India E-voting expert arrested. TN voters deserve answers. Australia Bush v Gore?

CTVoter on India's arrest of Hari Prasad: "So as governments do to whistle blowers and those who bring uncomfortable facts, they have arrested the Indian member of the research team in an effort to determine the source of the voting machine and to intimidate."..Sarasota FL voting machine meltdown proves value of paper ballots, no thanks to Kathy Dent..LTE: "Tennessee needs to join the 21st century with the majority of the rest of country and move to a verifiable, auditable paper trail/ballot."..2010 Australian Election Results a Bush vs. Gore Repeat...

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


Editor's note: The PacMan Voting Machine story and video has become viral.
One voting news reader writes: "My hair exploded about the pac man program!!"


AZ: Maricopa County Elections Sued Over Alleged Voting Violations
http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/2010/08/maricopa-county-elections-sued-over.html
A group of diverse individuals including Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Barry Hess, former Republican state Senator Karen Johnson, and voting activist John Brakey are suing Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, alleging that Maricopa County Elections is involved in various voting shenanigans.

CA: California's online voter registration plan on hold
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-voter-registration-20100821,0,3294207.story
The start of the program has been pushed back to June 2014 as the secretary of state seeks a new contractor.
...
She (SOS Bowen) said other states' efforts are not comparable to California's. "There is no precedent in any other state for this, because California is enormous," she said.

CT: Greenwich picked - yet again - to audit primary results
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Greenwich-picked-yet-again-to-audit-primary-622620.php Six of the seven times since the state started mandating audits three years ago, the town has been picked for a recount, irking its two registrars of voters.
...
Despite the hassle of conducting frequent audits, DeCaro said it was much better than the alternative of no checks and balances.
(Fred DeCaro III, Stamford's Republican registrar).

FL: Early-voting machine malfunctions* (Sarasota - Dominion opscan machines)
http://www.yourobserver.com/news/sarasota/Front-Page/081920107656/Early-voting-machine-malfunctions ...One of the inspectors noticed this week that the system count on the machine was different than the number of ballots that had been inputted.
...
But Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, said he is concerned.

“This proves the need to have paper ballots, so there’s concrete evidence, so no one could question the outcome,” he said. “Two thousand votes could decide a race.”

Rita Ferrandino, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Sarasota County, said issues such as this are why she has election observers watching every step of the process.

NV: The incredibly true, bizarre story of Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian and $35
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/aug/19/incredibly-true-bizarre-story-scott-ashjian-and-35/ ...
Wrong. Colorado ain’t nothin’; in Nevada, Ashjian needed only need 250 signatures to get his name on the ballot for national office.

NY: Democracy, the Hard Way *
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/nyregion/22critic.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
The new system compounds the shortcomings of print media with those of electronic media — and makes matters worse with hard-to-read, hard-to-understand instructions and a lot of extraneous nonsense.

OH: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections posts bilingual ballots
http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2010/08/cuyahoga_board_of_elections_posts_bilingual_ballots.html
In response to a recent U.S. Department of Justice push for bilingual ballots, 70 precincts in council districts 2, 3, 4 and 7 will offer instructions, political parties and offices in both English and Spanish.

OH: The price is wrong
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100822/OPINION02/8210358
"We all expect judges to be accountable to the law rather than political supporters or special interests. But elected judges in many states are compelled to solicit money for their election campaigns, sometimes lawyers and parties appearing before them. Whether or not these contributions actually tilt the scales of justice, three out of four Americans believe that campaign contributions affect courtroom decisions.

TN: Any Election Review Should Benefit Voters
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=52259
The problems voters experienced Aug. 5 were serious, although probably doesn’t change the beating the Democratic slate endured. Voters of all political persuasions appear to have been told they had already voted early when they hadn’t.

TN: EDITORIAL: Voting mistake hurts trust*
http://www.dnj.com/article/20100822/OPINION01/8220301
The Rutherford County Election Commission's failure to meet state guidelines for early voting guidelines is an embarrassing mistake, one the county can hardly afford to ensure elections are fair and balanced

TN: 'Hot Button' readers respond: Do you have faith in the elections system? *
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/22/hot-button-sunday/
I am 80 and have voted in pretty much every election. They finally gave me a paper ballot. Then I received a letter from Shelby County Election Commission administrator Richard Holden saying the vote could not be counted as I was not a registered voter. When I called him asking questions, he was hostile and told me the vote was counted. I later received a new voter card (I still have the previous one) but never got any explanation as to why my voter record vanished.

TN: Dems protesting election mistakes
http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20100821/NEWS03/8210322/Dems-protesting-election-mistakes ...The mistakes come after Republicans replaced the Secretary of State, the state coordinator of elections and dozens of county election administrators after the GOP won control of the state House of Representatives in the 2008 elections. These election officials replaced long-serving Democrats who had more experience and were more even-handed, party officials say.

"It's either incompetence or some sort of plan," said Chip Forrester, the state Democratic Party chairman.

TN: Devaney Sees Democratic Plot in Election Protests
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey/2010/08/devaney-sees-democratic-plot-i.html
State Republican Chairman Chris Devaney suspects Democrats are protesting "a handful of errors" in the Aug. 5 elections to set the stage for challenges to the losses they anticipate in November, reports Chas Sisk.

UT: State to promote online voter registration in September
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700058947/State-to-promote-online-voter-registration-in-September.html

WA: Software glitch blamed for delay in primary results in Whatcom County, across state* http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/18/v-lite/1306365/software-glitch-blamed-for-delay.html

A software glitch confounded election watchers, including in Whatcom County, during the "top two" primary, causing the Secretary of State's website to crash when results began pouring in Tuesday night, Aug. 17.
State elections officials say a programming error accidentally sent most of the Web traffic to just one of the state's six servers at the digital archives in Cheney. While the other five sat essentially idle, the overload slowed and then overwhelmed the single server.

WA: Top 2 system produces some all-in-the-family races
http://blogs.sos.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2010/08/top-2-system-produces-some-all-in-the-family-races/

National

Pac-Man Hacked Onto a Touch-Screen Voting Machine Without Breaking 'Tamper-Evident' Seals http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7998

International

2010 Australian Election Results a Bush vs. Gore Repeat
http://thenewsoftoday.com/2010-australian-election-results-a-bush-vs-gore-repeat/1240/
In what is clearly the closest election for Prime Minister in Australia in over 70, the results could take weeks to decipher.

