Why should you care about "Citizens United vs FEC"? The case "if decided wrongly, could surrender control of our democracy to corporate interests." - EJ Dionne of WaPo. The Supreme Court case is set for argument on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
The IEEE (electrical engineering standards group) has something to say about the Diebold sale: "Good riddance."
A Maryland political blogger posts a 3 part series about MD's top election officials, "Linda Lamone, Administrator for Life". Attorney for New Mexico's former SOS Vigil-Giron asks judge to dismiss charges until impartial prosecutor can be found. Vigil-Giron faces charges of fraud, tax fraud and money laundering related to misuse of HAVA funds. Threat of flooding may force King Co WA election office to move to a temporary location, the move would cost $1 million.
Afghan Results Raise Suspicions. Northern Ireland implements Individual Voter Registration, moving away from "household" registration. Why was $10 million spent on a biometric voter id system for Somaliland, a country with GDP per head of $226 and 72% of country doesn't even have fresh water? *Many jurisdictions in the US are holding elections right now - have you voted or are you going to?
FL. HOW FLORIDA CAN AVERT LOPSIDED VOTING DISTRICTS
September 6, 2009 It should be a neutral process. In five states, it is. Independent redistricting commissions draw up boundaries based on population and geography. In a few states, commissions and state legislatures collaborate. In most states, Florida
among them, the process is mostly political.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN65090609.htm
MD. Political blog series on Linda Lamone, Maryland's top election official.
A local political blogger in MD did a 3 part series on Linda Lamone.
Maryland’s Administrator for Life, Part One
Suppose a local bill (a bill affecting only one county) gets the unanimous support of its local government, the unanimous support of its county delegation in Annapolis and is passed by the House of Delegates by 135-0. You would think it would be headed for the Governor’s desk, right?
http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/08/marylands-administrator-for-life-part.html
Maryland’s Administrator for Life, Part Two
Perhaps the one thing for which Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) Administrator Linda Lamone will always be remembered is her stauch support of Diebold voting machines, which the state began using in 2001.
http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/09/marylands-administrator-for-life-part.html
Maryland’s Administrator for Life, Part Three
State Board of Elections (SBE) Administrator Linda Lamone has earned a legion of enemies in her 12-year tenure at the agency...
http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/09/marylands-administrator-for-life-part_02.html
MN. Grants available to improve polling access
September 3, 2009 Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is seeking grant proposals from Minnesota cities, townships and counties for federal money to improve disability access to polling locations.
http://legal-ledger.com/item.cfm?recID=12203
NC. Craven elections board, judges gather as voting time nears (getting ready for city elections)
Under state law, when the North Carolina State Board of Elections began conducting elections for cities in the 1960s, four ways were provided, depending on the individual municipal charter...Cities have the option of using one elections method, including a nonpartisan election with a runoff, a partisan election, a partisan primary with an election, or simple plurality. The specific dates of those elections and runoffs hinge on the type selected. The simple plurality election provides for no runoff. In the event of a tie, the winner is picked by lot, or out of a hat.
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/judges-47715-elections-craven.html
NM. Vigil-Giron waives arraignment in voter fraud case
(AP misnames article this is about fraud related to HAVA funding expenditures)
September 4, 2009 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three co-defendants waived arraignment Friday on state charges of fraud, tax fraud and money laundering. Vigil-Giron, a Democrat, didn't appear in court.
http://www.newswest9.com/Global/story.asp?S=11079351
NM. Vigil-Giron’s atty asks judge to dismiss charges until impartial prosecutor can be found. Attorney Robert Gorence says he will call Attorney General Gary King if case goes to trial 9/4/09 Former New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron’s attorney asked a judge Friday to dismiss charges against his client, saying the state Attorney General’s Office isn’t an impartial prosecutor. He added that he would call AG Gary King as a witness if the case went to trial...According to a Federal Election Assisstance Commision report issued in May of last year Gutierrez was unable to account for more than $2 million of the nearly $6.3 million in federal funds he had been paid by Vigil-Giron’s office.
http://newmexicoindependent.com/35668/vigil-girons-atty-asks-judge-to-dismiss-charges-until-impartial-prosecutor-can-be-found
TX. Irving City Council approves settlement in elections lawsuit
September 3, 2009 The Irving City Council on Thursday approved a lawsuit settlement that could bring a mixed election system of single-member and at-large council seats to the city after decades of ongoing controversy surrounding the issue.
The council approved the settlement in a 6-3 vote that drew both applause and heckling.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/090409dnmetirvdistricts.3d779eb.html
WA. Flood fears may force King Co. Elections dept. move
King Co. Airport may be temporary home
As a precaution in anticipation of flooding that could inundate the Green River Valley, King County is considering moving its elections operations from its Renton headquarters to a temporary facility at Boeing Field.
...Executive Kurt Triplett may decide to move elections to an operations center at King County International Airport. The cost estimate for the move, which would need to be completed by Oct. 6, is just over $1 million, Brown said.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/409793_flood02.html
US News.
US. Webcast of EAC public meeting is available
Watch the streaming video of EAC's September 2 public meeting.
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/webcast-of-eac-public-meeting-is-available
US. NIST holding an "End-to-End Voting Systems Workshop"
October 13-14, 2009
The goal of this workshop is to understand the security and usability properties of end-to-end voting systems, one type of next-generation system of interest. The last few years have witnessed the emergence of end-to-end voting systems, which enable voter-verification of election outcome...
*Confirmed speakers and panelists include: Josh Benaloh, David Chaum, Doug =
Jones and Ron Rivest.
http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/e2evoting/
Articles about ES&S purchase of Diebold/Premier Election Solutions:
Diebold, Inc.'s SEC filing re the purchase agreement with ES&S to acquire
Premier can be found here:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/28823/000095012309040638/l37495e8vk.htm
IEE's blog on Diebold sale.
*The IEEE (electrical engineering standards group) cmtes are the ones
who set standards for voting systems. They work closely with NIST, voting vendors, and the EAC.
Diebold Dumps Most of Its E-Voting Business
As one financial analyst that covers Diebold said in response to the sale announcement:
"Good riddance."
Diebold's foray into the electronic voting business has to join eBay's purchase (and subsequent sale) of Skype as one of the worst non-synergistic acquisitions of the past decade.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/blog/computing/it/riskfactor/diebold-dumps-evoting-business
Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission
A Test Case for Roberts
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
September 7, 2009 President Obama's health-care speech on Wednesday will be only the second most consequential political moment of the week.
Judged by the standard of an event's potential long-term impact on our public life, the most important will be the argument before the Supreme Court (on the same day, as it happens) about a case that, if decided wrongly, could surrender control of our democracy to corporate interests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090601188.html
Hillary: The Law Changer
Unusual pre-term rehearing may reshape campaign finance laws
September 2009 Issue
Kagan said in a brief that the court should rule modestly and narrowly on Hillary: The Movie and avoid the broader issue of whether profit-making corporations can broadcast election ads. “Overruling Austin and McConnell would fundamentally alter the legal rules governing corporations” dating back to at least 1947, she warned, “and would make vast sums of corporate money available for overt electioneering.”
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/hillary_the_law_changer/
SUPREME COURT SHOWDOWN PITS LARGE CORPORATE INTERESTS AGAINST INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES
September 7, 2009
“Independent business owners often face a decidedly uneven playing field when competing against major corporations due, in part, to tax loopholes, subsidies, federal handouts and preferential treatment bestowed by politicians” said Milchen. “Opening electoral contests to direct corporate campaign spending would further undermine fair market competition and recklessly endanger democracy.”
http://amiba.net/pressrelease/cuvfec_release_9.7.html
Hillary movie puts campaign finance limits at risk
Associated Press. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court appears poised to wipe away limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions in time for next year's congressional elections in a case that began as a dispute over a movie about Hillary Rodham Clinton.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_HILLARY_MOVIE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
International News
Afghan Results Raise Suspicions
Numbers from several polling places raises suspicions, with all votes going to one candidate, lots of round numbers of votes, and more votes than voters.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2349
Ireland. Northern Ireland implements Individual Voter Registration
7th September 2009 Parliamentary Business Minister Bruce Crawford and Scotland Office minister Ann McKechin are in Belfast today to see how Northern Ireland has moved away from the system of household registration to individual voter registration...Research carried out by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) in 2008 found that nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of respondents thought that the individual registration system used in Northern Ireland was preferable to the current household registration used in Great Britain.
http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/britain/northern-ireland-implements-individual-voter-registration-3713.html
Somaliland. Innovation in Software
Somaliland – When Software Projects Destroy Countries
...Who then thought that an advanced biometric system was what this country needed? ...This is a country with a GDP per head of $226 – the vast majority of the population are living on less than $1 per day. $10 million could have helped address woeful statistics such as only 25% of Somaliland adults are literate, and just 17% of children go to school. The funding could have even helped the 72% of the population without access to clean water get some new wells...To cap it all off, the people who went about delivering the system didn’t just do a bad job at implementation, but a thoroughly awful one.
http://blog.vagueware.com/2009/09/07/somaliland-when-software-projects-destroy-countries/
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive the Voting News by email by visiting this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
email comments, questions us at ncvoter (at) gmail.com
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Why ES&S-Diebold sale is wrong, Easier to cage voters in Florida? Feds to monitor Cleveland election
Voting machine monopoly cont'd: "ES&S Acquires Premier Election Solutions. This is just wrong on so many levels....All this (problems with ES&S) and we keep buying their machines and now ES&S is rewarded with a bigger market share." Diebold stock surges as voting co sold at $45 million loss. "The sale represents the end of an embarrassing era for Diebold. " Meanwhile, another reason to worry about an ES&S/Diebold consolidation: Vanderburgh Co is ditching ES&S service, says ES&S has been overcharging since 2003. "They made some money, yes, but they made a little too much money as far as I'm concerned. I think they took advantage." Vanderburgh County Clerk Susan Kirk.
Florida's election dept's new voter roll rules may disenfranchise voters.
Madison CO KY switching to paper for 2010. Federal officials will monitor Cleveland Ohio's election on Tuesday. Atlantic City NJ Mayoral candidate Marty Small and 13 of his campaign workers were indicted for several absentee ballot fraud schemes. In Pierce Co WA an Op/Ed "If poll voting dies, RCV could be partly responsible." (precinct count scanners were decertified).
