The Voting News Daily: 8/4 Voting News. EAC goes YouTube, NY sticker shock, Ohio law helps voters, Tenn Election Admin politicized, Bad Ideas for Elections spread
The Elections Assistance Commission gets a YouTube Channel. What next, the EAC on Twitter? New York Counties discover costs of switching to voting machines; EVoter Education Project says that for NY: “A bigger problem in our opinion is that the new ballot scanners are not ‘stand-alone’ devices at all, as many have been led to believe.” Many Detroit polling places moved due to closing of 43 public schools. The Federal Voting Assistance Program is using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking means to communicate with overseas voters. Florida officials favor vote by mail for spec. elections. Maine will now allow voters to go online to request an absentee ballot. A computer scientist shows that India’s electronic voting machines can be hacked. Brave New World? The Phillipines plans to use biometric data (fingerprint scan) to identify voters. Bad ideas for voting spread around the world: Namibia mulling electronic voting. Vote by phone in Russia? Is Smartmatic liable under Philippine laws for its misrepresentations of facts (about source code review)?
CA. Bureau of State Audits issues Prop. 11 redistricting commission regulations
When voters passed Proposition 11 last fall to establish a new, citizens redistricting commission to draw legislative district lines starting in 2011, they gave the job of implementing the measure to the Bureau of State Audits, the state’s independent, external auditor….A public hearing will take place on September 14 at the Secretary of State’s office in downtown Sacramento to gather public input on the draft regulations. The Bureau also invites the public to submit written comments.
http://calvoter.org/news/blog/2009_08_01_blogarchive.html#8294752248149806743
FL. Election supervisors favor mail-in voting for special elections
Aug 4. With few voters going to the polls Tuesday, officials overseeing the state Senate District 28 special election say they may request that similar contests in the future by held through the mail.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/aug/04/election-supervisors-favor-mail–voting-special-el/
IL. Many Detroiters will vote in new places
August 1, 2009 Thousands of Detroit voters will be voting in new polling precincts in Tuesday’s primary, but Detroit Elections Department officials say they are making sure the voters know where to go. City Elections Director Daniel Baxter said the poll changes are the result of 43 Detroit public schools’ closures.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090801/NEWS01/908010364/Many-Detroiters-will-vote-in-new-places
IL. Detroiters to encounter 235 names, double-sided ballot in primary
8/4/09 http://michiganmessenger.com/24251/detroiters-to-encounter-235-names-double-sided-ballot-in-primary (Whew!)
IL.EAC Data Collection Grant
The State of Illinois is one of five states to receive an Election Assistance Commission grant of $2 million to enhance their efforts to collect data regarding voter registration and voting.
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/08/03/eac-data-collection-grant/
KS. Online registration — The biggest hurdle to voting in Kansas has just been knocked down. Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh announced that a quietly developed online system for voter registration is now in operation. Any Kansan may now register to vote or change registration online in just a few minutes.
http://www.kansas.com/opinion/story/915426.html
http://www.eldoradotimes.com/news/x804163497/Online-voter-registration-now-available
OH. Ohio elections chief, Dems offer elections changes
August 3, 2009 COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio voters would be able to vote early at more locations — but for a shorter time — and would encounter simpler voter identification requirements under legislation House Democrats plan to introduce Tuesday.