The Voting News Daily: Vote-machine lobbyist was in ‘rig’ trouble, NY City giving up levers, Same Day Registration pros and cons
In New York we learn that one vendor’s lobbyist was involved in a vote rigging scandal. Meanwhile one vendor claims they will provide more jobs than the other vendor…. Massachusetts weighs the pros and cons of same day registration….Oregon is considering adopting online voter registration..
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
CA: Ranked Choice Voting May Cost Oakland $947,000
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2010/01/04/ranked-choice-voting-may-cost-oakland-947000
Mon, Jan 4, 2010…However, the city’s costs could increase to a maximum
of $1.5 million (not including the savings of not having a June
election) if either or both Berkeley and San Leandro decide to forgo
ranked choice voting this year
MA: Same-day voter registration proposal has pros and cons
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/homepage/x1444028251/Same-day-voter-registration-proposal-has-pros-and-cons
Jan 02, 2010 Supporters of a bill to allow voters to register on Election Day say it will improve citizen participation in democracy as it has in nine states that allow the system. But some municipal officials and the secretary of state worry about the cost and potential confusion of such a system.
…
Langenburg said that in the past, additional polling workers were hired to handle provisional ballots. Those workers now are responsible for same-day registration forms. The cost of printing the forms is covered by what they used to spend on provisional ballots.
What the Mass. Freedom to Vote Act would do
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_14118453
MI: Are These The Waning Days of ‘Austin v Michigan Chamber of Commerce’
http://bit.ly/6pU8rI (podcast available) Michigan Chamber of Commerce VP Bob LaBrandt holds a copy of the newspaper ad that served as the basis of the legal case Austin vs Michigan Chamber of Commerce
MI: Online Voting Bill Heads to State Senate
http://new.wkzo.com/news/articles/2010/jan/04/online-voting-bill-heads-state-senate/
January 4, 2010 Just two states allow residents to register to vote online, but Michigan could be on the verge of being the third to embrace the technology
NH: New Hampshire Ballot Access Bills Get Hearing Date
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/01/04/new-hampshire-ballot-access-bills-get-hearing-date/
NY: Vote-machine lobbyist was in ‘rig’ trouble
http://bit.ly/8ypLLv
January 4, 2010 A lobbyist working for the company believed to have the edge to win a multimillion-dollar contract to replace the city’s lever-operated voting machines was once embroiled in a flap over ballot fixing
Anthony Mangone, a Westchester-based lawyer and lobbyist hired to help Election Systems & Software, testified that he tampered with ballots in a voting-fraud criminal case against a political operative working for then-state Sen. Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) in 2002.
NY: City Finally Poised to Give Up Lever Voting Machines
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/nyregion/04machines.html
January 3, 2010 …After years of delays and missteps, the city’s Board of Elections is expected to choose new electronic voting machines on Tuesday that will be rolled out in time for the September primary. In so doing, New York City will become one of the last places in the country to get rid of its lever-operated voting machines.
NY: Company says New York jobs riding on voting-machine contract
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100104/NEWS01/1040327/Company+says+New+York+jobs+riding+on+voting-machine+contract
January 4, 2010 ALBANY — As New York City prepares to choose a voting-machine system Tuesday, one of two companies vying for the contract says winning it would mean more jobs for New Yorkers, particularly in the Rochester and Southern Tier regions.