Corporate cash in campaigns? The oral arguments for the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission are set for Wednesday, September 9. Check out the website for "The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration" In Afghanistan the election results from nearly 450 polling places were set aside pending an investigation and Pres Karzai is moving closer to the 50% threshold. India sees more opposition to electronic voting.
AL. "Large chunks of Birmingham city council campaign cash untraceable"
The Birmingham News reports: Large chunks of campaign cash contributed to Birmingham City Council candidates are untraceable because the contributing political action committees haven't filed either campaign disclosure forms or organizational papers, an apparent violation of Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices Act.
In other cases, the source of the money that fueled city races can't be determined because the cash was transferred among PACs before being given to candidates, a Birmingham News review of financial disclosure forms shows.
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006307.html
CA. Some Theorists Withhold Best-Voting-System Award
September 2, 2009 The Oscars is shaking up its voting system, though not in a way that most voting theorists applaud...The new system for best-picture voting is just like the procedure for selecting nominees. It’s called single transferable vote and is similar to an instant-runoff election. Voters will rank the 10 nominees from 1 to 10...“Some voters, by raising an alternative from last to first place, [could] cause it to lose — just the opposite effect of what one would want a voting system to induce,” Brams said. Also possible is the scenario in which “some voters, by actually voting as opposed to not showing up at the polls, hurt the alternatives they rank highest.” http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/some-theorists-withhold-best-voting-system-award-794/
Florida's election dept's new voter roll rules may disenfranchise voters.
Madison CO KY switching to paper for 2010. Federal officials will monitor Cleveland Ohio's election on Tuesday. Atlantic City NJ Mayoral candidate Marty Small and 13 of his campaign workers were indicted for several absentee ballot fraud schemes. In Pierce Co WA an Op/Ed "If poll voting dies, RCV could be partly responsible." (precinct count scanners were decertified).
Corporate cash in campaigns? The oral arguments for the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission are set for Wednesday, September 9. Check out the website for "The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration" In Afghanistan the election results from nearly 450 polling places were set aside pending an investigation and Pres Karzai is moving closer to the 50% threshold. India sees more opposition to electronic voting.
AL. "Large chunks of Birmingham city council campaign cash untraceable"
The Birmingham News reports: Large chunks of campaign cash contributed to Birmingham City Council candidates are untraceable because the contributing political action committees haven't filed either campaign disclosure forms or organizational papers, an apparent violation of Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices Act.
In other cases, the source of the money that fueled city races can't be determined because the cash was transferred among PACs before being given to candidates, a Birmingham News review of financial disclosure forms shows.
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006307.html
CA. Some Theorists Withhold Best-Voting-System Award
September 2, 2009 The Oscars is shaking up its voting system, though not in a way that most voting theorists applaud...The new system for best-picture voting is just like the procedure for selecting nominees. It’s called single transferable vote and is similar to an instant-runoff election. Voters will rank the 10 nominees from 1 to 10...“Some voters, by raising an alternative from last to first place, [could] cause it to lose — just the opposite effect of what one would want a voting system to induce,” Brams said. Also possible is the scenario in which “some voters, by actually voting as opposed to not showing up at the polls, hurt the alternatives they rank highest.” http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/some-theorists-withhold-best-voting-system-award-794/
FL. The Florida Department of Elections proposes new rules that may make voter caging easier. The new rules address maintenance of voter registration rolls. If these rules are approved, it may be easier to wrongly purge legal voters from the rolls.You may read the rule at this link.
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/rules/proposed-rules/pdf/R1S2041DraftFVRSRecords08_09.pdf
The accompanying forms to be completed by supervisors of elections at http://election.dos.state.fl.us/rules/proposed-rules/index.shtml (scroll down to Proposed Rule 1S-2.041, FVRS Address and Records Maintenance Activities).There is no article link.
IA. County using new software in Tuesday election
WATERLOO --- Black Hawk County will use a new software program in some polling places to assist precinct officials during Tuesday's school board election.The program, Precinct Atlas, is an electronic poll book designed to help process voters effectively and consistently.
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2009/09/06/news/local/11685039.txt
IN. Changing Election Support Provider Could Save County Bi...
Vanderburgh County could find an extra $200,000. in this year's budget. The county election board is severing its ties with the company that provides support services for the county's voting machines. Board member Susan Kirk says ES&S has been over-charging for services in their contract that was signed in 2003....The county will continue to use the same computer software that was provided by ES&S. The board is looking into using a new company to provide support services.
http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=93402
IN. EVANSVILLE — Vanderburgh County wants a divorce from the manufacturer of its voting machines and a new marriage with a company it says will charge much less.
Citing nearly $112,000 that it says Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software owes the county, the Vanderburgh County Election Board voted Friday to formally decline the company's continued equipment support services.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/05/county-seeks-save-200000-voting-machines/
KY. A new way of voting
Paper ballots an option in 2010
Out with the new and in with the old. That is the idea behind a different option Madison County residents will have in the May 2010 primary elections.
...“They’re (the Kentucky State Board of Elections) having a lot of complaints,” said Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark at a January fiscal court meeting. “They (electronic voting machines) have become too complicated for a lot of people to use, and so they’re looking, as other states are, to going back to the paper ballot.”
http://www.richmondregister.com/localnews/local_story_248224351.html
MT. Reform of secret ballotsBy Bob Brown
In the reconstruction period following the Civil War, black people who had been slaves were given their first opportunity as free citizens to vote... Brutal harassment of unsure and frightened black voters was rampant at the traditionally open polling places in the South in the 1870's. To confront this infringement on a citizen's right to vote, the reform of the secret ballot, already in widespread use in Australia, was introduced and enforced to the extent possible across the South....Under the guise of the "Employee Free Choice Act," American workers could be denied the right to the secret ballot in deciding whether to unionize their work places...With a secret ballot, workers can freely vote their own honestly held beliefs. Without it they cannot
http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/articles/2009/09/05/opinions/opinion1.txt
NJ. Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and 13 Individuals Who Worked on His Mayoral Campaign Indicted on Charges They Conspired in Fraudulent Messenger Ballot Schemes
View indictment pdf
TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and 13 individuals who worked on his unsuccessful 2009 mayoral campaign were indicted today on charges they conspired to commit election fraud during the June Democratic primary through a variety of schemes involving messenger absentee ballots...."We charge that they disenfranchised voters by destroying messenger ballots that were voted for Small’s opponents and submitting ballots as votes for Small from people who never received them."
http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases09/pr20090903d.html
OH. Federal officials will monitor Tuesday's election in Cleveland
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Federal officials will monitor polling places during Tuesday's election in Cleveland, marking the third time since 2006 that they have come to the city.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to say why it is interested in the nonpartisan election. It is also unclear how many monitors will come here and where they will be stationed.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/federal_officials_will_monitor.html
OK. Odd timing for city elections Low voter turnout only helps the fringe candidates win office
Strangely enough, the Tuesday after Labor Day — the day most people dedicate to complaining about their sunburns — is election day in Tulsa.... it's the only bite voters will get at the election apple because only candidates in one party filed for office...Move it: There's a simple solution to this problem: Quit trying to be cute with the municipal election cycle. The dirty little secret is that some elected officials aren't interested in big turnouts. It's a lot easier to win a City Council primary with 3,000 votes in play than one that has two or three times that many people taking part.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=261&articleid=20090906_261_G1_Anelec288921
TN. Purge by Shelby County Election Commission of voter-registration rolls brings scrutiny
September 6, 2009 A decision by the Republican-controlled Shelby County Election Commission to purge inactive voters from the voter-registration rolls has at least one local activist worried that certain Democratic voters will wind up disenfranchised.
The election commission has stripped close to 60,000 inactive registered voters from the books since January, a move election commission officials say is standard practice after a presidential election... "The real question is, what's the criteria and how do they go about purging?" Kyles said. "I don't know the benefits from purging directly after a presidential election. (Joseph Kyles, vice president of the Memphis chapter of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition)
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/06/republican-purge-of-voter-registration-rolls/
WA. If poll voting dies, RCV could be partly responsible. Opinion.
...Last year when we implemented “Ranked Choice Voting,” we lost certification of our optical scan tabulators at the polls. As a result, it forced us to begin conducting polling place elections differently. No longer could votes be counted electronically at the polling site. Rather, the ballots had to be transported to our Elections Center for tabulation after 8:00 p.m. election eve. This we refer to as a “Central Count” environment.
Consequently, we were forced to recruit, hire and train 114 extra workers to support each polling site...RCV might not be such a complicating factor after November, when voters get to decide for the third time whether they want to conduct county elections in the runoff fashion.
http://blog.thenewstribune.com/opinion/2009/09/04/if-poll-voting-dies-rcv-could-be-partly-responsible/
Committee to Modernize Voter Registration launches
Monday marked the launch of the Committee to Modernize Voter Registration, founded by former political campaign rivals Marc E. Elias and Trevor Potter, as an effort to bring the voter registration process into the 21st century...To read more about the problems with voter registration and to learn about The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration's proposed solutions, visit their website.
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2009/09/reforming-voter-registration.html
Articles on ES&S purchase of Diebold
US. Diebold Selling Their Voting Machine Division - cartoon
http://www.ablueview.com/2009/09/diebold-selling-their-voting-machine-division.html
ES&S Acquires Premier Election Solutions. This is just wrong on so many levels.
...The monopoly is but a part of the troubling equation. Consider the Government Accountability Office's (GOA) stunted investigation of Sarasota's 2006 District 13 with its 18,000 missing votes...ES&S virtually owns the election process. ES&S manufactures the machines, produces test data, defines the testing process, counts the votes, determines the winner, and declares the election valid...Consider the absence of election laws and comprehensive processes that recognize bogus election results and mandate clear and immediate corrective action...Consider the technical challenges experienced by these two companies...Consider the ES&S technical problems the GAO did not find and why...Throughout it all, ES&S failed to disclose, failed to accept responsibility, and consistently failed to produce a product that accurately counts our votes. All this and we keep buying their machines and now ES&S is rewarded with a bigger market share. http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/ES-S-Acquires-Premier-Elec-by-Lani-Massey-Brown-090903-993.html
Consolidation in E-Voting Market: ES&S Buys Premier
ES&S is reportedly the largest e-voting company, and Premier was the second-largest, so the deal represents a substantial consolidation in the market. The odds of one major e-voting company breaking from the pack and embracing up-to-date security engineering are now even slimmer than before. Premier had seemed like the company most likely to change its ways.
