when casting a write-in vote has passed the Legislature and now goes to the governor for signature. Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas of Fairbanks, grew out of the 2010 U.S. Senate race. Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller beat incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the August primary so Murkowski launched a write-in campaign and came back to defeat Miller in the November general election. But Miller challenged thousands of write-in ballots on the grounds that the voter didn’t write her name exactly as it appeared in election paperwork. Miller tried to invalidate ballots with minor misspellings and even those where the voter had dotted an i with a smiley face or a heart. Read More
FL: Voter-rights activists pan election measure - Tampa Bay Online
For more than a decade, lawmakers have been tweaking election rules to improve on Florida's ham-fisted history of counting ballots. This year, an election law rewrite is moving through the state House that voter-rights activists have assailed as "good old-fashioned voter suppression" and "Jim Crow tactics." The legislation was described as a cleanup bill in advance of the 2012 elections that is "important to ensure the integrity of the political process and our elections in Florida," said sponsor Dennis Baxley, a Republican from Ocala. House Bill 1355 is a sweeping, 151-page election rewrite, and on Thursday, the House State Affairs Committee tossed in a provision creating a committee to hash out Florida's presidential primary election date. But it was the dozens of changes to election law in the meat of the bill that outraged a slew of voter rights activists who unsuccessfully urged the committee to reject the bill. A key provision would prohibit voters from updating their name and address at their polling place on Election Day, which is allowed under current law. Such voters would have to cast a provisional ballot, which is singled out for review of a voter's eligibility. Typically, half of such ballots are rejected. Opponents said the new strategy would place a burden on those who move during the year — especially students — and on women who marry or divorce and change their names. Read More
MN: Photo ID bill clears House committee, inches toward vote | Minnesota Public Radio News
A House committee approved a bill Thursday that would require people to show a photo ID before they can vote, and with Republicans in control in the Legislature, the bill has a stronger chance of passing than in years past. Despite Republicans in the Minnesota House and Senate looking at significant spending cuts to erase the state's $5 billion projected budget deficit, the voter ID bill appears to be one area where they're willing to spend more money. A fiscal analysis says it will cost the state roughly $5 million over the next two years. Democrats say that's too expensive as lawmakers grapple with a $5 billion projected budget deficit. They also say local elections officials would be forced to spend millions more to implement the new system. The bill has been debated at the State Capitol for years, but Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, former Secretary of State, said the bill is needed to ensure the integrity of the voting system. Read More
MO: : Election recount: Gooden still winner after mayor recount - Marshall Democrat-News
Mark Gooden is the mayor-elect with a final vote tally of 759 to 746 for Mayor Pro Tem Ron Duvall. "I have to congratulate these men on how they conducted themselves," said Circuit Judge Dennis Rolf. "This could have been a long difficult process." Rolf said he spoke with Duvall and Gooden on Wednesday and the trio reached an agreement on how the process would be conducted. A recount of votes was conducted Thursday, April 14. With Richard Clemens and Ron Monnig representing both major parties, the county clerk, the judge and media present, a representative of the voting machine company began feeding sample ballots into the machine at 9:17 a.m. The first hitch came during the counting of the absentee ballots. One ballot was not counted due to the voter's passing before the election. The rest of the absentee ballots returned a 49 to 44 result in favor of Gooden. The original count on election night was 45 to 45. The machine was designed to read a filled in oval, the representative said. There are some ballots that have "Xs." Rolf suggested re-running the ballots through the counting machine and the result was five that had an "X" or a squiggle instead of a fully filled out oval. The result of the second recount on absentee ballots matched the first and the two candidates agree to accept the result. The remaining recount of the four wards matched the election night count exactly, giving a final tally of 759 to 746. Read More
SC: Senate blocks House version of Voter ID bill - SCNOW
The voted to non-concur on what senate leaders called a “flawed” ID bill passed by the House of Representatives. Because of the flaws in the House language and new matter inserted in the supposedly clean bill, the vote to non-concur was overwhelming. Without agreement from the house, the bill, which would require photo ID for voters in the state, is in limbo. The houses will have to reach some accommodation for the bill to move forward. Florence Republican Hugh Leatherman was among those voting for non-concurrence. In a statement released by his office, Leatherman said that, he “ voted to nonconcur in the House amendments to the Voter ID Bill because I believe that by going to a conference committee we can get a Voter ID Bill that can pass the Senate and have a better chance of becoming law. I favor Voter ID for elections in South Carolina. I am committed to getting a Bill that ensures that our elections are secure and that votes cast are cast by those who they claim to be. “However, the House Bill is flawed and would not give the people who have asked for this Bill what was promised to them. Concurring in the House Bill would be a political victory for politicians and a loss to voters at home who expected Voter ID. The Bill passed by the House was not a pure Voter ID Bill. Some examples are: unsure language on the HAVA law, no severability language, excluded police and government ID's, deleted residency evidence for use in challenged ballots, and other language concerns. Read More
TN: House Passes Voter ID Bill Despite Constitutional Questions - Nashville Public Radio
The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that would require voters to show a photo ID at the polls. The passage came despite a state Attorney General’s opinion that the measure would likely be ruled a “poll tax” by a court. The state attorney general’s opinion released this week that says the courts are likely to find the bill unconstitutional if it costs something in order to qualify to vote. Such “poll taxes” were used in the Reconstruction South to deny the vote to former slaves. Republican Steve McDaniel of Parkers Crossroads says the strict requirement for a photo ID could hamper people in his rural district. “The average voter in the district that I represent in order to get a photo ID as is required in this legislation, one would have to drive an average of 30 miles.”Five Republicans joined Democrats to vote against the measure, though it passed 57 to 35. McDaniel, who abstained, says the question isn’t partisan but geographic. Read More
WI: State investigating vote irregularities in Waukesha County going back 5 years - Madison State Journal
The state's investigation into vote irregularities in Waukesha County will stretch back at least five years, the head of the Government Accountability Board said Thursday. Questions over vote totals in Waukesha have lingered over the past week after County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced she failed to report more than 14,000 votes from the city of Brookfield in initial vote totals. The new total gave incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser a lead of about 7,000 votes over challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in the hotly contested state Supreme Court race. Official results in that race have not yet been announced. Now questions have emerged over Nickolaus' published vote counts from as far back as the fall of 2006, when there were key statewide elections including races for governor and attorney general. "This is part of what we're looking into. We have a lot of complaints," said Kevin Kennedy, the director and general counsel for GAB. "It's part of our investigation." Kennedy said the board's current priority is determining the integrity of numbers reported in this spring's election but added investigators are reviewing broader questions about Nickolaus and vote counting. Read More
