Monthly Archives: April 2011

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 House. Similar legislation will be taken up Friday by the Senate Rules Committee.

Colorado: Saguache Clerk Myers responds to Secretary of State Gessler’s suit | Examiner.com

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 ballot…Defendant Myers answers the allegations contained in paragraph 11 of the Complaint by stating that she did initially agree to permit election officials and members of the Plaintiff’s office to review the voted ballots.”

Editorials: Linda McCulloch: Existing law good for democracy | missoulian.com

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 Secretary of State Brad Johnson. As I read Johnson’s opposition to Election Day registration, I was reminded of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s infamous 2004 statement, “I was for it before I was against it.”

That’s because Johnson’s office supported the bill that created Election Day registration in 2005, and he touted in the news the beneficial fact that Montana now had a failsafe voter registration system to ensure that any eligible Montana voter could register to vote up until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

National: Election Assistance Commission May Be Closing | Roll Call Politics

Rep. Gregg Harper is proposing legislation to shut down the Election Assistance

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 the agency’s responsibilities to the Federal Election Commission may run into strong Democratic opposition.

Getting rid of the EAC would save millions and reduce government redundancy, according the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Gregg Harper. The EAC has “clearly served its purpose and is no longer essential to the administration of our elections,” the Mississippi Republican, chairman of the Subcommittee on Elections, said in a statement. “This is why I have introduced legislation to eliminate the Commission and transfer its remaining responsibilities and its authority to more appropriate and competent entities.”

The Voting News Daily: Nickolaus Rebuffs Calls for Resignation, White recuses himself in Indiana Recount Commission case

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 understand why people are upset and I am taking this matter seriously. Again, I am sorry for my mistake.” Earlier Tuesday, Waukesha County Democratic Party Chairman Victor Weers said in a news release that not only has the clerk’s vote-counting and reporting process produced problems, but “Ms. Nicholaus (sic) has willfully ignored pleas to repair her broken reporting process in an open and technologically reliable way.” “We must have a county clerk that we can trust to do this important work of the people with competence, security and openness. Waukesha must have a new county clerk now.”

In her written response, Nickolaus said: “I have immediately begun the process of reviewing my procedures. I have also asked the Government Accountability Board and the Waukesha County auditor to assist my office in a review and implementation of improved practices and procedures to make sure the process is more transparent and this mistake does not happen again. I will use the remainder of my term to restore the voter’s (sic) confidence in me.” Nickolaus was first elected county clerk in November 2002 after winning a Republican primary race against former deputy county clerk Kathy Karalewitz. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008 without opposition, when state law was changed and made the term four years. Her current term expires at the end of 2012. Nickolaus earns $67,787 a year. Full Article

IN: White recuses himself in Recount Commission case – The Indianapolis Star

Secretary of State Charlie White has partially stepped down from the Indiana Recount Commission, the group that has been charged with determining whether he’s eligible to stay in office. White is removing himself only from matters related to that case. Last week, a judge ordered the Indiana Recount Commission to hear Democrats’ challenge that White was not legally registered to vote at the time he filed his candidacy and is therefore ineligible to remain secretary of state. The commission had dismissed the complaint last December. On Monday, White announced in a letter to Republican chairman Eric Holcomb that he would not participate in discussions pertaining to this case, including whether an appeal should be filed. Holcomb will have to select a Republican replacement for White, who became chairman of the three-member commission when he was elected secretary of state. Full Article

India: Poll panel to mix up Electronic Voting Machines during counting | The Times of India

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 threatened voters that they can find out who they have voted for during counting.

India: Men, donkeys at work to carry Electronic Voting Machines to booths | Times Of India

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 Monday and Tuesday on the back of donkeys. In several hilly hamlets in Salem, headload workers assisted polling officials by carrying EVMs and other polling materials through the tough terrain.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Awaits Outcome of Supreme Court Vote | NYTimes.com

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 for a time in one Republican-leaning county. Democratic leaders in that county, Waukesha, were calling for the resignation of the clerk who had made the error, and she was refusing to go.

Montana: Montana Secretary of State expresses worry on effect of postal closure on mail ballots | Helenair.com

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 the number of votes cast that way jumping from 15 percent of the total to 47 percent in the past decade. The shift to mail ballots is expected to continue, meaning the U.S. Postal Service will play a role in elections, McCulloch wrote in the letter.

Wisconsin: Waukesha County Wisconsin Auditor Nickolaus fends off calls for resignation | JSOnline

Earlier Tuesday, Waukesha County Democratic Party Chairman Victor Weers said in a news release that not only has the clerk’s vote-counting and reporting process produced problems, but “Ms. Nicholaus (sic) has willfully ignored pleas to repair her broken reporting process in an open and technologically reliable way.” “We must have a county clerk that we can trust to do this important work of the people with competence, security and openness. Waukesha must have a new county clerk now.”