The sale represents the end of an embarrassing era for Diebold.
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/consolidation-e-voting-market-ess-buys-premier#comments
Diebold Finally Dumps E-Voting Division... But Sells It To Equally Problematic ES&S from the that-makes-it-better? dept
Ah, Diebold. One of the "big three" e-voting providers out there, its name was the first one that got associated with the problems of e-voting machines, despite problems being found across the board in players in that space...it's not like ES&S is any better. It, too, has had massive problems with its e-voting machines, while the company has a history of stonewalling attempts by gov't officials to review their code....Now, with the combined ES&S/Diebold/Premier, a ridiculous large percentage of the country's e-voting machines now belong to one company, with an amazingly long family tree of faulty machines and a history of attacking anyone who points out those flaws.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090903/1538136098.shtml
Diebold dumps a headache (fascinating audio report)
Northeast Ohio company sells its electronic voting divisionWKSU's M.L. Schultze reports
Green-based Diebold has found a buyer for its electronic voting-machine business. And despite the fact that the company will take at least a $45 million loss on the deal, Diebold's stock spiked at the news.
http://www.wksu.org/news/story/23996
Diebold Sells Its Voting Machine Unit to Competitor (NY Times)
...In 2007, Diebold, a maker of A.T.M.’s, distanced itself from the election unit, renaming it Premier, allowing it to operate more independently and giving it a separate board.
Premier operates in 33 states and Election Systems & Software operates election services in 39 states and overseas.
S. Candice Hoke, an election law professor at Cleveland State University, said the sale raises questions about the consolidation of election services. “It’s a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors,” she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/technology/04vote.html?_r=1
Diebold Dumps Voting Machine Business For Peanuts
...The company sold its election systems business for $5 million. It had acquired the business in 2002 from Global Election Systems for $26 million...The sale now narrows the market to two major players: Election Systems and Software and Sequoia Voting Systems
http://www.businessinsider.com/diebold-sells-business-9-2009
Diebold sells Voting Systems Business to Rival, raises consolidation concerns
The move effectively consolidates the electronic voting business in the hands of two privately held companies -- Election Systems & Software and Sequoia Voting Systems. Consolidation is not good news for elections watchers. In a broadcast interview, Candice Hoke of the Center for Election Integrity at Cleveland State University warns that the sale "creates tremendous power over our voting system and that concerns a number of people." ...Even with the sale, Diebold still faces lawsuits from a number of local government.
http://www.govtechblogs.com/fastgov/2009/09/diebold-sells-voting-systems-b.php
Articles on Citizens United vs FEC
Argument preview: Corporations in politics. Scotus blog explains what is at stake -
September 4th, 2009 5:48 pm Lyle Denniston NOTE: The Supreme Court case set for argument on Wednesday, Sept. 9, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission(08-205), originated in the past Term. It is now being reargued.
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/argument-preview-corporations-in-politics/
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
Should businesses be able to give to politicians?
Since Teddy Roosevelt was president, corporate money in federal politics has been restricted by U.S. law. That could change. The U.S. Supreme Court meets Wednesday over whether to overturn two prior rulings. Sparking it all -- "Hillary: The Movie."
...The problem of corporations using their immense aggregate wealth in a campaign is that if corporations begin spending $1 million or $5 million or $10 million in a campaign to directly elect or defeat a candidate, this has enormous capacity to buy influence over our elected officials.
http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-right.7011274sep06,0,2068571.story
International:
Afghanistan. Defining moment for Afghanistan
Election officials in Afghanistan are still counting votes, but say President Hamid Karzai is moving closer to the 50% threshold which would represent victory. But they also have more than 2,000 claims of fraud to investigate. The BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says the outcome will be critical for Afghanistan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8238967.stm
Afghan officials disqualify votes from 450 polling places
The move could herald more mass disqualifications amid allegations of fraud in the presidential election. Nevertheless, Hamid Karzai inches toward winning...results from nearly 450 polling places were set aside pending an investigation
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/afghanistan/la-fg-afghan-election7-2009sep07,0,7124933.story
India. EVMs: The question of manipulation
Would you put your money in an ATM machine which can't tell you when your cash was stolen or which won't give you a receipt for your cash deposit? Ten out of 10 respondents would reply with an emphatic 'no way'.
So why does the Indian electorate trust its valuable vote to an electronic voting machine (EVM) which provides no audit trail and no receipt?
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/evms-the-question-of-manipulation/512964/
Iran. Iran reformist Web site names post-election victims
(CNN) -- An Iranian reformist Web site on Friday released the identities of 72 people it says were killed by government forces in the aftermath of Iran's disputed presidential elections.
The list posted on Norooz News' Web site is more than double government estimates, which put the death toll of protesters between 25 and 30. Norooz gives the names, ages and details surrounding most of the victims' deaths, which range from being shot by members of the Basij militia to being beaten to death in Tehran's Evin prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/04/iran.election.protests/
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive the Voting News by email by visiting this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
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Thursday, September 3, 2009
ES&S to buy Premier Election Solutions from Diebold, Inc
Monopoly anyone? This just in. ES&S buys Premier Election and Data Information Management Systems Inc aka Diebold . Here's an article in the Ohio Plain Dealer and also an email from Aldo Tesi, President and CEO of Election Systems and Software, Inc. ES&S is buying up the stock and the assets. This has huge implications. This would make ES&S a virtual monopoly. Stay tuned as we find out more about how this will affect you. I am writing from North Carolina, a state where Diebold chose not to sell machines saying they could not meet our existing laws.
Here's an email from Aldo Tesi to an election official
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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Diebold Inc. sells most of its electronic voting machine business
by Janet H. Cho/Plain Dealer Reporter Thursday September 03, 2009
GREEN, Ohio — Diebold Inc., the Summit County-based maker of automatic teller machines and bank security systems, has sold its electronic voting subsidiaries in the United States and Canda to Elections Systems & Software Inc.
ES&S, of Omaha, Neb., is buying all the outstanding capital stock of Premier Election and Data Information Management Systems Inc. and substantially all of the assets of Premier Canada in a deal announced this morning.
In return, Diebold gets $5 million cash, plus 70 percent of the cash payments collected through the fifth anniversary of the closing date on any accounts receivable existing as of Aug. 31 ...
Here's an email from Aldo Tesi to an election official
From: AldoTesiES&SVoting News by Joyce McCloy.
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 10:15 AM
To: XXXX (name redacted) Subject: Election Systems & Software, Inc Announces the acquisition of Premier Election Solutions from Diebold, Inc.
September 3, 2009
Dear XXXXX (name redacted)
Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Premier Election Solutions, Inc. (PES). Both companies are excited about the opportunity to unite our experienced management teams and associates to meet the needs of our customers more effectively. Together we will continue to focus on our core mission of “Maintaining Voter Confidence and Enhancing the Voting experience.”
We will combine the strengths of both organizations to benefit our customers, and are confident the result will be a better, more efficient and effective operating model. This model will serve our customers well and provide a sustainable delivery platform for the election industry.
Because of the important role we play in supporting elections, we recognize the responsibility we have to provide timely assistance to all of our customers. You have placed your trust and confidence in us and our products and services. Rest assured, we will demonstrate the same level of commitment to delivering high quality services and voting solutions you have come to expect. We understand it is more important than ever that we meet and exceed our customer expectations during the upcoming elections.
Attached is a document which addresses key questions you may have regarding the acquisition. You will receive more information in the coming weeks. Should you have any additional questions or immediate needs, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We appreciate your business and your ongoing support of the work we do for you. We are excited about the future and look forward to enhancing our ability to meet the needs of all our customers.
Sincerely,
Aldo Tesi
President and CEO
Election Systems and Software, Inc.
Key Questions and Answers
Why did this acquisition take place?
ES&S and PES strongly believe the combination of these two experienced companies will allow us to serve jurisdictions more effectively by providing high quality voting solutions and services. We will combine the strengths of both organizations to benefit all of our customers. This combination will allow us to continue to innovate and create new voting systems, software and services that meet our customers’ evolving
election needs.
Will there be any immediate staffing changes?
ES&S and PES are committed to work closely with you as we combine the strengths of both organizations. We are committed to a smooth transition with no interruptions to the level of service and support for your upcoming elections. We promise to proactively communicate to you as changes occur. One thing will never change: our commitment to supporting customers’ election needs and requirements. Any upcoming elections will be supported in the manner our customers have come to
expect from our two companies.
Who do I contact for questions or assistance?
Unless and until you are advised differently, please continue to contact the same individuals you have in the past at the phone numbers and locations to which you are accustomed. Also, please continue to use the same email for on-line correspondence and current addresses for mailing any documents. As changes in phone numbers, emails and addresses occur, you will receive a notice in advance of the changes
to ensure you always have full access to our staff.
Who do I contact for any election related needs or questions?
Please continue to contact the same individuals you have in the past.
Both ES&S and PES are committed to providing you with a high level of
responsiveness for your upcoming elections.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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email comments, questions us at joyce (at) ncvoter.net
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
ES&S: "All Your Votes R Belong to US"- NOW, Tenn voter purge? Procrastinate by mail voting
The big news is that ES&S bought Diebold's election division, creating a virtual monopoly for ES&S. "It's a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors," - Candice Hoke, election law prof. at Cleveland State U. "The move, if allowed to go forward, is sure to raise further concerns among the U.S. Election Integrity community who have, for years, been alarmed by the private take-over of public elections by unaccountable corporations, and the increasing use of secret software used to both cast and tally votes." -Brad Friedman of Bradblog. Anti trust complaints expected to be filed. Wired news has a Diebold map up.
The rest of the news: Fire fighters in LA area get extra time to vote.
In Yuma Co CA,procrastinate-by-mail voters delay results. Aspen Co wants independent attorney to address challenges related to ballot secrecy and transparency in the May IRV election. Shelby Co TN Election Commission purges 60,000 voters. **Just a reminder to readers - its municipal election time, don't forget to vote.
CA. Station fire delays ballot counting
Emergency workers get extra time to vote in L.A.-area Assembly race and Bay Area congressional contest.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-assembly2-2009sep02,0,1915505.story
CA. Inconsiderate to delay count of mail ballots
September 02, 2009 Less than 8,000 voters chose to participate in the primary election for Yuma City Council and mayor,.many ballots - more than 1,600 of them - remained to be counted Wednesday...There is no reason this needed to happen. It is the fault of inconsiderate voters.