National
House committee aims to step up election oversight - The Hill's Ballot Box
The House Administration Committee will step up election oversight, as it increases hearings to twice a month and sets its sights on terminating the Election Assistance Commission. “There are a number of things that need to be addressed in the coming months,” said Elections subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). “Oversight certainly has been lacking in a number of areas.” Among the issues the subcommittee plans to examine are the EAC, the Federal Election Commission, overseas voting and cleaning up state voter roles. This will give us an opportunity to go back and look and make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do,” Harper said. “And if they’re not, why are they not doing it, and is there something we can do to make it easier for them to do their job.” Square in the subcommittee’s crosshairs is the EAC, an independent commission established in the wake of the contested 2000 presidential election to improve how elections are conducted nationwide. Read More
International
India: Election Commission seeks roadmap for EVM with printers - Hindustan Times
An Election Commission committee on Friday asked Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manufacturers the time-frame within which the machines can be upgraded as per its suggestions. The high level technical committee has suggested some up-gradations including installing a small printer in EVMs as reported by HT on Friday, to give out receipts for every vote cast. The idea is to have a record of all the votes that can be verified. The voter, however, will not get the receipt as the commission believes it could be traded. The concept is called paper trail of votes cast. The committee asked the two EVM manufacturing companies, Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, to come out with a roadmap to introduce paper trail in 14 lakh EVMs. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
A measure that makes it clear a voter's intent takes precedence when casting a write-in vote has passed the Legislature and now goes to the governor for signature. Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas of Fairbanks, grew out of the 2010 U.S. Senate race. Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller beat incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the August primary so Murkowski launched a write-in campaign and came back to defeat Miller in the November general election. But Miller challenged thousands of write-in ballots on the grounds that the voter didn’t write her name exactly as it appeared in election paperwork. Miller tried to invalidate ballots with minor misspellings and even those where the voter had dotted an i with a smiley face or a heart. Read More
FL: Voter-rights activists pan election measure - Tampa Bay Online
For more than a decade, lawmakers have been tweaking election rules to improve on Florida's ham-fisted history of counting ballots. This year, an election law rewrite is moving through the state House that voter-rights activists have assailed as "good old-fashioned voter suppression" and "Jim Crow tactics." The legislation was described as a cleanup bill in advance of the 2012 elections that is "important to ensure the integrity of the political process and our elections in Florida," said sponsor Dennis Baxley, a Republican from Ocala. House Bill 1355 is a sweeping, 151-page election rewrite, and on Thursday, the House State Affairs Committee tossed in a provision creating a committee to hash out Florida's presidential primary election date. But it was the dozens of changes to election law in the meat of the bill that outraged a slew of voter rights activists who unsuccessfully urged the committee to reject the bill. A key provision would prohibit voters from updating their name and address at their polling place on Election Day, which is allowed under current law. Such voters would have to cast a provisional ballot, which is singled out for review of a voter's eligibility. Typically, half of such ballots are rejected. Opponents said the new strategy would place a burden on those who move during the year — especially students — and on women who marry or divorce and change their names. Read More
MN: Photo ID bill clears House committee, inches toward vote | Minnesota Public Radio News
A House committee approved a bill Thursday that would require people to show a photo ID before they can vote, and with Republicans in control in the Legislature, the bill has a stronger chance of passing than in years past. Despite Republicans in the Minnesota House and Senate looking at significant spending cuts to erase the state's $5 billion projected budget deficit, the voter ID bill appears to be one area where they're willing to spend more money. A fiscal analysis says it will cost the state roughly $5 million over the next two years. Democrats say that's too expensive as lawmakers grapple with a $5 billion projected budget deficit. They also say local elections officials would be forced to spend millions more to implement the new system. The bill has been debated at the State Capitol for years, but Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, former Secretary of State, said the bill is needed to ensure the integrity of the voting system. Read More
MO: : Election recount: Gooden still winner after mayor recount - Marshall Democrat-News
Mark Gooden is the mayor-elect with a final vote tally of 759 to 746 for Mayor Pro Tem Ron Duvall. "I have to congratulate these men on how they conducted themselves," said Circuit Judge Dennis Rolf. "This could have been a long difficult process." Rolf said he spoke with Duvall and Gooden on Wednesday and the trio reached an agreement on how the process would be conducted. A recount of votes was conducted Thursday, April 14. With Richard Clemens and Ron Monnig representing both major parties, the county clerk, the judge and media present, a representative of the voting machine company began feeding sample ballots into the machine at 9:17 a.m. The first hitch came during the counting of the absentee ballots. One ballot was not counted due to the voter's passing before the election. The rest of the absentee ballots returned a 49 to 44 result in favor of Gooden. The original count on election night was 45 to 45. The machine was designed to read a filled in oval, the representative said. There are some ballots that have "Xs." Rolf suggested re-running the ballots through the counting machine and the result was five that had an "X" or a squiggle instead of a fully filled out oval. The result of the second recount on absentee ballots matched the first and the two candidates agree to accept the result. The remaining recount of the four wards matched the election night count exactly, giving a final tally of 759 to 746. Read More
SC: Senate blocks House version of Voter ID bill - SCNOW
The voted to non-concur on what senate leaders called a “flawed” ID bill passed by the House of Representatives. Because of the flaws in the House language and new matter inserted in the supposedly clean bill, the vote to non-concur was overwhelming. Without agreement from the house, the bill, which would require photo ID for voters in the state, is in limbo. The houses will have to reach some accommodation for the bill to move forward. Florence Republican Hugh Leatherman was among those voting for non-concurrence. In a statement released by his office, Leatherman said that, he “ voted to nonconcur in the House amendments to the Voter ID Bill because I believe that by going to a conference committee we can get a Voter ID Bill that can pass the Senate and have a better chance of becoming law. I favor Voter ID for elections in South Carolina. I am committed to getting a Bill that ensures that our elections are secure and that votes cast are cast by those who they claim to be. “However, the House Bill is flawed and would not give the people who have asked for this Bill what was promised to them. Concurring in the House Bill would be a political victory for politicians and a loss to voters at home who expected Voter ID. The Bill passed by the House was not a pure Voter ID Bill. Some examples are: unsure language on the HAVA law, no severability language, excluded police and government ID's, deleted residency evidence for use in challenged ballots, and other language concerns. Read More