The Voting News Daily: Democrat on Waukesha County vote panel speaks out , Mayoral recalls gone wild

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 the city of Brookfield until shortly before a Thursday news conference. By then, the three-member board had finished its canvass, which had started midday Wednesday. The Waukesha County Democratic Party released a statement Monday ascribed to Ramona Kitzinger, 80, a member of the canvassing board since 2004. In the statement, Kitzinger said that even during the canvass of Brookfield’s votes during the day Thursday, no mention was made of the big mistake, something in retrospect she called “shocking and somewhat appalling.” Read More

Mayoral recall drives go viral – USATODAY.com

Buoyed by the viral power of the Internet and rising anti-government sentiment, disgruntled voters have set off a rash of recall drives against mayors in cities across the USA. 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 so frequent that the U.S. Conference of Mayors today launches a campaign warning mayors to brace for recalls. The effort includes a documentary-style film, Recall Fever: Stop the Madness. The film recounts recent recall efforts in Omaha; Miami; Akron, Ohio; and Chattanooga, Tenn. Full Article

Editorials: Lisa Pease: More Twists and Turns in Wisconsin | Consortium News

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 set of circumstances, data surfaced to show that the missing city’s data had been reported earlier by the city itself. The numbers Nickolaus reported were an exact match. So it doesn’t look like anyone made up the numbers for the missing town’s results in Brookfield. And then there was the stamp of approval from Democratic Party member Ramona Kitzinger who said the numbers “jived” with what she had been shown.

National: Mayoral recall drives go viral | USATODAY.com

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 so frequent that the U.S. Conference of Mayors today launches a campaign warning mayors to brace for recalls.

Wisconsin: Democrat on Waukesha County vote panel speaks out | JSOnline

The Waukesha County Democratic Party released a statement Monday ascribed to Ramona Kitzinger, 80, a member of the canvassing board since 2004. In the statement, Kitzinger said that even during the canvass of Brookfield’s votes during the day Thursday, no mention was made of the big mistake, something in retrospect she called “shocking and somewhat appalling.”

Full Article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/119627189.html

Wisconsin: Statement & Account of Ramona Kitzinger, Waukesha Board of Canvassers member since 2004

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 Thursday, as has been the general practice for many years. No one explained why they were beginning the canvass on Wednesday, just to please report immediately.

Before this telephone call, I had not been contacted as the designated Democratic observer, and I saw no public notice of the abnormal canvass time. The phone call simply instructed me to report by noon to begin the canvass, which I did. The canvass then proceeded as normal, with no glaring irregularities or mention of a possible 15,000 vote error in Brookfield City.

Wisconsin: More Controversy Clouds Wisconsin Supreme Court Race | Wall Street Journal

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, observer Ramona Kitzinger told reporters that the numbers Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus reported “jived” with what she witnessed. On Monday, the Waukesha Democratic Party released a statement ascribed to Ms. Kitzinger saying she’s “very, very confused about why the canvass was finalized.”

Maryland: Voter registration reform gains momentum in Maryland | WTOP.com

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 already passed the Senate and on Thursday passed the House of Delegates with an amendment, would allow Maryland election officials to share voter registration with other states. The Senate is scheduled to vote today on an identical bill that originated in the House of Delegates.

Pennsylvania: Lancaster County Pennsylvania Board of Elections Moves to Bar Media from Vote Count | Lancaster Online

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 elections center, and provide reporters with an area in which they can work until all results are tabulated. Any change in election procedures is bound to arouse media concerns.

Editorials: To resolve Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court election, flip a coin | The Washington Post

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 — much like Florida in 2000 or the Minnesota Senate election in 2008. This is no way to pick a judge. And any mathematician can tell you a better, fairer and less expensive way: Flip a coin.

Choosing election winners by coin toss when there’s an exact tie is a time-honored tradition in states from Illinois to Alaska; just last Friday, a coin flip settled a school board election in Crawford County, Kan. It’s time to extend that tradition to elections so close that there’s no hope of being sure who “really won.”