They received their mail ballots weeks ago but failed to turn them in early enough so they could be verified and counted in time to release the results Tuesday night
http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/ballots-52546-voters-mail.html
CO. Aspen's May election faces more challenges
City commission wants outside attorney to deal with myriad issues
ASPEN — Aspen's election commission plans to ask for an outside attorney to determine its authority on whether it can rule on a citizen's claim that his voting rights were violated in the May election, as well as another resident's request to release all the ballots so they can be reviewed independently.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090903/NEWS/909029971/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1058
CO. Election commission unsure of powers
September 3, 2009 The city of Aspen Election Commission, a body that the City Charter calls for to weigh in “when election procedures are in doubt,” met for the first time in decades Thursday and promptly called for an independent attorney to be appointed to advise it on its jurisdiction.
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136399
NC. OpEd. Voter registration reforms can aid turnout, lower costs
New bipartisan panel's work could be a win for all of us.
Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009 ...You can register and vote on the same day in this state on early voting days, and many residents did so during last year's elections.
But voting on Election Day still requires registration in advance. And nationwide, voter registration remains tedious and costly, and is often plagued by inefficiencies and inaccuracies....the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting has pointed to continuing weaknesses, particularly in voter registration lists. Officials say lack of standards for voter databases, problems in moving voter registration and lack of voter education were among the problems.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/story/923852.html
TN. Election Commission Purges 60,000 Voters
03 Sep 2009 MEMPHIS, Tenn...Joseph Kyles, of Memphis Rainbow/Push explains, "After the election of President Barak Obama in January, the Shelby County Election Commission purged forty-thousand voters...and I understand they're on target to purge more than 200,000."
Bill Giannini, Election Commission Chairman, confirms, "We've purged, up to the date, 60,000 voters with no number in our minds of where we need to be. We believe, you're an eligible voter or you are an ineligible voter."
Giannini says it's been years of neglect in purging voter rolls that's led to a major effort to pare them down.
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/tennessee/090309_Election_Commission_Purges_60000_Voters
US. DIEBOLD FINDS ELECTION DIVISION BUYER; ES&S TO CONTROL MOST U.S. ELECTIONS
Bargain-basement sale price; Anti-trust complaints to be filed; Dreadful history of failure by both companies...A further investigation into the matter revealed that all versions of their tabulation software, used in some 34 states across the nation, allow for the simple deletion of ballots without notice in the so-called "audit logs", and that those audit logs themselves are not secure, and can be easily deleted or over-written, in violation of federal voting system standards.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7392
US. Diebold Unloads Beleaguered Voting Machine Division (Wired News)
September 3, 2009 ES&S purchased the company for a mere $5 million in cash, plus 70 percent of any revenue collected on outstanding accounts through the end of August. According to Diebold’s announcement the sale was “consummated” Wednesday.
..ES&S systems were “utilized in counting approximately 50 percent of the votes in the last four major U.S. elections,” ... The company also created the statewide voter registration systems used in California, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico.
With its acquisition of Premier, the second-largest voting machine maker, ES&S achieves a near monopoly on election gear in the country.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/diebold-sells/
US. Diebold unloads voting machine albatross
The ATM maker says it expects to lose up to $55 million as a result of the sale of its voting machine subsidiary.
September 3, 2009: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Diebold Inc. said Thursday it has sold its voting machine business to Election Systems & Software, Inc., in a deal that could result in a $55 million loss for the ATM maker.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/03/news/companies/Diebold_voting_machine/
US. ES&S to buy Premier Election Solutions from Diebold, Inc
News article and letter from Aldo Tesi, President of ES&S
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/es-to-buy-premier-election-solutions.html
US. AP. Diebold selling US voting machine unit
NORTH CANTON, Ohio...Candice Hoke, an election law professor at Cleveland State University, said the sale raises questions about the consolidation of election services. "It's a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors," she said.
The increased size and influence of ES&S could make it harder for smaller, innovative companies to enter the market, she said. "The market power (of ES&S) will be so significant," she said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iiesbo_XRYKaqI5BTjx1nFgJGUzQD9AG1N900
US (Reuters) Diebold Sells U.S. Elections Systems Business to ES&S
Thu Sep 3, 2009 ...The company's Brazilian subsidiary, which manufactures voting terminals for Brazil's national elections board, the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), is not affected by the sale of Premier Election Solutions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS149475+03-Sep-2009+PRN20090903
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive the Voting News by email at this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
email comments, questions us at joyce (at) ncvoter.net
The rest of the news: Fire fighters in LA area get extra time to vote.
In Yuma Co CA,procrastinate-by-mail voters delay results. Aspen Co wants independent attorney to address challenges related to ballot secrecy and transparency in the May IRV election. Shelby Co TN Election Commission purges 60,000 voters. **Just a reminder to readers - its municipal election time, don't forget to vote.
CA. Station fire delays ballot counting
Emergency workers get extra time to vote in L.A.-area Assembly race and Bay Area congressional contest.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-assembly2-2009sep02,0,1915505.story
CA. Inconsiderate to delay count of mail ballots
September 02, 2009 Less than 8,000 voters chose to participate in the primary election for Yuma City Council and mayor,.many ballots - more than 1,600 of them - remained to be counted Wednesday...There is no reason this needed to happen. It is the fault of inconsiderate voters.
They received their mail ballots weeks ago but failed to turn them in early enough so they could be verified and counted in time to release the results Tuesday night
http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/ballots-52546-voters-mail.html
CO. Aspen's May election faces more challenges
City commission wants outside attorney to deal with myriad issues
ASPEN — Aspen's election commission plans to ask for an outside attorney to determine its authority on whether it can rule on a citizen's claim that his voting rights were violated in the May election, as well as another resident's request to release all the ballots so they can be reviewed independently.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090903/NEWS/909029971/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1058
CO. Election commission unsure of powers
September 3, 2009 The city of Aspen Election Commission, a body that the City Charter calls for to weigh in “when election procedures are in doubt,” met for the first time in decades Thursday and promptly called for an independent attorney to be appointed to advise it on its jurisdiction.
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136399
NC. OpEd. Voter registration reforms can aid turnout, lower costs
New bipartisan panel's work could be a win for all of us.
Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009 ...You can register and vote on the same day in this state on early voting days, and many residents did so during last year's elections.
But voting on Election Day still requires registration in advance. And nationwide, voter registration remains tedious and costly, and is often plagued by inefficiencies and inaccuracies....the N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting has pointed to continuing weaknesses, particularly in voter registration lists. Officials say lack of standards for voter databases, problems in moving voter registration and lack of voter education were among the problems.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/story/923852.html
TN. Election Commission Purges 60,000 Voters
03 Sep 2009 MEMPHIS, Tenn...Joseph Kyles, of Memphis Rainbow/Push explains, "After the election of President Barak Obama in January, the Shelby County Election Commission purged forty-thousand voters...and I understand they're on target to purge more than 200,000."
Bill Giannini, Election Commission Chairman, confirms, "We've purged, up to the date, 60,000 voters with no number in our minds of where we need to be. We believe, you're an eligible voter or you are an ineligible voter."
Giannini says it's been years of neglect in purging voter rolls that's led to a major effort to pare them down.
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/tennessee/090309_Election_Commission_Purges_60000_Voters
US. DIEBOLD FINDS ELECTION DIVISION BUYER; ES&S TO CONTROL MOST U.S. ELECTIONS
Bargain-basement sale price; Anti-trust complaints to be filed; Dreadful history of failure by both companies...A further investigation into the matter revealed that all versions of their tabulation software, used in some 34 states across the nation, allow for the simple deletion of ballots without notice in the so-called "audit logs", and that those audit logs themselves are not secure, and can be easily deleted or over-written, in violation of federal voting system standards.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7392
US. Diebold Unloads Beleaguered Voting Machine Division (Wired News)
September 3, 2009 ES&S purchased the company for a mere $5 million in cash, plus 70 percent of any revenue collected on outstanding accounts through the end of August. According to Diebold’s announcement the sale was “consummated” Wednesday.
..ES&S systems were “utilized in counting approximately 50 percent of the votes in the last four major U.S. elections,” ... The company also created the statewide voter registration systems used in California, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico.
With its acquisition of Premier, the second-largest voting machine maker, ES&S achieves a near monopoly on election gear in the country.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/diebold-sells/
US. Diebold unloads voting machine albatross
The ATM maker says it expects to lose up to $55 million as a result of the sale of its voting machine subsidiary.
September 3, 2009: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Diebold Inc. said Thursday it has sold its voting machine business to Election Systems & Software, Inc., in a deal that could result in a $55 million loss for the ATM maker.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/03/news/companies/Diebold_voting_machine/
US. ES&S to buy Premier Election Solutions from Diebold, Inc
News article and letter from Aldo Tesi, President of ES&S
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/es-to-buy-premier-election-solutions.html
US. AP. Diebold selling US voting machine unit
NORTH CANTON, Ohio...Candice Hoke, an election law professor at Cleveland State University, said the sale raises questions about the consolidation of election services. "It's a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors," she said.
The increased size and influence of ES&S could make it harder for smaller, innovative companies to enter the market, she said. "The market power (of ES&S) will be so significant," she said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iiesbo_XRYKaqI5BTjx1nFgJGUzQD9AG1N900
US (Reuters) Diebold Sells U.S. Elections Systems Business to ES&S
Thu Sep 3, 2009 ...The company's Brazilian subsidiary, which manufactures voting terminals for Brazil's national elections board, the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), is not affected by the sale of Premier Election Solutions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS149475+03-Sep-2009+PRN20090903
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive the Voting News by email at this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
email comments, questions us at joyce (at) ncvoter.net
Voting software makes dagdag-bawas easy, WA SOS certifies R71, Why Citizens United matters pt 2
OpenSecrets.org to have live web chat on landmark campaign finance case "Citizens United vs FEC" on Thurs. Public Citizen youtubes the issue in "Don't get rolled."
Wired News finds 2 members of Fed committee (TGDC) that sets standards for voting vendors have conflicts of interests. Statewide voter rolls vs local voter rolls: an Alabama city may appeal judges ruling that says city must use SOS voter list not the local voter list. CT Registrars say optical scanners provide opportunity for savings. Minneapolis voters will not have a primary but instead have IRV and make choices in one election. Washington's SOS Reed certifies R-71 to fall ballot and King Co Judge Julie Spector will not overturn that. Warning to Philippines Election Commission: voting software makes dagdag-bawas (wholesale cheating)easy...Germany's constitution prohibits e-voting and we have the document in English to prove it.
