The Voting News Daily: Smartmatic demo glitch, Was Aspen election secret ballot or not? Lamone blocks campaign finance bill
Aspen voter complaint asks if election was held by secret ballot or not. Virginia’s new registration rules would allow students to list dorm as residence. Maryland Election Director Linda Lamone helps block local campaign finance bill. Asheville NC spends $60K on additional early voting sites hoping to increase turnout. Should Voter Registration Be Automatic? – the new bipartisan “Committee to Modernize Voter Registration” will study the issue. “‘Citizens United v. FEC’ has sparked what may be an unprecedented lobbying and public advocacy war.” The “Citizens United vs FEC” case challenges campaign finance rules that limit corpporations influence on elections. A “glitch” spoils Smartmatic’s public demo in the Phillipines. A special election for Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat will be held on Jan 19.
CO. “Big Brother Knows How You Voted,” Millard Zimet
August 30. Aspen citizen Millard Zimet filed the formal complaint with Aspen’s Election Commission questioning whether Aspen conducted a secret ballot election in May 2009. His complaint and related materials are linked below…
http://theredant.squarespace.com/red-ant-blog/2009/8/30/big-brother-knows-how-you-voted-millard-zimet.html
MA. Governor sets date for special Senate election, presses for interim appointment
August 31, 2009 Governor Deval Patrick continued today to press for a change to state law to allow him to appoint an interim replacement for Senator Edward M. Kennedy as he announced that a special election for the seat will be held on Jan. 19
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/patrick_to_make.html
MD. Maryland’s Administrator for Life, Part One
Suppose a local bill (a bill affecting only one county) gets the unanimous support of its local government, the unanimous support of its county delegation in Annapolis and is passed by the House of Delegates by 135-0. You would think it would be headed for the Governor’s desk, right?
Not if it’s a campaign finance reform bill and Linda Lamone get winds of it…
http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/08/marylands-administrator-for-life-part.html
NC. Early Asheville voting sites added
Officials hope to improve city’s poor turnout
…The city will spend up to $60,000 for four general election early voting sites…The city will have additional sites for one week of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election. General election early voting is Oct. 15-31. Among eight large cities, including Raleigh, Wilmington and Durham, only Greensboro and Charlotte have additional sites..
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090830/NEWS01/908300340
VA. Virginia seeks to ease student voting
August 31, 2009 The Virginia State Board of Elections moved Saturday to remove barriers that have made it hard for college students to vote and streamline inconsistent local policies for establishing residency. The proposal, which awaits a nod from the U.S. Justice Department, won unanimous approval from the three-member board after months of deliberation by the Virginia Residency Task Force. Under the new guidelines, local registrars would be barred from refusing a student’s voter registration simply because that student listed a dorm as his address
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Virginia-seeks-to-ease-student-voting-8173851-56254157.html
NY. Election Problems?
Posted on August 30, I got both my National and New York election ballots this weekend. Everything was fine with the National package, but my New York envelope was missing the instruction pamphlet with the candidates statements.
http://www.sagwatch.net/2009/08/election-problems/
WA. Judge dismisses lawsuit over Pierce County charter amendments
Aug 31.