AUSTRALIA DOES NOT HAVE A SECRET BALLOT SYSTEM (interesting paper in pdf)
http://www.hschapman.org/pdfs/Styles%20of%20Voting/postal%20voting%203.pdf
So long as we are disposed to consider ourselves a great democracy, we should ensure that our secret ballot is in every respect a secret ballot; and not yield that secrecy to an ever increasing number of postal and declaration votes that cannot by any stretch of imagination be considered to be secret. ~ Dr. Amy McGrath, President H.S.Chapman Society

India: Electronic Voting Researcher Arrested Over Anonymous Source *
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/jhalderm/electronic-voting-researcher-arrested-over-anonymous-source By J. Alex Halderman - Posted on August 22nd, 2010
About four months ago, Ed Felten blogged about a research paper in which Hari Prasad, Rop Gonggrijp, and I detailed serious security flaws in India's electronic voting machines. Indian election authorities have repeatedly claimed that the machines are "tamperproof," but we demonstrated important vulnerabilities by studying a machine provided by an anonymous source.

The story took a disturbing turn a little over 24 hours ago, when my coauthor Hari Prasad was arrested by Indian authorities demanding to know the identity of that source.

India: Governments Hide Information; People Take Risks for Democracy
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/governments-cover-up-people-continue-to-take-risks-and-pay-for-democracy/

India: Indian e-voting expert Hari Prasad arrested for exposing flaws in a "stolen" voting machine * http://www.indianevm.com/blogs/?p=402
Today, at wee hours Maharashtra police landed up at the residence of Hari Prasad in Hyderabad, a technologist and Technical coordinator of VeTA to arrest him. The arrest was made on the flimsy charge of ‘theft of EVM’ used for vulnerability demonstration by Hari Prasad and a team of security researchers that included Alex Halderman, professor of computer science, University of Michigan and Rop Gonggrijp, a security researcher from Netherlands along with a team of their colleagues
...
Over the past one year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been lying blatantly and willfully to ensure continued use of EVMs at all costs. It attributed all kinds of qualities to its EVMs: “totally tamper proof, perfect, fail safe and requiring no improvement” etc. etc. When Hari Prasad agreed to meet the ECI’s challenge to demonstrate tamperability of EVMs, the ECI backed out imposing silly, unscientific restrictions.

India: Naidu wants consensus on EVM ban
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/naidu-wants-consensus-evm-ban-385
The Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, asked the Election Commission (EC) to convene an all-party meeting on banning the use of Electronic Voting Machines after doubts were raised by political parties.
Mr Naidu preferred use of traditional ballot papers in the elections. He also criticised the EC for the arrest of Mr Hariprasad, who had showed, on a stolen EVM, how the device can be manipulated


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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=============================================
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Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

Shelby CO TN certifies flawed election. Are election audits worth it? Pac-Man II

Bell, CA may give ballot control to county after investigation into massive corruption and election fraud...CTVoter answers question: "Greenwich Audit: Is it worth $1,200?"...Shelby Co Tennessee election board voted 5-0 to certify flawed election after blaming all problems on a single "human error". Some lawsuits in the works and TBI is investigating...Moreon impact of Citizens United -see "Pay 2 Play - Democracy's high stakes"..Probe into Philippine's May poll irregularities ongoing...No tamper seals were broken in programming the AVC Edge voting machine to run Pac-Man...

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


CA: Bell council discusses reforms as residents continue angry protests *
(absentee ballot fraud)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-reforms-20100817,0,1083036.story
City must roll back property tax hike that the state controller says was illegal and cut its 'retirement tax.' Amid alleged election fraud, council also considers giving ballot control to the county.
...
The potential for fraud in Bell is heightened because of of low voter participation in the largely immigrant town of 40,000. Fewer than 400 voters cast ballots in a 2005 special election that cleared the way for council members to significantly increase their salaries, for example. More than half were absentee ballots.

CT: Greenwich Audit: Is it worth $1,200?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/greenwich-audit-is-it-worth-1200/
Greenwich registrars and Secretary of the State debate value of audit and random selection of Greenwich

CT: Ballots from 2 polling places to be recounted
http://www.thehour.com/story/490462 Overall, 73 or 722 voting precincts -- 10 percent of all polling precincts statewide -- from the Aug. 10 primary election will have ballots hand-counted and matched against machine totals to ensure the integrity of voting, and comply with the Act Concerning the Integrity and Security of the Voting Process, according to the Secretary of the State's Office.

FL: 200+ Absentee Ballots Disqualified * (absentee ballots)
Absentee Voting Down, But Early Voting Up 20% Over 2006
http://www.news4jax.com/politics/24691862/detail.html
JACKSONVILLE, Fla...Channel 4 has learned that nearly 250 of absentee ballots have been thrown out, mostly because they lack signatures, or the signature doesn't match the one on file at the Supervisor of Elections Office.

NC: ‘Instant runoff’ injects more mystery into judicial elections
http://nclawyersweekly.com/oyez/2010/08/18/%E2%80%98instant-runoff-injects-more-mystery-into-judicial-elections/#comment-209 It’s yet another electoral process that I’m unfamiliar with. And in a system where there are ridiculous things called hanging chads that can lead to court battles, I really hope that this instant runoff thing doesn’t exacerbate the problem that voters don’t know Judge X from Judge Y.

NJ: Atlantic City vote fraud suspects seek dismissal of charges
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/article_20729af6-a983-11df-a945-001cc4c03286.html
Most of the defendants were indicted on nine counts, including conspiracy and four counts of election fraud. Small and three others were also accused of lying to law enforcement in an effort to cover up their crimes.
In October, Ronald Harris, 24, of Atlantic City, admitted he and others conspired to submit false documents involving messenger ballots in the primary. Harris, a registered Democrat, later told a reporter he only pleaded guilty out of fear.

NY: Design a Better Ballot
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/design-a-better-ballot/
This is where you come in. City Room, in partnership with the New York chapter of the AIGA, the professional association for design, invites you to imagine a better format, or to just have fun completely reinventing it.

OH: County to debate to take voting machine settlement or go it alone
http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/county-to-debate-to-take-voting-machine-settlement-or-go-it-alone-870254.html Butler County is seeking roughly $5 million in damages, which is about what the county paid for the machines.

OH: Stow ballot issues in doubt
http://www.ohio.com/news/101140329.html STOW: An apparent glitch in the ballot language for two proposed Stow charter amendments could mean the mayor and law director can run for re-election despite hitting term limits.

OH: Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason says elections board should not cave to Justice Department on bilingual ballots http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/08/cuyahoga_county_prosecutor_wil.html

TN: Aug. 5 election results certified, but unfinished business remains *
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/20/aug-5-election-results-certified-but-unfinished/ ...With the 5-0 vote, the commission cleared the way for those elected candidates to take office, commission chairman Bill Giannini said.
...
Also, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is inspecting the election process, but it's uncertain when their results will be made public.