AL. Evergreen city attorney advises appeal of judge's ruling in mayoral election challenge September 02, 2009 EVERGREEN — City attorney Terry Davis recommended the city appeal part of a judge's decision in the ongoing challenge of last October's mayoral vote, a move one councilman called "bull crap."..."It said that instead of using the voting list we have used and the process we have used for a number of years, we should have been using the secretary of state's voter list,"
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1251882946175260.xml&coll=3
AR. Pope County upgrades early-voting system ahead of school board elections
Sept. 2, 2009 County clerk says new system ‘will be faster and more efficient’
With school board elections on the horizon, the Pope County Election Commission is anticipating a test run of a new system intended to expedite the early-voting process. Through the iPower Profile program provided by Election Systems & Software...
http://www.couriernews.com/story.php?ID=22455
CA. Voting extended for CA elections, delaying results
... The governor issued an executive order that will allow emergency workers to cast votes from their command centers until 10 p.m. Tuesday, two hours after the close of polls. ..Of the 125,000 vote-by-mail ballots sent by Contra Costa voting officials, a little more than 56,000 have been returned, Weir said. Of those mailed in, about 3,000 ballots were turned in Tuesday morning.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/ap/56681882.html
CA. Special election will decide California House seat
09/02/09 http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/ap/56578492.html
CT. Registrars Say, Optical Scanners Provide Opportunity for Savings
September 2, 2009 Glastonbury, CT will save by consolidating polling places
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2339
IN. Funds Compromise for Early Voting Centers
Wednesday, Sep 2, 2009 ... early voting centers in Vanderburgh County are safe for the 2010 election, or at least most of them are...Early voting centers will either be eliminated or scaled back for the primary but there should be five centers at libraries for the general election
http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=92771
MN. No primary in Minneapolis as Ranked Choice Voting debuts
September 01. In this year’s municipal elections in Minneapolis, nobody is working to turn out voters for a September primary election: there will be no primary election.
Instead, voters will go to the polls just once this fall — Election Day, Tuesday, November 3 — and that day they will be asked to vote not just for the candidate of their choice, but to rank their first choice, second choice and third choice.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/01/no-primary-minneapolis-ranked-choice-voting-debuts
MS. Petitions aside, GOP killed Voter ID during 2009 session
September 2, 2009 ...What's curious about the GOP full court press in support of a Voter ID ballot initiative is the fact that back in March, House Republicans accused Senate Republicans of gutting a Voter ID compromise bill they supported.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090902/COL0412/909020321/1171/OPINION
WA. Reed certifies R-71 to fall ballot
September 2nd, 2009 Secretary of State Sam Reed has certified Referendum 71 to the Nov. 3 statewide ballot in Washington state. Barring a successful 11th-hour court challenge, voters will decide the fate of a newly adopted state law that gives state-registered domestic partners the full array of rights and responsibilities that married couples have...Reed signed paperwork certifying that sponsors had submitted the requisite number of valid Washington voter signatures to secure a ballot spot.
http://blogs.secstate.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2009/09/reed-certifies-r-71-to-fall-ballot/
WA. Judge won't block certification of referendum on domestic-partnership law
A King County judge has decided not to block the certification of Referendum 71 for the November ballot. King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector made the ruling this morning in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Washington Families Standing Together, a group supporting the state's recent law giving gay couples greater domestic-partnership benefits.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009793449_webreferendum02m.html
US. OpenSecrets.org to Conduct Live Web Chat on Landmark Campaign Finance Case
At noon Thursday, September 3, the Center for Responsive Politics will conduct a live Web chat about an upcoming Supreme Court case with potentially major ramifications on federal campaign finance law.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/09/opensecretsorg-to-conduct-live.html
US. Don't Get Rolled (or Why Citizens United vs FEC matters part 2. Only 1 min 7 sec)
Are you fired up yet? Check out this video we made to learn what could happen if the Supreme Court decides to allow unlimited corporate money in politics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBoSlRBZNQ4
US. Voting Tech Experts Sought by Feds to Develop Standards
Wired news reports conflicts of interest
September 2, 2009 ...Despite the requirements that committee members submit financial statements to uncover conflicts of interest, at least some of the committee members have been appointed despite known conflicts of interest with voting machine makers. Linda Lamone, for example...
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/voting-tech-experts/
Germany. E-voting is unconstitutional.
The German Constitutional Court English version of their March 3rd 2009 ruling with regard to electronic voting. (E-voting not constitutional)
"all essential steps in the elections are subject to public examinability..."
http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/decisions/rs20090303_2bvc000307en.html
Phillippines. Automated dagdag-bawas
"Having the software source code doesn’t guarantee that you will detect critical software bugs or malicious code.." (quoting Dr. Barbara Simons) ....Chairman Jose Melo of our own Commission on Elections and members of the Comelec Board and its Advisory Committee had better pay attention to what the experts are saying about the technology they want to adopt to automate Philippine elections.. "Trojan horse" software, as technology experts have pointed out, makes automated wholesale cheating (dagdag-bawas) easy to execute and easy to conceal"
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW090309/content.php?id=145
Voting News Archived here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive by email at this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
Wired News finds 2 members of Fed committee (TGDC) that sets standards for voting vendors have conflicts of interests. Statewide voter rolls vs local voter rolls: an Alabama city may appeal judges ruling that says city must use SOS voter list not the local voter list. CT Registrars say optical scanners provide opportunity for savings. Minneapolis voters will not have a primary but instead have IRV and make choices in one election. Washington's SOS Reed certifies R-71 to fall ballot and King Co Judge Julie Spector will not overturn that. Warning to Philippines Election Commission: voting software makes dagdag-bawas (wholesale cheating)easy...Germany's constitution prohibits e-voting and we have the document in English to prove it.
AL. Evergreen city attorney advises appeal of judge's ruling in mayoral election challenge September 02, 2009 EVERGREEN — City attorney Terry Davis recommended the city appeal part of a judge's decision in the ongoing challenge of last October's mayoral vote, a move one councilman called "bull crap."..."It said that instead of using the voting list we have used and the process we have used for a number of years, we should have been using the secretary of state's voter list,"
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1251882946175260.xml&coll=3
AR. Pope County upgrades early-voting system ahead of school board elections
Sept. 2, 2009 County clerk says new system ‘will be faster and more efficient’
With school board elections on the horizon, the Pope County Election Commission is anticipating a test run of a new system intended to expedite the early-voting process. Through the iPower Profile program provided by Election Systems & Software...
http://www.couriernews.com/story.php?ID=22455
CA. Voting extended for CA elections, delaying results
... The governor issued an executive order that will allow emergency workers to cast votes from their command centers until 10 p.m. Tuesday, two hours after the close of polls. ..Of the 125,000 vote-by-mail ballots sent by Contra Costa voting officials, a little more than 56,000 have been returned, Weir said. Of those mailed in, about 3,000 ballots were turned in Tuesday morning.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/ap/56681882.html
CA. Special election will decide California House seat
09/02/09 http://www.sfexaminer.com/politics/ap/56578492.html
CT. Registrars Say, Optical Scanners Provide Opportunity for Savings
September 2, 2009 Glastonbury, CT will save by consolidating polling places
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2339
IN. Funds Compromise for Early Voting Centers
Wednesday, Sep 2, 2009 ... early voting centers in Vanderburgh County are safe for the 2010 election, or at least most of them are...Early voting centers will either be eliminated or scaled back for the primary but there should be five centers at libraries for the general election
http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=92771
MN. No primary in Minneapolis as Ranked Choice Voting debuts
September 01. In this year’s municipal elections in Minneapolis, nobody is working to turn out voters for a September primary election: there will be no primary election.
Instead, voters will go to the polls just once this fall — Election Day, Tuesday, November 3 — and that day they will be asked to vote not just for the candidate of their choice, but to rank their first choice, second choice and third choice.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2009/09/01/no-primary-minneapolis-ranked-choice-voting-debuts
MS. Petitions aside, GOP killed Voter ID during 2009 session
September 2, 2009 ...What's curious about the GOP full court press in support of a Voter ID ballot initiative is the fact that back in March, House Republicans accused Senate Republicans of gutting a Voter ID compromise bill they supported.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090902/COL0412/909020321/1171/OPINION
WA. Reed certifies R-71 to fall ballot
September 2nd, 2009 Secretary of State Sam Reed has certified Referendum 71 to the Nov. 3 statewide ballot in Washington state. Barring a successful 11th-hour court challenge, voters will decide the fate of a newly adopted state law that gives state-registered domestic partners the full array of rights and responsibilities that married couples have...Reed signed paperwork certifying that sponsors had submitted the requisite number of valid Washington voter signatures to secure a ballot spot.
http://blogs.secstate.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2009/09/reed-certifies-r-71-to-fall-ballot/
WA. Judge won't block certification of referendum on domestic-partnership law
A King County judge has decided not to block the certification of Referendum 71 for the November ballot. King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector made the ruling this morning in response to a lawsuit filed last week by Washington Families Standing Together, a group supporting the state's recent law giving gay couples greater domestic-partnership benefits.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009793449_webreferendum02m.html
US. OpenSecrets.org to Conduct Live Web Chat on Landmark Campaign Finance Case
At noon Thursday, September 3, the Center for Responsive Politics will conduct a live Web chat about an upcoming Supreme Court case with potentially major ramifications on federal campaign finance law.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/09/opensecretsorg-to-conduct-live.html
US. Don't Get Rolled (or Why Citizens United vs FEC matters part 2. Only 1 min 7 sec)
Are you fired up yet? Check out this video we made to learn what could happen if the Supreme Court decides to allow unlimited corporate money in politics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBoSlRBZNQ4
US. Voting Tech Experts Sought by Feds to Develop Standards
Wired news reports conflicts of interest
September 2, 2009 ...Despite the requirements that committee members submit financial statements to uncover conflicts of interest, at least some of the committee members have been appointed despite known conflicts of interest with voting machine makers. Linda Lamone, for example...
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/voting-tech-experts/
Germany. E-voting is unconstitutional.
