The Voting News Daily: NY new voting machines overvote concerns, Judges initials may impact IL GOP governor election
New York’s new optical scan machines, the ES&S DS200 and Dominion ImageCast will treat overvotes in a way that threatens the voting rights of millions of New Yorkers. The machines do not automatically return overvoted or otherwise erroneous ballots to the voter for correction. A recent Florida study showed that “the ES&S DS200 (the only system in Florida which did not automatically return overvoted ballots to voters) had an overvote rate on Election Day 2008 that was eighteen times higher than that of the systems used in other Florida counties”.
Paying our respects: Congressman Jack Murtha, supporter of verified voting efforts, died today, may he rest in peace….Civil rights and labor leader Beth Shulman died on Friday, February 5, she will be missed….
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
AL: Birmingham News Editorial in Favor of Ballot Access Reform
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/02/08/birmingham-news-editorial-in-favor-of-ballot-access-reform/
February 8th, 2010 The Birmingham News of February 8 has this editorial, urging the Alabama legislature to pass Rep. Cam Ward’s ballot access bill.
CA: Secretary of State hearing Monday – Future of Voting in California
http://calvoter.org/news/blog/2010_02_01_blogarchive.html#6542077865288826299
CA: Press release – Secretary of State Debra Bowen Reports One in Five
Voters Now Registered Decline-to-State; More Total Voters
Since Last Statewide Primary in a Gubernatorial Election Year
http://www.sos.ca.gov/admin/press-releases/2010/db10-024.pdf
CA: San Francisco’s new election process challenged
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/05/state/n103103S81.DTL&type=politics
Feb 5, 2010…Six people, including unsuccessful Board of Supervisors candidate Ron Dudum, allege in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that voters are disenfranchised because they are limited to only three choices.
FL: Appeals court to hear Palm Beach election challenge
http://bit.ly/bBpAur
February 07, 2010. The Fourth District Court of Appeal will hear attorneys’ arguments Tuesday in Gerry Goldsmith’s appeal of a judge’s decision upholding the result of the town’s February 2009 mayoral election and recount
IL: Judges’ Initials in the OpScan Age
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/02/08/judges-initials-in-the-opscan-age/
Champaign County Clerk. With a razor thin margin in the Republican Governor’s race I’m already looking at a potential election contest in light of our new election equipment and new election law.
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if you cast a vote on paper in the state of Illinois, your ballot being counted is based in large part on whether the judge remembers to initial the ballot.
IL: Dillard wants all ballots counted
http://www.dailyillini.com/news/2010/02/05/dillard-wants-all-ballots-counted
February 5th, 2010. Kirk Dillard, Republican candidate for Illinois Governor, said the ballot counting process in the GOP Primary must continue until all ballots have been verified.
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Some election officials have said they will wait until February 15 or 16 to count their absentee and provisional ballots…
IL: John F. DiLeo Extensive Commentary on Illinois Democratic Fiasco for Lieutenant Governorship Nomination http://bit.ly/dhAYGF
MN: Cost becomes focus of ranked-choice decision
http://www.republican-eagle.com/event/article/id/64501/
Red Wing Charter Commission. The cost of ranked-choice voting might may be the biggest factor in whether Red Wing city officials embrace it.
…But commissioners say they want to know exactly how much converting to ranked-choice voting would cost before proposing Red Wing adopt the system.
NM: Controversal voter registration bill moves on
http://newmexicoindependent.com/46479/controversal-voter-registration-bill-moves-on
A bill that would allow voters to register and vote on the same day barely cleared the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Thursday
NJ: The Bizarre History of Election Law: The Camden Election Riots of 1870
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/02/08/the-bizarre-history-of-election-law-the-camden-election-riots-of-1870/