Egypt: Indian Chief Election Commissioner says Egypt can’t trust imported voting machines can’t be trusted | Financial Express

After the revolution in Tahrir Square, Egyptian authorities consulted India’s Election Commission for help in conducting parliamentary polls in the country, only to get cautious advice from chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi. He asked his Egyptian counterpart to not import electronic voting machines (EVMs) from anywhere and get these manufactured domestically. Imported machines, however faultless they are, could be deemed suspect, he warned.

“The validity of any election lies in the fairness of the process, if the machine is imported from somewhere, there is always a possibility that the election will be questioned as being rigged through the machines,” he said, in an interview to FE. The recent campaign against the use of EVMs in Indian elections, Quraishi said, hinges on the chip, “which is manufactured outside the country and is therefore supposed to be suspect”.

Kansas: Kansas Lawmakers Spank Kobach On Elections Bill | KCTV Kansas City

Kansas legislators are refusing to move up the starting date for a proof-of-citizenship requirement for people registering to vote for the first time or to give Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office new power to prosecute election fraud cases. The rejection of those proposals Wednesday by a bipartisan majority in the state Senate is a political defeat for the Republican secretary of state, who took office in January. It came after he successfully pushed for a law designed to combat election fraud, one he touted as model legislation for other states.

That law requires voters to show photo identification at the polls, starting next year, and says anyone registering for the first time must provide a birth certificate, passport or other proof of citizenship to election officials, starting in 2013, though a Kansas driver’s license will be sufficient for many. Kobach had hoped the proof-of-citizenship rule would take effect next year and that his office would gain the power to file and prosecute election cases in state courts — and didn’t stop pushing even after Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a compromise version of Kobach’s proposed Secure and Fair Elections Act.

Louisiana: Louisiana explores special election process in effort to cut costs | DailyComet.com

Lawmakers are zeroing in on ways to cut the cost to taxpayers for holding elections. Recent months have seen a long string of special elections, even locally.

With term limits taking effect, state senators are abandoning ship for statewide posts and new public jobs. Representatives are stepping up to become senators, and their vacancies are prompting promotions for parish councilmen and mayors across Louisiana.

Tennessee: Tennessee Senate Votes To Undo Voter Confidence Act Requirements | Chattanoogan.com

The state Senate voted on Thursday to undo requirements of the Voter Confidence Act passed three years ago. Supporters said the action will ensure that more accurate voting machines would be implemented across the state as the legislature reversed requirements approved three years ago.

House Bill 386 as approved by the Senate would delete the requirement for more secure voting machines with a verifiable paper trail. The touch-screen voting machine system used in many Tennessee counties has been called by experts as “the least secure voting system” in the country.

Venezuela: Venezuela’s electoral body approves major changes in voting system | El Universal

The directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) approved, after a seven-hour meeting, a new project called “Improvements to the Automated Voting System,” which includes the establishment of a Comprehensive Authentication System (SAI) of voters to be implemented in the upcoming elections.

The decision taken by the CNE directors involves a major modification in the voting system, as it includes changes in electronic ballots, fingerprint reading machines, software applications, tally sheets, and the roles of principal poll workers.

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe parties resume constitution process | AFP

Parties to Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal resumed the constitutional process Saturday after reaching a compromise on how to analyse views gathered from the public, an official said. The process stalled on Wednesday over disagreements between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over the weight given to the public submissions.

MDC spokesman Douglass Mwonzora said the parties agreed to resume after ending the dispute over methods to be used in analyzing data collected during outreach meetings across the country.

Thailand: Will Thailand’s military allow free elections? | msnbc.com

It’s official. Thailand will go to the polls on July 3. It’s supposed to be a goodnews after more than two tumultuous years of political unrest under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s administration.

It is the first election since street demonstrations in Bangkok last year by the anti-government “Red Shirt” protesters, supporters of deposed former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, led to violent clashes with the security forces that left 91 people dead.