Many states run elections as if they are beta tests. An prime example are the Vote Centers in Galveston County Texas. Officials ran into surprises when all vote centers tried to start up at beginning of day, causing the state's voter registration database to crash. And since these vote centers are dependant on the online database, voting was held up 30 and 40 minutes.Another surprise - firewalls blocking access to the county central voting system. So much for the "convenience" of Vote Centers, never mind the other problems with them but the media says it was all good....
...Brad Friedman reports: Sarasota Sample Ballots Urged Voters to Use Blue Ink, Though New Op-Scan Systems Can't Read It. Another screw-up for notorious Election Director Kathy Dent...
...Update on Tennessee Paper Ballot Law! Judge Denies Injuction In Paper Ballot Case
Secretary Of State Should Begin To Implement Voter Confidence Act, Recommends Judge...
...A few South Carolina races trigger an automatic recount but SC uses paperless voting so if there's a programming flaw nothing will change....Texas finally pulls IBM off voter reg database project, 13 day system outage in Aug final straw...
What Sequoia’s Source Code Publication Means...Joe Hall has more on EAC testing and Top To Bottom Review...
....There's too many glitches, snags, snafus and meltdowns for me to do summarize, so please read about those and more in the news below...
CA: Hawthorne used car dealer turns polling place workers, voters away *
11/03/2009 ...Saunders said Finance Auto Sales workers also called police to try to get the volunteers to leave after they set up voting booths on the sidewalk in front of the dealership at 11604 Prairie Ave.
Police allowed the workers to stay on the sidewalk for several hours until a nearby business agreed to let them set up inside. Hi Tech Auto Collision and Glass Centers allowed voters to use their office until polls closed.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_13707170
CT: A Day As Absentee Ballot Moderator
November 4, 2009 This election day was spent as moderator for central counting of absentee ballots, once again, in Vernon, CT.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2542
CT: Reporter's notebook: Brooklyn voters complain about ballot layout*
...St. Jean said because there were three candidates on the ballot for first selectman, many residents voted for two candidates rather than just one.
When that happens, the voting machine returns the ballot and an election moderator gives the voter a new ballot to fill out, she said.
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x1156075453/Reporters-notebook-Brooklyn-voters-complain-about-ballot-layout
FL: Sarasota Sample Ballots Urged Voters to Use Blue Ink, Though New Op-Scan Systems Can't Read It *
Another screw-up for notorious Election Director Kathy Dent...
On October 17th, we reported that World's Worst Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent of Sarasota, FL had discovered in pre-election tests that her new Diebold/Premier optical-scan voting systems failed to properly read paper ballots marked with blue ink.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7502
IN: For voters, county maps were a source of confusion *
...St. Joseph County provided a map to help voters find their special election polling place. The information was on WSBT.com as well.
In the hours that followed, emails and phone calls flooded our newsroom from voters who said they were turned away and sent to another location to vote.
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/69206847.html
KS: Tough time voting* (registered voter not in laptop/pollbook)
Voting shouldn't be so difficult - especially when only one issue is on the ballot.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/6447
MA: Dispute erupts over ballot in Lawrence *
...a man came to the polling station in the morning attempting to vote.
Because his name was on the inactive voter rolls, poll workers asked for his ID.
He didn't have it, so he left, and returned around 1 this afternoon.
He showed an ID, but a police officer at the polling station recognized him from the morning and thought he was unable to vote, according to Romero, who said a police report is still being written on the incident.
http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_307152911.html
MA: Election notes: Sass in the city * (ballot design, influencing voters)
...whoever designed the ballots that relegated district councilors’ names to a corner of the ballot and made them hard to find.
...
A Vietnamese-speaking election worker was tossed from a Dorchester polling place after the Menino campaign accused him of telling voters to back Flaherty.
The man was dismissed for the voting-booth infraction, according to Paul Afonso, a Menino attorney.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20091104election_notes_sass_in_the_city/
MD: Maryland Testing E-Voting System That Lets People Verify Their Votes Counted
from the experimenting-away dept (comments are interesting)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091104/1339256801.shtml
MI: Printing woes plague poll workers * (printer problems, poll worker cards stuck)
NATCHEZ — Printing woes on voting machines across the county delayed election results a bit Tuesday night, election officials said.
While poll worker cards got stuck in a few machines, Election Commissioner Larry Gardner said one of the night’s main delays was due to the printers attached to the voting machines being overtaxed and paperless.
...
Gardner said the printers were running out of paper and stalling due to all of the information passing through machines.
Gardner said the printers were not built into the polling machines, but were given to the county at no additional charge
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2009/nov/04/printing-woes-plague-poll-workers/
MN: Election judges take matters in hand to determine close races
Though sometimes called instant-runoff voting, it's anything but. Votes are being counted by hand in cases where no one won 50 percent plus one vote.
...But the answers won't come soon, even though some 125 election judges began the painstaking hand-sorting of ballots Wednesday at the city's northeast Minneapolis election warehouse. Interim Election Director Patrick O'Connor said he's disappointed by the turnout of 45,964 voters -- the lowest in at least 20 years for a city election -- but it means counting should go faster.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/69250382.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aU2EkP7K_t:aDyaEP:kD:aUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
or use this http://tinyurl.com/irv-count
MN: St Paul. Ranked-choice voting opponents have day in court
A group opposing ranked-choice voting has alleged that the group that pushed for the new voting system in St. Paul used deceptive campaign practices.
November 4, 2009 ...The essence of the complaint, he said, is that the Better Ballot group didn't get specific endorsement from groups or signatures of support from people whose credibility could sway voter opinion.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/69250617.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUF
NY: Mixed Reviews For New Voting Machines* (privacy, data disks forgotten)
Chautauqua County ..."As you walk up to the privacy booth to look for an open spot, you can see who people are voting for, if you wanted to," she said. "When I was filling out my ballot, I noticed there was someone behind me and it crossed my mind."
...
Abram said there was "some human error and some technical errors" with the new machines, but that the problems were corrected quickly and without long-term effects. Green said the results were coming in slower than planned because some election inspectors didn't return the data disk necessary to process the election results.
http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/544174.html?nav=5018
NY: Problems Seen with New Voting Machines Are Tip of The Iceberg
...Breakdowns of new electronic voting machines have already made news in St. Lawrence, Fulton and Lewis Counties. Official results in some races may not be known for a week or more, frustrating NY voters accustomed to results on election night
http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2009/11/problems-seen-with-new-voting-machines.html
OH: UPDATE: Five Summit polling sites run out of ballots *
Nov 03, 2009 Polling places in at least five Summit County communities -- Green, Norton, Springfield, Tallmadge and Twinsburg, ran out of ballots Tuesday evening as voter turnout was much higher than expected.
Would-be voters said they left sites without voting, not knowing when additional ballots would be delivered.
...
Elections board member Wayne Jones said this evening that about 30 polling sites ran out of ballots for some period of time. These sites are among 100 that called the board office today saying they were running short.
...
The Ohio Secretary of State's Office said this evening that at about 5 p.m. it authorized the Summit County Board of Elections office to photocopy dwinding ballots.
About 19,000 additional ballots were printed with the board's four ''ballot on demand printers,'' the Secretary of State's Office said.
http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/69002322.html
OH: Mostly glitch-free election day, officials report * (paper jams & calibration prob)
...There were no voting problems in Miami County, other than some sporadic paper jams that were quickly resolved, he said
...
Llyn McCoy, Greene County Board of Elections deputy director, said they had minor calibration issues with voting machines this morning at a couple of polling places. The machines ran slow when a person touched it, but once the machines were calibrated correctly they worked better, she said.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/mostly-glitch-free-election-day-officials-report-380697.html?showComments=true
SC: Council election recounts to be held (with paperless touchscreens)
November 5, 2009 Mandatory recounts will be held today in the Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms municipal elections, but the county's director of elections does not expect the outcomes to change.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/nov/05/council-election-recounts-to-be-held/
TN: Judge Denies Injuction In Paper Ballot Case
Secretary Of State Should Begin To Implement Voter Confidence Act, Recommends Judge
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Nashville judge on Thursday denied at temporary injunction regarding paper ballot voting machines, which won't force the secretary of state to buy the new machines.
However, Davidson County Chancellor Russell Perkins said he recommended Secretary of State Tre Hargett to start implementing the Voter Confidence Act, which was passed by the state Legislature in 2008 and mandated every voter cast his or her ballot using an optical-scan machine by November 2010.
http://www.wsmv.com/news/21528405/detail.html
TN: Enforce the TVCA!
Providing a paper trail protects voters' rights; it's also the law.
by Gerard Stranch and John Bonifaz
...
Since then, a few election officials have done their best to stonewall this reform, refusing to implement it, calling for its repeal, and using misleading information as ammunition.
http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/enforce-the-tvca/Content?oid=1771951
TX: No ‘super’ glitches reported for new voting system* (Vote Centers, voter registration database problem, firewalls and results wrong)
November 4, 2009 Galveston County....Computer problems and a crash of the state’s voter registration database were blamed for delays in Galveston and League City, the county’s election coordinator said.
...
Voters who lined up at the Galveston school district building were delayed when the district’s Internet firewalls blocked computer access to the county’s central voting system.
...
There were similar computer glitches at Bay Harbour United Methodist Church and Harborview Care Center in League City. Both are new polling places, and voting was delayed about 40 minutes, Godinich said.
...
Only when all of the polling places signed on at about the same time did the connectivity problems crop up, Godinich said.
There also were problems when the polls opened because the state’s database of registered voters crashed.
...
As the votes were counted, one unexpected glitch occurred when the returns showed that all the votes had been counted — even though less than half of the precincts had been counted.
Election officials said the error occurred because the tally sheet that totals votes was based on the usual 121 voting precincts, rather than the 40 super precincts.
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=2dfb9d86700788db
TX: Texas withdraws voter registration systems from IBM contract
Disaster recovery 'problems' tied to aged SAN equipment, IBM says
...The decision was prompted by an incident in August when a server being managed by IBM crashed resulting in a 13-day outage of the office's business records filing system, a report in the Austin American Statesman said today.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140358/Texas
_withdraws_voter_registration_systems_from_IBM_contract?taxonomyId=9
or use this http://tinyurl.com/y8nnv2s
VT: Burlington IRV repeal picks up momentum
The controversy over Burlington Telecom finances has energized the effort to repeal instant run-off voting, say those involved in the petition drive to put the issue on the city ballot in March.
...
"A lot of people think the mayor's race was invalid, that we have an invalid mayor,"
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091105/NEWS02/911050309/Burlington-IRV-repeal-picks-up-momentum
OR: Ogden, Weber County pretty sure one of them can't count ... ballots*
(optical scan system very slow, automatic feeder kept jamming)
Nov 4 2009 ....However, because of some programming issues and problems with an automatic ballot feeder, the city's votes weren't counted until about midnight Tuesday and results weren't posted on the city's Web site until about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Mansell said.
A large number of ballots slowed the optical scanning system, Berrett said. In addition to counting all of Ogden's ballots, the system was also used to tally absentee votes for South Ogden, Riverdale and Farr West.
In addition, an automatic feeder kept jamming, which meant ballots had to be inserted into the device by hand, Berrett said. "Hand-feeding was a slower process."
http://www.standard.net/topics/elections/2009/11/04/ogden-weber-county-pretty-sure-one-them-cant-count-ballots
VA: Payne laughs off poll mixup
November 4, 2009 Lynchburg City Manager Kimball Payne got some unexpected news when he went to the polls on Tuesday: he was no longer listed as a valid city voter.
Payne, who has been the chief administrator of the city government for the past eight years, learned he had been placed on the “inactive voters” list at his precinct at Bedford Hills Elementary School. He cast a provisional ballot until his legitimacy could be confirmed.
...
Payne — full name Leonard Kimball Payne III — said he has been a faithful voter and speculated that he was being mixed up with his son, Leonard Kimball Payne IV.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/payne_laughs_off_poll_mixup/21076/
National
EAC today released the results of its 2008 Election Administration and Voting Survey and the 2008 Uniformed and Overseas Voting Act Survey.
http://www.eac.gov/blog-postings/eac-releases-data-from-2008-presidential-election
Political Foes Team Up To Improve Voter Registration
Doug Chapin with the Pew Center on the States says one idea for overhauling voter registrations is to have an individual's voter record be more portable and be automatically updated when he or she moves. Chapin says that could eliminate a lot of confusion at the polls.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120033345
What Sequoia’s Source Code Publication Means
Champaign County Clerk. In a good first step to enhancing the confidence of voters in their vote counting equipment, Sequoia corporation announced that they would be revealing their source code.
...
I’m very happy that the code is being released prior to certification. One of the concerns that I have had with vote counting equipment is that flaws in the design can’t be changed without recertification. That is costly, and generally isn’t going to be done by a company without a glaring need. Instead, we are forced to work around those issues and test and audit to make sure they are addressed. By allowing the public to see the logic in the software, these issues can be resolved early...
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/11/03/what-sequoia%e2%80%99s-source-code-publication-means/
More on EAC testing and TTBR
On October 13, Aaron Burstein and I sent a letter to the EAC's Director of Voting System Testing and Certification, Brian Hancock, signed by many of the California Top-To-Bottom Review (TTBR) investigators ("CA TTBR Investigators Send Letter to the EAC"). The letter showed that the EAC had approved a voting system test plan after a testing laboratory misunderstood the results of the California TTBR.
On October 21, The EAC replied. Today, Aaron and I responded (on behalf of ourselves).
http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2009/11/05/cattbreacrep
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Another Sarasota Fl election screw up - Sample ballot tells voters to use ink scanners cannot read
Sarasota Election Supervisor Kathy Dent was aware that the Diebold OSX optical scanners did not consistently read blue ink. She knew this before the Venice Florida election that was held on Nov 3.
But what does the sample ballot for Venice Voters say? It says
"Use only the marker provided or a blue or black pen."
See the sample ballot below
City of Venice General Election
THE DIEBOLD OSX DOES NOT READ BLUE INK OR #2 PENCIL.
We don't have time right now to outline Sarasota Florida's inglorious failures, just google Sarasota FL 13 Jennings Buchanon or "smoothing filter" + Sarasota and learn how Kathy Dent ignored the warnings by the vendor back in 2006. She wasn't worried then, she isn't worried now.
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
=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
Donate online at this link:
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5295
But what does the sample ballot for Venice Voters say? It says
"Use only the marker provided or a blue or black pen."
See the sample ballot below
City of Venice General Election
THE DIEBOLD OSX DOES NOT READ BLUE INK OR #2 PENCIL.
We don't have time right now to outline Sarasota Florida's inglorious failures, just google Sarasota FL 13 Jennings Buchanon or "smoothing filter" + Sarasota and learn how Kathy Dent ignored the warnings by the vendor back in 2006. She wasn't worried then, she isn't worried now.
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
=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
Donate online at this link:
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5295
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
DOJ probes Diebold sale, Voting Hiccups, glitches, snags, and snafus cont'd
Justice Department Probing Diebold Sale, timing of sale is also of interest...