TN: Official defends election system
Glitches mostly result of 'human error,' Goins says
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/aug/19/official-defends-election-system/
NASHVILLE - Multiple problems in the first statewide voting since Republicans took control of Tennessee's election apparatus were mostly the result of simple "human error," state Election Coordinator Mark Goins said Wednesday.

TN: Election Commission Rules "Human Error" Caused Glitch, Clears Way for Certification http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2010/08/19/election-commission-rules-human-error-caused-glitch-clears-way-for-certification
The causative mistake, documented in a report prepared jointly by Meyers and Johnson, was a freely acknowledged one by the commission’s I T director, Dennis Boyce, a civil servant, who told commission director Rich Holden on the morning of election day, Thursday, August 5, that “he had made an error in selecting one of the data files” that were loaded into the Electronic Poll Book (EPM) used for voting that day.

TN: Ill will brews in Nashville election office
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100819/NEWS02/8190335/1009
A dispute between two Davidson County Election Commission employees has raised questions about the day-to-day involvement of the commission chairman, and whether he is offering favoritism to a friend he helped get hired.

WA: Voter Apathy by Mail?
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/15545-1
The statewide average is about 30 percent, which means more than two-thirds of registered voters did not mail in their ballots. Allison Feher, president of the League of Women Voters of Seattle, says some believe changing the primary date from September to August has had a negative effect on voting.
...
The state Elections Division says the primary date was moved in 2007 to ensure that military and overseas voters got their ballots on time

National

Pay 2 Play - Democracy's high stakes
http://pay2play.tv/
PAY 2 PLAY follows the cycle of money and corruption in politics, examining how the cost of running for office invites big-money influence and breeds corruption, shutting out concerned citizens and empowering those running for the wrong reasons.
[ John Wellington Ennis filmmaker (Free For All documentary and Video The Vote) has new movie that covers Citizens United and campaign finance with a big focus on Ohio footage.]

Design Recommendations (ballot design checklist)
http://www.brennancenter.org/index.php/ballots/pages/design_recommendations
The authors and task force reviewed dozens of ballots from electoral jurisdictions across America and identified 13 general categories of design problems that most frequently interfered with clarity and usability.

PAC-MAN on the Sequoia AVC-Edge DRE voting machine
http://www.cse.umich.edu/~jhalderm/pacman/
Why PAC-MAN?
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the iconic arcade game, we reprogrammed the AVC Edge to run Pac-Man. It uses MAME to emulate the original hardware. (We own the electronics from a real Pac-Man machine.) We could have reprogrammed it to steal votes, but that's been done before, and Pac-Man is more fun!
[No tamper seals were harmed in the filming of this video.]

How Polling Places Can Affect Your Vote
http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/how-polling-places-can-affect-your-vote-20318/
Researchers argue the physical location of the polls not only affects how many people vote; it may also influence last-minute decisions regarding which box to mark or lever to pull.
...
. J.G. Gimpel of the University of Maryland found that “for each 1-mile increase in proximity to the polling place, turnout jumps by 0.453 percent, or nearly half a point.”

International

Australia: Get the Australian 2010 Elections Guide free
http://www.australianbusinesstimes.com/news-australia/get-the-australian-2010-elections-guide-free/
((((( Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens ))))

Philippines: DOJ asked to hasten probe on ‘Hello Nico’, Susano CF cards
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199054/doj-asked-to-hasten-probe-on-hello-nico-susano-cf-cards The government’s poll body on Friday asked the Justice Department to expedite its probe on two cases related to the May 2010 elections: one involving a lawmaker’s possession of compact flash (CF) cards from the last elections, and the alleged involvement of an election official with poll irregularities.

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VotingNews and at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
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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."
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

Touchscreens recycled as PacMan games.Verified Voting Internet Voting Pt 1

Florida Voters Coalition encourages citizens to observe poll closing procedures...Shelby Co TN blames technician for election fiasco, local DEM party launching own investigation...J. Alex Halderman has found a good use for touchscreen machines - reprogram them as PacMan consoles...Mason County WV to volunteer overseas vote for internet vote experiment...Bo Lipari has Part I of Verified Voting's new series on concerns with Internet Voting...

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

AL: Bessemer, Ala: mayoral candidate uses fake photo and endorsement; campaign manager confesses to hoax http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006428.html

FL: Spend an Hour - Make a Difference on Election Night
http://floridavoterscoalition.blogspot.com/2010/08/spend-hour-make-difference-on-election.html
Hot dog! This is your chance to spend an hour on election-night to help secure Florida's elections. Observe poll-closing procedures in any precinct near you, and help gather important compliance data we can use to improve future elections.

NC: Local judicial candidates at odds over fall election ballot
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2010/local_judicial_candidates_at_odds_over_fall_election_ballot
Dreher takes the position that all five candidates should be included under only one ballot listing “without designation as to vacancy.” The state’s instant-runoff voting system would then be implemented to determine two winners from the list of five.

PA: Team 4: Non-US Citizens Removed From Voter Rolls
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/r/24679152/detail.html

PA: Editorial: Cash clouds image of judges
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100819_Editorial__Cash_clouds_image_of_judges.html When it comes to spending money to elect state Supreme Court justices, Pennsylvania is No. 1.
Unfortunately, this is not a top ranking to boast about. That's because the river of money that flows into judicial elections creates the perception for many that justice isn't always blind.

TN: Shelby County Election Commission Releases Its Findings On Election Day Problems * http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Shelby-County-Election-Commission-Releases-Its/gpBzJPliuk2KvChu9lvK3g.cspx
Commissioners say on August 5th, Computer Analyst Dennis Boyce loaded the wrong data files into the Electronic Polling Books (EPB). The data he loaded reflected people who voted in last May’s election and as a result people like Thompson went to vote on August 5th, only to be told they voted already.
...
Turner says he’s come across voters who say they didn’t vote in the May election, but were still turned away on August 5th. The Shelby County Democratic Party is also conducting an investigation and will release its own report and recommendations.

TN: Democrats Claim Voting Machines Can Be Altered
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Democrats-Claim-Voting-Machines-Can-Be-Altered/nDhkxvpg50q8aJOlSQvtpw.cspx
MEMPHIS, TN—The Head of the Shelby County Democratic Party believes investigators have found a way to change votes after they have been cast. Investigators for the Democratic Party have been at the election commission digging for information since the August 5, 2010 election.

“We’re pulling down databases, records, looking at machines and trying to figure out what is going on,” said party chairman, Van Turner, “what records reveal, I think is just the tip of the iceberg.

TN: Pair of votes on same day no problem
Morgan County prepared for concurrent special, general elections Nov. 2
http://www.decaturdaily.com/detail/66788.html A special election in Hartselle on the same day as the Nov. 2 general election will not cause problems for Morgan County, officials said.

