The Voting News Daily: Voter ID in NM, Military Voting Deiscussed on Capitol Hill
CA: Debra Bowen enters race to succeed congresswoman Jane Harman – latimes.com
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Tuesday jumped into the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jane Harman of Venice, setting up what is expected to be a lively contest between two prominent Democratic women for the largely coastal congressional district. “This was not an easy decision,” said Bowen, who in November was elected to a second four-year term as the state’s top elections official. “I spent the past week discussing a potential run with my family and close friends, and thinking how I can best serve the public,” she said in a statement announcing her candidacy. Read More
CO: IRV on the Ballot in Colorado and the UK – FairVote.org
Instant runoff voting (IRV, also known as “alternative vote”, “ranked choice voting” and “preferential voting”) is designed to accommodate increased voter choice and uphold majority rule. It simulates a “same day runoff”, essentially, between the two strongest candidates, with the winner being the one who is ranked ahead of the other on more ballots. Used for decades to elect top offices in Australia (see a fun Aussie video about it here), Ireland and many private organizations, IRV has surged in use around the world in the past decade, including victories in ballot measures in the United States on every November election day since 2004. That support is grounded in voters’ growing dissatisfaction with choices being limited to two and, in the words of a recent report by an influential international think tank, a plurality voting system that fails as “the worst of both possible worlds.” Read More
CT: Election reforms proposed | Yale Daily News
After widespread ballot shortages in last November’s election tossed the result of the gubernatorial race up in the air for days, new Secretary of the State Denise Merrill is pushing for major reforms to the way Connecticut runs its elections. In a press conference Monday in Hartford, Merrill proposed four pieces of legislation that would help prevent another Election Day fiasco — one major proposal that would require municipalities to report to Merrill’s office the number of ballots they had ordered in advance of election day and another that would open the door for more absentee voting. The proposals received bipartisan support from legislators Monday, but met opposition from the committee responsible for enforcing elections in Connecticut towns. Read More
FL: 17,601 Jacksonville Voters Must Renew Absentee Ballot Requests – WJXT Jacksonville
A change in Florida Election Laws means thousands of absentee voters in Duval County will no longer receive their absentee ballots until they make a new request to the supervisor of elections office.According to elections officials, 17,601 voters who requested an absentee ballot after May 28 and before Nov. 3, 2010, must make a new request to receive an absentee ballot for the March 22 first election and the May 17 general election. Read More
IN: Software firm may reap vote center perks | jconline.com | Journal and Courier
A company at Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette stands to benefit from recent passage of the vote center bill by the legislature.