Brad Friedman reports "Your Election Night 2009 'Hiccups' 'Glitches' 'Snags' and 'Snafus' Report"...Today's voting news report covers election problems in California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia...
Bay County Florida resolves to ask lawmakers for money for voting machines for disabled while SoS sits on HAVA funds....Virginia’s Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL?!?! Internet voting whack-a-mole in Port Hope, Ontario....
...Election method flux: Aspen Colorado voters voted to reconsider instant runoff by very slim margin, St Paul MN voters voted to adopt instant runoff voting but opponents have filed election complaints, Lowell MA voted not to adopt proportional voting, and Pierce County Washington overwhelmingly voted to repeal instant runoff voting...
All of that and more in today's Voting News below and lots more tomorrow I promise...
CA: Because of mailer problem, Atwater will have new school board election* (voter guides, missing ballot boxes, incomplete poll books)
Confusion over a new boundary line in the Atwater Elementary School District means that voters in the only contested race there may have to recast their ballots.
But 29 homes with eligible voters didn't get proper voter guides before the election, said Karen Adams, county registrar of voters.
...
At 6:15 a.m., polling places in Gustine, Delhi and Livingston reported that they were each short one ballot box. Election workers delivered the missing ballot boxes by 7 a.m.
A precinct in Snelling was missing two pages of its eligible voters roster and four election computers in Merced, Delhi and Le Grand were fixed after minor problems kept them from working properly earlier in the day.
Another ballot problem in the Franklin precinct -- near Beachwood Drive and Santa Fe -- affected some voters in the Merced Union High School District race there. The precinct had no copies of a certain ballot type.
The error was the result of a mistake by the ballot printer and packager, Adams said. New ballots arrived at the polling place after a 25-minute delay.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/1151301.html
CO: Aspen rejects Instant Runoff Voting — by six votes
Council will explore alternative voting methods for elections
...Aspen residents voted 805-799 to eliminate ranking City Council and
mayoral candidates by preference on the municipal election ballot, which
replaced the traditional June runoff.
The city of Aspen launched its first-ever IRV election this past May.
Shortly thereafter, doubts among elected officials and some residents
surfaced as to whether the method was the best way to elect a mayor and
City Council members.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091103/NEWS/911039976/1077&ParentProfile=1058
FL: Voting Machine Issues
The Bay County Commission unanimously backed a resolution asking the state legislature for an extension on new voting machine requirements. According to Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen, a new legislative mandate requires another overhaul in election equipment.
Every touch-screen would have to replaced with a paper ballot scanning system, called AutoMark. Andersen says that shift would cost the county almost half a million dollars. But, some commissioners say they want more time to discuss the issue with legislators
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/68978487.html
GA: Memory cards forgotten in 7 Ga. voting machines *
...Garner says the poll workers were in a hurry and didn't ensure that all the cards were removed from the machines. He called the oversight unacceptable and said procedures would be put in place to make sure it doesn't occur again.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/896039.html
GA: Registered voters rejected in Atlanta mayor's race * (faulty voter reg database)
About a dozen voters in southwest Fulton County complained they couldn’t vote because their addresses were not in the county election registration system, said Fulton County election official Mark Henderson, who confirmed the glitch Tuesday afternoon.
...
“My address has too many letters for me to put on the Georgia Department of Driver Services form,” said an angry Moore. “So I get my tax bill, but I can’t vote? I’m not going to pay my taxes if I can’t vote. Now you know why people don’t vote.”
...
“Right now, we’re just trying to figure this out,” he said. He could not provide the number of voters who may be at addresses in the newly annexed part of the city that are not recognized as city of Atlanta by the election board computers and therefore can’t vote.
http://www.ajc.com/news/registered-voters-rejected-in-185077.html
GA: Atlanta Election: Minute by Minute *
9:17: A statement from Fulton County Government explains why four precincts in Fulton County used paper ballots for one race from 7-8 p.m.: "The State Election Board instructed Fulton County’s Department of Registration and Elections to use provisional ballots for Atlanta voters who cast their ballots in the State Senate District 35 election between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-election-minute-by-184202.html
GA: Paper ballots used in Ocilla
Nov 04, 2009... "That's the only way we've ever done it is paper ballots," said Alicia Roberts, Ocilla City clerk.
And with only around 1,500 registered voters, voting officials say voting this way is easier than fooling with machines.
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11445658
MA: Incumbents Kazanjian, Armand Mercier and Faticanti ousted in Lowell
11/04/2009... The vote to change the election process to proportional voting went down in flames, as it failed to garner the necessary third of the registered voters to come out and back the measure. Of those who did vote on the measure, 6,841 voted against, and 5,174 voted yes.
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_13705650
MA: Voting machine malfunctions after power surge *
QUINCY — A power surge at Covenant Congregational Church caused a voting machine to malfunction about 5 p.m. Tuesday as voters were still filing into the Ward 3, Precinct 1 polling station.
City Clerk Joseph Shea said the city quickly replaced the machine and continued with business as usual, and no votes were lost.
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1659495245/Voting-machine-malfunctions-after-power-surge
MI: Votes still counted from Flushing Township precinct where electronic voting cards got damaged *
...But members learned that in Flushing Township — where a recall effort against four board members failed — electronic cards recording votes from precinct 1 were damaged.
A report of votes from the precinct was printed before the cards got damaged and matched the township’s poll books. The votes were entered manually instead.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/11/votes_still_counted_from_flush.html
MN: Minneapolis IRV ballots: Few spoiled, few cast
Minneapolis’ first try at instant-runoff voting (IRV) Tuesday went well, judging by a low number of spoiled ballots. But the number of ballots cast was also low, spoiling the system’s otherwise successful debut.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48915/minneapolis-irv
MN: Instant-runoff voting foes vow to overturn ballot result
11/4/09 St. Paul voters narrowly chose to adopt instant-runoff voting on Tuesday. But opponents of the ballot measure plan to challenge the validity of the result.
In the waning days of the campaign, the No Bad Ballots Committee filed a pair of grievances with the Office of Administrative Hearings charging that IRV supporters were using false claims to bolster their electoral prospects. Specifically, the group took issue with claims that the DFL party, the St. Paul League of Women Voters and President Obama, among others, supported the adoption of instant-runoff voting.
“They knew they were going to lose if they didn’t deceive the voters of St. Paul,” says Chuck Repke, co-chair of the No Bad Ballots Committee.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48914/instant-runoff-voting-foes-vow-to-overturn-ballot-result
NC: Election Update: Check your CHECK MARK!* (ES&S iVotronic with RTAL)
November 3, 2009 I clearly punched the box for Bill Knight for mayor. The check popped up on Yvonne Johnson’s name. I called for the precinct worker and he explained how to correct. I contacted the BOE and they stated they have heard similar reports today and it was related to machine calibration. If you’re paying attention you would catch this error before casting ballot.
http://www.busybeingbornblog.com/?p=399
NY: Sheriff's race loser: Ballot was bad * (ballot slips misplaced - lever machines)
...Jason Longton said Wednesday he was troubled that election commissioners had not contacted him to tell him about the problem. A voter reported Tuesday that Longton's name appeared under the ballot line for Saratoga Springs mayor, instead of appearing under the county sheriff line as it should have.
...
Saratoga County Republican Elections Commissioner Diane Wade, responding to Longton's complaint, said election officials moved immediately to address the issue once it was raised.
Emergency paper ballots were given to voters in the district until the ballot box was fixed, she said.
http://www.poststar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_c95c68e2-c9a3-11de-9444-001cc4c03286.html
NY: Glitches With New Voting Machines *
Broome County...In fact, district three has had some glitches with ballots all morning.
The district chair says the new machine is so sensitive it picks up defects in the paper, rejecting the ballot.
"And so because it picks up the defects, it doesn't pick up what people are voting for, and we have to void it and give them another paper," said Sweeney.
And it happened 16 times.
http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=11165
NY: Glitches with voting machines cause problems in Cayuga County *
November 04, 2009 Auburn, NY...The county experienced problems to varying degrees in several locations, including a machine that crashed at least twice in Fleming, printing on ballots that was smudged or had problems with toner that some sensitive voting machines wouldn’t read, and voter error, Democratic Elections Commissioner Katie Lacey said this morning.
“The machines weren’t all equally sensitive to the same problem,” she said. “We had ballots that would go in one machine and be rejected two or three or four times, and then you could take the same ballot to another machine and it would go right through.”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/glitches_with_voting_machines.html
NY: Madison County Voting Machines Impounded
Supervisor, council races in Brookfield, Cazenovia, Lebanon, and Sullivan may hang in the balance
...
Now local Madison County Board of Elections staff will have to wait until lawyers arrive before the results in those precincts will be known. The Bill Owens campaign (23rd U.S. Congressional District race) hired attorneys to file an injunction to keep anyone from touching the ballots, machines, or canvass sheets until legal representatives can be on hand to witness any interaction with the equipment or documents.
http://www.madisoncountycourier.com/cazenovia-new-york/madison-county-voting-machines-impounded-7451/
NY: Fulton County machines break; court order issued *
Fulton County (WSYR-TV) – NewsChannel 9 has learned voting machines in Fulton County, which is a part of the 23rd Congressional District, have been impounded, after the machines were not working property today, the Fulton County Board of Elections confirms.
The county was forced to switch over to paper ballots.
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Fulton-County-machines-break-court-order-issued/dSY52Bssm0iYlGz06S7Chg.cspx
NY: Voting machine malfunction in Fulton County *
...An election official there told Teresa Priolo some marked ballots wouldn't scan yesterday.
...
That election official told Teresa there are about 6500 total voters in the 11 affected districts -- all of whom are in the towns of Bleeker, Broadalbin, North Hampton and Oppenheim.
http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/malfunction-1268107-fulton-voting.html
NY: Erie County. No major problems with new machines *(paper jams)
...
Ward said the largest number of calls that came in to election headquarters from poll workers were due to one of two plugs not being connected. There were also a number of calls for what Ward believed to be a higher number of poll workers than usual — four are expected in each election district — who fell ill.
The most common problem with machines in operation had to do with ballots getting jammed in the optical scanning machine, he said.
...
Mohr said three machines that had jammed were replaced as a precautionary measure to make sure they would be functioning at peak hours. Two of the machines were in West Seneca, and the third was in Lancaster, he said.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/849068.html
NY: Glitches may delay vote reporting in four St. Lawrence Co. towns *
NOVEMBER 3, 2009 St. Lawrence County Board of Elections officials said this evening that machine breakdowns earlier today may prevent them from having election results tonight in Louisville, Waddington, Rossie and Clare.
St. Lawrence County Board of Elections Deputy Commissioner Thomas Nichols said the new election machines had scanner malfunctions in some communities earlier today.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20091103/NEWS09/911039957
OH: Struggling Ohio opens doors to casinos
Voting went smoothly statewide except for a glitch in Summit County, which includes Akron. The county ran out of ballots around 5 p.m. and had to turn away some voters. Poll workers contacted them and asked them to return after printing more ballots.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/04/ohio-casino-vote-shows-early-success/?page=3
OH: Voter turnout excedes expectations, causes problems at some locations * (not enough voting machines and bad poll books)
...Elections board workers had set up 541 voting machines around the county, but seven polling places ended up needing more machines to keep up with voter demand, he said. That prompted elections workers to take another 18 machines out to those polling places to ease long lines, he said.
At one polling place in Avon, Candelario said, people were waiting as long as 45 minutes to cast their ballots. Similar problems occurred at other polling locations around the county, including in Grafton and Elyria, he said.
...
Another problem, he said, was misprinted signature books that contained information from the 2008 election.
Throughout the county there were seven bad books, some containing only a few pages of old information. In other cases, an entire book contained outdated data, Candelario said.
...When there was a problem with a book, affected voters had to cast provisional ballots, Candelario said.
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/11/04/voter-turnout-excedes-expectations-causes-problems-at-some-locations/
OH: Voter Turnout 'Steady' In Hamilton County Election *(candidates names omitted) 11/03 ...Hamilton County voting appeared to go smoothly, except for one snafu in one Fairfax precinct. The three candidates for Columbia Township Trustee were mistakenly left off the ballot.
...
Board of Elections officials were immediately contacted and new ballots were printed and delivered by 10:00 a.m. The next task was finding people who voted an absentee ballot or voted Tuesday before the problem was discovered.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Voter-Turnout-Steady-In-Hamilton-County-Election/dU1Rlxo_5ku3QIQb5Ga-Ug.cspx
OH: Ballot Blunder Snuffs Fairfax Voters' Voices *
124 Can't Vote In Columbia Twp. Trustees Race
...The board of elections decided to count only the ballots already cast in other areas instead of voting again to include the Fairfax residents
http://www.wlwt.com/politics/21514791/detail.html
PA: ELECTION '09: Snafu inflates county vote totals *
Indiana County. November 4 ...Voters were given two paper ballots to complete on Tuesday, and the optical-scanning system apparently counted each piece of paper as one voter, courthouse workers theorized.That could explain the unusually high turnout numbers across the county, but it doesn't account for a report of 642 ballots cast by 237 registered voters at Cherryhill 1. Even full turnout would have been just 474 pieces of paper.
While election workers try to figure that one out, the quick math here shows 33,000 ballots may actually have been cast by 16,500 voters, representing a 28.7 percent turnout.
http://online.indianagazette.com/articles/2009/11/04/news/10027439.txt
VA: Virginia’s Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL?!?!
... Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of Virginia states, “Voting shall be by ballot or by machines for receiving, recording, and counting votes cast.” But it also states, “Secrecy in casting votes shall be maintained, except as provision may be made for assistance to handicapped voters, but the ballot box or voting machine shall be kept in public view and shall not be opened, nor the ballots canvassed nor the votes counted, in secret.”...
http://dailycensored.com/2009/11/03/virginia%e2%80%99s-elections-are-unconstitutional/
VA: Voting machine knocked out after five votes in Staunton's Ward 5 * (voting machine)
After just five votes, a voting machine in Ward 5 had to be shut down earlier today because of a malfunction, but Chief Officer Joe Baugher said the snafu only caused a few minor voting delays.
"We were told to shut it down," Baugher said. Two machines were left to carry the load.
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20091103/NEWS01/91103043/1002/news01/Voting+machine+knocked+out+after+five+votes+in+Staunton+s+Ward+5
VA: Election Day SNAFU Addressed * (polling place access)
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Virginia Department of Transportation paving on Route 15 and Loudoun County Public Schools in service training disrupt early morning voting at Smart's Mill Middle School in Leesburg.
...
the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was paving Route 15 and creating traffic backups; and then LCPS was conducting in-service training for school bus drivers.