TX: New election ordered in commissioner race* (absentee ballot fraud)
http://www.delrionewsherald.com/story.lasso?ewcd=40438f4ce48b3ec6
Flores charged in his suit that he lost the election by 29 votes to the then-incumbent, Jesus “Cheo” Ortiz, because of illegal mail-in ballots.


Internet Voting Watch

Internet Voting Verified Voting's Internet Voting Series
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2010/08/18/752
In a wired world, it was inevitable that the subject of Internet Voting become a hot topic sooner rather than later. But more than just a topic of discussion, this year eighteen states will allow overseas ballots to be returned via email in November’s elections. Yet according to security experts, voted ballots sent via Internet simply cannot be made secure, and make easy and inviting targets for attackers ranging from lone hackers to foreign governments seeking to undermine US elections.

WV: Commission adopts Internet Voting Pilot Project
http://www.mydailyregister.com/view/full_story/9199869/article-Commission-adopts-Internet-Voting-Pilot-Project?instance=secondary_news_left_column POINT PLEASANT — Mason County has adopted a new computerized voting program, which will take effect during the upcoming general election.

During Tuesday’s Mason County Commission meeting, County Clerk Diana Cromley discussed the Internet Voting Pilot Program. According to Cromley, the program is free to Mason County, and is for anyone overseas, such as military personnel.

National

J. Alex Halderman: The Future of DRE Voting Machines (video and blog)
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/jhalderm/future-dre-voting-machines
Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that such machines can be reprogrammed to steal votes, so when we got our hands on a DRE called the Sequoia AVC Edge, we decided to do something different: we reprogrammed it to run Pac-Man.

Researchers Reprogram Voting Machine To Run Pacman
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/08/19/1253234/Researchers-Reprogram-Voting-Machine-To-Run-Pacman

Report probes state Supreme Court spending (overview plus full report avail)
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/228362-report-probes-state-sc-spending
Spending on state supreme court elections more than doubled from $83.3 million from 1990-1999 to $206.9 million from 2000-2009.
...
"For more than two centuries, Americans have counted on judges to ignore political pressure. But the flood of special-interest money is changing that. Without reforms, there is a real risk of irreversible damage to public confidence in our courts."

Federal Election Commission General Counsel leaving agency
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/08/19/federal-election-commission-general-counsel-leaving-agency/

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VotingNews and
at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
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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."

Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn
Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

Maricopa AZ election protection suit filed. TN and WA election websites crash

Citizens file emergency suit to force Maricopa AZ Elections Dept to follow law...Florida Voters Coalition collecting observations on poll closings nxt Tues...Tennessee State Election website crashed 5 times on election day, delays Dyer Cnty results...Washington election returns crash state computers...1,100 Snohomish Cnty WA voters get ballots within hours to vote..90 yrs ago the 19th amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote...

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

AL: Alabama expands options for military, overseas voters to comply with new law
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100817/NEWS02/8170313/Alabama-expands-options-for-military-overseas-voters-to-comply-with-new-law Secretary of State Beth Chapman an nounced a contract with Scytl USA that will allow for the electronic transmission of ab sentee ballots to military and overseas vot ers. The ballot request and completed ballots still have to be sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

AR: Judge: Stone County special election unauthorized
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/aug/16/judge-stone-county-special-election-unauthorized/ Republican sheriff nominee Russ Aiken filed the suit, which claimed Gov. Mike Beebe was not authorized to call the new vote in the wake of a June 8 runoff in which the two Democratic candidates tied with 1,383 tallies each.

AZ: Emergency lawsuit filed to force Maricopa Cnty Elections Dept to follow the law to protect upcoming election results from election fraud
http://audit-az.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-monday-08162010-emergency-lawsuit.html
Election research over the last three weeks (based on the work of AUDIT AZ since 2006) discovered flagrant ILLEGAL violations of Arizona Election Laws [2]. The interlocking pattern of deliberate subversion of these security measures indicated below makes manipulation of vote counting easy, thus leaving elections vulnerable to undetectable fraud...

AZ: Institute for Justice Files Cert. Petition in Arizona Public Financing Matching Funds Case http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016748.html

CT: Post-Election Audit Drawing: 73 Districts 45 Municipalities Selected
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/post-election-audit-drawing-73-districts-45-municipalities-selected/
Today the Secretary of the State’s Office conducted the random drawing. Members of CTVotersCount and the League of Women Voters performed the selections.

FL: Eyes on the Process - Spend an Hour Making a Difference
http://floridavoterscoalition.blogspot.com/2010/08/eyes-on-process-spend-hour-making.html It's a good time for the public to exercise its ownership of elections by observing poll-closing procedures next Tuesday, election-day
...
We will have simple instructions and a simple form you can use to collect a few important observations

FL: Fla. launches new website for election results
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/17/1780066/fla-launches-new-website-for-election.html

FL: Brevard elections supervisor fights voter fraud, debunks myths
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100805/COLUMNISTS0207/8050310/Brevard-elections-supervisor-fights-voter-fraud-debunks-myths

IN: Former Roseland council member challenges jailed voter ban
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100818/News01/100819512/-1/googleNews
A former Roseland Town Council member jailed for a misdemeanor crime has sued state and county election officials, alleging that a state law allowing cancellation of his voter registration is unconstitutional.

NC: Hopkins outlines frantic elections
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2010/08/18/news/doc4c6b03ac7a741885212932.txt
There has been a contentious second primary involving two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, the introduction of an unaffiliated candidate to the Beaufort County commissioners’ race — and now there’s the possibility of an “instant runoff” to replace N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn.

NY: How much money is New York City going to gain from new law counting prisoners at home? http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/2010/08/18/howmuch/
If money is not at stake, why did 3 states pledge to count incarcerated people at home for redistricting purposes? Because those states want to ensure that legislative districts are drawn fairly, and that no district gets undue influence just because it contains a large correctional facility

OH: Voters will be contacted to correct mis-matched information
http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=49&SubSectionID=156&ArticleID=185859
...in the next two weeks due to non-matching data discovered during the comparison of records between the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide voter registration database and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ database.

TN: Certification of August election delayed by state * (State website crashed)
http://www.stategazette.com/story/1657161.html
On election night, the commission would normally go to the state's election website and enter the cumulative total. However, the website crashed several times throughout the evening, leaving counties unable to enter results. Heathcott added that it is no fault of the state, because it was simply an unforeseen technical problem that had to be resolved. She noted that Dyer County had to get in line with the other 95 counties in which to receive the information.

"That's why it has taken so long to certify," said Heathcott. "In their (the state's) defense their whole system went down five times on Election Day and it has taken them awhile to be able to get this information to us.

