Hundreds, if not thousands, of Milwaukee-area voters went to the polls Tuesday but did not vote in the hotly contested state Supreme Court race, according to local voting results. And the issue of whether those people actually intended to vote for the high court could be a key factor in a looming recount that one…
Some voters have questioned whether provisional ballots could change the thin lead Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg holds over Justice David Prosser in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Calls to a few of the state’s more populous voting jurisdictions indicate that’s unlikely. Three provisional ballots were cast in the City of Milwaukee, according to an employee…
Democratic legislators argued Tuesday that if Republicans are going to mandate a photo identification for voting, the state should provide free identification cards to those who cannot afford them. The argument did not work – at least for now -with the GOP majority on the House State and Local Government Committee, which proceeded to approve…
The state legislature has passed a bill ending Election Day voter registration. The last day voters could now register is the Friday before an election. The Republican sponsored House Bill 180 passed largely on party lines Monday. Long held political thought says blocking same day registration benefits the G.O.P. But new research calls that into…
Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker plans to replace the large, bulky, polling books at each voting precinct with machines that resemble laptop computers. Parker is getting estimates from two companies. She plans to use the electronic poll books in the November elections. “It will make the voter lines move faster, and we won’t need as many…
In a move aimed at increasing voter participation, state Rep. Jeff Irwin has announced a plan to allow any Michigan resident to vote by absentee ballot without giving a reason. “Increasing voter turnout is crucial to maintaining a healthy democracy,” Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said in a statement. “We should do everything we can to ensure that…
A glitch inadvertently left a Hammond City Council candidate’s name from showing on the screen of a Lake County voting machine on Monday. Another candidate running against Matthew Kolanowski in the Democratic Primary for the 1st District notified election staff around 11:30 a.m. of the problem. Monday was the first day of early voting for the…
Voters headed to the polls after work could expect a wait. A larger-than-normal voter turnout locally and statewide has caused most polling places to run out of ballots. By the end of the night, turnout could run as high as 40 percent, said Fond du Lac City Clerk Sue Strands. “By late afternoon, we were…
With the counting of votes slated for May 13, a month after the state goes to poll, the district election office has decided to install web cameras in the counting centres. The 234 strong rooms, where electronic voting machines (EVMs) are stored, will be monitored live for a month via camera till counting of votes…
GA: Secretary of State Georgia’s voter ID requirement cleared by DoJ – Rome News-Tribune Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) precleared Georgia’s law and related regulations which require new voter registration applicants to provide evidence of United States citizenship with their voter registration applications. The law…
The Montana Legislature has passed a bill that would end same-day voter registration and moving the last day voters could register to the Friday before Election Day. The Senate gave final approval to House Bill 180 with a 28-22 vote on Friday. The House had passed it 67-33 in February. Republican sponsor Rep. Champ Edmunds…
President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Monday extended his rule over Kazakhstan into a third decade with a crushing 95 percent victory in elections that observers said fell well short of democratic standards. The Central Election Commission said the first official results showed the incumbent had won 95.5 percent of the vote on mass turnout of 89.9…
St. Louis County commissioners will weigh in on the national battle of voter identification cards today when they consider a resolution opposing a proposed state law requiring photo voter ID cards. Legislation has advanced in St. Paul this session that would require anyone voting in Minnesota to have a special voter ID card if they…
A few dozen of the Lowcountry’s elected officials appear concerned enough about South Carolina’s voting machines to urge the legislature to look into them. Frank Heindel, a Charleston businessman, has spent months investigating the machines’ performance, and outlined his findings Monday to the board of the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments. Board members agreed to prepare…
Egypt’s ambassador to India Khaled el Bakly met chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi recently, seeking assistance in conducting elections after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. Parliamentary elections will be held in Egypt in September, followed by presidential polls in November. During the meeting with Quraishi, Bakly wanted to know about various aspects of election management…
Republican state lawmakers say they have removed the photo requirement from a bill that would make voters show ID in order to cast a ballot. The latest draft eliminates language that would require a photo ID. Instead, individuals would now be allowed to use a county-issued voter registration card or documents such as a utility bill…
A bill designed by Secretary of State Scott Gessler and sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, to ensure the integrity of the Colorado voting system is being called a means to reduce voter participation by voters’ rights advocates. Gessler said his bill fixes what he sees as a serious problem of ineligible voters on the voter…
Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz issued a statement Friday criticizing Iowa Senate Democrats for killing his proposal to require all Iowa voters to show a photo identification card before they vote in an effort to prevent fraud. “It is unfortunate that Senate Democrats have decided to kill a common-sense bill,” said Schultz, a Republican…
The Harrison County Commission has approved an eleventh-hour purchase of 80 new electronic voting machines. County Clerk Susan Thomas has been waiting patiently since the end of January for Commission to approve the purchase of new AutoMARK voting machines. Harrison County has been using the iVotronic machines for about five years. The state’s contract with…
AK: Report recommends changes to state election laws – Juneau Empire Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is recommending dozens of changes to state election law following last year’s disputed write-in election battle for a U.S. Senate seat. None of the changes to election law or regulations would have changed the outcome, Treadwell said, and many conform…
Carrie Phillips knows well the toughest challenge of adapting to election consolidation. “Learning the new laws and finding who’s responsible for doing what,” said Phillips, Kootenai County Elections supervisor. Now that Kootenai County Elections is charged with running all local elections under new state law, it means a larger workload, Phillips said. The county has…
The House Republican Leadership has introduced a bill that the Leon County Supervisor of Elections calls a travesty. Proposed House Bill 1355 passed through a subcommittee Friday morning. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho says proposed House Bill 1355 destroys the election process as it currently exists in Florida and he went to legislators…
Over the objections of county elections supervisors and public-interest groups, a bill that would make numerous changes to Florida’s elections law cleared a House subcommittee on Friday. The Government Operations Subcommittee voted up the bill on Friday by a party-line tally of 9-4. Its sponsor, state Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said the changes will get…
Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is recommending dozens of changes to state election law following last year’s disputed write-in election battle for a U.S. Senate seat. None of the changes to election law or regulations would have changed the outcome, Treadwell said, and many conform Alaska election law to existing court rulings that guided the outcome…
It has been nothing short of astonishing that, within a few weeks, the brave people of Tunisia and Egypt toppled corrupt dictators who ruled for decades. One of the protesters’ key demands was for democratic elections — the right to choose a government that is responsive to the people’s needs. That is also what protesters in…
IA: Iowa voter ID plan stymied – Omaha.com A proposal to require Iowa voters to produce identification at polling places appears unlikely to become law this year. House File 95 went to the Senate State Government Committee after being passed by the House in January. Because it failed to win the panel’s approval by Friday’s…