The Voting News Daily: South Carolina’s frail election system. VV best practices for overseas vote. India elections – PC or MAC?

VV Comments on Best Practices for Voting Systems Supporting Military and Overseas Voters…Bid to overturn South Carolina election is over. “The issues we raised about the lack of election integrity in South Carolina are real, and they are not going away unless people act. I assure you that I will continue to speak out about our frail and vulnerable election system in the months to come.”~ Judge Vic Rawl….They are still counting votes in California..Loopholes Grow in Bill to Offset Ruling on Campaigns..Mac or PC? Microsoft bids to run Gujarat India munis internet elections in Oct 2010…

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

AL: Concerns Are Brewing About The Recount Between Tim James And Robert Bentley
http://www.whnt.com/news/politics/whnt-recount-james-bentley-061510,0,6730857.story
(recount is by machine)

CA: Want to know if your vote was counted? Check website
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100618/NEWS0301/6180305/1006/
 news01/Want+to+know+if+your+vote+was+counted?+Check+website
http://is.gd/cUMwD  Worried voters can check if their ballot was counted in the June 8 primary election at a county website. Voters can visit www.sos.ca.gov/ elections/ballot-status t

CA: UPDATE: Ballots still being counted in supervisor race for second place (10,000)
http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/266509-update-ballots-still-being-counted-in-supervisor-race-for-second-place  (Clara County)
It is estimated 10,000 ballots remain, 7,000 of which are provisional and the remaining are vote-by-mail that were dropped off at precincts June 8. Vote-by-mail ballots are scanned to verify the voter’s signature while provisional ballots require more thorough and stringent study

CA: 13,000 ballots still uncounted
http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/local/doc4c
 198419e95d9535799674.txt http://is.gd/cUMyb
The Napa County elections office is still counting about 13,600 ballots — or 42 percent of the votes cast in last Tuesday’s election — and is not expected to release official results until June 24…
…
“The large number of vote-by-mail ballots delivered after Friday, June 4, represents a greater percentage than usual,” Tuteur said, adding Napa County’s last-minute swell in votes is consistent with voting trends across the state.

CA: Tulare County absentee ballots done, but more votes to count
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100617/NEWS01/6170314

CA: Deluge of late absentee ballots, mail changes blamed for vote counting delay
http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/48736/  (Riverside County)

CA: Few Yoloans make use of early voting
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_15250070
…mail-in voting is well on its way to becoming the leading way of voicing one’s political opinion, with more than 40 percent of Yolo voters taking advantage of the system.

CT: Bysiewicz hears problems disabled face when voting
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bysiewicz-hears-problems-disabled-face-when-voting-527813.php

CT: SOTS Candidates Forum, Hartford Public Library
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3268

HI: Tax Dollars Paid For Djou’s Robo-Calls
Voter Offended By Telephone Survey
http://www.kitv.com/news/23928538/detail.html
Hawaii’s newest congressman, Republican Rep. Charles Djou, was elected in a special election after campaigning for restraint in spending government money. Now he has offended some voters, by using taxpayer money for automated telephone calls that some say sound like campaigning.

MN: PHOTO ID RAISES COSTS AND BURDENS TO SOLVE A VOTING PROBLEM MINNESOTA DOESN’T HAVE
http://www.ceimn.org/Minnesota_elections_photo_ID_voting_Pioneer_Press

NJ: 11,000 voters left spots blank on Trenton City Council ballot
http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/doc4c1af305e6d3f571075720.txt
“In order to ensure their person is elected, they may just bullet vote,” Sollami Covello said. “It is definitely a strategic way of voting if you want to ensure someone is elected in that top three. It happens in every election where you have more than one candidate.”

Verified Voting Blog: Best Practices for Voting Systems Supporting Military and Overseas Voters

Given the current focus on UOCAVA implementation, the NIST draft Information System Security Best Practices for UOCAVA-Supporting Systems (referred to here as the Draft) is a timely and important document. A summary of security standards and guidelines “deemed most applicable for jurisdictions using IT systems to support UOCAVA voting” is indeed necessary at a time when many states are moving forward with Internet based voting, too often with insufficient thought to the security implications of casting votes online. The Draft acknowledges the urgency of proper security:

“…security compromise could carry severe consequences for the integrity of the election, or the confidentiality of sensitive voter information. Failure to adequately address threats to these systems could prevent voters from casting ballots, expose individuals to identity fraud, or even compromise the results of an election.” [1. Draft NISTIR 7682, Executive Summary, page 1]

Unfortunately, the Draft falls short of providing the comprehensive analysis of security practices implied by the title. While the limitations and scope of topics are clearly laid out, the remaining gaps, particularly those related to online return of voted ballots, are too large and too important to ignore. Even with disclaimers, the Draft may encourage many in the target audience, the election officials and IT staff implementing UOCAVA voting [2. Draft NISTIR 7682, Executive Summary, page 2 – “The guidance in this publication will assist election officials in collaborating with system designers and administrators to define roles and establish processes that ensure the ongoing secure operation of the systems.”], to believe that the controls outlined in the Draft are adequate to address all types of online voting, including return of voted ballots via Email.