TN: Judge lays guidelines for inquiry of election *
Democrats given limited access to voting results
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/17/judge-lays-guidelines-for-inquiry-of-election/
A judge on Monday laid out written ground rules for Shelby County Democrats' inspection of voting equipment and records as they continued a legal challenge of how the Republican-controlled Election Commission handled the Aug. 5 vote.
...
On Monday afternoon, the Democratic team was seeking items including the "statement of votes cast" by precinct and candidate, the list of eligible voters from Aug. 5, and the incident report log, which would record calls about voting problems, said Interim County Trustee Regina Morrison Newman, one of the Democrats who filed the lawsuit.
...
Democrats filed a lawsuit Aug. 9, citing the poll book problem and alleging others, including improper tallying of votes and that at one polling location, Shiloh Baptist Church in Frayser, machines were not working when the polls opened.

TN: Litigants' Direct Inspection of Voting Results Halted Until Monday
http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2010/08/17/litigants-direct-inspection-of-voting-results-halted-until-monday

TN: Group Calls on Sharpton for Voting Flap (Shelby County, Diebold machines)
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/081810-group-calls-on-sharpton-for-voting-flap
"We believe that the smoking gun, as it relates to this election, are the machines themselves," said Greg Grant, President of the National Action Network's Memphis chapter

TN: Election Commission to meet Wednesday to discuss its mistake
http://www.dnj.com/article/20100817/NEWS03/100817019 Rutherford County...The mistake involved not conducting early voting during one of the three Saturdays through the early voting period for at least three hours at a polling location as required by the state law.

TX: Lawmakers listening to elections complaints, but Rep. Ryan Guillen unsure how to toughen laws on mail-in ballot fraud http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2010/08/lawmakers-listening-to-elections-complaints-but-rep-ryan/1282149900.column

TX: Hidalgo County Presses Ahead With Disputed Election
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-news-media/2010-elections-newspaper-endorsements/hidalgo-county-presses-on-with-disputed-election/ Texas’ top election official says it’s illegal. Local attorneys say they can’t do it. A judge ordered them to stop.

No matter; Rio Grande Valley officials are planning to go ahead and hold a special election in November to fill a seat on the Hidalgo County Commissioners' Court.

WA: Washington election returns crash state computers*
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/
2012650094_election_returns_crash_state_c.html http://tinyurl.com/32llgu9
The Secretary of State's election website malfunctioned for much of the night Tuesday, causing frustration for news agencies, election officials and members of the public.

WA: 1,278 Snohomish County ballots not mailed until Monday*
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012638761_missingballots17m.html
More than 1,000 Snohomish County election ballots weren't mailed to voters because of an error during printing. The county auditor's office Monday mailed replacement ballots and asked that they be returned by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

WA: Snohomish County voters dealing with ballot snafu* (mail absentee ballots)
http://coffeblog.com/snohomish-county-voters-dealing-with-ballot-snafu-king5-com.html
...The auditor’s office says it appears there was some type of mistake in the printing process and those ballots were set aside and never re-printed.
More than 1,100 voters in Snohomish County never received their ballots, including voters who live at the Chateau Retirement and Assisted Living Facility on 148th Street Southwest in Lynnwood.
Some voters around Lynnwood-area precincts also did not get their ballots.
The auditor’s office just found out about this problem on Monday — the day before the election. It’s been crunch time since. The auditor’s office mailed out replacement ballots Monday.

WA: EXPOSED SIGNATURES ON MAILED BALLOTS
http://soundpolitics.com/archives/014170.html

WA: 9th Circuit will re-open WA felon voting case
http://blogs.sos.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2010/08/9th-circuit-will-re-open-wa-felon-voting-case/
An 11-judge panel will re-hear the case that three of its own judges had decided in favor of the inmates earlier this year.

WA: Snohomish ballot-mailing error irks some*
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2012649015_snohomish_ballot-mailing_error.html
That left voters only a few hours to return their ballots by the 8 p.m. deadline Tuesday. The concern was heightened because the ballots include the Edmonds School District levy, which would raise property taxes if approved.

Internet Voting Watch

Recapping The OSCON O’Reilly Radar Conversation (video avail, partial transc)
http://www.trustthevote.org/recapping-the-oscon-o%e2%80%99reilly-radar-conversation
Will online voting ever be viable?
...
So, we’re not supporters of widespread use of the Internet for voting and we don’t believe it will be viable in the near future on a widespread basis. And honestly, we have too much to do in just improving upon ballot casting and counting devices in a polling place setting to spend too many cycles thinking about how to do this across the Internet.


National

Today Marks the 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
http://indyposted.com/38487/today-marks-the-90th-anniversary-of-the-19th-amendment/
A Brief History of How Women Earned the Right to Vote

Citizens United Strikes Again! Newscorp gives $1 Million to Republican Governors Association http://protectourelections.org/node/26

Statelight: Transparency in a Box, Pt. 2
http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2010/08/18/statelight-transparency-in-a-box-pt-2/
We have chosen three priority issues to begin with, and today I’m looking at why we feel like those issues are good places to start for state-based advocacy. They are: Ethics and Campaign Finance, Legislative Data, and Budget Transparency

#17: Let Prisoners Vote
http://bigthink.com/ideas/21790 Ohio State University law professor Douglas A. Berman says everyone affected by society's laws ought to have a right to vote—even if they have to mail in their ballot from the big house.

There are currently 2.3 million disenfranchised inmates in the United States

International

Canadian perspective on lobbyist disclosure
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/08/18/canadian-perspective-on-lobbyist-disclosure/

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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=============================================
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Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

Waukesha WI clerk keeps vote data on her PC, El Paso CO invites public oversight

A tale of two election offices: "WI's Waukesha County Clerk to Keep Elections Results on Her Personal Computer Really, really dumb...What part of 'public official' and 'public elections' to these sorts of folks not get???" ~Brad Friedman...Contrast to this good example: "Coloradans For Voting Integrity Citizen Volunteers Audit Primary Election Ballots in El Paso County, CO." Robert Balink, El Paso Cnty Clerk, & Liz Olson, MGR—Election Dept, welcomed the citizens & embraced transparency... Also in WV more reasons not to vote absentee if you don't have to...

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

Editor's note - news is a little slow but be glad, yesterday was overload!

AZ: Pueblo Politics: Elections director says outcome should be known more quickly
http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/pueblo-politics/article_b4fc2cac-a990-11df-97f8-001cc4c03286.html (Pima County)

CA: State elections official praises county ballot-counting upgrades
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/16/state-elections-official-praises-county-ballot/

CO: Coloradans For Voting Integrity Citizen Volunteers Audit Primary Election Ballots in El Paso County, CO
http://www.glassballotbox.org/journal/2010/8/17/coloradans-for-voting-integrity-citizen-volunteers-audit-pri.html
Robert Balink, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder, and Liz Olson, Manager—Election Department, welcomed the group to reinforce the message that transparency and verifiability of elections are fundamental elements of our democracy.

