The Voting News Daily: Hawaii judge formally bans e-voting, ES&S-Diebold issues, TN officials still obstruct paper ballot law

A Hawaii Judge issues order blocking the use of direct record electronic (DRE)voting machines.

She saw them coming: Putnam Co Tennessee Election official argues that no qualified voting machines will be federally certified in time for the 2010 election and that by the 2010 census, new requirements would likely be issued and those machines would be obsolete.
In Dunkerton Iowa, a school board race is up in the air due to tallying problems, shortage of ballots and discrepancy in number of photocopied ballots. (Yes – they used photo copied ballots).
NY will still have some levers in use during the primary.
Some South Dakota counties get federal money to help in upkeep of touchscreen voting machines. The Champaign Co Ill clerk warns that modernization of registration may disenfranchise college students. Thankfully, there is now a website monitoring the developments of Citizens United V FEC.

CO. Council denies election commission’s request
Sept 15. ASPEN — Aspen’s elected officials on Monday night voted to deny the city election commission’s request to hire an outside attorney to determine its authority before it addresses a citizen’s claim that his voting rights were violated in the May election. Officials also denied another resident’s request to release all of the election’s ballot images so they can be reviewed independently.
…Aspen voters will be asked this November an advisory question whether IRV should be retained or another method should be pursued, including systems used in the past.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20090915/NEWS/909159998/1077&ParentProfile=1058

HI. Maui judge formalizes ruling that bans electronic voting
A Maui judge has made permanent an oral ruling that bars the state
Office of Elections from using electronic voting machines or
transmitting election results over the Internet or telephone lines.
Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza, whose written ruling on the matter was
filed Thursday, sided with five Maui plaintiffs who argued the
electronic voting methods should have been subject to public hearings
through the administrative rule-making process.
Cardoza had issued an oral ruling in May.
How the ruling might affect the 2010 elections was not immediately
known.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090915_Maui_judge_formalizes_ruling_that_bans_electronic_voting.html

HI. Judge Cardoza issues written order enjoining use of electronic voting machines in Hawaii (video also)
Judge Joseph E. Cardoza has issued a written order dated September 10, 2009 following his May oral injunction against Hawaii’s use of electronic voting machines. His order also prohibits the illegal transmission of vote results over telephone lines or over the Internet… Although not mentioned explicitly in the order, the adoption of the HART mark-sense readers might also be called into question if they are not covered by the administrative rules… http://disappearednews.com/2009/09/judge-cardoza-issues-written-order.html

An unofficial copy of Cardoza’s order in Babson v. Cronin, made searchable, is posted on Disappeared News here. “Plaintiffs are arguing that rulemaking is required for the adoption of DRE voting systems…….As to the second element,since the next election is over a year away, there is little or harm in requiring Defendants to undergo proper rulemaking procedures when adopting new DRE voting systems.”
http://disappearednews.com/docs/Babson_v_Cronin_Final_Order.pdf

HI. Procurement appeals (ES&S v. Cronin, Civil No. 08-101657-08, Hart (still pending)
InterCivic v.

The Voting News Daily: Diebold sale triggers Hart anti trust suit & Senator’s request for DOJ probe

The Diebold sale to ES&S has hit the fan:
Senator Schumer seeks DOJ probe of Diebold’s sale of voting-machine business.
Hart Intercivic files antitrust suit against Diebold and ES&S. See “Your Once-Public Elections & Your Once-Public Elections on ES&S Monopoly Steroids” ~ Brad Friedman of Bradblog.
Again, why is “Citizens United v FEC” so important? “Campaign money and freedom of speech are two different things. When we speak our minds, we are expressing our opinions on the issues at hand. But when we give money to a politician, we are attempting to buy influence…” ~ Dave Hornstein, Detroit Natl Examiner.

Voters in Dauphin Co PA will have to jump through hoops to cast write in votes on Electec DREs. The State of New York just passed a bill requiring polling places to have the information needed to direct voters to their proper voting places:
“Far too many people have not had their vote count because they simply didn’t know the proper location of their polling place,” stated Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Some early voters in Maury County TN may have voted at the wrong place because of “a change in the software at the election commission offices…”

Democrats and Republicans in Tarrant Co TX are divided over what to do about the polling place at Maplewood Baptist Fellowship. The church is known for its controversial marquee questioning the citizenship of the President of the United States.
The Wisconsin Gen Assembly to consider restoration of voting rights this Thursday.