The combination of these two activities compromised voters’ ability to access the school, and once on school property, to find a place to park in order to go inside and vote.
http://www.loudouni.com/news/2009-11-03/election-day-snafu-addressed
WA: Voters changing their minds on ranked-choice
Ranked-choice voting, Charter amendments (Pierce County)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/940959.html
WA: Majority of Pierce County voters reject Instant Runoff Voting on Nov 3
Instant runoff voting was rejected by an overwhelming majority of Pierce County Washington Voters. 44,145 of 64,106 voters said yes to ditching instant runoff voting, also called ranked choice voting. That is 71.76% for eliminating IRV and 28.24% who wanted to keep IRV.
http://instantrunoff.blogspot.com/2009/11/majority-of-pierce-county-voters.html
National
BradBlog: Your Election Night 2009 'Hiccups' 'Glitches' 'Snags' and 'Snafus' Report... As we always find necessary to remind readers on such nights, the bulk of election failures tend to reveal themselves in the hours and days --- and sometimes even weeks --- after Election Day.
With that in mind, of the most potential note that we've seen so far today --- though mostly downplayed as minor "glitches" in most of the stories reporting them --- we've found reports of: Diebold touch-screen machine failure in OH's Montgomery and Greene Counties; new e-pollbooks failing in Suffolk County, NY; new Sequoia/Dominion optical-scan systems failing in St. Lawrence County, NY, and; Sequoia touch-screen failures in Essex, Somerset and Goucester Counties, NJ.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7498
Justice Department Probing Diebold Sale
November 3rd, 2009 The Justice Department is investigating the controversial sale of a Diebold Incorporated unit that makes voting machines to its larger competitor, Election Systems and Software, according to two people familiar with the matter
....
The $5 million sale also raised eyebrows for the firms’ public relations strategy. The companies waited until the deal had closed to make a formal announcement, and sidestepped federal antitrust reporting requirements that require the parties of a transaction that meets a threshold size to alert the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission of their intentions, then wait 30 days to proceed.
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6731
International
Port Hope council debates Internet voting for 2010 election
How the costs break down for the 13,903 eligible voters
Option A - repeat the 2006 election program. Cost - $82,650. Cost per eligible voter - $5.95.
Option B - the 2006 election program with a new internet voting option. Cost - $121,820. Cost per eligible voter - $8.77.
Option C - the past election program plus internet voting for the 2010 and 2014 election, paid over five years. Cost - $170,990. Cost per eligible voter - $6.15 (when divided over the two elections).
http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/article/139000
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Brad Friedman reports "Your Election Night 2009 'Hiccups' 'Glitches' 'Snags' and 'Snafus' Report"...Today's voting news report covers election problems in California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia...
Bay County Florida resolves to ask lawmakers for money for voting machines for disabled while SoS sits on HAVA funds....Virginia’s Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL?!?! Internet voting whack-a-mole in Port Hope, Ontario....
...Election method flux: Aspen Colorado voters voted to reconsider instant runoff by very slim margin, St Paul MN voters voted to adopt instant runoff voting but opponents have filed election complaints, Lowell MA voted not to adopt proportional voting, and Pierce County Washington overwhelmingly voted to repeal instant runoff voting...
All of that and more in today's Voting News below and lots more tomorrow I promise...
CA: Because of mailer problem, Atwater will have new school board election* (voter guides, missing ballot boxes, incomplete poll books)
Confusion over a new boundary line in the Atwater Elementary School District means that voters in the only contested race there may have to recast their ballots.
But 29 homes with eligible voters didn't get proper voter guides before the election, said Karen Adams, county registrar of voters.
...
At 6:15 a.m., polling places in Gustine, Delhi and Livingston reported that they were each short one ballot box. Election workers delivered the missing ballot boxes by 7 a.m.
A precinct in Snelling was missing two pages of its eligible voters roster and four election computers in Merced, Delhi and Le Grand were fixed after minor problems kept them from working properly earlier in the day.
Another ballot problem in the Franklin precinct -- near Beachwood Drive and Santa Fe -- affected some voters in the Merced Union High School District race there. The precinct had no copies of a certain ballot type.
The error was the result of a mistake by the ballot printer and packager, Adams said. New ballots arrived at the polling place after a 25-minute delay.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/1151301.html
CO: Aspen rejects Instant Runoff Voting — by six votes
Council will explore alternative voting methods for elections
...Aspen residents voted 805-799 to eliminate ranking City Council and
mayoral candidates by preference on the municipal election ballot, which
replaced the traditional June runoff.
The city of Aspen launched its first-ever IRV election this past May.
Shortly thereafter, doubts among elected officials and some residents
surfaced as to whether the method was the best way to elect a mayor and
City Council members.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091103/NEWS/911039976/1077&ParentProfile=1058
FL: Voting Machine Issues
The Bay County Commission unanimously backed a resolution asking the state legislature for an extension on new voting machine requirements. According to Supervisor of Elections Mark Andersen, a new legislative mandate requires another overhaul in election equipment.
Every touch-screen would have to replaced with a paper ballot scanning system, called AutoMark. Andersen says that shift would cost the county almost half a million dollars. But, some commissioners say they want more time to discuss the issue with legislators
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/68978487.html
GA: Memory cards forgotten in 7 Ga. voting machines *
...Garner says the poll workers were in a hurry and didn't ensure that all the cards were removed from the machines. He called the oversight unacceptable and said procedures would be put in place to make sure it doesn't occur again.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/896039.html
GA: Registered voters rejected in Atlanta mayor's race * (faulty voter reg database)
About a dozen voters in southwest Fulton County complained they couldn’t vote because their addresses were not in the county election registration system, said Fulton County election official Mark Henderson, who confirmed the glitch Tuesday afternoon.
...
“My address has too many letters for me to put on the Georgia Department of Driver Services form,” said an angry Moore. “So I get my tax bill, but I can’t vote? I’m not going to pay my taxes if I can’t vote. Now you know why people don’t vote.”
...
“Right now, we’re just trying to figure this out,” he said. He could not provide the number of voters who may be at addresses in the newly annexed part of the city that are not recognized as city of Atlanta by the election board computers and therefore can’t vote.
http://www.ajc.com/news/registered-voters-rejected-in-185077.html
GA: Atlanta Election: Minute by Minute *
9:17: A statement from Fulton County Government explains why four precincts in Fulton County used paper ballots for one race from 7-8 p.m.: "The State Election Board instructed Fulton County’s Department of Registration and Elections to use provisional ballots for Atlanta voters who cast their ballots in the State Senate District 35 election between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-election-minute-by-184202.html
GA: Paper ballots used in Ocilla
Nov 04, 2009... "That's the only way we've ever done it is paper ballots," said Alicia Roberts, Ocilla City clerk.
And with only around 1,500 registered voters, voting officials say voting this way is easier than fooling with machines.
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=11445658
MA: Incumbents Kazanjian, Armand Mercier and Faticanti ousted in Lowell
11/04/2009... The vote to change the election process to proportional voting went down in flames, as it failed to garner the necessary third of the registered voters to come out and back the measure. Of those who did vote on the measure, 6,841 voted against, and 5,174 voted yes.
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_13705650
MA: Voting machine malfunctions after power surge *
QUINCY — A power surge at Covenant Congregational Church caused a voting machine to malfunction about 5 p.m. Tuesday as voters were still filing into the Ward 3, Precinct 1 polling station.
City Clerk Joseph Shea said the city quickly replaced the machine and continued with business as usual, and no votes were lost.
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1659495245/Voting-machine-malfunctions-after-power-surge
MI: Votes still counted from Flushing Township precinct where electronic voting cards got damaged *
...But members learned that in Flushing Township — where a recall effort against four board members failed — electronic cards recording votes from precinct 1 were damaged.
A report of votes from the precinct was printed before the cards got damaged and matched the township’s poll books. The votes were entered manually instead.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/11/votes_still_counted_from_flush.html
MN: Minneapolis IRV ballots: Few spoiled, few cast
Minneapolis’ first try at instant-runoff voting (IRV) Tuesday went well, judging by a low number of spoiled ballots. But the number of ballots cast was also low, spoiling the system’s otherwise successful debut.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48915/minneapolis-irv
MN: Instant-runoff voting foes vow to overturn ballot result
11/4/09 St. Paul voters narrowly chose to adopt instant-runoff voting on Tuesday. But opponents of the ballot measure plan to challenge the validity of the result.
In the waning days of the campaign, the No Bad Ballots Committee filed a pair of grievances with the Office of Administrative Hearings charging that IRV supporters were using false claims to bolster their electoral prospects. Specifically, the group took issue with claims that the DFL party, the St. Paul League of Women Voters and President Obama, among others, supported the adoption of instant-runoff voting.
“They knew they were going to lose if they didn’t deceive the voters of St. Paul,” says Chuck Repke, co-chair of the No Bad Ballots Committee.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48914/instant-runoff-voting-foes-vow-to-overturn-ballot-result
NC: Election Update: Check your CHECK MARK!* (ES&S iVotronic with RTAL)
November 3, 2009 I clearly punched the box for Bill Knight for mayor. The check popped up on Yvonne Johnson’s name. I called for the precinct worker and he explained how to correct. I contacted the BOE and they stated they have heard similar reports today and it was related to machine calibration. If you’re paying attention you would catch this error before casting ballot.
http://www.busybeingbornblog.com/?p=399
NY: Sheriff's race loser: Ballot was bad * (ballot slips misplaced - lever machines)
...Jason Longton said Wednesday he was troubled that election commissioners had not contacted him to tell him about the problem. A voter reported Tuesday that Longton's name appeared under the ballot line for Saratoga Springs mayor, instead of appearing under the county sheriff line as it should have.
...
Saratoga County Republican Elections Commissioner Diane Wade, responding to Longton's complaint, said election officials moved immediately to address the issue once it was raised.
Emergency paper ballots were given to voters in the district until the ballot box was fixed, she said.
http://www.poststar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_c95c68e2-c9a3-11de-9444-001cc4c03286.html
NY: Glitches With New Voting Machines *
Broome County...In fact, district three has had some glitches with ballots all morning.
The district chair says the new machine is so sensitive it picks up defects in the paper, rejecting the ballot.
"And so because it picks up the defects, it doesn't pick up what people are voting for, and we have to void it and give them another paper," said Sweeney.
And it happened 16 times.
http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=11165
NY: Glitches with voting machines cause problems in Cayuga County *
November 04, 2009 Auburn, NY...The county experienced problems to varying degrees in several locations, including a machine that crashed at least twice in Fleming, printing on ballots that was smudged or had problems with toner that some sensitive voting machines wouldn’t read, and voter error, Democratic Elections Commissioner Katie Lacey said this morning.
“The machines weren’t all equally sensitive to the same problem,” she said. “We had ballots that would go in one machine and be rejected two or three or four times, and then you could take the same ballot to another machine and it would go right through.”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/glitches_with_voting_machines.html
NY: Madison County Voting Machines Impounded
Supervisor, council races in Brookfield, Cazenovia, Lebanon, and Sullivan may hang in the balance
...
Now local Madison County Board of Elections staff will have to wait until lawyers arrive before the results in those precincts will be known. The Bill Owens campaign (23rd U.S. Congressional District race) hired attorneys to file an injunction to keep anyone from touching the ballots, machines, or canvass sheets until legal representatives can be on hand to witness any interaction with the equipment or documents.
http://www.madisoncountycourier.com/cazenovia-new-york/madison-county-voting-machines-impounded-7451/
NY: Fulton County machines break; court order issued *
Fulton County (WSYR-TV) – NewsChannel 9 has learned voting machines in Fulton County, which is a part of the 23rd Congressional District, have been impounded, after the machines were not working property today, the Fulton County Board of Elections confirms.
The county was forced to switch over to paper ballots.
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Fulton-County-machines-break-court-order-issued/dSY52Bssm0iYlGz06S7Chg.cspx
NY: Voting machine malfunction in Fulton County *
...An election official there told Teresa Priolo some marked ballots wouldn't scan yesterday.
...
That election official told Teresa there are about 6500 total voters in the 11 affected districts -- all of whom are in the towns of Bleeker, Broadalbin, North Hampton and Oppenheim.
http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/malfunction-1268107-fulton-voting.html
NY: Erie County. No major problems with new machines *(paper jams)
...
Ward said the largest number of calls that came in to election headquarters from poll workers were due to one of two plugs not being connected. There were also a number of calls for what Ward believed to be a higher number of poll workers than usual — four are expected in each election district — who fell ill.
The most common problem with machines in operation had to do with ballots getting jammed in the optical scanning machine, he said.
...
Mohr said three machines that had jammed were replaced as a precautionary measure to make sure they would be functioning at peak hours. Two of the machines were in West Seneca, and the third was in Lancaster, he said.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/849068.html
NY: Glitches may delay vote reporting in four St. Lawrence Co. towns *
NOVEMBER 3, 2009 St. Lawrence County Board of Elections officials said this evening that machine breakdowns earlier today may prevent them from having election results tonight in Louisville, Waddington, Rossie and Clare.
St. Lawrence County Board of Elections Deputy Commissioner Thomas Nichols said the new election machines had scanner malfunctions in some communities earlier today.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20091103/NEWS09/911039957
OH: Struggling Ohio opens doors to casinos
Voting went smoothly statewide except for a glitch in Summit County, which includes Akron. The county ran out of ballots around 5 p.m. and had to turn away some voters. Poll workers contacted them and asked them to return after printing more ballots.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/04/ohio-casino-vote-shows-early-success/?page=3
OH: Voter turnout excedes expectations, causes problems at some locations * (not enough voting machines and bad poll books)
...Elections board workers had set up 541 voting machines around the county, but seven polling places ended up needing more machines to keep up with voter demand, he said. That prompted elections workers to take another 18 machines out to those polling places to ease long lines, he said.
At one polling place in Avon, Candelario said, people were waiting as long as 45 minutes to cast their ballots. Similar problems occurred at other polling locations around the county, including in Grafton and Elyria, he said.
...
Another problem, he said, was misprinted signature books that contained information from the 2008 election.
Throughout the county there were seven bad books, some containing only a few pages of old information. In other cases, an entire book contained outdated data, Candelario said.
...When there was a problem with a book, affected voters had to cast provisional ballots, Candelario said.
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/11/04/voter-turnout-excedes-expectations-causes-problems-at-some-locations/
OH: Voter Turnout 'Steady' In Hamilton County Election *(candidates names omitted) 11/03 ...Hamilton County voting appeared to go smoothly, except for one snafu in one Fairfax precinct. The three candidates for Columbia Township Trustee were mistakenly left off the ballot.
...
Board of Elections officials were immediately contacted and new ballots were printed and delivered by 10:00 a.m. The next task was finding people who voted an absentee ballot or voted Tuesday before the problem was discovered.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Voter-Turnout-Steady-In-Hamilton-County-Election/dU1Rlxo_5ku3QIQb5Ga-Ug.cspx
OH: Ballot Blunder Snuffs Fairfax Voters' Voices *
124 Can't Vote In Columbia Twp. Trustees Race
...The board of elections decided to count only the ballots already cast in other areas instead of voting again to include the Fairfax residents
http://www.wlwt.com/politics/21514791/detail.html
PA: ELECTION '09: Snafu inflates county vote totals *
Indiana County. November 4 ...Voters were given two paper ballots to complete on Tuesday, and the optical-scanning system apparently counted each piece of paper as one voter, courthouse workers theorized.That could explain the unusually high turnout numbers across the county, but it doesn't account for a report of 642 ballots cast by 237 registered voters at Cherryhill 1. Even full turnout would have been just 474 pieces of paper.