TN: House Passes Voter ID Bill Despite Constitutional Questions - Nashville Public Radio
The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that would require voters to show a photo ID at the polls. The passage came despite a state Attorney General’s opinion that the measure would likely be ruled a “poll tax” by a court. The state attorney general’s opinion released this week that says the courts are likely to find the bill unconstitutional if it costs something in order to qualify to vote. Such “poll taxes” were used in the Reconstruction South to deny the vote to former slaves. Republican Steve McDaniel of Parkers Crossroads says the strict requirement for a photo ID could hamper people in his rural district. “The average voter in the district that I represent in order to get a photo ID as is required in this legislation, one would have to drive an average of 30 miles.”Five Republicans joined Democrats to vote against the measure, though it passed 57 to 35. McDaniel, who abstained, says the question isn’t partisan but geographic. Read More
WI: State investigating vote irregularities in Waukesha County going back 5 years - Madison State Journal
The state's investigation into vote irregularities in Waukesha County will stretch back at least five years, the head of the Government Accountability Board said Thursday. Questions over vote totals in Waukesha have lingered over the past week after County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced she failed to report more than 14,000 votes from the city of Brookfield in initial vote totals. The new total gave incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser a lead of about 7,000 votes over challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in the hotly contested state Supreme Court race. Official results in that race have not yet been announced. Now questions have emerged over Nickolaus' published vote counts from as far back as the fall of 2006, when there were key statewide elections including races for governor and attorney general. "This is part of what we're looking into. We have a lot of complaints," said Kevin Kennedy, the director and general counsel for GAB. "It's part of our investigation." Kennedy said the board's current priority is determining the integrity of numbers reported in this spring's election but added investigators are reviewing broader questions about Nickolaus and vote counting. Read More
National
House committee aims to step up election oversight - The Hill's Ballot Box
The House Administration Committee will step up election oversight, as it increases hearings to twice a month and sets its sights on terminating the Election Assistance Commission. “There are a number of things that need to be addressed in the coming months,” said Elections subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). “Oversight certainly has been lacking in a number of areas.” Among the issues the subcommittee plans to examine are the EAC, the Federal Election Commission, overseas voting and cleaning up state voter roles. This will give us an opportunity to go back and look and make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do,” Harper said. “And if they’re not, why are they not doing it, and is there something we can do to make it easier for them to do their job.” Square in the subcommittee’s crosshairs is the EAC, an independent commission established in the wake of the contested 2000 presidential election to improve how elections are conducted nationwide. Read More
International
India: Election Commission seeks roadmap for EVM with printers - Hindustan Times
An Election Commission committee on Friday asked Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manufacturers the time-frame within which the machines can be upgraded as per its suggestions. The high level technical committee has suggested some up-gradations including installing a small printer in EVMs as reported by HT on Friday, to give out receipts for every vote cast. The idea is to have a record of all the votes that can be verified. The voter, however, will not get the receipt as the commission believes it could be traded. The concept is called paper trail of votes cast. The committee asked the two EVM manufacturing companies, Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, to come out with a roadmap to introduce paper trail in 14 lakh EVMs. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Fate of the EAC Discussed in Congressional Hearing, WV Audit finds errors in accounting
CO: Saguache County Clerk Myers responds to Secretary of State Gessler’s suit - Examiner.com
Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers, represented by County Attorney Ben Gibbons issued an answer last week to a suit filed last month by Sec. of State Scott Gessler, seeking voted ballots from the Nov. 2 election. “Defendant specifically denies the allegation contained in paragraph 8 of the Complaint that she or her staff ever altered any ballot...Defendant Myers answers the allegations contained in paragraph 11 of the Complaint by stating that she did initially agree to permit election officials and members of the Plaintiff’s office to review the voted ballots. “Defendant answers the allegations contained in paragraph 12 of the Complaint by stating that she informed the Plaintiff that she would not agree to his revised demands that members of the public be permitted to inspect the voted ballots. Defendant affirmatively states that such practice would violate the confidentiality historically afforded a voted ballot in Colorado.” Read More
FL: Critics lash Florida elections bill as 'voter suppression' - St. Petersburg Times
The latest House makeover of Florida election laws stirred intense controversy Thursday as unions and grass roots political groups complained that it would suppress 2012 voting in a state Barack Obama won in 2008. By a 12-6 party-line vote, the House State Affairs Committee approved the new bill, setting up a vote by the full House. Similar legislation will be taken up Friday by the Senate Rules Committee. The 150-page rewrite surfaced the afternoon before the vote. Two weeks ago, a previous version of the same bill brought criticism from Democrats that it was being rushed. The bill's most controversial provisions would impose new restrictions on groups that register voters, shorten the validity of voter signatures on citizen initiatives from four years to two and require voters to cast provisional ballots if they move to another county. For nearly 40 years, Florida has allowed voters to update their voting address or a name change at the polls when they vote. But Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, the sponsor of HB 1355, said that's an invitation to voter fraud. Read More
TN: Attorney General’s Opinion Flags Voter ID Bill - Nashville Public Radio
A proposal to require Tennessee voters to present a photo ID at their polling place ran into a speed bump at the state capitol Wednesday. Tennessee’s attorney general issued an opinion saying that the Voter ID bill would likely be found unconstitutional. Representative Craig Fitzhugh, the House Democratic Leader, was one of the lawmakers who requested the Attorney General’s opinion. “I mean it’s a violation of both the U.S. Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution.” It would be a violation – says the attorney general – because requiring a voter to pay for an ID would amount to a “poll tax,” outlawed under the twenty-fourth amendment to the Constitution. Fitzhugh says if the state pays for IDs for all those who don’t have one, the Voter ID bill would create a new cost to the state. So the bill would probably have to go through the committee process all over again. The bill, from Hendersonville Republican Debra Maggart, is set to be taken up by the full House Thursday. Read More
