The latest House makeover of Florida election laws stirred intense controversy Thursday as unions and grass roots political groups complained that it would suppress 2012 voting in a state Barack Obama won in 2008. By a 12-6 party-line vote, the House State Affairs Committee approved the new bill, setting up a vote by the full…
Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers, represented by County Attorney Ben Gibbons issued an answer last week to a suit filed last month by Sec. of State Scott Gessler, seeking voted ballots from the Nov. 2 election. “Defendant specifically denies the allegation contained in paragraph 8 of the Complaint that she or her staff ever altered any…
On Wednesday, April 13, I proudly joined Gov. Brian Schweitzer as he heated up his branding iron and vetoed House Bill 180, a partisan bill that would have ended Election Day voter registration across Montana. Hours before the veto was issued, I read a guest opinion in support of HB180. It was written by former…
House Republicans may have found a way to trim $14 million from the federal budget: eliminate the Election Assistance Commission. The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing today to discuss closing the agency that is charged with administering federal election requirements and testing voting equipment. A corresponding Republican bill that would transfer most of…
WI: Nickolaus fends off calls for resignation – JSOnline Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, under blistering attack by critics since an election night reporting error that temporarily reversed results of the Supreme Court race, on Tuesday rejected calls that she resign. “I will serve the remainder of my term,” Nickolaus said in a written statement. “I…
For the first time, the Election Commission is considering mixing up the electronic voting machines (EVMs) during the counting so that counting agents will not be able to identify which constituency a particular EVM belongs to. The EC is trying to remove any fears people may have about voting as some political parties have allegedly…
Our election process has gone hitech with electronic voting machines, but some areas in Tamil Nadu are so backward that these new-age machines have to be taken on the back of donkeys or carried on head by men. In a few villages devoid of motorable roads in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, EVMs were transported on…
A full week after voters in Wisconsin cast ballots for the State Supreme Court in a volatile, topsy-turvy contest that had become a referendum on the state’s new Republican leadership, the state was still waiting for the final outcome. By Tuesday, Wisconsin’s top election monitors were investigating how more than 14,000 votes had been overlooked…
Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch has weighed in on a proposal to move Helena’s mail-sorting operations to Great Falls, expressing concerns about what it could mean for local elections. In a letter addressed to Montana’s congressional delegation, McCulloch noted that an increasing number of Montanans are choosing to vote using absentee mail ballots, with…
Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, under blistering attack by critics since an election night reporting error that temporarily reversed results of the Supreme Court race, on Tuesday rejected calls that she resign. “I will serve the remainder of my term,” Nickolaus said in a written statement. “I understand why people are upset and I am…
WI: Democrat on Waukesha County vote panel speaks out – JSOnline The Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers who was widely quoted as endorsing the county clerk’s official ballot count that flipped the state Supreme Court winner last week said Monday that she was never told about more than 14,000 missing votes from…
I’m still mulling over the recent Wisconsin election in general and the actions of Waukesha County’s County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus in particular. She was the one who forgot to record votes that would have made her former boss, Justice David Prosser, the winner in a hotly contested election. After my first report on this strange…
The urge to oust city leaders has intensified in the struggling economy as more mayors raise taxes and cut services to close budget shortfalls. Fifty-seven mayors faced recall attempts last year, up from 23 in 2009, according to Ballotpedia, a non-profit that tracks recall elections. So far this year: 15. Almost all have failed. Recalls are…
The Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers who was widely quoted as endorsing the county clerk’s official ballot count that flipped the state Supreme Court winner last week said Monday that she was never told about more than 14,000 missing votes from the city of Brookfield until shortly before a Thursday news conference.…
On Tuesday night, I received a voice message from someone in the office of Clerk Kathy Nickolaus informing me of a Wednesday canvass meeting, which I returned the next morning and said I would be able to report into the canvass by noon – which I did. Normally the canvass would begin at 9am on…