While election workers try to figure that one out, the quick math here shows 33,000 ballots may actually have been cast by 16,500 voters, representing a 28.7 percent turnout.
http://online.indianagazette.com/articles/2009/11/04/news/10027439.txt
VA: Virginia’s Elections Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL?!?!
... Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of Virginia states, “Voting shall be by ballot or by machines for receiving, recording, and counting votes cast.” But it also states, “Secrecy in casting votes shall be maintained, except as provision may be made for assistance to handicapped voters, but the ballot box or voting machine shall be kept in public view and shall not be opened, nor the ballots canvassed nor the votes counted, in secret.”...
http://dailycensored.com/2009/11/03/virginia%e2%80%99s-elections-are-unconstitutional/
VA: Voting machine knocked out after five votes in Staunton's Ward 5 * (voting machine)
After just five votes, a voting machine in Ward 5 had to be shut down earlier today because of a malfunction, but Chief Officer Joe Baugher said the snafu only caused a few minor voting delays.
"We were told to shut it down," Baugher said. Two machines were left to carry the load.
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20091103/NEWS01/91103043/1002/news01/Voting+machine+knocked+out+after+five+votes+in+Staunton+s+Ward+5
VA: Election Day SNAFU Addressed * (polling place access)
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Virginia Department of Transportation paving on Route 15 and Loudoun County Public Schools in service training disrupt early morning voting at Smart's Mill Middle School in Leesburg.
...
the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was paving Route 15 and creating traffic backups; and then LCPS was conducting in-service training for school bus drivers.
The combination of these two activities compromised voters’ ability to access the school, and once on school property, to find a place to park in order to go inside and vote.
http://www.loudouni.com/news/2009-11-03/election-day-snafu-addressed
WA: Voters changing their minds on ranked-choice
Ranked-choice voting, Charter amendments (Pierce County)
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/940959.html
WA: Majority of Pierce County voters reject Instant Runoff Voting on Nov 3
Instant runoff voting was rejected by an overwhelming majority of Pierce County Washington Voters. 44,145 of 64,106 voters said yes to ditching instant runoff voting, also called ranked choice voting. That is 71.76% for eliminating IRV and 28.24% who wanted to keep IRV.
http://instantrunoff.blogspot.com/2009/11/majority-of-pierce-county-voters.html
National
BradBlog: Your Election Night 2009 'Hiccups' 'Glitches' 'Snags' and 'Snafus' Report... As we always find necessary to remind readers on such nights, the bulk of election failures tend to reveal themselves in the hours and days --- and sometimes even weeks --- after Election Day.
With that in mind, of the most potential note that we've seen so far today --- though mostly downplayed as minor "glitches" in most of the stories reporting them --- we've found reports of: Diebold touch-screen machine failure in OH's Montgomery and Greene Counties; new e-pollbooks failing in Suffolk County, NY; new Sequoia/Dominion optical-scan systems failing in St. Lawrence County, NY, and; Sequoia touch-screen failures in Essex, Somerset and Goucester Counties, NJ.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7498
Justice Department Probing Diebold Sale
November 3rd, 2009 The Justice Department is investigating the controversial sale of a Diebold Incorporated unit that makes voting machines to its larger competitor, Election Systems and Software, according to two people familiar with the matter
....
The $5 million sale also raised eyebrows for the firms’ public relations strategy. The companies waited until the deal had closed to make a formal announcement, and sidestepped federal antitrust reporting requirements that require the parties of a transaction that meets a threshold size to alert the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission of their intentions, then wait 30 days to proceed.
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6731
International
Port Hope council debates Internet voting for 2010 election
How the costs break down for the 13,903 eligible voters
Option A - repeat the 2006 election program. Cost - $82,650. Cost per eligible voter - $5.95.
Option B - the 2006 election program with a new internet voting option. Cost - $121,820. Cost per eligible voter - $8.77.
Option C - the past election program plus internet voting for the 2010 and 2014 election, paid over five years. Cost - $170,990. Cost per eligible voter - $6.15 (when divided over the two elections).
http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/article/139000
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Voting problems: New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland. Internet voting whack-a-mole contd
A 90-Year-Old Won't Be Voting Today because of the ID nightmare she faced when moving to Virginia...Election/Voting problems reported in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Maryland, just to mention a few...Montgomery County Ohio had problems with Diebold TSX - with some encoders, some calibration issues, printer jams and some machines taken out of service. Emergency paper ballots were provided in some cases......Police called to polling places in NY 23...King County's Ballot Scanners can't handle close Mayor's race?...Must You Vote?...
Alabama State Representative Jimmy Martin reintroduces military internet voting bill HB 30. Something for Alabama lawmakers to this news: Cyber attacks traced to N. Korea -The United States military cyber defense is one of the world's most robust yet the article says "Affected sites include those of the White House and the South’s presidential Blue House." Are we going to trust the election of our decision makers to the internet,or even more secure networks the Pentagon has?...
Virginia election officials take precautions to avoid spread of H1N1 - is voting more dangerous than going to the grocery store or shopping mall?...Take action, tell ES&S to open up their source code...Did you have problems voting? We'd like to hear from you....
All that and more in today's voting news below...
AL: State may be on fast track to pass military voting bill (military internet voting) The Alabama military voting bill, House Bill 30, has been pre-filed by Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, for the legislative session that begins in January. He sponsored the bill last year as well. The bill nearly passed during the last session, but an amendment added by Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, was largely seen as an attack on U.S. Rep. Artur Davis' gubernatorial campaign and the bill failed.
Chapman said the state bill should be on the fast track to pass this session because it passed both houses last year, before the amendment. But she added that the federal legislation was "icing on the cake because it allows us to implement what we've been hoping to implement all along," in regards to federal elections.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20091030/NEWS01/910300363/State-may-be-on-fast-track-to-pass-military-voting-bill
CA: San Ardo woman sentenced for voter registration fraud
November 2, 2009 Monterey County District Attorney Dean D. Flippo announced today Irene Madrigal, 33 of San Ardo, pled guilty on Oct. 30 to a violation of fraudulent voter registration.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20091102/NEWS01/91102013
/1002/San+Ardo+woman+sentenced+for+voter+registration+fraud
or use this http://tinyurl.com/ylqy8rw
CO: Summit County clerk & recorder resigns unexpectedly
Deputy clerk Kathleen Neel appointed to fill spot during emergency BOCC meeting
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091103/NEWS/
911029972/1078&ParentProfile=1055
or use this http://tinyurl.com/yz4tmzo
CT: Secretary of the State’s Letter To Senator Schumer RE: Premier, ES&S
November 2, 2009 Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz and Deputy Secretary Lesley Mara have sent the following letter to Senator Schumer relative to the Premier acquisition by ES&S.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2538
FL: Judge rules Fort Pierce election good to go; questions about Perona's qualifications to be decided Wednesday
November 2, 2009
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/nov/02/judge-rules-fort-pierce-election-good-to-go-to/
IL: Ballot Order
Champaign County Clerk. We had our drawing today for the ballot order for the candidates who filed at 8am last Monday, the first day of filing. We draw numbers out of a hat that correspond to the names of the candidates in alphabetical order. The numbers were drawn in this order
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/11/03/ballot-order-2/
IN: Voter ID still required, despite court ruling
http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=11424958
MA: Phantom precinct shows city’s arcane voting laws
Made up of Harbor Islands, no one cast ballot in 15 years
...“This one little voting place is so out of whack that it is an indication that all the precincts in Boston are in need of adjustment,’’ said Avi Green, executive director of MassVOTE. “They all need to catch up with the last 100 years of demographics and history in our city.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/
articles/2009/11/03/boston_election_officials_rethink_the_phantom_precinct/
Or use this http://tinyurl.com/ygvxs44
MD: Over 1,000 voters cast ballots in Gaithersburg election by 11 a.m.*
Voters have until 8 p.m. to vote; minor glitch reported at Potomac Oaks polling place
There was one glitch at the polling place at Potomac Oaks Condominiums. A scanning machine that tallies the ballots broke and a replacement was brought from City Hall, said City Attorney Lynn Board. She said the glitch did not delay voters.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11032009/montnew130536_32565.shtml
MD: First Test for Election Cryptography (Scantegrity)
Novel voting technology will be used in a local government election.
November 02, 2009 The first government election to use a new cryptographic scheme that lets both voters and auditors check that votes were cast and recorded accurately will be held tomorrow in Takoma Park, MD
...
"I hate to be critical of something that is so well-intended and is likely to actually increase security, but I don't think this is likely to be deployable on a large scale," Bederson says.
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/23836/
MN: 'Not a whole lot of problems' in Minneapolis voting
November 3, 2009 ...Voters at the precinct seemed to like the new voting method but they admitted that they were hard-put to use all three rankings they were allowed.
"I never got to a third choice," said voter Dale Wiehoff. "I didn't know the candidates that well."
"I actually sort of like it," he said of his experience with ranked-choice voting. "I came in sort of skeptical."
...
One early election-related glitch: Because of an unspecified snafu at the U.S. Postal Service, tens of thousands of sample ballots prepared by the Minneapolis DFL never got delivered.
...
Party officials are concerned that the lack of sample ballots could hurt their candidates if voters are confused by the new ballot setup, "but nobody really knows what'll happen,"
http://www.startribune.com/local/68843462.html?page=2&c=y
MN: Minneapolis' first such vote -- and St. Paul's referendum on a similar system -- could set future of method in state.
November 2, 2009...Although the results should be fairly evident in lopsided races, it could be weeks before a victor is known in contests where nobody achieves the required number of votes on first choices. Then the more complicated hand sorting of second and third choices will be required to declare a winner. That's where rankings of candidates could be the most influential...
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/68803867.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUX
MN: St. Paul To Weigh 'Ranked Choice' Voting Option
If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of "first choice" votes, they win. If nobody reaches that number, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and ballots cast for them are instead counted using that voter's second choice.
http://wcco.com/local/ranked.choice.minneapolis.2.1287343.html
MN: Anti-IRV group calls claims of Obama, DFL endorsement ‘evil’
11/2/09 St Paul.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48606/anti-irv-group-calls-claims-of-obama-dfl-endorsement-evil
MN: Minneapolis voters, what did you think of those newfangled ballots?
November 3, 2009
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/68756662.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI
NC: Election day: Don't forget to vote
Initial election totals are low, but typical for off yearBy John Harbin Times-News November 3, 2009..."There were 500 votes cast for the Hendersonville election," Election Director Beverly Cunningham said. "It's hard to tell if those numbers are higher than the 2007 municipal election because we also had the county land transfer tax on the ballot (in 2007)."
Voters have so far been giving positive feedback on instant runoff voting.
"We will have people taking surveys at each polling place like we did in 2007," Cunningham said.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20091103/SERVICES03/911031016
NC: SURVEY. IF YOU VOTED IN HENDERSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA'S NOVEMBER 2009 IRV MUNICIPAL ELECTION WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
http://www.ncvoter.net/
NJ: Voting-machine problems crop up in Essex, Somerset and Gloucester counties * (Sequoia Voting AVC Advantage touchscreen for all 3 counties)
As voters trickled into polling sites across the state this morning, a handful of voting machines in Essex, Somerset and Gloucester counties had to be replaced due to start-up problems, state officials said.
When poll workers turn the machines on and off, it can cause mechanical malfunctions -- and delay for voters while back-up machines on hand in every district are trucked over to the polling sites, said Susan Evans, a spokeswoman with the New Jersey Division of Elections.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/voting-machine_problems_crop_u.html
NY: Police Called To NY-23 Polling Sites * (voter intimidation)
November 3, 2009...who informed me the police had been called to at least two polling sites in St. Lawrence County due to overzealous electioneering (O'Neill called it "voter intimidation") by Doug Hoffman supporters.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/police-called-to-ny-23-polling.html
NY: Paper votes in Vernon during machine repairs * (Levers and Sequoia Voting Systems/Dominion ImageCast)
There were scattered voting machine problems around the county this morning as voters went to the polls to elect mostly county and local officials.
...
Republican Election Commissioner Pamela N. Mandryck said there was a problem at a Vernon polling location when none of the three voting machines would operate. While the problem was being fixed, voters used paper emergency ballots or a ballot marking device. All polling sites have one such machine to accommodate special needs of the handicapped.
Mandryck said also were reports of temporary glitches at some Utica polling locations and elsewhere one machine that had to be repaired when a lever broke off.
http://www.romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20091103-141045
NY: Optical voting machines raise privacy issues with some Broome voters
But others find new system simpler *
Polling places experienced relatively few difficulties, although a maintenance person had to be called to reset and restart a machine at Davis College in Johnson City that broke down before the 6 a.m. start.
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091103/NEWS01/911030333/1112/Optical-voting-machines-raise-privacy-issues-with-some-Broome-voters
NY: Spa City voting goes smoothly despite minor hiccups *(voting switches misaligned)
November 3, 2009 (Lever and Sequoia Voting Systems/Dominion ImageCast)
...
Gerald Erchak, a voter in district 1, a downtown district west of Broadway which votes at the Wesley Community, said that he had gone to the polls specifically to support Stop Corruption candidate for sheriff, Jason Longton, but found that the rows of voting switches had become misaligned with the paper marking ballots. The result was that Erchak said he was unable to vote in the Mayor’s race.
“It was pretty aggravating,” said Erchak, who brought the problem to the attention of poll officials, who invalidated the vote he cast on the machine, and allowed him to vote on a paper ballot.
Still, Erchak said he was voter number 80, and wondered how many of the 79 voter ahead of him had been confused and possibly voted for the wrong candidate.
“In my opinion, this invalidates the entire election,” he said.
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/11/03/news/doc4af0a8acd15af811008590.txt
NY: Hoboken. Voters say challengers are harassing them * anecdotal report
Some voters came out of the Elks and said they were being essentially harassed by challengers inside, snatching their ballots, invading their personal space, and even blocking the voting machine. One man told me they were challengers for Glatt. I’ll be voting after the morning rush is complete…
http://hoboken411.com/archives/30943
NY: Dispatches from the Front: The Queens City Council race. *anecdotal report
November 3rd..."Sorry sir, the voting machine is broken. You’ll have to fill out an affidavit ballot.” EXCEPT that affidavits are for people who assert their eligibility rather than having it proved by the presence of a signature in the registration book.
http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/11/03/dispatches-from-the-front-the-queens-city-council-race/
NY: Voting machine saga finally finished
November 2nd, 2009 SMITHVILLE FLATS – Voters pulled its lever for the presidential elections just last year, as they have for every government election since 1934, but the oldest voting machine in Chenango County will be used no more.
http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2009-11-02/8240/Voting-machine-saga-finally-finished/
OH: Voting going smoothly, officials report *
(Premier/Diebold Election Solutions AccuVote-TSX)
Montgomery County ...After a few early morning glitches, he said as the day progressed there have been “just a few minor problems, all immediately resolved.”