More on push for internet voting in Canada, “Don’t do it.” says Hovav Shacham, the University of California professor. In Ireland, the minister responsible for the €60m e-voting debacle defended the botched electronic voting system and bizarrely suggested a similar system might be used in the future.

HI. Lawmakers To Examine State Elections Office Budget
9/13/09. HONOLULU — The Senate Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday will examine the plight of the Hawaii Office of Elections, which is straining under a tight budget a year before the 2010 statewide elections. Because of cuts in funding that were made by Gov. Linda Lingle’s office, the agency cannot fill the vacant positions of four major posts, including the supervisor that oversees the preparation and transportation of ballots.
http://www.kitv.com/news/20890251/detail.html

KY. Supreme Court campaign finance case may affect Kentucky
September 14, 2009 U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell ended his August recess Wednesday sitting in on U.S. Supreme Court arguments that could roll back some 30 years of Kentucky election law…McConnell’s interest in the case is based on his belief that laws limiting contributions to political candidates violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech. And corporations under U.S. law have traditionally been afforded the same First Amendment rights as individuals.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090914/COLUMNISTS21/909140318/Supreme+Court
+campaign+finance+case+may+affect+Kentucky
or use this url: http://tinyurl.com/lbk2o9

MA. Bill to link local, special elections. Polito seeks less confusion, lower costs
State Rep. Karyn E. Polito filed a bill yesterday that would allow communities to put local questions and candidates on the Jan. 19 election ballot to replace the late Sen.

The Voting News Daily: Senator Schumer seeks DOJ probe of Diebold’s sale of voting-machine business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2009

SCHUMER URGES JUSTICE DEPT. TO PROBE DIEBOLD’S PROPOSED SALE OF ELECTION MACHINE BUSINESS TO ITS BIGGEST COMPETITOR; SAYS DEAL COULD HAVE ‘ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES’ FOR HOW AMERICA VOTES

Schumer, As Senate Rules Chairman, Raises Flags Over Proposed Merger On Antitrust Grounds

Says Deal Could Give One Company Control Over 75 Percent of Election Machine Market
Senator: Competition Is Needed To Reduce Chances of Widespread Election Fraud

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), the Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, raised alarm bells Monday over Diebold’s proposed sale of its voting machine business to its biggest competitor and urged a full Justice Department review of the deal, saying it could have “adverse implications on how our country votes.”

Earlier this month, Diebold announced it was selling its Texas-based subsidiary, Premier Election Solutions, to the country’s largest voting-machine manufacturer, Election Systems & Software Inc. of Omaha, Neb. The deal immediately sparked concern from election law experts since it would join Premier, which has a 33 percent share of the voting-machine market, with ES&S, whose systems were used in counting approximately 50 percent of all ballots cast in the last four major U.S. elections. Candice Hoke, an election law professor at Cleveland State University, told the Associated Press on Sept. 3 that the proposed deal represented “a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors.”

In a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder today, Schumer requested that the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division probe the deal based on anti-competitiveness concerns.

“If this acquisition proceeds, one company could control over three-quarters of the U.S. market for voting systems. Given other factors, including high barriers to entering the market, I am deeply concerned that local governments and taxpayers will not be getting a fair deal because too much market power will be held in too few hands,” Schumer wrote.

“It is in the public interest to maintain a range of choices in voting systems,” Schumer added, noting that increased consolidation in the election-machine market could make elections more susceptible to fraud.

A copy of Schumer’s letter appears below.

September 14, 2009

The Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington D.C. 20530

Dear General Holder,

I am writing today to express my concern with the proposed acquisition of the second largest voting system company by the largest voting system company. Last week, Election Systems & Software Inc. (ES&S) announced that it plans to purchase Premier Election Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Diebold Inc. This acquisition may have serious adverse implications for how our country votes. Since this industry provides a product vital to American governance, I am asking that the Antitrust Division examine this acquisition carefully to make sure there is no anticompetitive impact on election officials, states, or voters.

There is a history of concern over lack of competition in this industry. In 1997, American Information Systems purchased Business Records Corporation and became the company now known as ES&S.