The Voting News Daily: 8/13. More on voting machine hack, Canada moves forward with internet voting plans, India high court orders proof EVMs can be tampered with
The new Sequoia hack triggers humor amidst alarm and renews calls for paper ballots. Argument for open source repeated in wake of the recent Diebold software patch. Florida election laws may address google ads. Illinois voters will be able to register up to 7 days before election if gov signs bill. TX two step primary to be challenged in Fed Court. A VA county moves election date to save money. Canada moves on with internet voting in spite of fresh warnings from computer scientists. In India, the Madras High Court today directs the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) President G. K. Mani to demonstrate how EVMS can be hacked.
CA. California Still Willing to Give e-Voting a Try
Secretary of State discusses the flaws in the system but remains committed to electronic voting. Dell talks up cloud computing.
…Paper ballots right now, she said, mean “never having to say ‘I trust you’ to thousands of lines of code no matter how cute they may be,” she added.
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3834386
FL. Florida Election Laws May Adapt to New Media Demands
Aug 13th, 2009 A case that penalized St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Scott Wagman for using Google ads in his campaign could lead to a new law making the practice acceptable in political races across the Sunshine State….The problem arose when a complaint was filed against Wagman who used Google click ads that do not say who paid for them, which is against election law. The Wagman campaign contended that it was impossible to provide the disclaimer because the ads contain a character limit.
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2009/08/13/florida-election-laws-may-adapt-to-new-media-demands/
IL. Waiting for Governor’s signature. HB 267, which allows grace period voter registration as late as 7 days prior to an election (now, grace period registration ends 14 days prior), was sent to the governor on June 17. The governor has until Sunday, August 16 to take action.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=267&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=40393&SessionID=76&GA=96
MA. City consolidates polling places to save money
SALEM — Many voters will cast their ballots at new locations this fall, as the city cuts back on the number of polling stations to save money.
…it saves you in police costs and handicap machines programming.”
The state provided the city an estimate of $1,000 per handicapped voting machine for the cost of programming each one, LaPointe said.
http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_225000631.html?keyword=secondarystory
NC. Only two candidates participating in Chapel Hill’s voter-owned elections
…It’s a simple, albeit controversial idea: The public should fund campaigns for viable candidates so everyone, not just those who can afford to bankroll their campaigns, has a fair shot at winning office.
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=399354
NCSBoE presentation on Voter Owned Elections
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/NCSBE/docs/TOCHVOEP/player.html
NE. Mail-in elections a growing trend
…In what is a growing trend across Nebraska, more and more villages, cities and counties are holding “mail-only” elections when considering local issues such as sales tax proposals, school bond issues and keno measures
http://www.omaha.com/article/20090813/NEWS01/708139914
NY. Upcoming elections bring new equipment, rules
Instead of drawing a curtain, flipping levers and pulling a handle to register votes, voters will be given a paper ballot and a pen, and guided to a screened area where they will fill in boxes next to their candidates’ names…But there are other changes besides the obvious ones in store for voters, including identification for first-time voters – through a driver’s license or the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number – when they arrive at the polls.