The Voting News Daily: Students can vote for now in NH, IN SoS White MIA?, Flaw revealed in Estonian Internet Voting
CA: San Francisco ranked-choice voting confusing, poll says – San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco is heading into its first competitive mayor’s race using ranked-choice voting with a majority of voters who don’t understand how the system works, according to a poll to be released today. Despite ranked-choice voting being introduced for Board of Supervisors races in 2004 and used in every city election since, 55 percent of respondents to a recent poll commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce said they didn’t know whether their vote counted once their first-, second- or third-choice candidate had been eliminated. In that scenario, their vote would not affect the outcome of the race, although 29 percent of respondents thought that their vote would be counted. Only 15 percent of the respondents said that their vote would not be counted, according to the poll, which was conducted by David Binder Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Read More
The Florida Board of Executive Clemency voted today to change its rules to require Floridians with past felony convictions to endure harsh mandatory waiting periods of up to seven years before being eligible to apply to have their civil rights, including their right to vote, reinstated. The unanimously approved change of clemency rules will potentially affect more than a million voters in Florida, a state which already has a troubling history of voter disenfranchisement. The new plan stands to harm communities where people with past criminal convictions are attempting to reenter society. The board did not make the proposal public until today’s hearing – providing copies of the 24-page plan to speakers and members of the media within minutes of the vote. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan even though some members publicly admitted they had not yet reviewed it. Read More
IN: Where is Secretary of State Charlie White? – WISH TV
Days after Secretary of State Charlie White was indicted for felony voter fraud charges, he was hard to find at his office. The door was open, the lights were on and coats hung on the rack White’s office. 24-Hour News 8 went there to talk to White, but he wasn’t there. His staff said they would not give out any information about where White was — only that every question had to go through White’s director of communications. “I understand you’re working on a story about Secretary White’s schedule. Secretary White is working at the Statehouse and the Indiana Government Center. Unfortunately, due to his schedule – which includes legislative matters, meetings and other agenda items – Secretary White will be unavailable for media interviews,” Jason Thomas, Director of Communications wrote in an e-mail. Read More
ME: Maine Lawmaker Presses for State Election Changes – MPBN.net
In Maine, the gubernatorial candidate who gets the most votes wins. So both Govs. John Baldacci and Paul LePage were able to win with just a plurality of votes.