The Voting News Daily: Turning Back the Clock in FL, Judge Sentenced to 26 Years in KY, Estonian E Voting Architect Defends System
CO: Saguache County Clerk Myers refuses Denver Post request – Center Post Dispatch
Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers received a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request Tuesday from Denver Post reporter Sara Burnett asking her to produce the ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election. In a response e-mailed on Tuesday, Myers reportedly denied Burnett access to the ballots. Burnett wrote an article on the election last week that ran Feb. 27 on the front page of the Denver Post. Saturday, the Post ran an editorial that called the failure of he Secretary of State’s Office under Bernie Buescher to supervise the Nov. 2 Saguache election process in its entirety “a huge mistake,” adding that “voters deserve to know what happened” on election night last November.” Read More
CO: Editorial – Keep it simple by voting down instant runoffs | Northern Colorado Business Report
November’s elections produced one clear majority: Voters fed up with political campaigns. So an alternative that promises positive electioneering and a clear mandate from the people seems attractive. But ranked choice or instant runoff voting, on the April 5 Fort Collins ballot, is not the answer. The underlying premise is that any election should produce a winner with 51 percent of the vote. Nations around the world operating under the parliamentary system, which requires collaboration among minority parties, would disagree, as would we. Read More
FL: Turning Back the Clock in Florida | Brennan Center for Justice
In less than an hour yesterday, Florida Governor Rick Scott denied the right to vote to hundreds of thousands, maybe as many as a million, Florida citizens, turning back the clock decades and making Florida the most punitive state in the country when it comes to disenfranchising people with criminal convictions in their past. The Florida constitution denies the right to vote for life to anyone with a felony conviction, unless he is granted clemency by the governor. Essentially it gives the governor, an elected official, the power to decide who will (or won’t) be allowed to vote in the next election. The new clemency rules not only roll back reforms passed by former Governor Charlie Crist, they are far more restrictive than those in place under former Governor Jeb Bush. Read More
FL: Editorial – A shameful setback on civil rights – St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the rest of the Florida Cabinet on Wednesday made a hash of civil rights restoration for nonviolent felons who are trying to put their lives back on track. How they did it — with little public notice or input — was also appalling. The immediate travesty is for those nonviolent released felons who will face long mandatory waiting periods before they can apply for restoration of their right to vote, sit on a jury, run for public office and qualify for certain occupational licenses. The move reverses progress Gov. Charlie Crist made in 2007 when he and two of three Cabinet members expedited the restoration process for nonviolent offenders who had completed their sentence and made restitution.