An encoder used to activate the machine at Dayton 1C, located in the Wilkinson Plaza building at 126 W. Fifth St. didn’t work so they used paper ballots until they got a new encoder installed, Harsman said.
...
Though a few machines have been taken out of service or replaced today, he said it’s no problem.
...
Other than some sporadic paper jams which were quickly resolved, there have been no problems.
Llyn McCoy, Greene County Board of Elections deputy director, said they had minor calibration issues with voting machines this morning at a couple of polling places. The machines ran slow when a person touched it, but once the machines were calibrated correctly they worked better, she said. All the polling places opened on time, she said.
The Vandalia power outage earlier this morning that knocked out electrical power to about a third of the city did not stop voting because the machines have a battery backup that lasts five hours, Harsman said. The power outage only lasted about an hour, from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., according to a Vandalia police dispatcher.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/voting-going-smoothly-officials-report-380697.html
VA: Election Protection ready for Nov. 3rd Elections
NONPARTISAN COALITION PROTECTS THE VOTE IN VIRGINIA
Election Protection ready for Nov. 3rd Elections, 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline staffed by trained volunteers to answer questions from Virginians seeking free, confidential and nonpartisan guidance on registration and voting
http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/press-releases?id=0047
VA: Election Day updates: Voting enters final hour *(damp ballots and poll book issues)
In Bristol, a paper-ballot scanner didn’t work because the ballot was dampened with hand-sanitizer gel, she said. The ballot was put in a box to be counted later.
...
In Richmond, a city work crew starting digging in front of a polling place on West Grace Street but quickly shut down after being informed that the street needed to remain open for voters, said Registrar J. Kirk Showalter.
...
A computer glitch slowed the checking in of voters at the Chickahominy precinct in Hanover County from 6 a.m. to about 8:30 a.m.
Until the glitch was fixed, voters were checked in using paper rolls, said the precinct’s chief officer, Howard Ostergren.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_
regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/early_voters_likely_to_
find_shorter_lines_than_in_nov/303361/
or use this http://tinyurl.com/yh56xe9
VA: 90-Year-Old Won't Be Voting Today *
It's Election Day today, but a 90-year-old Republican will not be voting after the ID nightmare she faced when moving to Virginia. As it turns out, her birth certificate did not match her married name (ya think?), but even though she also brought a driver's license, proof of her new residence, a Medicaid card and a bank card, she still had problems getting the state-issued ID she'd need to vote today in VA.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7497
VA: Early morning snag leaves York voters outside *(polling place and voting machine)
YORK - —A problem with keys left York County officials processing votes outside first thing this morning at the Magruder Precinct
...
Sheriff's Office and fire department officials arrived, and finally someone from the county's General Services got to the site with keys that worked, Latham said.
He said approximately 25 voters were processed outside, using an emergency ballot box to secure their votes, and the start wasn't delayed by more than five minutes past 6 a.m.
...
York's only other problem so far has been an issue with an optical scanner at the Queenslake Precinct, which is located at Magruder Elementary School, Latham said. The machine was switched out for another one.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_yorkshort_1104nov04,0,3656332.story
VA: Registration snag in Suffolk *(e-poll books wrong, paper poll books right_
Tuesday, 03 Nov 2009 SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) - It's Election Day and polling places across Hampton Roads and all over Virginia are busy with the hustle and bustle of people checking in to vote.
This morning, some voters in Suffolk hit a minor registration snag when they appeared in the electronic poll log as absentee voters.
Voting officials said a few voters had to visit the registrar's office to confirm they were not registered as absentee voters. Voting officials then started cross-checking the electronic log against the paper poll log, which had correct voter information according to voting officials.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/politics/va_ap_virginians_head_to_the_polls_20091103
VA: Races an early test of Obama influence * (poll book check in issue)
Nov 03, 2009. Polls opened at 6 a.m. EST and, unlike during last year's presidential election, lines haven't been long. A few voters in Suffolk in Virginia's South Side had registration problems when they appeared in the electronic poll log as absentee voters, but the problem was quickly corrected, deputy registrar Burdette Lawrence said.
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11431520
VA: City gets new voting technology
November 2, 2009. Many Suffolk voters will notice a change when they visit the polls on Tuesday.
This year, there will be no more thick poll books with long lists of names of registered voters. Taking their place will be notebook computers with software that contains a database of the city’s registered voters.
http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2009/nov/02/city-gets-new-voting-technology/
VA: Virginia officials take precautions to avoid spread of H1N1
Nov 02, 2009 - Concerns about swine flu have added at least one more burden to already harried officials prepping for Election Day.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/election-officials-take-steps-avoid-spread-h1n1
WA: King County's Ballot Scanners can't handle close Mayor's race?
A new King 5 Poll shows Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan are in a statistical dead heat ...Unfortunately for us and the candidates, a report in the 9/3/09 Queen Anne News, states that King County's brand new Diebold/Premier (now ES&S) ballot scanners fail to record all the votes. This is bad in and of itself, but it poses an even more significant problem when there are very close races, like the McGinn/Mallahan race and possibly a few others.
http://www.washblog.com/story/2009/11/2/162653/232
WA: In King County, 2009 will be the first general election without voting booths
http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2009/11/in-king-county-2009-will-be-first.html
National
Election day problems? Let us know:
email brad (at) bradblog.com and cc joyce@ncvoter.net
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/election-day-problems-let-us-know.html
Must You Vote?
...It is a fine thing to rally support for a person or a policy you esteem. It is reasonable to urge your neighbors to be informed about issues that affect your community. But it is irresponsible to encourage the unaware to put their ignorance into action so aimlessly
...
We are indeed an ignorant people. A 2008 survey found that only 18 percent of Americans could name all three of the following: the U.S. secretary of state, the British prime minister and the party that controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
http://ethicist.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/must-you-vote/?scp=3&sq=ethics&st=cse
Secretary of State Project - Who's next?
Sequoia Voting Systems have announced their first transparent, public source voting system that will be available for public download as early this month!
Tell ES&S to follow Sequoia's example and open up its source code to election officials and the public.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1356/t/5320/content.jsp?content_KEY=2967
Fixing Bugs in the Ballot
Nov 2. Years after the controversial presidential election in 2000, election activists are still struggling to work the bugs out of balloting systems.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/11/02/2116945.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage
One Voting Machine Vendor?
The New York Times November 3, 2009 Letter
To the Editor: Re “Trust, Antitrust and Your Vote” (editorial, Oct. 29):
You are correct in your concerns about one company’s providing voting machines to 70 percent of the nation’s voting precincts.
...Jeffrey T. Zaino Vice President, Elections American Arbitration Association
New York, Oct. 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/lweb03vote.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
John Fund on Potential Vote Fraud in New Jersey, and Media Matters on John Fund
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/014680.html
English-only registrations creates barriers for voters
"General criticism aside, English-only policies are particularly troublesome when applied to voting," says Michael Zuckerman in a recent guest column to the Des Moines Register. "This is because voting is a fundamental right and one of the most important tools of political change. To that end, requiring voting materials to be only in English infringes upon the rights of Iowans to vote and to petition the government, both of which are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution."
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2009/11/english-only-in-iowa-creates-barriers.html
Tweet - ELB: Demos Webcast on National Popular Vote: See here...http://bit.ly/1KQp7a
Internet Voting? Read this and think twice about it:
Reports: Cyber attacks traced to N. Korea
The Associated Press Friday Oct 30, 2009 SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean government was the source of high-profile cyber attacks in July that caused Web outages in South Korea and the United States, news reports said Friday.
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_nkorea_cyberattack_103009/
The Federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, (Move)contains a pilot for internet voting.
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006328.html
The technology pilot program language included in the MOVE Act was set forth in Section 589.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:6:./temp/~c1113kYslX:e285986:
*10/22/09 RELEASE OF RESEARCH REPORT ON “CHINESE CYBER WARFARE & ESPIONAGE”: *The Commission has approved for public release a contracted report entitled: Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation.
The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a decade into a sweeping military modernization program that has transformed its ability to fight high tech wars. [Read THE PDF REPORT http://tinyurl.com/ygcmh9b ]
ExpressAdvocacy Tweet: Lobbyists terminating federal registrations at increased rate. Are new lobbying restrictions the cause? http://ow.ly/yHJG
electionlineWeekly--October 29, 2009 (link working now)
Nov 02, 2009 - Director's Note MOVE Act enacted
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=55857
International
US and Afghanistan. 2009 elections demonstrate flaws in voting methods
Press Release – the Center for Range Voting – 2 November 2009
Of the three most-examined elections in the USA plus the Afghan Presidential election – i.e. the four most-important-for-the-US elections in 2009 – three clearly exhibited major flaws. The problems in the two US elections are traceable to the flawed voting method, "plurality," employed. In contrast, score voting (also called "range voting") and approval voting both would have behaved reasonably. But Instant Runoff Voting (IRV; lately called by its US advocates "ranked choice voting") still would have yielded clearly-undemocratic behavior.
http://rangevoting.org/Nov09PR.html
Afghan presidential runoff scrapped
In an interesting round of developments, Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the Afghan runoff election scheduled for this coming weekend. Because of the lack of a challenger in the runoff election, the Afghan Independent Election Commission declared Hamid Karzai the winner of the presidential election.
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=2970
Brazil: Brazil To Let Hackers Try To Crack E-Voting Terminals
from the good-for-them dept
One thing that never made much sense was how vehemently the big e-voting manufacturers fought pretty much every single attempt to let outside computer security experts try hacking their machines.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091102/0330066758.shtml
Canada: Glitches delay final election results until Monday afternoon
Nov 2 2009 All the ballots cast in Montreal’s election have been counted, but snags in getting vote counts from polling stations to city hall continue to cause delays in making results public.
http://communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/soundoff/archive/2009/11/02/372722.aspx
Philippines 691 centenarian voters found in Taguig list
11/03/2009 More At least 691 voters who are more than 100 years old, majority of them having the same birth dates, are still included in the 2007 voters’ list of Taguig, a former lawmaker bared on Tuesday.
...of the 691 centenarian voters, 624 were born in 1901. Of this, 621 were born on January 1.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176202/691-centenarian-voters-found-in-taguig-list
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Alabama State Representative Jimmy Martin reintroduces military internet voting bill HB 30. Something for Alabama lawmakers to this news: Cyber attacks traced to N. Korea -The United States military cyber defense is one of the world's most robust yet the article says "Affected sites include those of the White House and the South’s presidential Blue House." Are we going to trust the election of our decision makers to the internet,or even more secure networks the Pentagon has?...
Virginia election officials take precautions to avoid spread of H1N1 - is voting more dangerous than going to the grocery store or shopping mall?...Take action, tell ES&S to open up their source code...Did you have problems voting? We'd like to hear from you....
All that and more in today's voting news below...
AL: State may be on fast track to pass military voting bill (military internet voting) The Alabama military voting bill, House Bill 30, has been pre-filed by Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, for the legislative session that begins in January. He sponsored the bill last year as well. The bill nearly passed during the last session, but an amendment added by Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, was largely seen as an attack on U.S. Rep. Artur Davis' gubernatorial campaign and the bill failed.
Chapman said the state bill should be on the fast track to pass this session because it passed both houses last year, before the amendment. But she added that the federal legislation was "icing on the cake because it allows us to implement what we've been hoping to implement all along," in regards to federal elections.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20091030/NEWS01/910300363/State-may-be-on-fast-track-to-pass-military-voting-bill
CA: San Ardo woman sentenced for voter registration fraud
November 2, 2009 Monterey County District Attorney Dean D. Flippo announced today Irene Madrigal, 33 of San Ardo, pled guilty on Oct. 30 to a violation of fraudulent voter registration.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20091102/NEWS01/91102013
/1002/San+Ardo+woman+sentenced+for+voter+registration+fraud
or use this http://tinyurl.com/ylqy8rw
CO: Summit County clerk & recorder resigns unexpectedly
Deputy clerk Kathleen Neel appointed to fill spot during emergency BOCC meeting
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091103/NEWS/
911029972/1078&ParentProfile=1055
or use this http://tinyurl.com/yz4tmzo
CT: Secretary of the State’s Letter To Senator Schumer RE: Premier, ES&S
November 2, 2009 Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz and Deputy Secretary Lesley Mara have sent the following letter to Senator Schumer relative to the Premier acquisition by ES&S.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2538
FL: Judge rules Fort Pierce election good to go; questions about Perona's qualifications to be decided Wednesday
November 2, 2009
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/nov/02/judge-rules-fort-pierce-election-good-to-go-to/
IL: Ballot Order
Champaign County Clerk. We had our drawing today for the ballot order for the candidates who filed at 8am last Monday, the first day of filing. We draw numbers out of a hat that correspond to the names of the candidates in alphabetical order. The numbers were drawn in this order
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/11/03/ballot-order-2/
IN: Voter ID still required, despite court ruling
http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=11424958
MA: Phantom precinct shows city’s arcane voting laws
Made up of Harbor Islands, no one cast ballot in 15 years
...“This one little voting place is so out of whack that it is an indication that all the precincts in Boston are in need of adjustment,’’ said Avi Green, executive director of MassVOTE. “They all need to catch up with the last 100 years of demographics and history in our city.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/
articles/2009/11/03/boston_election_officials_rethink_the_phantom_precinct/
Or use this http://tinyurl.com/ygvxs44
MD: Over 1,000 voters cast ballots in Gaithersburg election by 11 a.m.*
Voters have until 8 p.m. to vote; minor glitch reported at Potomac Oaks polling place
There was one glitch at the polling place at Potomac Oaks Condominiums. A scanning machine that tallies the ballots broke and a replacement was brought from City Hall, said City Attorney Lynn Board. She said the glitch did not delay voters.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11032009/montnew130536_32565.shtml
MD: First Test for Election Cryptography (Scantegrity)
Novel voting technology will be used in a local government election.
November 02, 2009 The first government election to use a new cryptographic scheme that lets both voters and auditors check that votes were cast and recorded accurately will be held tomorrow in Takoma Park, MD
...
"I hate to be critical of something that is so well-intended and is likely to actually increase security, but I don't think this is likely to be deployable on a large scale," Bederson says.
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/23836/
MN: 'Not a whole lot of problems' in Minneapolis voting
November 3, 2009 ...Voters at the precinct seemed to like the new voting method but they admitted that they were hard-put to use all three rankings they were allowed.
"I never got to a third choice," said voter Dale Wiehoff. "I didn't know the candidates that well."
"I actually sort of like it," he said of his experience with ranked-choice voting. "I came in sort of skeptical."
...
