The Voting News Daily: Vote-machine lobbyist was in ‘rig’ trouble, NY City giving up levers, Same Day Registration pros and cons

In New York we learn that one vendor’s lobbyist was involved in a vote rigging scandal. Meanwhile one vendor claims they will provide more jobs than the other vendor…. Massachusetts weighs the pros and cons of same day registration….Oregon is considering adopting online voter registration..

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

CA: Ranked Choice Voting May Cost Oakland $947,000
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2010/01/04/ranked-choice-voting-may-cost-oakland-947000
Mon, Jan 4, 2010…However, the city’s costs could increase to a maximum
of $1.5 million (not including the savings of not having a June
election) if either or both Berkeley and San Leandro decide to forgo
ranked choice voting this year

MA: Same-day voter registration proposal has pros and cons
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/homepage/x1444028251/Same-day-voter-registration-proposal-has-pros-and-cons
Jan 02, 2010 Supporters of a bill to allow voters to register on Election Day say it will improve citizen participation in democracy as it has in nine states that allow the system. But some municipal officials and the secretary of state worry about the cost and potential confusion of such a system.
…
Langenburg said that in the past, additional polling workers were hired to handle provisional ballots. Those workers now are responsible for same-day registration forms. The cost of printing the forms is covered by what they used to spend on provisional ballots.

What the Mass. Freedom to Vote Act would do
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_14118453

MI: Are These The Waning Days of ‘Austin v Michigan Chamber of Commerce’
http://bit.ly/6pU8rI (podcast available) Michigan Chamber of Commerce VP Bob LaBrandt holds a copy of the newspaper ad that served as the basis of the legal case Austin vs Michigan Chamber of Commerce

MI: Online Voting Bill Heads to State Senate
http://new.wkzo.com/news/articles/2010/jan/04/online-voting-bill-heads-state-senate/
January 4, 2010 Just two states allow residents to register to vote online, but Michigan could be on the verge of being the third to embrace the technology

NH: New Hampshire Ballot Access Bills Get Hearing Date
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/01/04/new-hampshire-ballot-access-bills-get-hearing-date/

NY: Vote-machine lobbyist was in ‘rig’ trouble
http://bit.ly/8ypLLv

January 4, 2010 A lobbyist working for the company believed to have the edge to win a multimillion-dollar contract to replace the city’s lever-operated voting machines was once embroiled in a flap over ballot fixing

Anthony Mangone, a Westchester-based lawyer and lobbyist hired to help Election Systems & Software, testified that he tampered with ballots in a voting-fraud criminal case against a political operative working for then-state Sen. Nicholas Spano (R-Westchester) in 2002.

NY: City Finally Poised to Give Up Lever Voting Machines
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/nyregion/04machines.html
January 3, 2010 …After years of delays and missteps, the city’s Board of Elections is expected to choose new electronic voting machines on Tuesday that will be rolled out in time for the September primary. In so doing, New York City will become one of the last places in the country to get rid of its lever-operated voting machines.

NY: Company says New York jobs riding on voting-machine contract
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20100104/NEWS01/1040327/Company+says+New+York+jobs+riding+on+voting-machine+contract
January 4, 2010 ALBANY — As New York City prepares to choose a voting-machine system Tuesday, one of two companies vying for the contract says winning it would mean more jobs for New Yorkers, particularly in the Rochester and Southern Tier regions.

The Voting News Daily: Military voting rights, Aspen’s bad example, Secret ballot waiver

Good by 2009, hello 2010! Happy new year! Best wishes to all readers.

In Georgia, “Group calls on Perdue to appoint independent as interim Secretary of State”…New York Daily News reports on $ spent by voting vendors: Dominion spent $64,000 this year and ES&S has spent $193,000…

It almost didn’t happen: The Department of Defense will act as a voter registration agency thanks to some major arm twisting. Stars and Stripe reports – “That’s a big deal, and not just for military voting rights. Earlier this year Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, placed a hold on the president’s nomination for under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness (Clifford Stanley) until the issue was resolved.”

Secret ballot waiver: Take a look at a fax ballot form from Marion Co. Oregon. The voter must sign a waiver giving up the right to a secret ballot….

Is internet voting a good idea? Verified Voting’s statement on internet voting at their website. What could go wrong? Read Wired News article “The Decade’s 10 Most Dastardly Cybercrimes” and then think about it.

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

AZ: Counties, supervisors sued over Diebold voting machines
http://bit.ly/6JCNYh
12/29/2009 …The controversy stems from the computer touch-screen machines that have become prevalent throughout the country.

Four Arizona residents, backed by the group Voter Action, a non-profit advocacy group, filed a lawsuit in 2006 against then Secretary of State Jan Brewer and 13 of the 15 county election officers. That suit is still ongoing and now county supervisors are individually named in the suit.

CA: Long Beach school board election had only 6 percent turnout
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_14096499?source=rss
12/30/2009 LONG BEACH – Tuesday’s school board election – wedged between the Christmas and New Year’s weekends – resulted in the lowest voter turnout in recent Long Beach history, City Clerk Larry Herrera said Wednesday.
…
Herrera noted that 77 percent of the ballots were sent in by mail.

CA: California Voter Foundation Releases Study of What Information States Ask For on Voter Registration Forms
http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/12/31/california-voter-releases-study-of-what-information-states-ask-for-on-voter-registration-forms/

CO: Aspen’s bad example (LTE)
http://bit.ly/4H5kQk
…Transparency in elections is the foundation to our democracy. The recent withholding of ballot images from the public, after they had been displayed publicly, does the Aspen community great harm.

GA: Group calls on Perdue to appoint independent as interim Secretary of State
http://www.peachpundit.com/2009/12/30/group-calls-on-perdue-to-appoint-independent-as-interim-secretary-of-state/
December 30, 2009… The group, Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia, is a diverse, non-partisan, technology neutral, coalition of Georgia voters and organizations. They contend that the new secretary “should be independent of both major political parties” and “have no direct or indirect ties with the voting machine vendor lobbyist, Massey and Bowers.”

NY: How political lobbyists are rocking the vote in New York City
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/12/31/2009-12-31_how_lobbyists_are_rocking_the_vote_in_ny.html
December 31st 2009 …Each firm has spent lavishly on lobbyists. Dominion has paid $64,000 this year to Stanley Schlein, an ex-chairman of the Civil Service Commission with a client list that includes top Bronx Democrats. ES&S has spent $193,000 on a bevy of lobbyists including Hank Sheinkopf, Norman Levy and powerhouse firm Davidoff, Malito & Hutcher.