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election that could affect a contentious union-rights law just got even messier. On Monday, the 80-year-old Democratic election observer who vouched for the conduct of the Waukesha County Clerk in the April 5 state Supreme Court race said she was kept in the dark and now isn’t sure what happened. Last week,…
Efforts by Sen. Ron Young to reform the state’s voter registration system are gaining traction in the Maryland General Assembly. Young, a Frederick Democrat, sponsored two bills this session to help improve voter registration. They have until midnight Monday, when the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, to pass both chambers. The first, which has…
Last Wednesday, the Lancaster County Board of Elections approved a policy designed to remove media members from the county’s election center on election night and move them to an adjacent building. The policy is intended to provide more space for voting materials in the warehouse at Burle Industries business park that serves as the county’s…
Wisconsin’s already-fraught politics got even crazier last week when a bitterly contested, high-turnout state Supreme Court election ended in a near tie. Incumbent Justice David Prosser leads challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by less than 0.5 percent, which means Kloppenburg has the right to a state-funded recount. We are probably headed toward a long, expensive, law-snarled process…
WI: Prosser open to Waukesha County recount – JSOnline Justice David Prosser’s campaign said Saturday that it was open to a recount of votes in Waukesha County as the state Supreme Court race remained without a declared winner. “If you need to do a recount in Waukesha (County) and Waukesha (County) alone to satisfy heightened…
After two organizations with tea party ties called for voters to voluntarily show identification at the polls during the special primary for the 6th Worcester District House race on Tuesday and the general election on May 10, officials said they will take steps to protect would-be voters. The district is composed of Southbridge, Charlton, East…
Of all the important election-related proposals that were considered in our latest New Mexico legislative session, one stands out. This is the issue of photo voter identification, which generated extreme partisan interest. Photo voter ID was promoted in the election campaigning by our new Republican governor and also by our new Republican secretary of state,…
A proposed 48-meeting marathon schedule for the V.I. Joint Board of Elections’ committee on election reform would empty the district boards’ coffers in short order at a potential cost of more than $45,000, according to official figures. The schedule – suggested by St. Croix Board Member Adelbert Bryan – has not been approved by Joint…
A growing number of counties are removing the outside printers from touch screen voting machines because of problems that delay voting. Madison County is now seeking to join 15 other counties that have received permission from the U.S. Department of Justice to detach the plastic modules. The printers are not used by election officials when…
There have been ongoing complaints about supposed problems with the state’s electronic voting machines since last year’s Democratic primary election, and now the local Council of Governments has taken up the drumbeat. It’s time to resolve the matter. The Legislative Audit Council is the obvious choice to investigate performance and security questions raised about the…
Justice David Prosser’s campaign said Saturday that it was open to a recount of votes in Waukesha County as the state Supreme Court race remained without a declared winner. “If you need to do a recount in Waukesha (County) and Waukesha (County) alone to satisfy heightened interest, that’s fine,” said Prosser campaign manager Brian Nemoir. “We…
The City of Brookfield submitted the election results from the April 5th Election to the County Clerk at 10:05 p.m. on April 5th and called the County to make sure they received the results and they were in the correct format. We were informed that they were received and in the correct format. The same…
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA)1 is the most important direct federal response to the 2000 electoral fiasco in Florida. HAVA had many provisions, some directly inspired by the controversy, others that came along for the ride. In addition to mandating certain changes in how states conducted federal elections, HAVA appropriated $3b for the improvement…
According to Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission (CEC), incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev received 95.5 percent of the vote in Kazakhstan’s April 3 presidential election, with almost 90 percent of the electorate casting ballots. Most observers and analysts believe Nazarbayev won the election easily, but consider the declared victory margin, and especially the turnout figure, implausibly high. The…
The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced it would not introduce the electronic voting system in the 2012 elections. According to the EC, unlike the ballot paper; the processes of vote counting and tabulation in the e-voting system are often invisible which does not satisfy the curiosity of the voters as to whether their votes have…