VT: Vermont House Passes National Popular Vote Bill | EON: Enhanced Online News
The National Popular Vote bill passed the Vermont House of Representatives Tuesday, placing the bill before the governor for signature and enactment. If Gov. Shumlin signs, Vermont will join the effort to guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the most votes in all 50 states. The bill passed the house by a 84-50 margin. Final passage, considered a mere formality, is slated for tomorrow. “National Popular Vote does so while preserving the Electoral College and the intent of the Founding Fathers. This is a victory for those who believe every person is entitled to have their vote for president count,” said Tom Golisano, national spokesperson for National Popular Vote. “National Popular Vote does so while preserving the Electoral College and the intent of the Founding Fathers.” Hawaii, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia have already enacted the bill, which would award a state’s electoral votes to the winner of the overall popular vote in all 50 states. When states totaling 270 electoral votes pass the legislation, National Popular Vote will award a majority of electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most popular votes in all fifty states, guaranteeing the presidency. Vermont would represent the 77th electoral vote, representing 29% of the total needed for the bill to go into effect. “We applaud Vermont legislators for voting to give the residents of Vermont a voice,” said John Koza, Chairman of National Popular Vote. “With other state legislatures considering the bill, and many more already having passed it, we are confident that we have the momentum to bring this effort to all 50 states.” Read More
WV: Audit finds counting of federal election money had errors spanning 3 secretaries of state - Greenfield Reporter
An audit shows West Virginia's accounting of federal money it received for replacing voting machines and other election improvements contained several errors. The audit by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Office of the Inspector General examined the state's use of the funding from April 2003 to August 2009, a period spanning the terms of Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and two predecessors, Betty Ireland and Joe Manchin. According to the audit, the Secretary of State's Office didn't put matching money received into a single account with the federal money until 2007. As a result, the election account lost more than $95,000 in interest earnings. Auditors also found discrepancies between the Secretary of State's balance sheets and the Treasurer's Office's balance sheets. Ireland told the Charleston Daily Mail that the balance sheet discrepancies were the only problem she wasn't aware of when she left office. The other problems identified by auditors were corrected. In a response to audit, Tennant attributed the balance sheet discrepancies to data entry errors and differences in accounting procedures. She said her office has made changes to correct the problem. Read More
WI: Democrats Calling for Hearings, Probes into Nickolaus' Election Results - Brookfield, WI Patch
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin today asked state elections officials to review the Waukesha County vote tally in the 2006 state Attorney General election, after a liberal blogger pointed out there were about 17,000 more votes recorded than ballots cast. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus posted an asterisk on the 2006 results on the county's web site, with a note that said votes that are hand-counted and not electronically cast through machines are not included in the ballots cast figure. In a letter today to the state Government Accountability Board, state Democratic Party chair Mike Tate noted that in the 2006 election, Republican AG candidate J.B. Van Hollen defeated Democrat Kathleen Falk by 8,859 votes out of about 2.1 million votes cast. The Waukesha County results showed 156,804 ballots cast in the Nov. 7, 2006 election but 174,047 votes cast in the AG race. Read More
WI: Paul Malischke: Election methods need improving
Monday’s editorial, “State needs streamlined count,” calls for a website to fix our vote counting situation. Actually, Wisconsin needs to pay more attention to assuring that the vote count is correct. Wisconsin falls well short of having a reliable end-to-end system. We need to improve the method of appointing the members of the boards of canvassers, elect county clerks in nonpartisan elections and evaluate whether recounts should always include partial or full hand counts of the ballots. Technical aspects of counting votes have been neglected. We should update the administrative rules for approval of voting machines and for security of ballots and voting machines, improve the biannual hand-count audits of ballots and improve guidelines for pre-election testing of voting machines. A website for aggregating election night results needs a public discussion of security and spot checking against paper records. For more information, go to www.fairelectionswi.com and click on “counting.”
National
Election Assistance Commission May Be Closing : Roll Call Politics
House Republicans may have found a way to trim $14 million from the federal budget: eliminate the Election Assistance Commission. The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing today to discuss closing the agency that is charged with administering federal election requirements and testing voting equipment. A corresponding Republican bill that would transfer most of the agency’s responsibilities to the Federal Election Commission may run into strong Democratic opposition. Getting rid of the EAC would save millions and reduce government redundancy, according the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gregg Harper. The EAC has “clearly served its purpose and is no longer essential to the administration of our elections,” the Mississippi Republican, chairman of the Subcommittee on Elections, said in a statement. “This is why I have introduced legislation to eliminate the Commission and transfer its remaining responsibilities and its authority to more appropriate and competent entities.” But Minority Whip Steny Hoyer may have a thing or two to say about Harper’s plan as the first witness slated to testify at today’s hearing. Excerpts of the Maryland Democrat’s written testimony obtained by Roll Call show he will come out sharply against closing the EAC. Read More
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer to Testify Before House Administration Election Subcommittee | Committee on House Administration
On Thursday, April 14th, at 10:30am, the Elections Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing on H.R. 672, proposed legislation to abolish the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, one of the main architects of the Help America Vote Act which created the EAC, is scheduled to testify about the ongoing importance of the EAC. “The EAC arose out of the fiasco we witnessed during the 2000 federal election,” said Subcommittee Ranking Member Robert A. Brady. “The legislation currently being considered to terminate the EAC has been developed with minimal stakeholder involvement and with no real foundation in the historical context within which the agency was founded. I look forward to Mr. Hoyer’s expert testimony on why the support and resources of the EAC are more important than ever,” Brady added. “We all agree that we have a responsibility to preserve taxpayer resources and to find ways to make government function more effectively,” said Brady. “But by eliminating resources and support to the state and local elections officials that serve as the front line of our voting infrastructure, we potentially undermine this cornerstone of our representative Democracy. The EAC is by no means perfect. But I believe that our efforts should be focused on improving the agency and enhancing its capabilities, rather than eliminating it and relegating its important functions to second tier status within other agencies that have voiced concern over their ability to execute them. I will be introducing legislation designed to overhaul the EAC and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, during its consideration.”
