The Voting News Daily: Voting News 8/7 Voting machines for sale, Federal bills gain sponsors, Calls for TN official to implement paper ballot law

In Tennessee, State Rep Odum calls on State’s top election official to do his job – implement the paper ballot law. Microvote voting machines for sale in Indiana, Newark Ohio selling punch card machines. Some 866OURVOTE applauds Kansas’ move to allow online voter registration. New Mexico’s SOS wants people to register now to officials time to process. Some congressional election bills including the Holt bill gain sponsors.
In India, PMK founder S. Ramadoss will demonstrate that the electronic voting machines can be hacked.

IN. County has 600 voting machines for sale
Also, 2008 campaign-finance reports now available online.
They’ve helped elect everything from presidents to township trustees, and now they can be yours. But does anybody really want to buy 600 obsolete electronic voting machines?
…The board Thursday agreed to make the MicroVote General Corp. machines available for purchase on the Internet in hopes of recovering at least a little of the $4,000 spent on each machine, some of which are nearly 20 years old.
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090807/NEWS/908070322

August 07, 2009 Kansas Ahead of the Pack
As of last week, Kansas voters are able to register to vote online, a huge improvement to our outdated registration system. According to a local news source, KCTV5 News, Kansas’s Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said, “An online voter registration application is the next step in making the traditional elections process easier, faster and cheaper.
http://866ourvote.articulatedman.com/newsroom/news?id=0236

MN. Minneapolis’ instant-runoff voting gives more hopefuls more time to campaign
8/7/09 … With nearly 100 candidates having filed for city offices, IRV could theoretically trigger tallying of voters’ lower-ranked preferences in as many as 22 races….Hofstede, who garnered majority votes in both the primary and general elections in 2005, sounded nonplussed about the prospect of facing multiple opponents for 12 more weeks. Her worry about IRV was a more commonly cited concern: voter education. “There will be confusion with the election,” Hofstede said. “The information that’s coming out is not consistent.”
http://minnesotaindependent.com/40799/minneapolis-irv-rcv-no-primary

NM. New Mexico Secretary of State visits to boost voter registration
08/07/2009 In an effort to get potential voters registered now and avoid a glut of paperwork closer to election day, the secretary of state’s office has launched a new initiative to make it easier to get registered
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13012170?source=most_emailed

OH. Newark Ohio selling Votomatic punch card machines at GovDeal right now
http://votingnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/newark-ohio-selling-votomatic-punch.html

TN. Are You Goins To Do Your Job Or No?
August 7, 2009 “I’m not going to stand by and let Mr. Goins ignore the law that was passed in a bi-partisan fashion in 2008,” Odom said.
http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2009/08/07/are-you-goins-to-do-your-job-or-no/

TN. If You Hold an Election, Cheaters Will Come
August 7, 2009 …But if Secretary of State continues to refuse to follow the law and implement the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act and we still don’t have paper ballots during the next election, then you’ll have nothing to do as citizens except sit at home and hope that the margin of victory for your candidate is so large that it overcompensates for any errors made by the secret counting software installed on each machine.

The Voting News Daily: Newark Ohio selling Votomatic punch card machines at GovDeal right now

There are several types of voting machines and election equipment for sale over at GovDeals. Click on Election Equipment to see the latest holdings. Here’s a list of what is up for auction today:

Inventory ID
Description
Asset Location
End Date/Time ET
Start/Current Bid

BOE9
Board of Election Votomatics
Newark, OH
8/15/09 5:35 PM
Current: $16.00 Bids: 2

BOE9
Board of Election Votomatics
Newark, OH
8/15/09 5:40 PM
Current: $16.00 Bids: 2

BOE8
Board of Election Votomatics
Newark, OH
8/15/09 5:45 PM
Current: $10.00 Bids: 1

BOE7
Board of Election Votomatics
Newark, OH
8/15/09 5:50 PM
Current: $8.00 Bids: 1

BOE6
Board of Election Votomatics
Newark, OH
8/15/09 5:55 PM
Current: $7.00 Bids: 2

The Voting News Daily: Voting News 8/6 TN County missing a voting machine, 3 card readers, PA group needs audit help, Voting Rights Act needed, Diebold Certified

The sour economy is impacting election administration. WVa approved early voting but provided no funding to pay for it. PA activists need volunteers to audit their paperless elections. Woodbury County, Iowa dropped plans for Vote Centers when Sioux City threatened to sue. A Tennessee County took inventory and learned they were missing 1 voting machine and 3 card readers. Knox Co TN officials not likely to approve Vote Center Pilots which would eliminate neighborhood polls. *Vote Centers are being mislabeled as “convenience voting”. Tennessee still fighting over their paper ballot law. Oregon ok’s online registration. An Arizona lawmaker who broke AZ’s powerful clean elections act sues to keep job.

The EAC certified a Diebold/Premier system. 44 Years After Landmark Act, Voting Rights Still Needed says the Brennan Center for Justice. A report analyses the US election process. As early voting spreads in the US, how does it impact GOTV efforts?
India’s struggle against electronic voting heats up: India panel to hear debate on paperless voting machines. As her party boycotts the election, India’s AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa says: “In a democracy, every voter should know whether the vote cast has gone to the candidate or party it was meant for. In the absence of such certainty, the entire democratic process would be rendered a mockery.” Jayalalithaa also quotes Rice University associate professor Dan Wallach regarding problems with voting machines.

AZ. Arizona Legislator Sues to Retain Seat
August 6th, 2009 On August 6, Arizona Representative Doug Quelland filed a lawsuit in state court to retain his seat in the legislature. The Clean Elections Commission had voted 4-1 to remove him from office, back on May 15, 2009.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/08/06/arizona-legislator-sues-to-retain-seat/

CA. Election delays won’t save a dime
08/05/2009 OUR VIEW: Attempts to save money on 2010 elections show some didn’t do their homework. The San Bernardino County Board of Education set things right this week when it backed away from a foolhardy proposal to postpone its 2010 election.
…But when word spread that delaying the election until November 2011 would actually cost the district more – more than $1 million more – the movement quickly lost steam. The board voted Monday against rescheduling the election.
http://www.sbsun.com/editorial/ci_13000318

CA. Proposed Legislation: Post Canvass Audit Bill Language
04 Aug 2009 A bill proposal to move the Post Election Manual Tally (PEMT) to after the canvass period and rename it the “Post Canvass Audit.”
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ccrov/pdf/2009/august/09128jb.pdf

CO. Aspen mayor campaigning for two more years
Changing the term of mayor and the timing of the election would require an amendment to the charter, and a public vote. That could occur this fall or next spring. Voters will likely be asked an advisory question this November if Aspen should continue with IRV or have city officials find an alternative.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20090806/VALLEYNEWS/908059987/1074

FL. Whopping cost increase could end early voting
August 5, 2009 PLANT CITY – Early voting in Plant City municipal elections could become the latest victim of the economic crisis.
http://plantcity2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/05/pc-whopping-cost-increase-could-end-early-voting/

IA. Voter centers plan scrapped after city considers lawsuit
Aug 04, 2009 SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) – The Woodbury County Auditor has dropped plans to replace polling places with a handful voting centers…Fearing that voters would be disenfranchised in the upcoming city council election, City Attorney Andrew Mai says they considered suing the county.