One early election-related glitch: Because of an unspecified snafu at the U.S. Postal Service, tens of thousands of sample ballots prepared by the Minneapolis DFL never got delivered.
...
Party officials are concerned that the lack of sample ballots could hurt their candidates if voters are confused by the new ballot setup, "but nobody really knows what'll happen,"
http://www.startribune.com/local/68843462.html?page=2&c=y
MN: Minneapolis' first such vote -- and St. Paul's referendum on a similar system -- could set future of method in state.
November 2, 2009...Although the results should be fairly evident in lopsided races, it could be weeks before a victor is known in contests where nobody achieves the required number of votes on first choices. Then the more complicated hand sorting of second and third choices will be required to declare a winner. That's where rankings of candidates could be the most influential...
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/68803867.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUX
MN: St. Paul To Weigh 'Ranked Choice' Voting Option
If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of "first choice" votes, they win. If nobody reaches that number, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and ballots cast for them are instead counted using that voter's second choice.
http://wcco.com/local/ranked.choice.minneapolis.2.1287343.html
MN: Anti-IRV group calls claims of Obama, DFL endorsement ‘evil’
11/2/09 St Paul.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/48606/anti-irv-group-calls-claims-of-obama-dfl-endorsement-evil
MN: Minneapolis voters, what did you think of those newfangled ballots?
November 3, 2009
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/68756662.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI
NC: Election day: Don't forget to vote
Initial election totals are low, but typical for off yearBy John Harbin Times-News November 3, 2009..."There were 500 votes cast for the Hendersonville election," Election Director Beverly Cunningham said. "It's hard to tell if those numbers are higher than the 2007 municipal election because we also had the county land transfer tax on the ballot (in 2007)."
Voters have so far been giving positive feedback on instant runoff voting.
"We will have people taking surveys at each polling place like we did in 2007," Cunningham said.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20091103/SERVICES03/911031016
NC: SURVEY. IF YOU VOTED IN HENDERSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA'S NOVEMBER 2009 IRV MUNICIPAL ELECTION WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
http://www.ncvoter.net/
NJ: Voting-machine problems crop up in Essex, Somerset and Gloucester counties * (Sequoia Voting AVC Advantage touchscreen for all 3 counties)
As voters trickled into polling sites across the state this morning, a handful of voting machines in Essex, Somerset and Gloucester counties had to be replaced due to start-up problems, state officials said.
When poll workers turn the machines on and off, it can cause mechanical malfunctions -- and delay for voters while back-up machines on hand in every district are trucked over to the polling sites, said Susan Evans, a spokeswoman with the New Jersey Division of Elections.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/voting-machine_problems_crop_u.html
NY: Police Called To NY-23 Polling Sites * (voter intimidation)
November 3, 2009...who informed me the police had been called to at least two polling sites in St. Lawrence County due to overzealous electioneering (O'Neill called it "voter intimidation") by Doug Hoffman supporters.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/police-called-to-ny-23-polling.html
NY: Paper votes in Vernon during machine repairs * (Levers and Sequoia Voting Systems/Dominion ImageCast)
There were scattered voting machine problems around the county this morning as voters went to the polls to elect mostly county and local officials.
...
Republican Election Commissioner Pamela N. Mandryck said there was a problem at a Vernon polling location when none of the three voting machines would operate. While the problem was being fixed, voters used paper emergency ballots or a ballot marking device. All polling sites have one such machine to accommodate special needs of the handicapped.
Mandryck said also were reports of temporary glitches at some Utica polling locations and elsewhere one machine that had to be repaired when a lever broke off.
http://www.romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20091103-141045
NY: Optical voting machines raise privacy issues with some Broome voters
But others find new system simpler *
Polling places experienced relatively few difficulties, although a maintenance person had to be called to reset and restart a machine at Davis College in Johnson City that broke down before the 6 a.m. start.
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091103/NEWS01/911030333/1112/Optical-voting-machines-raise-privacy-issues-with-some-Broome-voters
NY: Spa City voting goes smoothly despite minor hiccups *(voting switches misaligned)
November 3, 2009 (Lever and Sequoia Voting Systems/Dominion ImageCast)
...
Gerald Erchak, a voter in district 1, a downtown district west of Broadway which votes at the Wesley Community, said that he had gone to the polls specifically to support Stop Corruption candidate for sheriff, Jason Longton, but found that the rows of voting switches had become misaligned with the paper marking ballots. The result was that Erchak said he was unable to vote in the Mayor’s race.
“It was pretty aggravating,” said Erchak, who brought the problem to the attention of poll officials, who invalidated the vote he cast on the machine, and allowed him to vote on a paper ballot.
Still, Erchak said he was voter number 80, and wondered how many of the 79 voter ahead of him had been confused and possibly voted for the wrong candidate.
“In my opinion, this invalidates the entire election,” he said.
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/11/03/news/doc4af0a8acd15af811008590.txt
NY: Hoboken. Voters say challengers are harassing them * anecdotal report
Some voters came out of the Elks and said they were being essentially harassed by challengers inside, snatching their ballots, invading their personal space, and even blocking the voting machine. One man told me they were challengers for Glatt. I’ll be voting after the morning rush is complete…
http://hoboken411.com/archives/30943
NY: Dispatches from the Front: The Queens City Council race. *anecdotal report
November 3rd..."Sorry sir, the voting machine is broken. You’ll have to fill out an affidavit ballot.” EXCEPT that affidavits are for people who assert their eligibility rather than having it proved by the presence of a signature in the registration book.
http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2009/11/03/dispatches-from-the-front-the-queens-city-council-race/
NY: Voting machine saga finally finished
November 2nd, 2009 SMITHVILLE FLATS – Voters pulled its lever for the presidential elections just last year, as they have for every government election since 1934, but the oldest voting machine in Chenango County will be used no more.
http://www.evesun.com/news/stories/2009-11-02/8240/Voting-machine-saga-finally-finished/
OH: Voting going smoothly, officials report *
(Premier/Diebold Election Solutions AccuVote-TSX)
Montgomery County ...After a few early morning glitches, he said as the day progressed there have been “just a few minor problems, all immediately resolved.”
An encoder used to activate the machine at Dayton 1C, located in the Wilkinson Plaza building at 126 W. Fifth St. didn’t work so they used paper ballots until they got a new encoder installed, Harsman said.
...
Though a few machines have been taken out of service or replaced today, he said it’s no problem.
...
Other than some sporadic paper jams which were quickly resolved, there have been no problems.
Llyn McCoy, Greene County Board of Elections deputy director, said they had minor calibration issues with voting machines this morning at a couple of polling places. The machines ran slow when a person touched it, but once the machines were calibrated correctly they worked better, she said. All the polling places opened on time, she said.
The Vandalia power outage earlier this morning that knocked out electrical power to about a third of the city did not stop voting because the machines have a battery backup that lasts five hours, Harsman said. The power outage only lasted about an hour, from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., according to a Vandalia police dispatcher.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/voting-going-smoothly-officials-report-380697.html
VA: Election Protection ready for Nov. 3rd Elections
NONPARTISAN COALITION PROTECTS THE VOTE IN VIRGINIA
Election Protection ready for Nov. 3rd Elections, 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline staffed by trained volunteers to answer questions from Virginians seeking free, confidential and nonpartisan guidance on registration and voting
http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/press-releases?id=0047
VA: Election Day updates: Voting enters final hour *(damp ballots and poll book issues)
In Bristol, a paper-ballot scanner didn’t work because the ballot was dampened with hand-sanitizer gel, she said. The ballot was put in a box to be counted later.
...
In Richmond, a city work crew starting digging in front of a polling place on West Grace Street but quickly shut down after being informed that the street needed to remain open for voters, said Registrar J. Kirk Showalter.
...
A computer glitch slowed the checking in of voters at the Chickahominy precinct in Hanover County from 6 a.m. to about 8:30 a.m.
Until the glitch was fixed, voters were checked in using paper rolls, said the precinct’s chief officer, Howard Ostergren.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_
regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/early_voters_likely_to_
find_shorter_lines_than_in_nov/303361/
or use this http://tinyurl.com/yh56xe9
VA: 90-Year-Old Won't Be Voting Today *
It's Election Day today, but a 90-year-old Republican will not be voting after the ID nightmare she faced when moving to Virginia. As it turns out, her birth certificate did not match her married name (ya think?), but even though she also brought a driver's license, proof of her new residence, a Medicaid card and a bank card, she still had problems getting the state-issued ID she'd need to vote today in VA.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7497
VA: Early morning snag leaves York voters outside *(polling place and voting machine)
YORK - —A problem with keys left York County officials processing votes outside first thing this morning at the Magruder Precinct
...
Sheriff's Office and fire department officials arrived, and finally someone from the county's General Services got to the site with keys that worked, Latham said.
He said approximately 25 voters were processed outside, using an emergency ballot box to secure their votes, and the start wasn't delayed by more than five minutes past 6 a.m.
...
York's only other problem so far has been an issue with an optical scanner at the Queenslake Precinct, which is located at Magruder Elementary School, Latham said. The machine was switched out for another one.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_yorkshort_1104nov04,0,3656332.story
VA: Registration snag in Suffolk *(e-poll books wrong, paper poll books right_
Tuesday, 03 Nov 2009 SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) - It's Election Day and polling places across Hampton Roads and all over Virginia are busy with the hustle and bustle of people checking in to vote.
This morning, some voters in Suffolk hit a minor registration snag when they appeared in the electronic poll log as absentee voters.
Voting officials said a few voters had to visit the registrar's office to confirm they were not registered as absentee voters. Voting officials then started cross-checking the electronic log against the paper poll log, which had correct voter information according to voting officials.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/politics/va_ap_virginians_head_to_the_polls_20091103
VA: Races an early test of Obama influence * (poll book check in issue)
Nov 03, 2009. Polls opened at 6 a.m. EST and, unlike during last year's presidential election, lines haven't been long. A few voters in Suffolk in Virginia's South Side had registration problems when they appeared in the electronic poll log as absentee voters, but the problem was quickly corrected, deputy registrar Burdette Lawrence said.
http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11431520
VA: City gets new voting technology
November 2, 2009. Many Suffolk voters will notice a change when they visit the polls on Tuesday.
This year, there will be no more thick poll books with long lists of names of registered voters. Taking their place will be notebook computers with software that contains a database of the city’s registered voters.
http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2009/nov/02/city-gets-new-voting-technology/
VA: Virginia officials take precautions to avoid spread of H1N1
Nov 02, 2009 - Concerns about swine flu have added at least one more burden to already harried officials prepping for Election Day.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/election-officials-take-steps-avoid-spread-h1n1
WA: King County's Ballot Scanners can't handle close Mayor's race?
A new King 5 Poll shows Mike McGinn and Joe Mallahan are in a statistical dead heat ...Unfortunately for us and the candidates, a report in the 9/3/09 Queen Anne News, states that King County's brand new Diebold/Premier (now ES&S) ballot scanners fail to record all the votes. This is bad in and of itself, but it poses an even more significant problem when there are very close races, like the McGinn/Mallahan race and possibly a few others.
http://www.washblog.com/story/2009/11/2/162653/232
WA: In King County, 2009 will be the first general election without voting booths
http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2009/11/in-king-county-2009-will-be-first.html
National
Election day problems? Let us know:
email brad (at) bradblog.com and cc joyce@ncvoter.net
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/election-day-problems-let-us-know.html
Must You Vote?
...It is a fine thing to rally support for a person or a policy you esteem. It is reasonable to urge your neighbors to be informed about issues that affect your community. But it is irresponsible to encourage the unaware to put their ignorance into action so aimlessly
...
We are indeed an ignorant people. A 2008 survey found that only 18 percent of Americans could name all three of the following: the U.S. secretary of state, the British prime minister and the party that controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
http://ethicist.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/must-you-vote/?scp=3&sq=ethics&st=cse
Secretary of State Project - Who's next?
Sequoia Voting Systems have announced their first transparent, public source voting system that will be available for public download as early this month!
Tell ES&S to follow Sequoia's example and open up its source code to election officials and the public.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1356/t/5320/content.jsp?content_KEY=2967
Fixing Bugs in the Ballot
Nov 2. Years after the controversial presidential election in 2000, election activists are still struggling to work the bugs out of balloting systems.
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/11/02/2116945.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage
One Voting Machine Vendor?
The New York Times November 3, 2009 Letter
To the Editor: Re “Trust, Antitrust and Your Vote” (editorial, Oct. 29):
You are correct in your concerns about one company’s providing voting machines to 70 percent of the nation’s voting precincts.
...Jeffrey T. Zaino Vice President, Elections American Arbitration Association
New York, Oct. 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/lweb03vote.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
John Fund on Potential Vote Fraud in New Jersey, and Media Matters on John Fund
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/014680.html
English-only registrations creates barriers for voters
"General criticism aside, English-only policies are particularly troublesome when applied to voting," says Michael Zuckerman in a recent guest column to the Des Moines Register. "This is because voting is a fundamental right and one of the most important tools of political change. To that end, requiring voting materials to be only in English infringes upon the rights of Iowans to vote and to petition the government, both of which are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution."
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2009/11/english-only-in-iowa-creates-barriers.html
Tweet - ELB: Demos Webcast on National Popular Vote: See here...http://bit.ly/1KQp7a
Internet Voting? Read this and think twice about it:
Reports: Cyber attacks traced to N. Korea
The Associated Press Friday Oct 30, 2009 SEOUL, South Korea — The North Korean government was the source of high-profile cyber attacks in July that caused Web outages in South Korea and the United States, news reports said Friday.
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_nkorea_cyberattack_103009/
The Federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, (Move)contains a pilot for internet voting.
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006328.html
The technology pilot program language included in the MOVE Act was set forth in Section 589.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:6:./temp/~c1113kYslX:e285986:
*10/22/09 RELEASE OF RESEARCH REPORT ON “CHINESE CYBER WARFARE & ESPIONAGE”: *The Commission has approved for public release a contracted report entitled: Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation.
The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a decade into a sweeping military modernization program that has transformed its ability to fight high tech wars. [Read THE PDF REPORT http://tinyurl.com/ygcmh9b ]
ExpressAdvocacy Tweet: Lobbyists terminating federal registrations at increased rate. Are new lobbying restrictions the cause? http://ow.ly/yHJG
electionlineWeekly--October 29, 2009 (link working now)
Nov 02, 2009 - Director's Note MOVE Act enacted
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=55857
International
US and Afghanistan. 2009 elections demonstrate flaws in voting methods
Press Release – the Center for Range Voting – 2 November 2009
Of the three most-examined elections in the USA plus the Afghan Presidential election – i.e. the four most-important-for-the-US elections in 2009 – three clearly exhibited major flaws. The problems in the two US elections are traceable to the flawed voting method, "plurality," employed. In contrast, score voting (also called "range voting") and approval voting both would have behaved reasonably. But Instant Runoff Voting (IRV; lately called by its US advocates "ranked choice voting") still would have yielded clearly-undemocratic behavior.
http://rangevoting.org/Nov09PR.html
Afghan presidential runoff scrapped
In an interesting round of developments, Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the Afghan runoff election scheduled for this coming weekend. Because of the lack of a challenger in the runoff election, the Afghan Independent Election Commission declared Hamid Karzai the winner of the presidential election.