House committee aims to step up election oversight - The Hill's Ballot Box
The House Administration Committee will step up election oversight, as it increases hearings to twice a month and sets its sights on terminating the Election Assistance Commission. “There are a number of things that need to be addressed in the coming months,” said Elections subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). “Oversight certainly has been lacking in a number of areas.” Among the issues the subcommittee plans to examine are the EAC, the Federal Election Commission, overseas voting and cleaning up state voter roles. “This will give us an opportunity to go back and look and make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do,” Harper said. “And if they’re not, why are they not doing it, and is there something we can do to make it easier for them to do their job.” Square in the subcommittee’s crosshairs is the EAC, an independent commission established in the wake of the contested 2000 presidential election to improve how elections are conducted nationwide. Established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the EAC has disbursed more than $3 billion in “requirements” payments to states to update voting machines and enhance election administration. But the commission has seen that funding significantly decline in recent years, and lawmakers are questioning the viability of the commission moving forward. In February, House Administration Committee members Harper, Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) and Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) submitted a resolution recommending the EAC’s termination and transfer of commission operations to other agencies. Read More
Newly empowered GOP pushes voter ID - stateline.org
Fresh off commanding electoral victories in November, Republican majorities in many state legislatures want to require voters to show photo identification at the polls, a move Democrats say is cynically designed to help the GOP during the next election cycle. Voter identification laws have been a demarcation line between Democrats and Republicans for years. Democrats claim the measures disenfranchise poor, elderly and minority voters who tend to vote Democratic but may not have appropriate photo ID. Republicans say the laws are necessary to prevent fraud, particularly when important statewide contests — such as the 2008 election for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota — can be decided by just hundreds of votes. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s photo ID law in 2008, providing a legal framework for other states to pass their own versions. But while only a few states followed Indiana’s lead after the ruling, the movement is gaining much more momentum now that Republicans have taken control or consolidated their power in dozens of statehouses. Read More
Voters’ guides go digital…sometimes - Electionline Weekly
Across the nation, elections offices are moving further and further away from a paper society and allowing residents to do everything electronically, whether it’s registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, or in some recent experiments, even voting online. One stronghold remains though: the printed and mailed voters’ guide. Moving to online-only voter guides is seen by many as the obvious response to budget cuts for an electorate living with 21st century technologies. Printed voter guides are a tradition that voters across the nation have come to expect in the weeks leading up to an election, yet they are costly to compile, print, and mail, and their information is often duplicated online at lower costs. A recent case study in California by the Pew Center on the States’ found that ―by disseminating voter information through e-mail or the Web, counties could save up to nine percent of their election expenses if a portion of their voters agreed to cancel paper mailings. While cost savings depend on the number of voters who opt out, research estimates that counties in California could cut back up to 9 percent of their election expenses if a portion of voters agreed to cancel paper mailings. Election offices are one provider of voter guides in a sea of nongovernmental organizations that provide voter guides online, through civic groups and mailings. Most prominent amongst this group are the League of Women Voters, Project Vote Smart, the Voter Guide,eVoter and Imagine Election. These groups, in addition to dozens of others, provide supplements to official information from election offices. Read More
International
Ghana: Electoral Commission Hopes To Use E-Voting In 2012 - ModernGhana.com
The Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed the wish to adopt the electronic voting system in the next general election because it will solve many problems in the election process. “It is our wish because it will solve a lot of our problems”, the Deputy Chairman of the EC (Operations), Mr Kwadwo Safo Kantanka, responded to a question posed by the Daily Graphic as to whether electronic voting would be used in Election 2012. He, however, indicated that electronic voting would be applied only if the system was ready by the time of holding the next general elections. Mr Kantanka made the submissions after an interaction with two delegations from The Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy and the Parliament of Mozambique. Read More
India: Electronic Voting Machines on the blink, voters made to wait - The Times of India
Voters might have turned out in full force across the city but electronic voting machines (EVMs) at many polling booths failed to match up to the electorate's eagerness. Many EVMs failed to work in the morning leading to confusion and anger among voters. At Shri Krishnaswamy College for Women in Anna Nagar, several voters, who had turned up early in the morning, returned without voting because the machines were not working. "We waited for more than 45 minutes and then left," said 58-year-old Kala T, who was accompanied by her husband and daughter-in-law. Kala said the problem occurred in AB and AC Block. "There were around 200 to 300 people waiting there and many of them were shouting at the officials," she said. Read More
India: Re-poll ordered in five Tamil Nadu constituencies
The Election Commission Thursday ordered a re-poll Saturday at seven polling booths in five assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The re-polling was ordered in polling booths falling under Neyveli in Cuddalore district, Killiyoor in Kanyakumari district, Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district, Arni in Thiruvannamalai district and Bodinaicknaur in Theni district, said a statement from poll panel. The re-poll in Kanyakumari, Thiruvannamali and Theni districts was due to defective display of total number of votes in the electronic voting machines (EVM), it said. Read More
India: Hack state’s e-voting system, get Rs 10 lakh - Hindustan Times