The German Constitutional Court English version of their March 3rd 2009 ruling with regard to electronic voting. (E-voting not constitutional)
"all essential steps in the elections are subject to public examinability..."
http://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/en/decisions/rs20090303_2bvc000307en.html
Phillippines. Automated dagdag-bawas
"Having the software source code doesn’t guarantee that you will detect critical software bugs or malicious code.." (quoting Dr. Barbara Simons) ....Chairman Jose Melo of our own Commission on Elections and members of the Comelec Board and its Advisory Committee had better pay attention to what the experts are saying about the technology they want to adopt to automate Philippine elections.. "Trojan horse" software, as technology experts have pointed out, makes automated wholesale cheating (dagdag-bawas) easy to execute and easy to conceal"
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW090309/content.php?id=145
Voting News Archived here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive by email at this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
9/1 correction: Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, UTAH voters bring ID
*Our apologies. Title to yesterday's voting news dated 9/1 title incorrectly said for Oregon voters to bring ID. It should have read "Utah voters bring ID". We apologize for any problems this may have caused. The subject line to yesterday's news has been corrected and can be viewed here at this link:
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-citizens-united-matters-iowa-co.html
Here is incorrect headline
Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, Oregon voters bring ID
Here is the correct headline and resend of news:
Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, Utah voters bring ID
Tues Sept 1. "Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case". Paper is in: “You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”Hovav Shacham prof of computer science at UC San Diego. An Iowa County develops own e-poll book software
Virginia standardizes student registration. A Jackson City GA councilman charged with rigging his own election. Oregon elections to be headed by former San Bernadio Asst Registrar and elections consultant Steven Trout. Reminder to Utah voters: new law requires you to present ID to vote. A King Co WA judge will decide whether people who sign referendum petitions be registered. A Wisconsin bill would allow released felons to vote.
The Justice Department redirects focus back to civil rights. Allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election may affect outcome. There's no way to verify the vote on India's paperless voting machines says Dr. S. Ramdoss.
CA. Solano County. Election today for Tauscher's vacated seat
09/01/2009 ...the ratio of vote-by-mail compared to those heading to the polls could be as high as three to one.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13244558
CO. Attorney claims ballots may be identifiable
September 1. A local citizen claims he has identified which anonymous "string" is his in digital records released by the city of Aspen after the May election
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136372
FL. St. Pete voting canvass begins with relative ease
LARGO -- No serious voting glitches turned up in the mail ballots before St. Petersburg's primary election Tuesday, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said today...The St. Petersburg canvassing board waded through about 54 questionable mail ballots this afternoon, rejecting about 40 for questionable or missing signatures. That's after rejecting 120 of 196 questionable envelopes for similar reasons last week.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/baybuzz/2009/08/st-pete-voting-canvass-begins-with-ease.html
GA. Voter fraud admissions rock Jackson city council
August 30. 2009
Admission to some 40 counts of voting irregularities by one councilman have rocked the Jackson city council, resulted in huge fines and could lead to criminal prosecutions. WKEU radio is reporting councilman Tommy Rainey admitted to rigging the election which he won. He has been fined $158,000.
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/1194-Voter-fraud-admissions-rock-Jackson-city-council.html
GA. The Georgia State Election Board at its August 27 Meeting
took the folloiwng actions against a Jackson Georgia City Councilmember, and other Butts County Residents.
http://www.wkeuradio.com/news/seb.htm
IA. Computerized system cuts down on voter errors
August 29, 2009 BURLINGTON, Iowa A computer program designed in Cerro Gordo County is expected to speed up voting by helping poll workers cut time spent processing voters. The program, Precinct Atlas, has already been tested in special
elections in Butler, Johnson, Appanoose, Buena Vista and Monona
counties, and a mock election was held modeled after Election Day in
2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowacomputerizedp,0,6272224.story
IA. New Polling Software Reaching Half of Iowa
8/31 Mason City, IA- New computer software developed in North Iowa will help poll workers in more than half the state next week...Thanks to the endorsement of Iowa's Secretary of State the program is getting use in more than 50 Iowa counties for next weeks school elections.
http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/New-Polling-Software-Reaching-Half-of-Iowa/BSVelHObckOkgeKn56-h9g.cspx
IN. Satellite voting centers proposed for next year
Whitehead says she prefers Vote Centers, needs time to decide
9/1/09 Delaware County Clerk Steve Craycraft, a Democrat, proposed establishing two satellite voting sites for the 2010 election at last week's meeting of the Delaware County Board of Elections.
http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2009/09/01/News/Satellite.Voting.Centers.Proposed.For.Next.Year-3760522.shtml
OR. Californian named new Oregon elections director
August 27, 2009
SALEM -- A lawyer and former senior counsel to the California Secretary of State has been appointed the new director of the Oregon Elections Division
...Trout has also counseled California's Senate minority leader and was assistant registrar of voters in San Bernardino County and most recently was president of Elections Solution Providers, which helps local governments comply with federal and state election laws.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082709_news_elections_division_director.1203003d8.html
Stephen N. Trout letter to CA SOS Bowen in opposition to State Post Election Manual Tally Requirements on Oct 14, 2008
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/pemt/may08/election-solution-providers.pdf
VA. Student voter registration standardized
September 1, 2009 The State Board of Elections approved changes to a state statute Saturday that gives students the right to register to vote at their campus address.
The updated statute considers a person’s primary home to be the physical location where they live and what they consider to be “the center of his domestic, social and civil life.” It was approved unanimously by the three-member board after a two-day meeting at the capital.
http://flathatnews.com/content/71235
UT. Minority advocates concerned as primary election nears
August 31st, SALT LAKE CITY -- Minority advocates say they've got big worries about the primary elections on September 15, because of a new state law requiring voters to show identification. Voters will have to show a picture ID, such as a passport or driver's license, or some alternative, like two pieces of mail with a name and address on them, in order to vote in the primary.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7751410
WA. Laws or technicalities? Judge to decide R-71 challenge
Is a requirement that people who sign referendum petitions be registered Washington voters when they sign an important tenet of state law or a "hyper-technicality?"
That's one of the questions a King County Superior Court judge must answer as she decides whether to grant an injunction keeping Referendum 71 off the November ballot. R-71 would give voters a chance to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnership law.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/177936.asp?from=blog_last3
WI. Let felons vote? Dems and GOP (surprise!) disagree (in Wisconsin anyway)
August 31, 2009 Should convicted felons be given back the right to vote?
It’s a question that’s being raised in Wisconsin: Legislators there are reviewing a bill that would change the law and allow convicts to vote as long as they’ve been released or are on probation, parole or have received a pardon. Essentially, it would mean that you’re cool to cast a ballot in the Badger State as long as you’re not behind bars...Since the late 1990s, at least 18 states have restored some or all voting rights to convicted felons.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/should-felons-be-allowed-to-vote-.html
US. Justice Department to Recharge Civil Rights Enforcement
August 31, 2009 WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census...“I think the wounds that were inflicted on this division were deep, and it will take some time for them to fully heal,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us/politics/01rights.html?_r=1
US. Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case
...Let’s start with the biggest and most obvious reason this is a momentous case. Citizens United is arguing that expenditures by corporations in elections should be treated identically to those of individuals. If the Court accepts this argument, it would do away with a distinction that has been in place in our Constitution since the Founding and our statutory law since the Tillman Act of 1907 (as explained in the brief CAC filed in Citizens United), and allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.
http://theusconstitution.org/blog.history/?p=1282
US. EAC Seeks Input on Voting System Verification and Technology Grants
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/eac-seeks-input-on-voting-system-verification-and-technology-grants
US. Hackers can ’steal’ ballots from EVMs
August 31, 2009 ...Computer scientists have demonstrated how criminals could hack an electronic voting machine (EVM) and ’steal’ votes using a malicious programming approach that had not been invented when the voting machine was designed...“You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”
http://www.techforbes.com/hackers-can-steal-ballots-from-evms/
Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN: Poll Fraud Probe Will Decide Runoff
6.5 million Afghans voted in the Aug. 20 presidential elections
KABUL, Sep 1 With a majority of polling stations yet to announce their results, and investigations into major fraud complaints underway, the contest is still wide open.
Whoever the winner, unless that candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be inevitable. ...Grant Kippon, head of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), says that over 225 complaints were filed immediately after the election. Of these, 150 have been sorted through and approximately 35 were assigned "high priority," meaning that if true, these allegations could affect the outcome of the contest.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48284
India. EC has lost control due to EVMs: PMK
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss today charged that following the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the polls, the Election Commission of India had lost control over the electoral process. Speaking to newsmen today, he said there was no verification methodology developed by the EC to detect malpractices in EVMs and these machines were easy to tamper with.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=19081%20&%20section=6
Voting News Archived here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe by email at:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-citizens-united-matters-iowa-co.html
Here is incorrect headline
Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, Oregon voters bring ID
Here is the correct headline and resend of news:
Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, Utah voters bring ID
Tues Sept 1. "Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case". Paper is in: “You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”Hovav Shacham prof of computer science at UC San Diego. An Iowa County develops own e-poll book software
Virginia standardizes student registration. A Jackson City GA councilman charged with rigging his own election. Oregon elections to be headed by former San Bernadio Asst Registrar and elections consultant Steven Trout. Reminder to Utah voters: new law requires you to present ID to vote. A King Co WA judge will decide whether people who sign referendum petitions be registered. A Wisconsin bill would allow released felons to vote.
The Justice Department redirects focus back to civil rights. Allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election may affect outcome. There's no way to verify the vote on India's paperless voting machines says Dr. S. Ramdoss.
CA. Solano County. Election today for Tauscher's vacated seat
09/01/2009 ...the ratio of vote-by-mail compared to those heading to the polls could be as high as three to one.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13244558
CO. Attorney claims ballots may be identifiable
September 1. A local citizen claims he has identified which anonymous "string" is his in digital records released by the city of Aspen after the May election
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136372
FL. St. Pete voting canvass begins with relative ease
LARGO -- No serious voting glitches turned up in the mail ballots before St. Petersburg's primary election Tuesday, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said today...The St. Petersburg canvassing board waded through about 54 questionable mail ballots this afternoon, rejecting about 40 for questionable or missing signatures. That's after rejecting 120 of 196 questionable envelopes for similar reasons last week.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/baybuzz/2009/08/st-pete-voting-canvass-begins-with-ease.html
GA. Voter fraud admissions rock Jackson city council
August 30. 2009
Admission to some 40 counts of voting irregularities by one councilman have rocked the Jackson city council, resulted in huge fines and could lead to criminal prosecutions. WKEU radio is reporting councilman Tommy Rainey admitted to rigging the election which he won. He has been fined $158,000.