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=2970
Brazil: Brazil To Let Hackers Try To Crack E-Voting Terminals
from the good-for-them dept
One thing that never made much sense was how vehemently the big e-voting manufacturers fought pretty much every single attempt to let outside computer security experts try hacking their machines.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091102/0330066758.shtml
Canada: Glitches delay final election results until Monday afternoon
Nov 2 2009 All the ballots cast in Montreal’s election have been counted, but snags in getting vote counts from polling stations to city hall continue to cause delays in making results public.
http://communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/soundoff/archive/2009/11/02/372722.aspx
Philippines 691 centenarian voters found in Taguig list
11/03/2009 More At least 691 voters who are more than 100 years old, majority of them having the same birth dates, are still included in the 2007 voters’ list of Taguig, a former lawmaker bared on Tuesday.
...of the 691 centenarian voters, 624 were born in 1901. Of this, 621 were born on January 1.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176202/691-centenarian-voters-found-in-taguig-list
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
=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
Donate online at this link:
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Monday, November 2, 2009
Election day problems? Let us know
Tuesday is election day. If you hear of an election meltdown or see them , problems with voting machines, polling places, voters, reports in the media or with your own eyes, let us know at Voting News and also BradBlog.
We'll do our best to monitor and report as things develop.
Send reports to brad (at)bradblog.com and cc me at joyce@ncvoter.net (best email to use)
Thank you!
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
=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
Donate online at this link:
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5295
We'll do our best to monitor and report as things develop.
Watch for key words in the media that usually indicate more trouble:
"glitch", "hiccup", "snafu" and "snag"
in reality known as FAILURES!
Send reports to brad (at)bradblog.com and cc me at joyce@ncvoter.net (best email to use)
Thank you!
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
=============================================
"The Voting News is a free service made possible in part by support from Verified Voting Foundation. You can help support the Voting News by sending a check to Verified Voting Foundation, PO Box 4104, Carlsbad, CA 92018. Be sure to note "for Voting News" in the memo line of your check! Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law."
Donate online at this link:
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5295
Sarasota undervote fears, Go Vote Tuesday, Montreal ditches e-voting
Sarasota Sup. of Elections Kathy Dent predicts another "smooth" election in spite of voting machine problems - the machines can't read blue ink or #2 pencil and manual counts are needed to ensure that all votes are counted, but once burnt twice shy activists and a candidate call for manual counting of ballots...
... The Defense Authorization Bill, which contains an internet voting pilot, was signed by the President last week. Around the same time, a government commission released a report on China's ability to conduct Cyber Warfare against the US...Missing ballots for April 08 Nevada State GOP convention finally counted, favored Ron Paul...Some New Jersey officials warn that under-vote notification goes too far causing loss of secrecy...Galveston TX Vote Center pilot cut number of voting places in half...The Washington Post slams Virginia State Board of Elections' website...Open Software Can't Count Votes & Elections Still Won't Work...Montreal Canada returns to hand counted paper ballots after e-voting problems...Privacy Looms Over Gay Rights Vote...Rock the Vote urges you to take part in democracy, get out and vote this Tuesday...
CO: Inside the ballot issues for Pitkin and Eagle counties
October 30, 2009 ...City of Aspen Referendum 2A: The city wants advice on whether it should continue to use Instant Runoff Voting for its mayor and council elections. The question is on the ballot because of the controversy and complications associated with IRV in the May election. Voters are being asked a simple “yes” or “no” on whether to keep using the method.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091030/NEWS/910309979/1077&ParentProfile=1058
FL: Elections supervisor predicts smooth election in Venice * (Diebold OSX scanners)
November 1. VENICE - Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent said she is expecting strong turnout and a smooth election for City Council seats Tuesday despite some complaints about a ballot counting glitch.
An elections activist and at least one candidate are calling for a manual vote count after a ballot marked with blue ink failed to scan properly during a test run earlier this month.
"I'm not concerned," (Dent)...
...
Muntz also disputed Dent's assertion that every ballot would be counted.
"She can't catch them all," Muntz said. "She thinks she'll be able to intercept each one, that it'll be rejected, but from what I'm learning lightly colored blue ink could slip through. It would be accepted and register as an undervote in that race."
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091101/ARTICLE/911011031/2416?Title=Elections-supervisor-predicts-smooth-election-in-Venice
Another "Smooth" Election supervised by Kathy Dent? 2006 Florida 13 Buchanon/Jennings Congressional Contest and the 18,000 undervotes. Dent ignored the vendors warning and also failed to supply this document to Jennings campaign:
E-Vote Memo Is a 'Smoking Gun'
03.22.07... "This memo is the smoking gun that says, 'Yes, Houston, we have a problem,'
...
Jennings and voting activists had sought not only access to the source code but to all correspondence between ES&S and election officials related to the performance of the machines. The memo was not among documents handed over.
...Kathy Dent, election supervisor in Sarasota, decided not to post the sign, (the sign ES&S urged her to put on each voting machine to warn voters of delay),,,
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/03/EVOTE_0322
GA: Former Gov. won’t take lobbyist contributions again
November 2, 2009 The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that former Gov. Roy Barnes has said his campaign will not accept lobbyist contributions.
...“I have become very concerned that you have had an overwhelming takeover of the common interest by the special interests. We ought to say we’ve got to stop this right now.”
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=6068
NC: Greensboro Students March To Early Voting Site
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=132327&catid=57
NC: IRV is verified confusion
Be Our Guest: Instant runoff voting
November 1, 2009 ...Can we really justify a voting system that is confusing, difficult to calculate, prone to error and fails to count every vote? Third, fourth and more place votes aren't "backup" votes as some IRV proponents define them, they're your votes and if your vote isn't counted, it doesn't count.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20091101/SERVICES03/911011032/1014?Title=IRV-is-verified-confusion
NC: SURVEY. IF YOU VOTED IN HENDERSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA'S NOVEMBER 2009 IRV MUNICIPAL ELECTION WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
http://www.ncvoter.net/
NJ: State law could compromise ballot secrecy
October 31, 2009 The principle of the secret ballot is sacred in U.S. elections, but some say Illinois state law compromises that rule.
...
The new law requires notification to voters when they do not cast a vote for any one of the state constitutional offices (governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller,
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/voters-32633-undervote-ballot.html
NV: Count is a coup for Ron Paul backers
October 30, 2009 A group of disaffected Republicans said they felt vindicated Friday night after a count of missing delegate ballots from last year’s GOP state convention proved three delegates supporting U.S. Rep. Ron Paul should have been sent to the national convention.
http://rgj.com/article/20091030/NEWS/91030046&OAS_sitepage=news.rgj.com%2Fbreakingnews
NY: Election commissioner says Borrello’s double voting was not ‘clerical error’
While registered in both Erie County and Chautauqua County, Borrello, according to Green, voted alternately between his Williamsville and Irving addresses - violating New York state election law. The simultaneous registration was recently uncovered by the mandated statewide voter registration data base.
http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/531542.html
NY: New optical voting scanners face test
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091031/NEWS01/910310341/New-optical-voting-scanners-face-test-
OH: Montgomery County taking precautions with electronic voting machines (Diebold)
Board of Elections officials will double-check all 2,500 machines after elections to ensure no ballots missed.
...
He said his office will double-check results from all 2,500 machines after Election Day by comparing summary sheets from each voting machine with the results on the electronic tabulation machines which tally the results from the machine’s memory cards.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/montgomery-county-taking-precautions-with-electronic-voting-machines-378754.html
OH: Cast ballots' wording can't be fixed *
October 30, 2009 The 1,307 votes cast before county commissioners discovered an error in language are set in stone, said Ashland County Prosecutor Ramona Francesconi-Rogers.
...
The ballots falsely state the county is asking voters to "retain" an already-imposed 0.25 percent sales tax increase when commissioners actually are asking voters to approve a new increase, not renew an existing tax...
http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/4699735
PA: October 30, 2009
"Costs continue for voting machines"
...
The county paid Electec Inc., of Mt. Holly, N.J., $72,675 in software licensing fees and $98,685 for an extended warranty on 765 machines.
...
Sandy Schiff with the Coalition for Voting Integrity told commissioners during a meeting at Crossing Vineyards in Upper Makefield the county could have saved money on annual costs if they went with another type of voting system.
http://coalitionforvotingintegrity.blogspot.com/2009/10/costs-continue-for-voting-machines.html
TN: Note to the Shelby County Election Administrator: The Voting Machines are Broken
...The broken machines even made Newsweek (”Short-circuiting the vote”) and the NY Times (”Can you count on voting machines?”) and in October 2008, the Brennan Center for Justice, the non-partisan public research and law institute, sent a letter telling the Secretaries of State in 16 states that the machines didn’t work.
http://www.liberadio.com/2009/11/02/note-to-the-shelby-county-election-administrator-the-voting-machines-are-already-broken/
TN: Last Chance Not to Vote in City Elections
Citizens indifferent to representative government look forward to not voting Tuesday
From APB reports. KNOXVILLE - The largest turnover on Knoxville City Council in 8 years will be decided by the few rather than the many Tuesday - and that's exactly how citizens here like it, according to spokespersons for a group claiming to represent Knoxville's "silent, indifferent majority."
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/mcnutt/2009/11/last-chance-not-to-vote-in-cit.html
TX: Election Day brings new voting system (Vote Centers)
November 1, 2009 There will be fewer polling places than usual Tuesday for Election Day — but more opportunities for you to cast a ballot.
Galveston County is participating in a pilot program where registered voters can vote at any of the county’s 40 polling places. They don’t have to go to a poll in a specific precinct.
...
the county to cut costs by reducing the number of polling places by about half, which means fewer workers are needed. Daigle said that as late as Wednesday, the county was scrambling to find enough election workers. Even with fewer polling places, the county was still short about four Spanish-speaking poll workers, she said.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=df7c0b1313948950
TS: Erath County to help Texas test centralized voting (Vote Centers)
November 1, 2009...Gwinda Jones, county clerk for Erath County, said there are four counties in the state that are participating in the County-wide Election pilot program through the secretary of state’s office. The other counties are Lubbock, Galveston and Collin.
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/nov/01/erath-county-to-help-texas-test-centralized/
VA: Inquiry Launched Into Group That Sought to Disclose Voting Records
A nonprofit citizens group is under investigation for planning to send a mass mailing to 350,000 Virginia residents that would show not only their own voting record, but that of their neighbors, as well -- privileged information that, when released to the general public, is a felony punishable by a prison term.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/30/inquiry-launched-group-sought-disclose-voting-records/
VA: Lonna R. Atkeson, “The Future of Post Election Auditing”
After much discussion, compromise and careful thought, the participants agreed on the following statement that was forwarded to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=2956
VA: Virginia's secret election
Good luck determining who's on your ballot -- without this guide.
October 31, 2009. ..the State Board of Elections has made it needlessly complicated to determine ahead of Election Day which candidates will appear a little further down the ballot -- especially in races for the House of Delegates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR2009103003376.html
WA: County to decide fate of ranked choice voting
Election: Three-year-old ‘instant runoff’ system to be put to test next month
10/26/09 To its supporters, ranked choice voting gives voters more choices and improves democracy. To its detractors, it’s costly and confusing.
Now, even as Pierce County voters prepare to use it a second time on the general election ballot, they must decide whether to keep or scrap ranked choice voting.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/929645.html
WA: Privacy Looms Over Gay Rights Vote
October 31, 2009. SEATTLE — At a time when voters in many states are using petitions to qualify ballot measures on issues from gay rights to property rights, a legal dispute over the identity of 138,000 petition signers here is raising new questions about privacy, free speech and elections in the Internet age.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01petition.html?_r=2&th&emc=th
National
Lots of Elections!
November 2nd, 2009. Just a reminder, you probably have an election tomorrow – yes, there are elections outside of the Presidential contests: statewide races, ballot initiatives, city council, town council, dog catcher….every single one is important to make sure you have a say in how your city and state is run. GO VOTE! Find out if you have an election by going to our Election Center.
http://www.blog.rockthevote.com/2009/11/lots-of-elections.html
Preparing for Email Addresses (on voter registration forms)
Champaign County Clerk. Last week I wrote about HR 1719 and expressed my general support for the bill. Coincidentally, we’re at a time in our process where we need to order some new registration forms for Deputy Registrars. We are now going to add the e-mail address to our forms in anticipation of some of the changes that might come down regarding e-mail updates. We already have a location for an e-mail address on our NVRA form.
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/11/02/preparing-for-email-addresses/
Statisticians, Political Scientists, Election Officials, and Advocates Recommendations to NIST
November 1, 2009 Last weekend I participated in a working meeting in Alexandria, VA to design pragmatic post-election audits. One result was a letter to the National Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST) making suggestions for the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines which they are in the process of updating. I am one of two participants and endorsers from Connecticut...
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2531
Sequoia: Open Software Can't Count Votes & Elections Still Won't Work
...More importantly, will publicly disclosed source code of any or even all election systems guarantee our votes are counted? No. While this level of transparency is an important breakthrough, it will not ensure fair and accurate elections.
...
We cannot guarantee fair and accurate elections in this country until uniform election laws identify invalid election results for what they are and send a bad election back to the people.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Sequoia-Open-Software-Can-by-Lani-Massey-Brown-091029-331.html
In time for Halloween, spectre of Internet voting re-emerges
The recently signed "Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act" includes a mandate to establish pilot programs to study electronic voting.
...
This is not the first Federal attempt to sidle up to Internet voting. In 2004, the Pentagon established just such a pilot program. But they wisely deep-sixed it after a panel of respected computer experts deemed Internet voting to be folly...
http://www.opednews.com/articles/In-time-for-Halloween-spe-by-Roy-Lipscomb-091030-526.html
International
Australia: Queensland's online voting revolution looms
October 31, 2009 The days of the cardboard polling booth, the worn-out pencil and the ballot paper are numbered, according to Queensland's Electoral Commissioner.
David Kerslake believes universal online voting is an inevitable initiative on the democratic horizon and argues that first cab off the rank should be voters with disabilities at the next state election...
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queenslands-online-voting-revolution-looms-20091031-hq1f.html
Brazil: Contest To Hack Brazilian Voting Machines on Friday October 30
...Next month, 10 teams that accepted the challenge will have access to hardware and software
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/31/0120223/Contest-To-Hack-Brazilian-Voting-Machines?from=rss
Canada: What you need to bring to vote (City returns to hand counting ballots)
November 1, 2009 This year’s election will see a return to manual voting. In 2005, there were numerous errors with electronic voting machines, that delayed results well into the next day. Manual counting might mean getting election results earlier than last year
...