CT: See That Your Vote Counted: Sign-Up for the Post-Election Audit Observations Now!
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/see-that-your-vote-counted-sign-up-for-the-post-election-audits-observations-now/ The Coalition will need 50% more volunteer observers to fully cover this election audit.

CT: New Haven Register Carries Op-Ed Critical of Connecticut’s Discrimination Against Independent Candidates in Public Funding
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/17/new-haven-register-carries-op-ed-critical-of-connecticuts-discrimination-against-independent-candidates-in-public-funding/

GA: Election Complaint Filed In Clayton County
http://www.gpb.org/news/2010/08/16/election-complaint-filed-in-clayton-county
State officials are reviewing complaints made by candidates who lost the primaries in Clayton County, to see if an investigation is necessary.
...
They accuse the county elections supervisor Annie Bright of unprofessional conduct and they want an examination of the ballot computing process and the voting machines.

IN: Lawsuit Filed Against Indiana Law that Cancels Voter Registration for Anyone Sent to Jail for a Misdemeanor http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/16/lawsuit-filed-against-indiana-law-that-wont-allow-anyone-in-jail-for-a-misdemeanor-to-vote/

MI: Reaction mixed to election's electronic poll book
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20100815/NEWS08/8150432
Electronic poll books were supposed to speed up things, but many city clerks across the state instead found delays election night.

RI: State police take over voter registration card investigation
http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2010/aug/17/state-police-take-over-voter-registration-card-inv-ar-196432/
Correction fluid was used to blank out phone numbers on 45 voter registration cards. Phone numbers are not required on the cards, and Grebian said a volunteer might have been trying to protect the privacy of new voters.

TN: REPORT: Rutherford violated state election law*
http://www.dnj.com/article/20100816/NEWS01/100816029
The Rutherford County Election Commission may have violated a state law by not having polls open on a Saturday during three weeks of early voting in July, News Channel 5 reported tonight.

Elections Administrator Hooper Penuel told Channel 5 the polls were mistakenly closed on the first Saturday during early voting.

WI: WI's Waukesha County Clerk to Keep Elections Results on Her Personal Computer
Really, really dumb: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7988

WV: Judge throws out Lincoln ballots, declares Brumfield winner* (absentee ballots)
http://wvgazette.com/News/201008160566
A circuit judge threw out more than 300 contested absentee ballots Monday in Lincoln County's primary election and ordered county officials to declare incumbent Circuit Clerk Charles Brumfield the winner of the clerk's race in the May 11 primary.
...
Harvey Peyton, Brumfield's lawyer, said more than 200 of the absentee ballot requests were partly or completely filled out by someone other than the absentee voter, and should have been thrown out. Another 100 or so absentee voters gave questionable reasons for wanting to cast absentee ballots.

National

A bunch of academic papers are now available online from the USENIX
conference on voting:
http://www.usenix.org/events/evtwote10/tech/

"Target's PAC donation a wake-up call for reform"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016735.html

Opinion: The public has the right to know who finances campaigns
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=z1xt6trzabp40v&xid=z1w0fb3mjytpmt&done=.z1xt6trzacd40v


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."
Donate online at this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

Disclaimer:
Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

MORE Tenn. election fiascos. New Lee FL mail ballot probs. Wallach's 'The Wørd'

Tennessee racks up more election failures: 100 Blount County voters were given the wrong ballot. Davidson Cnty vote totals changed when an uncounted voting machine was found. Shelby Co was in news last week when e-poll books wrongly blocked thousands of voters, an investigation is underway...Candidate's envelopes cause major problems for Lee Cnty Florida voters..18 Members of Congress Call On Atty Gen Holder to Ensure Integrity of Voting Systems..24x7 help for Military Vote for Upcoming Election...

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

AR: Back to the future (will use touchscreens for early voting)
http://www.thecitywire.com/index.php?q=node/11280 To borrow the title line from an old movie, Sebastian County will go “Back to the Future” when it begins tabulating votes precinct-by-precinct after the Nov. 2 General Election.
...
The electronic voting machines used in Sebastian County can handle the 91 ballots needed for all precincts. So early voting in Sebastian County will be only by electronic voting machine, the same method as that used in Pulaski County. Incidentally, voting in neighboring Crawford County is all electronic.

AR: Voting Machine Purchase On Hold
Commission Eyes Electronic Poll Books
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/aug/14/voting-machine-purchase-hold/?latest
A plan to add to the number of voting machines in Benton County has been put on hold by questions about software compatibility with the manufacturer’s newest model.
...
“I hope to buy electronic poll books this year if I can redirect (the money) that way,” Miller said during a discussion of the 2011 budget ...

CA: Court Date Set for Hearing in Case Against Implementation of California’s “Top-Two” System http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/14/court-date-set-for-hearing-in-case-against-implementation-of-californias-top-two-system/

CO: NOREEN: Elections don't need polling places (opinion)
http://www.gazette.com/news/noreen-102959-county-paso.html

FL: Rick Scott envelopes cause major problems with voters* (Absentee ballots)
http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2010-08-16/Rick-Scott-envelopes-cause-major-problems-with-voters LEE County
If you do not use and sign the Election's Office envelope and then put the Election's Office envelope into the Scott envelope, your vote will not count.

The Scott envelope is not to be used in place of the Election's Office envelope.

FL: Another Victory – This Time in Miami-Dade; or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Precinct http://floridavoterscoalition.blogspot.com/2010/08/another-victory-this-time-in-miami-dade.html That means we’re to do ballot accounting at the precinct after all. The changes don’t make it perfect but they do appear to return to substantial compliance with Florida law and good practice.

IL: More Outcome Oriented Research
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/08/16/more-outcome-oriented-research/
I can’t say I know much about race relations in Boston. But I know a little about election administration. Enough to know that the draft paper by Profs. Rachael Cobb, James Greiner, and Kevin Quinn, is long on conjecture and short on facts.
...
I’ve got my doubts about the value of voter ID laws. But those doubts have nothing to do with the ability of election judges to administer them fairly. This research is faulty and its conclusions unsupported. If opponents of voter ID laws are truly concerned about this issue, they should go back into the field in November 2010

NC: New Bern ballot maker defends its reputation and legacy
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/new-89823-bern-materials.html
“People eager to bash the governor or electronic voting machines were ready to use the damaging factoids and insinuations in the initial story to their advantage,” wrote Hall, who heads the citizen advocacy group. “Through the muddle, there was enough information to see that neither Bartlett nor Bev Perdue selected the vendor and that counties are free to buy ballots from other printers.”

