The Voting News Daily: MD report shows paper ballots cost less than DREs, IA Justices deny separate ballot for judge retention
We’re back from a short holiday break! Tonight’s edition covers news published since our last full edition on Monday December 20. State news is organized by state and then by date. State news is followed by sections for national, Internet voting, and international news. Internationally, online voting in Ahmedabad, India is provoking discussion. At home the EAC has released data on HAVA appropriations, and as we reported in our holiday note, an independent cost study ordered by the Maryland General Assembly has found that the state could save $10 million by replacing its electronic voting machines with optical scanners and paper ballots. (Note: we have included one among a great many news articles published on the Alaska US Senate race.)
All this and more in today’s Voting News below.
AK: Miller won’t back Murkowski Senate certification [Dec. 27]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101227/ap_on_re_us/us_alaska_senate
CA: 2011 Ushers In Boosts to Transparency in Election Security and Campaign Finance [Media Release, Dec. 21]
http://www.sos.ca.gov/admin/press-releases/2010/db10-120.pdf
CO: Premier AccuVote Machines Missed 0.4% of Votes in Aspen Elections [Dec. 27]
http://www.fairvote.org/premier-accuvote-machines-missed-0-4-of-ballots-in-aspen-elections
CO: SOS sends mixed signals on certification [Dec. 26]
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-colorado-springs/sos-sends-mixed-signals-on-certification
IA: Justices say no to quest to block removal [Dec. 21]
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101221/NEWS/12210357/-1/caucus/Justices-say-no-to-quest-to-block-removal
University of Iowa computer science professor Doug Jones, who studies voting technology and practices, said a separate ballot for the justices runs contrary to state history.
“You create a bureaucratic monster when you double the amount of paper involved in an election,” Jones said. “If each judicial retention race is a separate piece of paper, which is the most extreme reading I can imagine, that’s an awful snow flurry of paper. County election offices are already strapped for money.”
IN: Recount commission did its job fairly and honestly [Opinion, Dec. 24]
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20101224/Opinion/101229802/-1/googleNews
“The recount commission was greatly served in its duty by current county Clerk Rita Glenn, several county voting machine technicians and Keith McGinnis from Illinois-based service contractor RBM Consulting to make the process run efficiently and smoothly. All of these individuals have my profound gratitude for their dedication to our work.”
KY: Trimble to buy new voting machines [Dec. 21]
http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=178&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=60332
MD: Report: Scanners cost less than touch-screen machines [Dec. 24]
http://www.gazette.net/stories/12242010/polinew172811_32537.php
The independent analysis, conducted by a North Carolina research firm for the Department of Legislative Services, appears to confirm what supporters of a voter-verified paper trail system have long argued: It costs more money to maintain the current equipment than to purchase new
machines that allow voters to print out paper receipts of their selections.
MN: St. Paul preps for voting via ranked choice [Dec. 25]
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/112459654.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUoD3aPc:_27EQU
MS:Hinds rejects used voting machines [Dec. 21]
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20101221/NEWS/12210320/Hinds+rejects+used+voting+machines
Hinds County supervisors say they want to discard the county’s 8-year-old, $1.5 million voting system and start anew.
The Board of Supervisors denied a request Monday by some election commissioners to purchase 300 used voting machines. Instead, the board wants the commission to shop for a new system, such as an optical scanning system that would allow for better auditing of records.
MO: KC legislator may be denied seat over fraud allegations [Dec.