The Voting News Weekly: TVN Weekly May 21-29 2011

Texas Governor Rick Perry

Texas Governor Rick Perry

Laws requiring that voters produce a photo ID were signed into law in Texas and Wisconsin this week – and vetoed in Minnesota. John Tanner, former chief of the voting section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has an interesting perspective on how the Texas bill might fare in the inevitable court challenges ahead. In Wisconsin, election officials expressed concern about implementing the State’s new voter ID and residency requirements in time for a spate of recall elections. Vancouver’s plans for internet voting in this Fall’s municipal elections were cancelled because of concerns about security and voter privacy as well as a conflict with Provincial law. On a party-line vote, the US Committee on House Administration reported out a bill that would terminate the Election Assistance Commission and transfer its ongoing responsibilities to the Federal Election Commission and the National Institute for Standards and Technology. In an ironic twist, newly-minted Senator Dean Heller’s failure to establish procedures for special elections during his tenure as Secretary of State has resulted in confusion and court challenges about how to fill the Congressional seat recently vacated by – Dean Heller. And Ohio joined South Carolina and Florida in limitiing their citizens’ options for early voting.