The Voting News Daily: TX Senate to take up photo ID Tuesday; SC audit raises questions; Pakistan eyes EVMs
A busy couple of days for voting news. In Texas, the State Senate will debate photo ID legislation tomorrow, and is expected to pass the bill. An citizen audit of South Carolina election results raises questions about ballot reconciliation. A bill to allow all Indiana counties to utilize vote centers is expected to pass, and in international developments Pakistan eyes electronic voting machines.
All this and more in today’s Voting News below.
The purpose of listing “party preference” on the ballot in the top-two systems of Washington and California is to help the candidate communicate a message, and to help the voter know something about the candidate. The U.S. Supreme Court, and the California Supreme Court, have ruled in the past that it is unconstitutional to discriminate for or against candidates, relative to labels on the ballot. Read More
CA: Oakland mayoral runners-up rehash race and look to the future : Local: In Oakland
At a public forum put on by Oakland’s John George Democratic Club, City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan outlined her assessment of the city’s first go at ranked choice voting, while political commentator and professor Joe Tuman announced his plans to pressure the city to reform all employee pensions and police staffing. Read More
CA: Tuteur: Voting only by mail would save $35,000
If Napa County conducted special elections using mail-in ballots only, it could save an estimated $35,000 per election, John Tuteur, the county’s registrar of voters, said. Read More
Examination of election videotapes reveal that the Saguache County Clerk’s office and two judges conducted a secret vote count Nov. 4 from 2 p.m. to about 7:12 p.m. prior to the Nov. 5 “retabulation.”
The video recording copies were obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request Nov. 16. The county clerk’s office is required by law to keep continuous recordings of all election areas and activities, beginning two months before the election, up to and including any recounts, for two years. Read More
ELECTION OFFICIALS in the District are worried they can’t afford the costs of the city’s upcoming special election for an at-large D.C. Council seat. Among the ideas to save money is limiting the places where people can vote. But changing the rules so close to the election comes with its own cost to the integrity of the process. It’s important that Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and the council ensure that there is sufficient money for election officials to do their jobs. Read More
IL: Chicago ballots ordered printed with no Emanuel – CNN Political Ticker – CNN.com Blogs
The Chicago Elections Board on Monday placed an order for the printing of two million ballots for next month’s mayoral election without the name of former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after an Illinois appeals court ruled his name could not be included because he failed to meet the residency requirement.