The Voting News Daily: NY SD 7 recount battle rages on. NC instant runoff wipes candidate’s 100K lead
Saturday a judge ruled against manual count of NY’s Sen Dist 7 contest. Prof. Philip Stark (Dept of Statistics, UC Berkeley)expert witness for Nassau Cnty DEMS was not allowed to testify but some remarks were read into the record: “The potential for error in this contest is large: In total, the 242 unaudited machines could hold enough error to account for the apparent margin 186 times over. Sixty-six of the 242 unaudited machines could individually hold enough error to account for the apparent margin.” hat tip to Lonna Atkeson at Election Updates blog. Johnson filed appeal ..
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
AK: Judge allows Murkowski to participate in election challenge
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/120310/loc_745154655.shtml
AR: Man Linked To Explosive Device Found At Polling Place Arrested
http://www.4029tv.com/r/26020238/detail.html …members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Mark Krause, a 40-year-old Arkansas man, in connection with an explosive device found at a polling place in Osage, Ark., in Carroll County in June 2010.
CT: Registrars’ busy Monday: mayoral panel, recount nearing finish
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Registrars-busy-Monday-mayoral-panel-recount-864481.php The Connecticut Post and the Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition, which were granted access to the election materials by the city, will finish compiling the recount data over the next day or two. Meanwhile, the registrars are inspecting the figures — which were broken up by voting district and ballot type — and raising any concerns they have before the numbers are made public.
CT: Just who are the people counting the ballots? (in Bridgeport)
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Just-who-are-the-people-counting-the-ballots-860614.php Most of them are members of the Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition, which joins the League of Women Voters in Connecticut, Common Cause, CTVoters.org and Connecticut Citizen Action Group.
CT: End in sight as Bridgeport recount breaks for the weekend
http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/End-in-sight-as-Bridgeport-recount-breaks-for-the-859431.php While finalizing the recount numbers from one district, Weeks compared his team’s numbers for photocopied ballots with the city’s figures. He showed the comparison to Santa Ayala, Bridgeport’s Democratic registrar of voters. The numbers weren’t in alignment, so the two agreed to check for a recounting fault.
Guam: 1st Court Hearing Set for Election Fraud Lawsuit
http://guamnewswatch.com/201012063772/Local-News/1st-Court-Hearing-Set-for-Election-Fraud-Lawsuit.html
KS: Coalition says proposed voter ID law is costly, unneeded
http://www.kansas.com/2010/12/06/1620624/coalition-says-proposed-law-is.html
MN: Emmer Zooms in on Voter Database in Minn. Gov Race
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1869158.shtml?cat=1 But routine post-election updates to the system won’t be completed anytime soon. And officials caution that the system can’t be used the way Emmer wants – to pair the number of votes and eligible voters.
NC: McCullough overtakes Thigpen in NC court race
http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/12/06/1854375/mccullough-overtakes-thigpen-in.html
Nearly complete results from the instant runoff race for the North Carolina Court of Appeals show the second-place candidate overtaking the leading candidate from the first round of voting. (goes from 100,000 votes ahead to 6,700 votes behind)
NC: N. Carolina GOP to push for voter photo IDs
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/06/1959602/nc-gop-to-push-for-voter-photo.html Republicans who take control of the General Assembly in January want to make North Carolina the 10th state requiring voters to show a driver’s license or other photo ID. House leaders hope to pass a bill in their first 100 days
NJ: Jurors in voter fraud trial involving Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small caught in legal marathon http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/article_9eebd822-00d4-11e0-95de-001cc4c03286.html