If you are an ethical hacker, then the state Election Commission is looking for you. As it aims to introduce e-voting in the upcoming civic elections in Mumbai next year, officials wary of independent agencies embarrassing them have now decided to offer Rs 10 lakh to anyone who can hack their e-voting system. The SEC is all set to float tenders to invite consultants, and one of the conditions is that hackers be ethical and have a demo to hack the software. This comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s decision to introduce EVMs drew a lot of flak. Experts and activists had publicly highlighted how EVMs could be tampered with, in a way that could affect the final result. SEC officials now admit there is serious concern on the security and confidentiality aspect in e-voting as well. “The security aspect remains a key concern. Hence, we have ensured there are enough checks to ensure secrecy of the voter and confidentiality,” said Neela Satyanarayan, state election commissioner. Accordingly, once the software is created, ethical hackers will be invited to test it. Read More
Nigeria's successful elections: Democracy 1, vote-rigging 0 - The Economist
Anyone who has received a Nigerian scam e-mail—offering to share vast wealth in exchange for just a teensy bit of advance capital—will instantly grasp how rife corruption is in Africa’s most populous and entrepreneurial country. This is true of politics as well as commerce. Cheating has become so brazen that few Nigerians expect fair elections. Politicians have for years larded voter lists with the names of foreign musicians, including deceased ones like Marvin Gaye, and have stuffed ballot boxes with abandon. At parliamentary elections on April 9th, allegations of rigging were once again in the air. Violence also flared up. And the late delivery of ballot papers, which were securely printed abroad, delayed the voting by a week. Nonetheless, the poll marked the first credible election in Nigeria since the end of military rule 12 years ago (see article). What made it different is that officials fought back hard for the first time. They introduced a new voting system that severely limits fraud, using a clever mix of high-tech and low-tech. All 73.5m voters were fingerprinted and screened to stop duplication. Most polling booths opened for only an hour to prevent multiple voting. Electoral officials tallied the results in front of the voters. Independent monitors collected the numbers instantaneously using mobile phones in an exercise called “crowd tabulation”. Read More
Voting News archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
=============================================
The Voting News is a free service made possible by the Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
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.
Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers, represented by County Attorney Ben Gibbons issued an answer last week to a suit filed last month by Sec. of State Scott Gessler, seeking voted ballots from the Nov. 2 election. “Defendant specifically denies the allegation contained in paragraph 8 of the Complaint that she or her staff ever altered any ballot...Defendant Myers answers the allegations contained in paragraph 11 of the Complaint by stating that she did initially agree to permit election officials and members of the Plaintiff’s office to review the voted ballots. “Defendant answers the allegations contained in paragraph 12 of the Complaint by stating that she informed the Plaintiff that she would not agree to his revised demands that members of the public be permitted to inspect the voted ballots. Defendant affirmatively states that such practice would violate the confidentiality historically afforded a voted ballot in Colorado.” Read More
FL: Critics lash Florida elections bill as 'voter suppression' - St. Petersburg Times
The latest House makeover of Florida election laws stirred intense controversy Thursday as unions and grass roots political groups complained that it would suppress 2012 voting in a state Barack Obama won in 2008. By a 12-6 party-line vote, the House State Affairs Committee approved the new bill, setting up a vote by the full House. Similar legislation will be taken up Friday by the Senate Rules Committee. The 150-page rewrite surfaced the afternoon before the vote. Two weeks ago, a previous version of the same bill brought criticism from Democrats that it was being rushed. The bill's most controversial provisions would impose new restrictions on groups that register voters, shorten the validity of voter signatures on citizen initiatives from four years to two and require voters to cast provisional ballots if they move to another county. For nearly 40 years, Florida has allowed voters to update their voting address or a name change at the polls when they vote. But Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, the sponsor of HB 1355, said that's an invitation to voter fraud. Read More
TN: Attorney General’s Opinion Flags Voter ID Bill - Nashville Public Radio
A proposal to require Tennessee voters to present a photo ID at their polling place ran into a speed bump at the state capitol Wednesday. Tennessee’s attorney general issued an opinion saying that the Voter ID bill would likely be found unconstitutional. Representative Craig Fitzhugh, the House Democratic Leader, was one of the lawmakers who requested the Attorney General’s opinion. “I mean it’s a violation of both the U.S. Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution.” It would be a violation – says the attorney general – because requiring a voter to pay for an ID would amount to a “poll tax,” outlawed under the twenty-fourth amendment to the Constitution. Fitzhugh says if the state pays for IDs for all those who don’t have one, the Voter ID bill would create a new cost to the state. So the bill would probably have to go through the committee process all over again. The bill, from Hendersonville Republican Debra Maggart, is set to be taken up by the full House Thursday. Read More
VT: Vermont House Passes National Popular Vote Bill | EON: Enhanced Online News
The National Popular Vote bill passed the Vermont House of Representatives Tuesday, placing the bill before the governor for signature and enactment. If Gov. Shumlin signs, Vermont will join the effort to guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the most votes in all 50 states. The bill passed the house by a 84-50 margin. Final passage, considered a mere formality, is slated for tomorrow. “National Popular Vote does so while preserving the Electoral College and the intent of the Founding Fathers. This is a victory for those who believe every person is entitled to have their vote for president count,” said Tom Golisano, national spokesperson for National Popular Vote. “National Popular Vote does so while preserving the Electoral College and the intent of the Founding Fathers.” Hawaii, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia have already enacted the bill, which would award a state’s electoral votes to the winner of the overall popular vote in all 50 states. When states totaling 270 electoral votes pass the legislation, National Popular Vote will award a majority of electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most popular votes in all fifty states, guaranteeing the presidency. Vermont would represent the 77th electoral vote, representing 29% of the total needed for the bill to go into effect. “We applaud Vermont legislators for voting to give the residents of Vermont a voice,” said John Koza, Chairman of National Popular Vote. “With other state legislatures considering the bill, and many more already having passed it, we are confident that we have the momentum to bring this effort to all 50 states.” Read More