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/1194-Voter-fraud-admissions-rock-Jackson-city-council.html
GA. The Georgia State Election Board at its August 27 Meeting
took the folloiwng actions against a Jackson Georgia City Councilmember, and other Butts County Residents.
http://www.wkeuradio.com/news/seb.htm
IA. Computerized system cuts down on voter errors
August 29, 2009 BURLINGTON, Iowa A computer program designed in Cerro Gordo County is expected to speed up voting by helping poll workers cut time spent processing voters. The program, Precinct Atlas, has already been tested in special
elections in Butler, Johnson, Appanoose, Buena Vista and Monona
counties, and a mock election was held modeled after Election Day in
2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowacomputerizedp,0,6272224.story
IA. New Polling Software Reaching Half of Iowa
8/31 Mason City, IA- New computer software developed in North Iowa will help poll workers in more than half the state next week...Thanks to the endorsement of Iowa's Secretary of State the program is getting use in more than 50 Iowa counties for next weeks school elections.
http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/New-Polling-Software-Reaching-Half-of-Iowa/BSVelHObckOkgeKn56-h9g.cspx
IN. Satellite voting centers proposed for next year
Whitehead says she prefers Vote Centers, needs time to decide
9/1/09 Delaware County Clerk Steve Craycraft, a Democrat, proposed establishing two satellite voting sites for the 2010 election at last week's meeting of the Delaware County Board of Elections.
http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2009/09/01/News/Satellite.Voting.Centers.Proposed.For.Next.Year-3760522.shtml
OR. Californian named new Oregon elections director
August 27, 2009
SALEM -- A lawyer and former senior counsel to the California Secretary of State has been appointed the new director of the Oregon Elections Division
...Trout has also counseled California's Senate minority leader and was assistant registrar of voters in San Bernardino County and most recently was president of Elections Solution Providers, which helps local governments comply with federal and state election laws.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082709_news_elections_division_director.1203003d8.html
Stephen N. Trout letter to CA SOS Bowen in opposition to State Post Election Manual Tally Requirements on Oct 14, 2008
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/pemt/may08/election-solution-providers.pdf
VA. Student voter registration standardized
September 1, 2009 The State Board of Elections approved changes to a state statute Saturday that gives students the right to register to vote at their campus address.
The updated statute considers a person’s primary home to be the physical location where they live and what they consider to be “the center of his domestic, social and civil life.” It was approved unanimously by the three-member board after a two-day meeting at the capital.
http://flathatnews.com/content/71235
UT. Minority advocates concerned as primary election nears
August 31st, SALT LAKE CITY -- Minority advocates say they've got big worries about the primary elections on September 15, because of a new state law requiring voters to show identification. Voters will have to show a picture ID, such as a passport or driver's license, or some alternative, like two pieces of mail with a name and address on them, in order to vote in the primary.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7751410
WA. Laws or technicalities? Judge to decide R-71 challenge
Is a requirement that people who sign referendum petitions be registered Washington voters when they sign an important tenet of state law or a "hyper-technicality?"
That's one of the questions a King County Superior Court judge must answer as she decides whether to grant an injunction keeping Referendum 71 off the November ballot. R-71 would give voters a chance to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnership law.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/177936.asp?from=blog_last3
WI. Let felons vote? Dems and GOP (surprise!) disagree (in Wisconsin anyway)
August 31, 2009 Should convicted felons be given back the right to vote?
It’s a question that’s being raised in Wisconsin: Legislators there are reviewing a bill that would change the law and allow convicts to vote as long as they’ve been released or are on probation, parole or have received a pardon. Essentially, it would mean that you’re cool to cast a ballot in the Badger State as long as you’re not behind bars...Since the late 1990s, at least 18 states have restored some or all voting rights to convicted felons.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/should-felons-be-allowed-to-vote-.html
US. Justice Department to Recharge Civil Rights Enforcement
August 31, 2009 WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census...“I think the wounds that were inflicted on this division were deep, and it will take some time for them to fully heal,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us/politics/01rights.html?_r=1
US. Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case
...Let’s start with the biggest and most obvious reason this is a momentous case. Citizens United is arguing that expenditures by corporations in elections should be treated identically to those of individuals. If the Court accepts this argument, it would do away with a distinction that has been in place in our Constitution since the Founding and our statutory law since the Tillman Act of 1907 (as explained in the brief CAC filed in Citizens United), and allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.
http://theusconstitution.org/blog.history/?p=1282
US. EAC Seeks Input on Voting System Verification and Technology Grants
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/eac-seeks-input-on-voting-system-verification-and-technology-grants
US. Hackers can ’steal’ ballots from EVMs
August 31, 2009 ...Computer scientists have demonstrated how criminals could hack an electronic voting machine (EVM) and ’steal’ votes using a malicious programming approach that had not been invented when the voting machine was designed...“You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”
http://www.techforbes.com/hackers-can-steal-ballots-from-evms/
Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN: Poll Fraud Probe Will Decide Runoff
6.5 million Afghans voted in the Aug. 20 presidential elections
KABUL, Sep 1 With a majority of polling stations yet to announce their results, and investigations into major fraud complaints underway, the contest is still wide open.
Whoever the winner, unless that candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be inevitable. ...Grant Kippon, head of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), says that over 225 complaints were filed immediately after the election. Of these, 150 have been sorted through and approximately 35 were assigned "high priority," meaning that if true, these allegations could affect the outcome of the contest.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48284
India. EC has lost control due to EVMs: PMK
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss today charged that following the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the polls, the Election Commission of India had lost control over the electoral process. Speaking to newsmen today, he said there was no verification methodology developed by the EC to detect malpractices in EVMs and these machines were easy to tamper with.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=19081%20&%20section=6
Voting News Archived here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe by email at:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Why "Citizens United" matters, Iowa Co makes own e-poll software, Utah voters bring ID
Tues Sept 1. "Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case". Paper is in: “You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”Hovav Shacham prof of computer science at UC San Diego. An Iowa County develops own e-poll book software
Virginia standardizes student registration. A Jackson City GA councilman charged with rigging his own election. Oregon elections to be headed by former San Bernadio Asst Registrar and elections consultant Steven Trout. Reminder to Utah voters: new law requires you to present ID to vote. A King Co WA judge will decide whether people who sign referendum petitions be registered. A Wisconsin bill would allow released felons to vote.
The Justice Department redirects focus back to civil rights. Allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election may affect outcome. There's no way to verify the vote on India's paperless voting machines says Dr. S. Ramdoss.
CA. Solano County. Election today for Tauscher's vacated seat
09/01/2009 ...the ratio of vote-by-mail compared to those heading to the polls could be as high as three to one.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13244558
CO. Attorney claims ballots may be identifiable
September 1. A local citizen claims he has identified which anonymous "string" is his in digital records released by the city of Aspen after the May election
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136372
FL. St. Pete voting canvass begins with relative ease
LARGO -- No serious voting glitches turned up in the mail ballots before St. Petersburg's primary election Tuesday, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said today...The St. Petersburg canvassing board waded through about 54 questionable mail ballots this afternoon, rejecting about 40 for questionable or missing signatures. That's after rejecting 120 of 196 questionable envelopes for similar reasons last week.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/baybuzz/2009/08/st-pete-voting-canvass-begins-with-ease.html
GA. Voter fraud admissions rock Jackson city council
August 30. 2009
Admission to some 40 counts of voting irregularities by one councilman have rocked the Jackson city council, resulted in huge fines and could lead to criminal prosecutions. WKEU radio is reporting councilman Tommy Rainey admitted to rigging the election which he won. He has been fined $158,000.
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/1194-Voter-fraud-admissions-rock-Jackson-city-council.html
GA. The Georgia State Election Board at its August 27 Meeting
took the folloiwng actions against a Jackson Georgia City Councilmember, and other Butts County Residents.
http://www.wkeuradio.com/news/seb.htm
IA. Computerized system cuts down on voter errors
August 29, 2009 BURLINGTON, Iowa A computer program designed in Cerro Gordo County is expected to speed up voting by helping poll workers cut time spent processing voters. The program, Precinct Atlas, has already been tested in special
elections in Butler, Johnson, Appanoose, Buena Vista and Monona
counties, and a mock election was held modeled after Election Day in
2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowacomputerizedp,0,6272224.story
IA. New Polling Software Reaching Half of Iowa
8/31 Mason City, IA- New computer software developed in North Iowa will help poll workers in more than half the state next week...Thanks to the endorsement of Iowa's Secretary of State the program is getting use in more than 50 Iowa counties for next weeks school elections.
http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/New-Polling-Software-Reaching-Half-of-Iowa/BSVelHObckOkgeKn56-h9g.cspx
IN. Satellite voting centers proposed for next year
Whitehead says she prefers Vote Centers, needs time to decide
9/1/09 Delaware County Clerk Steve Craycraft, a Democrat, proposed establishing two satellite voting sites for the 2010 election at last week's meeting of the Delaware County Board of Elections.
http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2009/09/01/News/Satellite.Voting.Centers.Proposed.For.Next.Year-3760522.shtml
OR. Californian named new Oregon elections director
August 27, 2009
SALEM -- A lawyer and former senior counsel to the California Secretary of State has been appointed the new director of the Oregon Elections Division
...Trout has also counseled California's Senate minority leader and was assistant registrar of voters in San Bernardino County and most recently was president of Elections Solution Providers, which helps local governments comply with federal and state election laws.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082709_news_elections_division_director.1203003d8.html
Stephen N. Trout letter to CA SOS Bowen in opposition to State Post Election Manual Tally Requirements on Oct 14, 2008
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/pemt/may08/election-solution-providers.pdf
VA. Student voter registration standardized
September 1, 2009 The State Board of Elections approved changes to a state statute Saturday that gives students the right to register to vote at their campus address.
The updated statute considers a person’s primary home to be the physical location where they live and what they consider to be “the center of his domestic, social and civil life.” It was approved unanimously by the three-member board after a two-day meeting at the capital.
http://flathatnews.com/content/71235
UT. Minority advocates concerned as primary election nears
August 31st, SALT LAKE CITY -- Minority advocates say they've got big worries about the primary elections on September 15, because of a new state law requiring voters to show identification. Voters will have to show a picture ID, such as a passport or driver's license, or some alternative, like two pieces of mail with a name and address on them, in order to vote in the primary.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7751410
WA. Laws or technicalities? Judge to decide R-71 challenge
Is a requirement that people who sign referendum petitions be registered Washington voters when they sign an important tenet of state law or a "hyper-technicality?"