Voters need to bring a piece of photo ID with them, either a driver’s licence, a passport, or a medicare card. A certificate of Indian status, or a Canadian Forces identity card are also accepted.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Poll+clerks+prime+record+turnout/2168772/story.html
Canada: Regina considers online voting
Voter turnout was 25 per cent
October 30, 2009 ... "It is a sad day for democracy in our two major cities," Don Ravis, a spokesman for Lead Saskatoon Futures Inc., told CBC News.
...
Ravis laid some of the blame for the poor turnout on the quality of people standing for election.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/10/30/sk-regina-saskatoon-election-turnout.html
Canada and Philippines: Dominion Voting's No. 2 on Deloitte's list of Canada's top 50 rapid-growth tech firms
...It does not trade publicly and, on election days, those who cast ballots may not think twice about the machine tabulating their votes.
But if you recently cast a municipal vote in Oakville, Pickering or Montreal, or a provincial vote in September 's St. Paul's by-election – or were among the many in the state of New York who voted for senator Barack Obama for U.S. president – you may have used the handiwork of this relatively small Canadian company
...It has few rivals but has run test trials in the U.K. and Colombia and is contributing voting technology to the Philippines' 2010 national election.
Poulos started Dominion Voting in 2002, after the disaster in Florida.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/719544--selling-trust-in-democracy
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
=============================================
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... The Defense Authorization Bill, which contains an internet voting pilot, was signed by the President last week. Around the same time, a government commission released a report on China's ability to conduct Cyber Warfare against the US...Missing ballots for April 08 Nevada State GOP convention finally counted, favored Ron Paul...Some New Jersey officials warn that under-vote notification goes too far causing loss of secrecy...Galveston TX Vote Center pilot cut number of voting places in half...The Washington Post slams Virginia State Board of Elections' website...Open Software Can't Count Votes & Elections Still Won't Work...Montreal Canada returns to hand counted paper ballots after e-voting problems...Privacy Looms Over Gay Rights Vote...Rock the Vote urges you to take part in democracy, get out and vote this Tuesday...
CO: Inside the ballot issues for Pitkin and Eagle counties
October 30, 2009 ...City of Aspen Referendum 2A: The city wants advice on whether it should continue to use Instant Runoff Voting for its mayor and council elections. The question is on the ballot because of the controversy and complications associated with IRV in the May election. Voters are being asked a simple “yes” or “no” on whether to keep using the method.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091030/NEWS/910309979/1077&ParentProfile=1058
FL: Elections supervisor predicts smooth election in Venice * (Diebold OSX scanners)
November 1. VENICE - Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent said she is expecting strong turnout and a smooth election for City Council seats Tuesday despite some complaints about a ballot counting glitch.
An elections activist and at least one candidate are calling for a manual vote count after a ballot marked with blue ink failed to scan properly during a test run earlier this month.
"I'm not concerned," (Dent)...
...
Muntz also disputed Dent's assertion that every ballot would be counted.
"She can't catch them all," Muntz said. "She thinks she'll be able to intercept each one, that it'll be rejected, but from what I'm learning lightly colored blue ink could slip through. It would be accepted and register as an undervote in that race."
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091101/ARTICLE/911011031/2416?Title=Elections-supervisor-predicts-smooth-election-in-Venice
Another "Smooth" Election supervised by Kathy Dent? 2006 Florida 13 Buchanon/Jennings Congressional Contest and the 18,000 undervotes. Dent ignored the vendors warning and also failed to supply this document to Jennings campaign:
E-Vote Memo Is a 'Smoking Gun'
03.22.07... "This memo is the smoking gun that says, 'Yes, Houston, we have a problem,'
...
Jennings and voting activists had sought not only access to the source code but to all correspondence between ES&S and election officials related to the performance of the machines. The memo was not among documents handed over.
...Kathy Dent, election supervisor in Sarasota, decided not to post the sign, (the sign ES&S urged her to put on each voting machine to warn voters of delay),,,
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/03/EVOTE_0322
GA: Former Gov. won’t take lobbyist contributions again
November 2, 2009 The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that former Gov. Roy Barnes has said his campaign will not accept lobbyist contributions.
...“I have become very concerned that you have had an overwhelming takeover of the common interest by the special interests. We ought to say we’ve got to stop this right now.”
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=6068
NC: Greensboro Students March To Early Voting Site
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=132327&catid=57
NC: IRV is verified confusion
Be Our Guest: Instant runoff voting
November 1, 2009 ...Can we really justify a voting system that is confusing, difficult to calculate, prone to error and fails to count every vote? Third, fourth and more place votes aren't "backup" votes as some IRV proponents define them, they're your votes and if your vote isn't counted, it doesn't count.
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20091101/SERVICES03/911011032/1014?Title=IRV-is-verified-confusion
NC: SURVEY. IF YOU VOTED IN HENDERSONVILLE NORTH CAROLINA'S NOVEMBER 2009 IRV MUNICIPAL ELECTION WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR EXPERIENCE.
http://www.ncvoter.net/
NJ: State law could compromise ballot secrecy
October 31, 2009 The principle of the secret ballot is sacred in U.S. elections, but some say Illinois state law compromises that rule.
...
The new law requires notification to voters when they do not cast a vote for any one of the state constitutional offices (governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller,
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/voters-32633-undervote-ballot.html
NV: Count is a coup for Ron Paul backers
October 30, 2009 A group of disaffected Republicans said they felt vindicated Friday night after a count of missing delegate ballots from last year’s GOP state convention proved three delegates supporting U.S. Rep. Ron Paul should have been sent to the national convention.
http://rgj.com/article/20091030/NEWS/91030046&OAS_sitepage=news.rgj.com%2Fbreakingnews
NY: Election commissioner says Borrello’s double voting was not ‘clerical error’
While registered in both Erie County and Chautauqua County, Borrello, according to Green, voted alternately between his Williamsville and Irving addresses - violating New York state election law. The simultaneous registration was recently uncovered by the mandated statewide voter registration data base.
http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/531542.html
NY: New optical voting scanners face test
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091031/NEWS01/910310341/New-optical-voting-scanners-face-test-
OH: Montgomery County taking precautions with electronic voting machines (Diebold)
Board of Elections officials will double-check all 2,500 machines after elections to ensure no ballots missed.
...
He said his office will double-check results from all 2,500 machines after Election Day by comparing summary sheets from each voting machine with the results on the electronic tabulation machines which tally the results from the machine’s memory cards.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/montgomery-county-taking-precautions-with-electronic-voting-machines-378754.html
OH: Cast ballots' wording can't be fixed *
October 30, 2009 The 1,307 votes cast before county commissioners discovered an error in language are set in stone, said Ashland County Prosecutor Ramona Francesconi-Rogers.
...
The ballots falsely state the county is asking voters to "retain" an already-imposed 0.25 percent sales tax increase when commissioners actually are asking voters to approve a new increase, not renew an existing tax...
http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/4699735
PA: October 30, 2009
"Costs continue for voting machines"
...
The county paid Electec Inc., of Mt. Holly, N.J., $72,675 in software licensing fees and $98,685 for an extended warranty on 765 machines.
...
Sandy Schiff with the Coalition for Voting Integrity told commissioners during a meeting at Crossing Vineyards in Upper Makefield the county could have saved money on annual costs if they went with another type of voting system.
http://coalitionforvotingintegrity.blogspot.com/2009/10/costs-continue-for-voting-machines.html
TN: Note to the Shelby County Election Administrator: The Voting Machines are Broken
...The broken machines even made Newsweek (”Short-circuiting the vote”) and the NY Times (”Can you count on voting machines?”) and in October 2008, the Brennan Center for Justice, the non-partisan public research and law institute, sent a letter telling the Secretaries of State in 16 states that the machines didn’t work.
http://www.liberadio.com/2009/11/02/note-to-the-shelby-county-election-administrator-the-voting-machines-are-already-broken/
TN: Last Chance Not to Vote in City Elections
Citizens indifferent to representative government look forward to not voting Tuesday
From APB reports. KNOXVILLE - The largest turnover on Knoxville City Council in 8 years will be decided by the few rather than the many Tuesday - and that's exactly how citizens here like it, according to spokespersons for a group claiming to represent Knoxville's "silent, indifferent majority."
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/mcnutt/2009/11/last-chance-not-to-vote-in-cit.html
TX: Election Day brings new voting system (Vote Centers)
November 1, 2009 There will be fewer polling places than usual Tuesday for Election Day — but more opportunities for you to cast a ballot.
Galveston County is participating in a pilot program where registered voters can vote at any of the county’s 40 polling places. They don’t have to go to a poll in a specific precinct.
...
the county to cut costs by reducing the number of polling places by about half, which means fewer workers are needed. Daigle said that as late as Wednesday, the county was scrambling to find enough election workers. Even with fewer polling places, the county was still short about four Spanish-speaking poll workers, she said.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=df7c0b1313948950
TS: Erath County to help Texas test centralized voting (Vote Centers)
November 1, 2009...Gwinda Jones, county clerk for Erath County, said there are four counties in the state that are participating in the County-wide Election pilot program through the secretary of state’s office. The other counties are Lubbock, Galveston and Collin.
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/nov/01/erath-county-to-help-texas-test-centralized/
VA: Inquiry Launched Into Group That Sought to Disclose Voting Records
A nonprofit citizens group is under investigation for planning to send a mass mailing to 350,000 Virginia residents that would show not only their own voting record, but that of their neighbors, as well -- privileged information that, when released to the general public, is a felony punishable by a prison term.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/30/inquiry-launched-group-sought-disclose-voting-records/
VA: Lonna R. Atkeson, “The Future of Post Election Auditing”
After much discussion, compromise and careful thought, the participants agreed on the following statement that was forwarded to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)...
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=2956
VA: Virginia's secret election
Good luck determining who's on your ballot -- without this guide.
October 31, 2009. ..the State Board of Elections has made it needlessly complicated to determine ahead of Election Day which candidates will appear a little further down the ballot -- especially in races for the House of Delegates.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR2009103003376.html
WA: County to decide fate of ranked choice voting
Election: Three-year-old ‘instant runoff’ system to be put to test next month
10/26/09 To its supporters, ranked choice voting gives voters more choices and improves democracy. To its detractors, it’s costly and confusing.
Now, even as Pierce County voters prepare to use it a second time on the general election ballot, they must decide whether to keep or scrap ranked choice voting.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/929645.html
WA: Privacy Looms Over Gay Rights Vote
October 31, 2009. SEATTLE — At a time when voters in many states are using petitions to qualify ballot measures on issues from gay rights to property rights, a legal dispute over the identity of 138,000 petition signers here is raising new questions about privacy, free speech and elections in the Internet age.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/us/01petition.html?_r=2&th&emc=th
National
Lots of Elections!
November 2nd, 2009. Just a reminder, you probably have an election tomorrow – yes, there are elections outside of the Presidential contests: statewide races, ballot initiatives, city council, town council, dog catcher….every single one is important to make sure you have a say in how your city and state is run. GO VOTE! Find out if you have an election by going to our Election Center.
http://www.blog.rockthevote.com/2009/11/lots-of-elections.html
Preparing for Email Addresses (on voter registration forms)
Champaign County Clerk. Last week I wrote about HR 1719 and expressed my general support for the bill. Coincidentally, we’re at a time in our process where we need to order some new registration forms for Deputy Registrars. We are now going to add the e-mail address to our forms in anticipation of some of the changes that might come down regarding e-mail updates. We already have a location for an e-mail address on our NVRA form.
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/11/02/preparing-for-email-addresses/
Statisticians, Political Scientists, Election Officials, and Advocates Recommendations to NIST
November 1, 2009 Last weekend I participated in a working meeting in Alexandria, VA to design pragmatic post-election audits. One result was a letter to the National Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST) making suggestions for the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines which they are in the process of updating. I am one of two participants and endorsers from Connecticut...
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2531
Sequoia: Open Software Can't Count Votes & Elections Still Won't Work
...More importantly, will publicly disclosed source code of any or even all election systems guarantee our votes are counted? No. While this level of transparency is an important breakthrough, it will not ensure fair and accurate elections.
...
We cannot guarantee fair and accurate elections in this country until uniform election laws identify invalid election results for what they are and send a bad election back to the people.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Sequoia-Open-Software-Can-by-Lani-Massey-Brown-091029-331.html
In time for Halloween, spectre of Internet voting re-emerges
The recently signed "Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act" includes a mandate to establish pilot programs to study electronic voting.
...
This is not the first Federal attempt to sidle up to Internet voting. In 2004, the Pentagon established just such a pilot program. But they wisely deep-sixed it after a panel of respected computer experts deemed Internet voting to be folly...
http://www.opednews.com/articles/In-time-for-Halloween-spe-by-Roy-Lipscomb-091030-526.html
International
Australia: Queensland's online voting revolution looms
October 31, 2009 The days of the cardboard polling booth, the worn-out pencil and the ballot paper are numbered, according to Queensland's Electoral Commissioner.
David Kerslake believes universal online voting is an inevitable initiative on the democratic horizon and argues that first cab off the rank should be voters with disabilities at the next state election...
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queenslands-online-voting-revolution-looms-20091031-hq1f.html
Brazil: Contest To Hack Brazilian Voting Machines on Friday October 30
...Next month, 10 teams that accepted the challenge will have access to hardware and software
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/31/0120223/Contest-To-Hack-Brazilian-Voting-Machines?from=rss
Canada: What you need to bring to vote (City returns to hand counting ballots)
November 1, 2009 This year’s election will see a return to manual voting. In 2005, there were numerous errors with electronic voting machines, that delayed results well into the next day. Manual counting might mean getting election results earlier than last year
...
Voters need to bring a piece of photo ID with them, either a driver’s licence, a passport, or a medicare card. A certificate of Indian status, or a Canadian Forces identity card are also accepted.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Poll+clerks+prime+record+turnout/2168772/story.html
Canada: Regina considers online voting
Voter turnout was 25 per cent
October 30, 2009 ... "It is a sad day for democracy in our two major cities," Don Ravis, a spokesman for Lead Saskatoon Futures Inc., told CBC News.
...
Ravis laid some of the blame for the poor turnout on the quality of people standing for election.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/10/30/sk-regina-saskatoon-election-turnout.html
Canada and Philippines: Dominion Voting's No. 2 on Deloitte's list of Canada's top 50 rapid-growth tech firms
...It does not trade publicly and, on election days, those who cast ballots may not think twice about the machine tabulating their votes.
But if you recently cast a municipal vote in Oakville, Pickering or Montreal, or a provincial vote in September 's St. Paul's by-election – or were among the many in the state of New York who voted for senator Barack Obama for U.S. president – you may have used the handiwork of this relatively small Canadian company
...It has few rivals but has run test trials in the U.K. and Colombia and is contributing voting technology to the Philippines' 2010 national election.
Poulos started Dominion Voting in 2002, after the disaster in Florida.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/719544--selling-trust-in-democracy
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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