The Voting News Daily: SC election officials point to human error in ballot discrepancy; vote by mail bill fails in MT House; early WV primary likely
The Photo ID debate shows no sign of cooling in TX, WI, and NC. In SC, the state Election Commission’s investigation concludes that Colleton County ballot discrepancies resulted from human error. In Montana, vote by mail legislation suffers an unexpected reversal, and in WV lawmakers seem likely to advance the gubernatorial primary to May 14.
All this and more in today’s Voting News below.
FL: Many ballots remained silent on Sink and Scott | HeraldTribune.com
Florida’s charged campaign for governor — which featured waves of negative television ads — might have turned off a higher number of voters last year. Read More
IL: Change of Subject: The icy blizzard thaws my heart about early voting & ‘dibs’
Election officials say there’s no precedent for postponing an election here on account of weather, so voter turnout in Chicago would almost certainly be far lower than the pathetic 27.3 percent we got 12 months ago when two whisker-close races for Illinois governor were at the top of the ballot. Read More
MA: Judge rules that two tied in Central Mass. House race – The Boston Globe
A Worcester Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that a hotly contested election for state representative in Central Massachusetts is a tie, an exceedingly rare result, and ordered a new election. Read More
What a difference a day makes. One day after giving preliminary approval to vote-by-mail balloting in all but school elections, the House reversed itself and torpedoed the idea. Read More
NC: Alleged lawbreaking, impropriety and fraud undermine confidence in Forsyth elections
The Forsyth County Board of Elections will hold an open hearing on Feb. 7 to consider alleged election law violations. Read More
NC: ISS – Report: Voter ID law ‘unaffordable’ for North Carolina
Today, Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies released an analysis [pdf] showing that a voter ID bill proposed by North Carolina Republicans could cost the state $20 million or more over the next three years, exacerbating the state’s $3.7 billion budget gap. Read More
OH: Auroraadvocate.com – Our View: New voting machines are good deal for Portage Co.
The Portage County Board of Elections has done the right thing in deciding to acquire for free 99 new voting machines, formerly manufactured by Diebold.
The machines became available following a settlement between Diebold and the state of Ohio, which under former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner demonstrated the machines had issues that entailed accuracy and ease of invasion by outsiders. Read More
OH: Ohio secretary of state supports appeal – 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio –
Ohio’s top elections official wants a federal court ruling appealed in a disputed election for a juvenile court judge in the county that includes Cincinnati. Read More
Colleton County’s election results were skewed by human error that had nothing to do with the electronic voting machines, according to an investigation by the S.C.