The Voting News Daily: Prosser open to Waukesha County recount, Clarification of Election Night Reporting from the City of Brookfield

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 interest, that’s fine,” said Prosser campaign manager Brian Nemoir. “We believe it will only affirm the margin of victory we now enjoy.” In Waukesha County, thousands of votes from the city of Brookfield were not reported by the county clerk on election night but were discovered the day after. Prosser’s margin of victory in Brookfield helped push him ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Kloppenburg’s campaign manager, Melissa Mulliken, said of the proposed Waukesha County recount, “That is their talk. Once again, we’re evaluating the data, looking at what we’ve got.” Updated but not yet final results compiled by the Journal Sentinel on Friday showed Prosser ahead by 6,744 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast. If either candidate requests a recount in Waukesha County, his or her campaign would have to pay for it, said a Government Accountability Board spokesman. But if Kloppenburg remains close enough to Prosser in the statewide tally – within half a percentage point – she could ask for a statewide recount and not have to pay the cost. Both campaigns have sought advice from top recount attorneys in the nation as Wisconsin remained poised for the possibility of the first statewide recount in two decades. Full Article

WI: Clarification of Election Night Reporting from the City of Brookfield

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 results were sent to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Brookfield Patch and placed on the City of Brookfield’s website. The Elmbrook and Waukesha School Districts were also called with their results. Due to an error at Waukesha County, the votes reported by the City of Brookfield were not included in the totals sent by the County to the Government Accountability Board on April 5. On Thursday April 7, as a result of its canvass of votes, Waukesha County determined that the votes for the City of Brookfield were not included in its April 5 submission. The County has included all votes cast in the City of Brookfield in its final submission of canvassed votes to the State, which submission was made on April 7. In summary, all votes cast in the April 5 election by City of Brookfield voters have been counted and submitted to the State, whether those votes were cast at the polls or by absentee ballot. The original problem was not in the transmission of the votes from the City to the County, but was rather due to a failure by the County in transmitting the vote totals from the County to the State.

Massachusetts: Massachusetts town rebuffs groups on voter ID issue | telegram.com

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 Brookfield and parts of Spencer and Oxford. Empower Massachusetts and Show ID to Vote launched an “integrity of the vote” campaign last week and said they are working with activists to observe the polls. The election is to resolve a tie in the November election between the incumbent, state Rep. Geraldo Alicea, D-Charlton, and Peter J. Durant, a Republican selectman from Spencer.

Editorials: New Mexico: Partisanship Voting’s Biggest Threat | Albuquerque Journal

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, who said in legislative hearings that it was the issue most frequently raised by her supporters. She also claimed that in the Motor Vehicle Department database she had found 117 cases of noncitizens who were registered to vote. But she did not offer evidence showing whether those people had become naturalized and therefore eligible to vote, or whether the names of those in the MVD database just happened to be the same as those of other individuals in the overall voter registration database.

US Virgin Islands: Bryan calls for 48 meetings of election reform committee – US Virgin Islands | Virgin Islands Daily News

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 Board Chairman Rupert Ross Jr., who indicated at Wednesday’s St. Croix district board meeting that he was not inclined to authorize all of the dates because of financial restraints.

Mississippi: Mississippi Counties removing voting printers | Clarion Ledger

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 counting votes but are included as a back-up record of votes cast.

Editorials: South Carolina: Resolve voting machine questions | The Post and Courier

April 10, 2011

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 machines, which are used statewide.

Wisconsin: Prosser open to Waukesha County recount | JSOnline

April 10, 2011

In Waukesha County, thousands of votes from the city of Brookfield were not reported by the county clerk on election night but were discovered the day after. Prosser’s margin of victory in Brookfield helped push him ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Kloppenburg’s campaign manager, Melissa Mulliken, said of the proposed Waukesha County recount, “That is their talk. Once again, we’re evaluating the data, looking at what we’ve got.”

Wisconsin: Clarification of Election Night Reporting | City of Brookfield Wisconsin

The Elmbrook and Waukesha School Districts were also called with their results. Due to an error at Waukesha County, the votes reported by the City of Brookfield were not included in the totals sent by the County to the Government Accountability Board on April 5. On Thursday April 7, as a result of its canvass of votes, Waukesha County determined that the votes for the City of Brookfield were not included in its April 5 submission. The County has included all votes cast in the City of Brookfield in its final submission of canvassed votes to the State, which submission was made on April 7.

National: What Hath HAVA Wrought? Consequences, Intended and Not, of the Post-Bush v. Gore Reforms | Charles Stewart, MIT

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 of voting systems, most of which went to purchase new voting machines.

Kazakhstan: An Observer’s Reflections on the Kazakhstan Presidential Election | eurasianet.org

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 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which had the largest of the international observer missions, cited several improvements in this presidential vote over previous ballots, but cautioned that “needed reforms for holding genuine democratic elections still have to materialize as this election revealed shortcomings similar to those in previous elections.” I observed the electoral process in Astana and Almaty as a member of the Independent Observer Mission, accredited to the Central Election Commission, and exchanged views with election officials, voters, media representatives, foreign diplomats, and the other observer missions. Despite noting significant irregularities, most observers believe Nazarbayev won the election by a large margin, though 95.5 percent is an atypical figure for any free election.

Ghana: Ghana Electoral Commission Says No Electronic Voting in 2012 | GhanaWeb.com