NM: Lynn Ellins: Baseless allegations of voter fraud
http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_15773119
However, hasty accusations or unverified claims such as Ms. Cooper's promote needless distrust of the system. Citizens can rest assured that where substantiated or credible concerns are raised, the Doña Ana County Clerk's office will take appropriate action against voter fraud and will protect our system of elected government, as it has in the past. (Lynn Ellins is Doña Ana County Clerk.)

OH: Premier Elections Solutions pays up in Ohio Diebold suit, offers more faulty voting machines for free http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/14/premier-elections-solutions-pays-up-in-ohio-diebold-suit-offers/

OH: Ohio signing up more voters at public assistance offices
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/08/ohio_signing_up_more_voters_at.html
More than 11,000 people in Cuyahoga County have registered to vote this year through public-assistance programs as part of a renewed effort to involve poor people in elections throughout Ohio.

OH: Toledo Blade Editorializes in Favor of Ballot Labels in Judicial Elections
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/14/toledo-blade-editorializes-in-favor-of-ballot-labels-in-judicial-elections/ Counties are also eligible for up to $2.4 million in free Premiere software for two years, and the company's even throwing in up to 2,909 free voting machines along with a 50 percent coupon for maintenance fees. Right, because the Buckeye State is so anxious to start using the machines it found so faulty to begin with.

PA: Bill Would Universalize Absentee Ballots
http://wduqnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/bill-would-universalize-absentee.html
A Berks County Senator wants to amend the state constitution so that Pennsylvanians would not need an excuse to vote with an absentee ballot.

PA: Two Pennsylvania Statewide Minor Party Candidates Withdraw Rather than Face Challenge Fee Threat http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/16/two-pennsylvania-statewide-minor-party-candidates-withdraw-rather-than-face-challenge-fee-threat/

RI: Grebien, workers subject of voter card tampering *
http://www.pawtuckettimes.com/content/view/133590/1/ PAWTUCKET — Mayoral candidate Donald Grebien and several of his campaign workers are the subject of a Pawtucket police investigation into allegations of tampering with voter registration forms.

SC: Candidate Off Ballot Because His Dog Ate His Petitions
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/15/candidate-off-ballot-because-his-dog-ate-his-petitions/
..a candidate for the School Board in Lady’s Island, South Carolina

TN: Election audit drops Henry's lead over Yarbro to 11 votes*
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100816/NEWS02/100816025/Election+
audit+drops+Henry+s+lead+over+Yarbro+to+11+votes http://tinyurl.com/262j8mv
A new week has brought yet another set of vote totals in the close battle for the Tennessee Senate District 21 race, closing the gap slightly between Sen. Douglas Henry and challenger Jeff Yarbro.

An audit by the Davidson County Election Commission turned up a previously uncounted voting machine from one precinct, Election Administrator Ray Barrett confirmed this morning. Yarbro won that machine by two votes over Henry, reducing Henry's lead from 13 votes to 11.

TN: Rockford wants vote investigation * (Blount County)
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/aug/13/rockford-wants-vote-investigation/
Breeding said that Rockford is a split state House of Representatives district, and the first hundred voters for the 8th District were improperly given ballots for the 20th District.
...
"I don't think the machines were set for the right district, but I can't prove it," he said. "That's why the state should look into it. I think the machines are hard-coded wrong before they get to Rockford."

TN: Primary Election Probe Underway
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/081610-primary-election-probe-underway
"Basically the court has appointed clerk and Master Duane Settle to hear the on going issues that we're having," said Van Turner, attorney for the plaintiff.

But attorney for the plaintive Regina Morrison Newman said there's much more here than just problems. There are also allegations of hiding information.

TN: The Post-Election Challenge for Dummies* (Shelby County Fiasco continues)
http://www.memphisflyer.com/JacksonBaker/archives/2010/08/14/the-lost-election-mystery-for-dummies
Two new discoveries had been made — (1) Ribbon scrolls containing candidate-by-candidate, precinct-by-precinct totals of the sort no longer released by the EC publicly were found in trash bags and, at the request of the petitioners, were impounded for safekeeping. And (2) there was such a thing as a “manual override” capability in the county’s Diebold voting-machine software, and records pertaining to possible use of it continued to be under lock and key.

The petitioners would end the evening in possession of one disc’s worth of information and two bags’ worth of the discarded ribbon scrolls.

National

Video: Dan Wallach channels Stephen Colbert
Must Watch: From the EVT/WOTE conference, Dan Wallach presents today’s word: “Out of Site, Out of Mind” http://www.ctvoterscount.org/video-dan-wallach-channels-stephen-colbert/

Program Helps Military Vote in Upcoming Election
http://www.ourmilitary.mil/Content.aspx?ID=45042631 Go to www.fvap.gov , and follow the prompts to register and request an absentee ballot for the Nov. 2 election.

Eighteen Members of Congress Call On Attorney General Holder to Ensure Integrity of Voting Systems - Urges Action In Advance of November Elections
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2010/08/16/746
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt led a group of 18 members of Congress in urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to enlist the Department’s enforcement capabilities in advance of the November elections to ensure the viability of voting systems and that votes are counted as cast.

Against Electing Judges.
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=08&year=2010&base_name=against_electing_judges
...In the 20 states that held partisan elections for the state Supreme Court in the previous decade, candidates raised a total $153.8 million for their campaigns.

Presidential Public Financing 2.0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/14/AR2010081402608.html
The new version would increase the matching rate in a way that encourages small donors. Contributions of $200 or less -- and that is the total amount the candidate can receive from that donor -- would be matched 4 to 1 by public funds.

International

India: 'Online voter registration from November'
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Online-voter-registration-from-November/articleshow/6308984.cms (Panjai)
Speaking to TOI, assistant chief electoral officerArvind Bugde said that its implementation would be part of a nationwide project to network offices of the various state electoral authorities and the Election Commission of India.


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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at Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews
Subscribe to Voting News at this link: http://tinyurl.com/votingnews
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=============================================

"The Voting News is a free service made possible 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: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

Shelby TN investigation Diebolded. Internet voting 'nothing to deter attacker.'

CTVoter has highlights of Ron Rivest Internet Voting Risks report: "There is nothing to deter attacker – Adv can attack anonymously over the Internet until he succeeds."...Candidates of Lee Co FL fiasco want do-over..."Hawkins County (TN)election glitch awards a different commissioner"...'Election Day From Hell' is a poll worker account of Shelby Co TN election...Review of Shelby Co TN election records thwarted by cnty agreement with 'Diebold'...US Rep Rush Holt asks AG to ensure 'viability of voting systems'...