WV: Audit finds counting of federal election money had errors spanning 3 secretaries of state - Greenfield Reporter
An audit shows West Virginia's accounting of federal money it received for replacing voting machines and other election improvements contained several errors. The audit by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Office of the Inspector General examined the state's use of the funding from April 2003 to August 2009, a period spanning the terms of Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and two predecessors, Betty Ireland and Joe Manchin. According to the audit, the Secretary of State's Office didn't put matching money received into a single account with the federal money until 2007. As a result, the election account lost more than $95,000 in interest earnings. Auditors also found discrepancies between the Secretary of State's balance sheets and the Treasurer's Office's balance sheets. Ireland told the Charleston Daily Mail that the balance sheet discrepancies were the only problem she wasn't aware of when she left office. The other problems identified by auditors were corrected. In a response to audit, Tennant attributed the balance sheet discrepancies to data entry errors and differences in accounting procedures. She said her office has made changes to correct the problem. Read More
WI: Democrats Calling for Hearings, Probes into Nickolaus' Election Results - Brookfield, WI Patch
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin today asked state elections officials to review the Waukesha County vote tally in the 2006 state Attorney General election, after a liberal blogger pointed out there were about 17,000 more votes recorded than ballots cast. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus posted an asterisk on the 2006 results on the county's web site, with a note that said votes that are hand-counted and not electronically cast through machines are not included in the ballots cast figure. In a letter today to the state Government Accountability Board, state Democratic Party chair Mike Tate noted that in the 2006 election, Republican AG candidate J.B. Van Hollen defeated Democrat Kathleen Falk by 8,859 votes out of about 2.1 million votes cast. The Waukesha County results showed 156,804 ballots cast in the Nov. 7, 2006 election but 174,047 votes cast in the AG race. Read More
WI: Paul Malischke: Election methods need improving
Monday’s editorial, “State needs streamlined count,” calls for a website to fix our vote counting situation. Actually, Wisconsin needs to pay more attention to assuring that the vote count is correct. Wisconsin falls well short of having a reliable end-to-end system. We need to improve the method of appointing the members of the boards of canvassers, elect county clerks in nonpartisan elections and evaluate whether recounts should always include partial or full hand counts of the ballots. Technical aspects of counting votes have been neglected. We should update the administrative rules for approval of voting machines and for security of ballots and voting machines, improve the biannual hand-count audits of ballots and improve guidelines for pre-election testing of voting machines. A website for aggregating election night results needs a public discussion of security and spot checking against paper records. For more information, go to www.fairelectionswi.com and click on “counting.”
National
Election Assistance Commission May Be Closing : Roll Call Politics
House Republicans may have found a way to trim $14 million from the federal budget: eliminate the Election Assistance Commission. The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing today to discuss closing the agency that is charged with administering federal election requirements and testing voting equipment. A corresponding Republican bill that would transfer most of the agency’s responsibilities to the Federal Election Commission may run into strong Democratic opposition. Getting rid of the EAC would save millions and reduce government redundancy, according the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gregg Harper. The EAC has “clearly served its purpose and is no longer essential to the administration of our elections,” the Mississippi Republican, chairman of the Subcommittee on Elections, said in a statement. “This is why I have introduced legislation to eliminate the Commission and transfer its remaining responsibilities and its authority to more appropriate and competent entities.” But Minority Whip Steny Hoyer may have a thing or two to say about Harper’s plan as the first witness slated to testify at today’s hearing. Excerpts of the Maryland Democrat’s written testimony obtained by Roll Call show he will come out sharply against closing the EAC. Read More
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer to Testify Before House Administration Election Subcommittee | Committee on House Administration
On Thursday, April 14th, at 10:30am, the Elections Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing on H.R. 672, proposed legislation to abolish the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, one of the main architects of the Help America Vote Act which created the EAC, is scheduled to testify about the ongoing importance of the EAC. “The EAC arose out of the fiasco we witnessed during the 2000 federal election,” said Subcommittee Ranking Member Robert A. Brady. “The legislation currently being considered to terminate the EAC has been developed with minimal stakeholder involvement and with no real foundation in the historical context within which the agency was founded. I look forward to Mr. Hoyer’s expert testimony on why the support and resources of the EAC are more important than ever,” Brady added. “We all agree that we have a responsibility to preserve taxpayer resources and to find ways to make government function more effectively,” said Brady. “But by eliminating resources and support to the state and local elections officials that serve as the front line of our voting infrastructure, we potentially undermine this cornerstone of our representative Democracy. The EAC is by no means perfect. But I believe that our efforts should be focused on improving the agency and enhancing its capabilities, rather than eliminating it and relegating its important functions to second tier status within other agencies that have voiced concern over their ability to execute them. I will be introducing legislation designed to overhaul the EAC and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, during its consideration.”
