The Voting News Daily: Shelby CO TN certifies flawed election. Are election audits worth it? Pac-Man II
Bell, CA may give ballot control to county after investigation into massive corruption and election fraud…CTVoter answers question: “Greenwich Audit: Is it worth $1,200?”…Shelby Co Tennessee election board voted 5-0 to certify flawed election after blaming all problems on a single “human error”. Some lawsuits in the works and TBI is investigating…Moreon impact of Citizens United -see “Pay 2 Play – Democracy’s high stakes”..Probe into Philippine’s May poll irregularities ongoing…No tamper seals were broken in programming the AVC Edge voting machine to run Pac-Man…
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
CA: Bell council discusses reforms as residents continue angry protests *
(absentee ballot fraud)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-reforms-20100817,0,1083036.story
City must roll back property tax hike that the state controller says was illegal and cut its ‘retirement tax.’ Amid alleged election fraud, council also considers giving ballot control to the county.
…
The potential for fraud in Bell is heightened because of of low voter participation in the largely immigrant town of 40,000. Fewer than 400 voters cast ballots in a 2005 special election that cleared the way for council members to significantly increase their salaries, for example. More than half were absentee ballots.
CT: Greenwich Audit: Is it worth $1,200?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/greenwich-audit-is-it-worth-1200/
Greenwich registrars and Secretary of the State debate value of audit and random selection of Greenwich
CT: Ballots from 2 polling places to be recounted
http://www.thehour.com/story/490462 Overall, 73 or 722 voting precincts — 10 percent of all polling precincts statewide — from the Aug. 10 primary election will have ballots hand-counted and matched against machine totals to ensure the integrity of voting, and comply with the Act Concerning the Integrity and Security of the Voting Process, according to the Secretary of the State’s Office.
FL: 200+ Absentee Ballots Disqualified * (absentee ballots)
Absentee Voting Down, But Early Voting Up 20% Over 2006
http://www.news4jax.com/politics/24691862/detail.html
JACKSONVILLE, Fla…Channel 4 has learned that nearly 250 of absentee ballots have been thrown out, mostly because they lack signatures, or the signature doesn’t match the one on file at the Supervisor of Elections Office.
NC: ‘Instant runoff’ injects more mystery into judicial elections
http://nclawyersweekly.com/oyez/2010/08/18/%E2%80%98instant-runoff-injects-more-mystery-into-judicial-elections/#comment-209 It’s yet another electoral process that I’m unfamiliar with. And in a system where there are ridiculous things called hanging chads that can lead to court battles, I really hope that this instant runoff thing doesn’t exacerbate the problem that voters don’t know Judge X from Judge Y.
NJ: Atlantic City vote fraud suspects seek dismissal of charges
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/article_20729af6-a983-11df-a945-001cc4c03286.html
Most of the defendants were indicted on nine counts, including conspiracy and four counts of election fraud. Small and three others were also accused of lying to law enforcement in an effort to cover up their crimes.
In October, Ronald Harris, 24, of Atlantic City, admitted he and others conspired to submit false documents involving messenger ballots in the primary. Harris, a registered Democrat, later told a reporter he only pleaded guilty out of fear.
NY: Design a Better Ballot
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/design-a-better-ballot/
This is where you come in. City Room, in partnership with the New York chapter of the AIGA, the professional association for design, invites you to imagine a better format, or to just have fun completely reinventing it.