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

AL: Yates sues county over absentee election funds
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100812/NEWS/100819948/1017/NEWS?Title=Yates-sues-county-over-absentee-election-funds
Etowah County Circuit Clerk Billy Yates has asked a court to order the county commission to pay him additional funds for his work as absentee election manager.

FL: Ballot snafu casts shadow over GIBA vote*
http://www.bocabeacon.com/?p=4848 A design glitch with the return envelopes provided to voters in Lee County is causing the ballots to be sent back to the voters. Not to the supervisor of elections office in Fort Myers.

The snafu has prompted at least two candidates for election to the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority board in the August 24 election to call for the primary to be scrapped and moved to a later date.

MD: Elections board shores up voter registration rolls with better oversight, technology http://www.marylandreporter.com/page5501215.aspx After an audit this summer pointed out that the State Board of Elections did not tightly control its voter registration system, changes have been made – but their effectiveness won’t be proven until Sept. 14.

MD: Rarely Used Public Campaign Funds Redirected for Voting Machines,May Be Retiring After 2010 Election http://www.marylandreporter.com/page5504421.aspx

NY: New York 2011 Redistricting Will Count Prisoners at Their Residence Before Being Incarcerated http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/08/13/new-york-2011-redistricting-will-count-prisoners-at-their-residence-before-being-incarcerated/

TN: The Hawkins County election glitch awards a different commissioner* (video)
http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/aug/13/hawkins-county-election-glitch-10087-vi-19032/
The unofficial winners of Hawkins County elections were announced on election night last Thursday. The next day, the administrator realized many votes were counted twice. The mishap changed the winner

TN: Stand-Off On Shelby County Voting Numbers*
Elections officials and independent auditors battle over access to number
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-democrats-election-challenge,0,767269.story
They weren't dancing. Two lawyers were physically being kept from pounding the legal sand out of each other. Welcome to the elections of 2010, Shelby County style.

Lawyers for the Shelby County Democratic Party and the Elections Commission had an agreement. Independent auditors could look at the numbers on the Diebold Computer system. But there was an immediate problem. County Attorney Greg Garrick was basically saying hey, I'd love to help you, "But it's not up to us. There is an agreement between Shelby County and Diebold not to release certain information about the machines. "

TN: SCEC Report - Part 2 * (attorneys blocked from audit log records)
http://leftwingcracker.blogspot.com/2010/08/scec-report-part-2.html
The poster log is a text file (I don't presume to be an expert but this was the explanation the experts put forth). The log keeps track of actions which could have been made to the system which would override vote totals. David Cocke was stunned that such overrides were possible, but assured Mr. Settle, as the "dispute resolver" on site, that we needed a copy of the log. The SCEC attorney consulted with Richard Holden again and announced that it was proprietary to Diebold and there was no way we were going to get it.

TN: Election Day From Hell* (precinct official in Shelby Co TN)
http://bluecollarrepublican.com/blog/?p=6234 Yesterday, August 5, 2010, I worked as a Republican Registrar at the 7200 East Shelby Road voting precinct.
...
Of course in such a circumstance, the voter is NOT turned away. Instead the voter is referred to the poll officer who calls downtown to the SCEC to verify the information. We learned quickly that there was an error in the EV record on our portable computers and the voter was permitted to vote. Soon after, we had a second voter with the same circumstance, and that is when we knew we had a problem. In operation, this was actually a minor snafu, a definite inconvenience for some of our voters who had to wait longer to vote, but NO ONE was turned away.
...
I’m sure we will hear more of the EV snafu in the days, weeks and months ahead. It really was a stupid mistake by a programmer and perhaps he or she needs to seek employment elsewhere. This was a biggee! Not only did it inconvenience voters, but it gives an excuse for others to question the integrity of the ballot itself.

TX: Testimony continues in election lawsuit
http://www.delrionewsherald.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4befdcd2bb7b3b3f Testimony continues today in the trial of an election lawsuit filed by Gustavo Flores, who claims that illegal mail-in ballots cost him the county Democratic Party nomination for a county commissioner position.

VA: Secure voting? *
Electoral board says machine area was breached; city says no
http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/news/2010/aug/06/secure-voting/
A disagreement over an alleged breach of the city’s secure voting machine storage area has led to the creation of new procedures to be followed by city staff when they need access to the area.

WA: Privacy upheld, money saved without ballot-envelope 'secrecy flap' (absentee)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012609237_signature13m.html
King County Elections spokeswoman Kim van Ekstrom said the county expects to save at least $150,000 a year it otherwise would have spent on more expensive envelopes and on hiring workers to remove the flaps so signatures could be verified.

WI: Officials dispute reliability of Waukesha County clerk's election data system
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/100595954.html
Waukesha — Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus' decision to go it alone in how she collects and maintains election results has some county officials raising a red flag about the integrity of the system.
...
The tug-of-war between Nickolaus and administration is evident in a March 8 memo from Cummings to Nickolaus in which he said hardware and software on the clerk's computers were "obsolete, not repairable and unsupportable." Without improvements, he worried that the elections system could be "inoperative and irrecoverable.

WV: Massey, Others Weigh Fall Political Ads (Citizens United)
http://www.gavelgrab.org/?p=13121 Massey Energy is one of two large West Virginia coal companies that plan to buy advertising in fall congressional elections, while taking advantage of a Supreme Court ruling that would let them do so.

WY: Judge sides with American Indians in voting case
http://nativetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4049:judge-sides-with-american-indians-in-voting-case&catid=51&Itemid=27
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – A federal judge on Tuesday sided with American Indians and ordered Fremont County to elect county commissioners in five separate districts.

Internet Voting Watch

Cyberwar Is Hell
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/28/cyberwar-is-hell.html
While we obsessed over Russian spies, top diplomats were working to stop a greater espionage problem: the threat of cyberwarfare

CTVoter comments:Prof. Ron Rivest, MIT: Military/Overseas Internet Voting Risks and Rewards http://www.ctvoterscount.org/ron-rivest-militaryoverseas-internet-voting-risks-and-rewards/ ...Professor Rivest is a security expert, the ‘R’ in RSA Security, and 2002 winner of the Turing Award, the highest honor in computing. When Ron talks security, everyone including legislators and election officials should listen carefully.
...
Will Adversary attack voting system?
Is the Pope Catholic?
Will someone pick up $20 left on sidewalk?

National

Congressman Rush Holt asks AG to ensure 'viability of voting systems'
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100813/UPDATES01/100813053/NJ-congressman-urges-Justice-Department-to-monitor-voting-accuracy
WASHINGTON – A New Jersey congressman is asking the U.S. Justice Department to monitor the November elections for potential vote-counting problems.

India: E-voting plans falter as few warm up to idea
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/E-voting-plans-falter-as-few-warm-up-to-idea/660035


Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.