The Voting News Daily: 7/31 Voting News.Aspen election audit battle continues, Voting Rights Act underutilized, Absentee ballot tracking bill passes House

The US House passed a bill that authorizes reimbursements to States that offer absentee ballot tracking services. Aspen Colorado activists hoping to audit a recent electon are still fighting for access to ballots after the city attorney said the ballots were not public information. In North Carolina, lawmakers consider a bill to allow teens to…

The Voting News Daily: 7/30 Voting News. Must Tennessee Election Officials pass political or religious test? US Voter Registration lags, Hawaii Vote By Mail?

A Tennessee Supreme Court may decide if election officials must pass a religious or political test. This comes after the May firing of 28 election directors Hawaii considering Vote by Mail as a way to increase voter turnout. Maybe because Honolulu’s recent internet election was quite a dud with 6.5% turnout. Meanwhile, Michael Hamner (University…

The Voting News Daily: 7/28 Voting News. Aspen election to get independent audit, an election office’s money woes, online registration, vote renting and illegal voting

Ballots so private you can’t audit them: Colorado Voting Activist Harvie Brancomb leads a team conducting an independent audit of Aspen’s recent instant runoff voting election. The town’s attorney has denied a public info request to obtain the 2,600 ballots, citing that the ballots are “private”. It is ironic that ballots have to be stored…

The Voting News Daily: EAC approves Internet Voting Company as a registered vendor – will Internet Voting be far behind?

The Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) just approved Everyone Counts, an Internet Voting Company to participate in the EAC Voting System Testing and Certification Program. E1C now joins several other EAC registered voting vendors. The whack-a-mole attacks on election transparency have stepped up a level. In a letter to Everyone Counts, dated July 21, 2009, the…

The Voting News Daily: 7/27 Voting News: Ditching New York’s levers costly, stringent audits needed, EAC approves Internet Voting Company as Vendor, TN still in the news

Concerns are raised about New York’s Pilot program that allows the use of uncertified computerized vote counting machines. This month citizens learned that a statewide switch from levers to optical scan will cost $200 million, with only $50 million covered by federal funds. Howard Stanislevic of the E-Voter Education Project warns that the increased risk…

The Voting News Daily: Voting News 7/23 Hawaii Elections Office is broke, Major advocacy groups release report on 2008 election, election bills gain sponsors

Hawaii’s top election official may need to borrow money to hold elections in 2010 because of state budget restrictions. Lots of US news. Is there a better alternative to election day registration? Several election bills add new co sponsors as there is a big push for electoral reform by 2010. US. Voter Action, NAACP National…

The Voting News Daily: 7/21 Voting News. New Mexico SOS can’t protect assets, Arizona’s voting machine suit in court, Tennessee paper fight rages, EAC certification

Can New Mexico’s Secretary of State protect elections? The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office doesn’t have the technical capability to manage information technology projects, or “protect the assets of the SOS and the people of the State of New Mexico.” according to a Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) evaluation.The EAC announces several certifications of software…