The Voting News Daily: Judge – Test NY DS-200 voting machines. Wilkinson GA election meltdown.
Denver Co’s ballot tracking system malfunctioned and told 190 voters that their completed mail ballots had been received. The problem? The voters hadn’t even received the ballots in the first place… Wilkinson CO GA’s server crashed and also had memory card problems…Judge Wants New York’s Voting Machines Tested…Where Do (NY’s)Old Voting Machines Go When They Die? Lever machines are considered obsolete so can be sold for scrap… The Wisconsin State Elections office won’t allow candidate to use obscene description on ballot…
All this and more in today’s voting news below..
Editor’s note: we did not send out news yesterday, it is combined with today’s news.
AK: On the ballot in Alaska: transparency
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=497502 To some Alaskans, the fight against Proposition 1 has morphed into a fight to guard their state’s initiative process from those who would take advantage of its loopholes.
AL: Suit filed to block enforcement of law on campaign contributions
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006416.html A 15-year-old Alabama law that says judges should not hear cases in which one of the parties donated at least $2,000 to their campaigns has never been enforced, locked in a stalemate over whether it first needs to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice for evidence that it would not disenfranchise minorities.
CO: Vote early and…not at all? Ballot TRACE glitch has some worried *
http://www.examiner.com/x-41664-Denver-Top-News-Examiner~y2010m7d22-Voter-early-andnot-at-all-Ballot-TRACE-glitch-has-some-worried
CO: Uh-oh, technical glitch baffles Denver voters *
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=144870&catid=188 That “hiccup” sent emails to approximately 170 voters telling them that their completed ballots had already been received by the Post Office despite the fact that those voters had yet to receive the actual ballots personally.
CT: What do [Connecticut] voters think?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/what-do-connecticut-voters-think/
A new Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Report provides insight into the opinions of voters on several voting reform issues. We comment on Connecticut specific results and editorialize on voting integrity implications of the survey.We recommend the survey and commentary be contemplated by activists, legislators, and future Secretaries of the State
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We caution against recommending a reform or opposing a reform based on public perception reported in a single, or several surveys providing simple reform descriptions.
FL: Voting by mail has increased in popularity, but has unintended consequences
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/political/elections_local/voting-by-mail-has-unintended-consequences Absentee voting by mail has its risks for candidates and voters. The method is considered more vulnerable to mischief and outright fraud. In 2009, voters in a special State Senate election were persuaded to send their ballots to a private mail box instead of the elections office in an apparent attempt to void their votes.
GA: Computer woes a headache for Wilkinson election officials*
http://www.macon.com/2010/07/22/1203319/computer-woes-a-headache-for-election.html
A computer system crash and difficulties with a memory card created an unexpected delay in counting votes in Wilkinson County late Tuesday night.
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“We had the server go down around 10 p.m., and we had three precincts left to report,” she said. “We’ve never had problems like this before. Normally there’s no trouble.”
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as of Wednesday afternoon, Barfield said she was unable to confirm whether officials were able to read the final votes from the last memory card.