The Voting News Daily: TX court: only disabled to e-vote in Webb Co., IL undervote law shames some voters

A Reminder: You Don’t Want Voting Controlled By One Company…Kansas SOS Issues New Instructions About Interestate Database Matching…The 49th District Court in Texas ruled that only disabled voters will use the touchscreen voting machines….
Election integrity expert Dr. Charles E. Corry hopes to administer elections and is running for El Paso County Clerk and Recorder. Corry has the online book “Vote Fraud and Election Issues” and served on the (IEEE) voting equipment standards committee from 2001-2009…See Tom Barrow video account of his candidacy in the 2009 Detroit Mayoral election, recount process and discussion on history of vote rigging…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…..

CA: Rethinking elections
Amid budget shortfalls, can we afford all these special elections?
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-logan16-2010feb16,0,7617068.story?track=rss

CO: Voting transparency expert Dr. Chuck Corry is running for El Paso County Clerk and Recorder
http://corryforclerk.com
Corry’s online book about Vote Fraud and Election Issues
http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting.htm

CT: Denise Merrill formally enters SOTS race
By Luther Weeks on February 15, 2010
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2875

IL: Legislators offer ideas to improve election process
http://bit.ly/b5bmWg
The ideas range from making it easier for young people to vote to improved methods for election officials to keep dead voters off the registration rolls.

IL: Under-vote law limits right to secret ballot
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_07ba6d18-1900-11df-af83-001cc4c002e0.html
This new law should be abolished. It serves no practical purpose except to shame some voters and erode our right to be entirely left alone in the voting booth.

IN: 2 plans to ease voting stumble
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100216/NEWS07/302169990
INDIANAPOLIS – Two major election proposals – no-fault absentee voting by mail and allowing counties to use vote centers – have hit roadblocks
…
Battles thinks the legislature should learn from the pilot counties and set minimum standards for the model, including the size and speed of computer servers and technology for an electronic poll book, before opening it up statewide.

KS: Kansas Secretary of State Issues New Instructions About Interestate Database Matching
http://bit.ly/csizE3
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to concerns expressed by national voting rights groups Project Vote and the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN), the Kansas Secretary of State has issued new instructions to county election officials to ensure that eligible voters are not wrongfully removed from the rolls under an ongoing program to update voter registration databases based on interstate matching.

MI: Tom Barrow’s engrossing account of his candidacy in the nonpartisan 2009 Detroit Mayoral election and recount process
http://blip.tv/search?q=tom+barrow (video)
The speech video is in 3 parts. You will learn about the long history of insider election rigging in Detroit, and how the same methods are now used around the state

MT: Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch Discusses Records Management, E-Voting
http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/745690
We’re very excited about online voter registration. One barrier, more than anything, is it costs money to implement this system

NH: New Hampshire Ballot Access Bill Passes Committee
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/02/16/new-hampshire-ballot-access-bill-passes-committee/

NY: New election system takes shape in Port Chester
http://www.lohud.com/article/20100215/NEWS02/2150333/-1/newsfront/New-election-system-takes-shape-in-Port-Chester
PORT CHESTER — Attorneys are working out details of a new kind of ballot to be used in the June 15 village election, which will fill all six trustee seats under a court-ordered cumulative voting system.

The Voting News Daily: Aspen ballot image court date set, Goldman Sachs fishy internet vote

The cost of transparency: The lawsuit to force release of ballot images from Aspen Colorado’s May 2009 election is set for March 22-23. By that time, the plaintiff’s legal fees are expected to total $75,000. The city of Aspen has moved for a protective order to disallow testimony from voting vendor True Ballot’s staff… Witness says KY lawmaker gave $40,000 to vote-buying group…

The ACLU Challenges Illegal Disfranchisement of American Indian Voters in South Dakota…
Was there cheating in Goldman Sachs internet vote? 5,000 votes against the “Robin Hood” tax came from 2 servers at Goldman Sachs…Worries grow about America’s cyber security……In Anambra State, Nigeria, only 350 out of 1.8 million registered voters were able to cast a vote in the governorship election because “their names were not in the revised voters registers.”

CA: Voting rights suit settled with Riverside County
http://bit.ly/c21cjF
The U.S. Justice Department has settled a lawsuit with Riverside County that claimed the county didn’t provide help for Spanish-speaking voters.

CA: OSDV Testifies (sort of) at CA Voting Systems Hearing
http://www.trustthevote.org/osdv-testifies-sort-of-at-ca-voting-systems-hearing
First, my take is the CA Secretary of State needs to conduct another Hearing that is strictly focused on the challenges and opportunities of open source technology in elections systems

CO: Trial set in suit over Aspen’s May election results
http://bit.ly/bj5TBq
Aspen resident Marilyn Marks’ lawsuit over the city’s Instant Runoff Voting has been scheduled for trial in March. Marks is seeking release of photographic images of the ballots from last May’s election.

FL: Despite deal with justice department, no blacks run for office in Lake Park
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/despite-deal-with-justice-department-no-blacks-run-224223.html
After spending nearly $80,000 on attorneys to defend itself against the lawsuit, the commission in October agreed to abandon the at-large system and switch to one that has been used successfully throughout the South to assure blacks are elected to public office.

GA: GOP: Voter ID issue headed to ballot
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100211/NEWS01/2110340/1002

KY: ELECTION FINANCES: Jefferson County Kings are not the only elected folks facing financial scrutiny in the commonwealth over their campaign spending and fundraising
http://bit.ly/9runRf

KY: Witness: State lawmaker gave $40,000 to vote-buying group *
http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/02/05/witness-state-lawmaker-gave-40000-to-vote-buying-group/

MD: Maryland should ban contested judicial elections
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/09/AR2010020903524.html
For judges, drumming up campaign money — often from lawyers who appear before them — and marketing themselves undermines the perception of impartiality and can in practice lead to its corrosion.

NM: Time To Give Challengers A Fair, Equal Opportunity
http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=106532676010210813710
SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) — Which knuckleheads in Santa Fe came up with idea that city clerks across New Mexico could have the early voting machines in their office at election time every two years – even though their bosses (incumbent mayors and councilors) may be running for re-election?

NY: “Auditing” Regs Confirm Op-Scan Vulnerabilities
http://re-mediaetc.blogspot.com/2010/02/auditing-regs-confirm-op-scan.html
… and if we make enough exceptions to cover discrepancies between hand and machine counts, then almost any machine, even rigged ones, will pass “audit.”

NY: Local assemblymen vote down absentee ballot changes
http://bit.ly/clV0Iq

OH: Money saved or wasted? Cuyahoga County pays for unused voting machines
http://www.wkyc.com/news/politics_govt/politics_article.aspx?storyid=130630&catid=130