That's one of the questions a King County Superior Court judge must answer as she decides whether to grant an injunction keeping Referendum 71 off the November ballot. R-71 would give voters a chance to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnership law.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/177936.asp?from=blog_last3
WI. Let felons vote? Dems and GOP (surprise!) disagree (in Wisconsin anyway)
August 31, 2009 Should convicted felons be given back the right to vote?
It’s a question that’s being raised in Wisconsin: Legislators there are reviewing a bill that would change the law and allow convicts to vote as long as they’ve been released or are on probation, parole or have received a pardon. Essentially, it would mean that you’re cool to cast a ballot in the Badger State as long as you’re not behind bars...Since the late 1990s, at least 18 states have restored some or all voting rights to convicted felons.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/should-felons-be-allowed-to-vote-.html
US. Justice Department to Recharge Civil Rights Enforcement
August 31, 2009 WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census...“I think the wounds that were inflicted on this division were deep, and it will take some time for them to fully heal,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us/politics/01rights.html?_r=1
US. Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case
...Let’s start with the biggest and most obvious reason this is a momentous case. Citizens United is arguing that expenditures by corporations in elections should be treated identically to those of individuals. If the Court accepts this argument, it would do away with a distinction that has been in place in our Constitution since the Founding and our statutory law since the Tillman Act of 1907 (as explained in the brief CAC filed in Citizens United), and allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.
http://theusconstitution.org/blog.history/?p=1282
US. EAC Seeks Input on Voting System Verification and Technology Grants
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/eac-seeks-input-on-voting-system-verification-and-technology-grants
US. Hackers can ’steal’ ballots from EVMs
August 31, 2009 ...Computer scientists have demonstrated how criminals could hack an electronic voting machine (EVM) and ’steal’ votes using a malicious programming approach that had not been invented when the voting machine was designed...“You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”
http://www.techforbes.com/hackers-can-steal-ballots-from-evms/
Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN: Poll Fraud Probe Will Decide Runoff
6.5 million Afghans voted in the Aug. 20 presidential elections
KABUL, Sep 1 With a majority of polling stations yet to announce their results, and investigations into major fraud complaints underway, the contest is still wide open.
Whoever the winner, unless that candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be inevitable. ...Grant Kippon, head of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), says that over 225 complaints were filed immediately after the election. Of these, 150 have been sorted through and approximately 35 were assigned "high priority," meaning that if true, these allegations could affect the outcome of the contest.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48284
India. EC has lost control due to EVMs: PMK
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss today charged that following the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the polls, the Election Commission of India had lost control over the electoral process. Speaking to newsmen today, he said there was no verification methodology developed by the EC to detect malpractices in EVMs and these machines were easy to tamper with.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=19081%20&%20section=6
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Virginia standardizes student registration. A Jackson City GA councilman charged with rigging his own election. Oregon elections to be headed by former San Bernadio Asst Registrar and elections consultant Steven Trout. Reminder to Utah voters: new law requires you to present ID to vote. A King Co WA judge will decide whether people who sign referendum petitions be registered. A Wisconsin bill would allow released felons to vote.
The Justice Department redirects focus back to civil rights. Allegations of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election may affect outcome. There's no way to verify the vote on India's paperless voting machines says Dr. S. Ramdoss.
CA. Solano County. Election today for Tauscher's vacated seat
09/01/2009 ...the ratio of vote-by-mail compared to those heading to the polls could be as high as three to one.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_13244558
CO. Attorney claims ballots may be identifiable
September 1. A local citizen claims he has identified which anonymous "string" is his in digital records released by the city of Aspen after the May election
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/136372
FL. St. Pete voting canvass begins with relative ease
LARGO -- No serious voting glitches turned up in the mail ballots before St. Petersburg's primary election Tuesday, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said today...The St. Petersburg canvassing board waded through about 54 questionable mail ballots this afternoon, rejecting about 40 for questionable or missing signatures. That's after rejecting 120 of 196 questionable envelopes for similar reasons last week.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/baybuzz/2009/08/st-pete-voting-canvass-begins-with-ease.html
GA. Voter fraud admissions rock Jackson city council
August 30. 2009
Admission to some 40 counts of voting irregularities by one councilman have rocked the Jackson city council, resulted in huge fines and could lead to criminal prosecutions. WKEU radio is reporting councilman Tommy Rainey admitted to rigging the election which he won. He has been fined $158,000.
http://www.barnesville.com/archives/1194-Voter-fraud-admissions-rock-Jackson-city-council.html
GA. The Georgia State Election Board at its August 27 Meeting
took the folloiwng actions against a Jackson Georgia City Councilmember, and other Butts County Residents.
http://www.wkeuradio.com/news/seb.htm
IA. Computerized system cuts down on voter errors
August 29, 2009 BURLINGTON, Iowa A computer program designed in Cerro Gordo County is expected to speed up voting by helping poll workers cut time spent processing voters. The program, Precinct Atlas, has already been tested in special
elections in Butler, Johnson, Appanoose, Buena Vista and Monona
counties, and a mock election was held modeled after Election Day in
2008.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowacomputerizedp,0,6272224.story
IA. New Polling Software Reaching Half of Iowa
8/31 Mason City, IA- New computer software developed in North Iowa will help poll workers in more than half the state next week...Thanks to the endorsement of Iowa's Secretary of State the program is getting use in more than 50 Iowa counties for next weeks school elections.
http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/New-Polling-Software-Reaching-Half-of-Iowa/BSVelHObckOkgeKn56-h9g.cspx
IN. Satellite voting centers proposed for next year
Whitehead says she prefers Vote Centers, needs time to decide
9/1/09 Delaware County Clerk Steve Craycraft, a Democrat, proposed establishing two satellite voting sites for the 2010 election at last week's meeting of the Delaware County Board of Elections.
http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2009/09/01/News/Satellite.Voting.Centers.Proposed.For.Next.Year-3760522.shtml
OR. Californian named new Oregon elections director
August 27, 2009
SALEM -- A lawyer and former senior counsel to the California Secretary of State has been appointed the new director of the Oregon Elections Division
...Trout has also counseled California's Senate minority leader and was assistant registrar of voters in San Bernardino County and most recently was president of Elections Solution Providers, which helps local governments comply with federal and state election laws.
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082709_news_elections_division_director.1203003d8.html
Stephen N. Trout letter to CA SOS Bowen in opposition to State Post Election Manual Tally Requirements on Oct 14, 2008
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting_systems/pemt/may08/election-solution-providers.pdf
VA. Student voter registration standardized
September 1, 2009 The State Board of Elections approved changes to a state statute Saturday that gives students the right to register to vote at their campus address.
The updated statute considers a person’s primary home to be the physical location where they live and what they consider to be “the center of his domestic, social and civil life.” It was approved unanimously by the three-member board after a two-day meeting at the capital.
http://flathatnews.com/content/71235
UT. Minority advocates concerned as primary election nears
August 31st, SALT LAKE CITY -- Minority advocates say they've got big worries about the primary elections on September 15, because of a new state law requiring voters to show identification. Voters will have to show a picture ID, such as a passport or driver's license, or some alternative, like two pieces of mail with a name and address on them, in order to vote in the primary.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7751410
WA. Laws or technicalities? Judge to decide R-71 challenge
Is a requirement that people who sign referendum petitions be registered Washington voters when they sign an important tenet of state law or a "hyper-technicality?"
That's one of the questions a King County Superior Court judge must answer as she decides whether to grant an injunction keeping Referendum 71 off the November ballot. R-71 would give voters a chance to overturn the state's new "everything but marriage" same-sex domestic partnership law.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/177936.asp?from=blog_last3
WI. Let felons vote? Dems and GOP (surprise!) disagree (in Wisconsin anyway)
August 31, 2009 Should convicted felons be given back the right to vote?
It’s a question that’s being raised in Wisconsin: Legislators there are reviewing a bill that would change the law and allow convicts to vote as long as they’ve been released or are on probation, parole or have received a pardon. Essentially, it would mean that you’re cool to cast a ballot in the Badger State as long as you’re not behind bars...Since the late 1990s, at least 18 states have restored some or all voting rights to convicted felons.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/should-felons-be-allowed-to-vote-.html
US. Justice Department to Recharge Civil Rights Enforcement
August 31, 2009 WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census...“I think the wounds that were inflicted on this division were deep, and it will take some time for them to fully heal,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/us/politics/01rights.html?_r=1
US. Five Reasons Why Citizens United Is a Truly Momentous Case
...Let’s start with the biggest and most obvious reason this is a momentous case. Citizens United is arguing that expenditures by corporations in elections should be treated identically to those of individuals. If the Court accepts this argument, it would do away with a distinction that has been in place in our Constitution since the Founding and our statutory law since the Tillman Act of 1907 (as explained in the brief CAC filed in Citizens United), and allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.
http://theusconstitution.org/blog.history/?p=1282
US. EAC Seeks Input on Voting System Verification and Technology Grants
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/eac-seeks-input-on-voting-system-verification-and-technology-grants
US. Hackers can ’steal’ ballots from EVMs
August 31, 2009 ...Computer scientists have demonstrated how criminals could hack an electronic voting machine (EVM) and ’steal’ votes using a malicious programming approach that had not been invented when the voting machine was designed...“You can actually run a modern and efficient election on paper,”
http://www.techforbes.com/hackers-can-steal-ballots-from-evms/
Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN: Poll Fraud Probe Will Decide Runoff
6.5 million Afghans voted in the Aug. 20 presidential elections
KABUL, Sep 1 With a majority of polling stations yet to announce their results, and investigations into major fraud complaints underway, the contest is still wide open.
Whoever the winner, unless that candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be inevitable. ...Grant Kippon, head of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), says that over 225 complaints were filed immediately after the election. Of these, 150 have been sorted through and approximately 35 were assigned "high priority," meaning that if true, these allegations could affect the outcome of the contest.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48284
India. EC has lost control due to EVMs: PMK
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss today charged that following the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the polls, the Election Commission of India had lost control over the electoral process. Speaking to newsmen today, he said there was no verification methodology developed by the EC to detect malpractices in EVMs and these machines were easy to tamper with.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=19081%20&%20section=6
Voting News Archived here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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