House committee aims to step up election oversight - The Hill's Ballot Box
The House Administration Committee will step up election oversight, as it increases hearings to twice a month and sets its sights on terminating the Election Assistance Commission. “There are a number of things that need to be addressed in the coming months,” said Elections subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.). “Oversight certainly has been lacking in a number of areas.” Among the issues the subcommittee plans to examine are the EAC, the Federal Election Commission, overseas voting and cleaning up state voter roles. “This will give us an opportunity to go back and look and make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to do,” Harper said. “And if they’re not, why are they not doing it, and is there something we can do to make it easier for them to do their job.” Square in the subcommittee’s crosshairs is the EAC, an independent commission established in the wake of the contested 2000 presidential election to improve how elections are conducted nationwide. Established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the EAC has disbursed more than $3 billion in “requirements” payments to states to update voting machines and enhance election administration. But the commission has seen that funding significantly decline in recent years, and lawmakers are questioning the viability of the commission moving forward. In February, House Administration Committee members Harper, Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) and Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) submitted a resolution recommending the EAC’s termination and transfer of commission operations to other agencies. Read More
Newly empowered GOP pushes voter ID - stateline.org
Fresh off commanding electoral victories in November, Republican majorities in many state legislatures want to require voters to show photo identification at the polls, a move Democrats say is cynically designed to help the GOP during the next election cycle. Voter identification laws have been a demarcation line between Democrats and Republicans for years. Democrats claim the measures disenfranchise poor, elderly and minority voters who tend to vote Democratic but may not have appropriate photo ID. Republicans say the laws are necessary to prevent fraud, particularly when important statewide contests — such as the 2008 election for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota — can be decided by just hundreds of votes. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s photo ID law in 2008, providing a legal framework for other states to pass their own versions. But while only a few states followed Indiana’s lead after the ruling, the movement is gaining much more momentum now that Republicans have taken control or consolidated their power in dozens of statehouses. Read More
Voters’ guides go digital…sometimes - Electionline Weekly
Across the nation, elections offices are moving further and further away from a paper society and allowing residents to do everything electronically, whether it’s registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot, or in some recent experiments, even voting online. One stronghold remains though: the printed and mailed voters’ guide. Moving to online-only voter guides is seen by many as the obvious response to budget cuts for an electorate living with 21st century technologies. Printed voter guides are a tradition that voters across the nation have come to expect in the weeks leading up to an election, yet they are costly to compile, print, and mail, and their information is often duplicated online at lower costs. A recent case study in California by the Pew Center on the States’ found that ―by disseminating voter information through e-mail or the Web, counties could save up to nine percent of their election expenses if a portion of their voters agreed to cancel paper mailings. While cost savings depend on the number of voters who opt out, research estimates that counties in California could cut back up to 9 percent of their election expenses if a portion of voters agreed to cancel paper mailings. Election offices are one provider of voter guides in a sea of nongovernmental organizations that provide voter guides online, through civic groups and mailings. Most prominent amongst this group are the League of Women Voters, Project Vote Smart, the Voter Guide,eVoter and Imagine Election. These groups, in addition to dozens of others, provide supplements to official information from election offices. Read More
International
Ghana: Electoral Commission Hopes To Use E-Voting In 2012 - ModernGhana.com
The Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed the wish to adopt the electronic voting system in the next general election because it will solve many problems in the election process. “It is our wish because it will solve a lot of our problems”, the Deputy Chairman of the EC (Operations), Mr Kwadwo Safo Kantanka, responded to a question posed by the Daily Graphic as to whether electronic voting would be used in Election 2012. He, however, indicated that electronic voting would be applied only if the system was ready by the time of holding the next general elections. Mr Kantanka made the submissions after an interaction with two delegations from The Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy and the Parliament of Mozambique. Read More
India: Electronic Voting Machines on the blink, voters made to wait - The Times of India
Voters might have turned out in full force across the city but electronic voting machines (EVMs) at many polling booths failed to match up to the electorate's eagerness. Many EVMs failed to work in the morning leading to confusion and anger among voters. At Shri Krishnaswamy College for Women in Anna Nagar, several voters, who had turned up early in the morning, returned without voting because the machines were not working. "We waited for more than 45 minutes and then left," said 58-year-old Kala T, who was accompanied by her husband and daughter-in-law. Kala said the problem occurred in AB and AC Block. "There were around 200 to 300 people waiting there and many of them were shouting at the officials," she said. Read More
India: Re-poll ordered in five Tamil Nadu constituencies
The Election Commission Thursday ordered a re-poll Saturday at seven polling booths in five assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The re-polling was ordered in polling booths falling under Neyveli in Cuddalore district, Killiyoor in Kanyakumari district, Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district, Arni in Thiruvannamalai district and Bodinaicknaur in Theni district, said a statement from poll panel. The re-poll in Kanyakumari, Thiruvannamali and Theni districts was due to defective display of total number of votes in the electronic voting machines (EVM), it said. Read More
India: Hack state’s e-voting system, get Rs 10 lakh - Hindustan Times
If you are an ethical hacker, then the state Election Commission is looking for you. As it aims to introduce e-voting in the upcoming civic elections in Mumbai next year, officials wary of independent agencies embarrassing them have now decided to offer Rs 10 lakh to anyone who can hack their e-voting system. The SEC is all set to float tenders to invite consultants, and one of the conditions is that hackers be ethical and have a demo to hack the software. This comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s decision to introduce EVMs drew a lot of flak. Experts and activists had publicly highlighted how EVMs could be tampered with, in a way that could affect the final result. SEC officials now admit there is serious concern on the security and confidentiality aspect in e-voting as well. “The security aspect remains a key concern. Hence, we have ensured there are enough checks to ensure secrecy of the voter and confidentiality,” said Neela Satyanarayan, state election commissioner. Accordingly, once the software is created, ethical hackers will be invited to test it. Read More
Nigeria's successful elections: Democracy 1, vote-rigging 0 - The Economist
Anyone who has received a Nigerian scam e-mail—offering to share vast wealth in exchange for just a teensy bit of advance capital—will instantly grasp how rife corruption is in Africa’s most populous and entrepreneurial country. This is true of politics as well as commerce. Cheating has become so brazen that few Nigerians expect fair elections. Politicians have for years larded voter lists with the names of foreign musicians, including deceased ones like Marvin Gaye, and have stuffed ballot boxes with abandon. At parliamentary elections on April 9th, allegations of rigging were once again in the air. Violence also flared up. And the late delivery of ballot papers, which were securely printed abroad, delayed the voting by a week. Nonetheless, the poll marked the first credible election in Nigeria since the end of military rule 12 years ago (see article). What made it different is that officials fought back hard for the first time. They introduced a new voting system that severely limits fraud, using a clever mix of high-tech and low-tech. All 73.5m voters were fingerprinted and screened to stop duplication. Most polling booths opened for only an hour to prevent multiple voting. Electoral officials tallied the results in front of the voters. Independent monitors collected the numbers instantaneously using mobile phones in an exercise called “crowd tabulation”. Read More
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