The Voting News Weekly: TVN Weekly May 14-20 2011

Over the past week, several issues have dominated the voting news. The coordinated effort to establish restrictive voter identification requirements in state election codes and limiting early voting periods continued in spite of fierce opposition, with bills reaching governor’s desks in Florida, Texas, Wisconsin and South Carolina. All face legal challenges and the Department of Justice…

Pennsylvania: Montgomery County Pennsylvania elections chief: Hundreds may have voted unregistered in 2008 | Philly.com

Hundreds of unregistered Montgomery County residents may have been allowed to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election, the county’s chief election official said Wednesday. And as Voter Services Director Joseph Passarella described it, that decision, made by a low-level staffer, eventually morphed into an unwritten policy that mistakenly added more than 3,000 people to…

California: Secretary of State Bowen concedes in California race | POLITICO.com

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen conceded Thursday in the special election race for a vacant Southern California congressional seat, handing a surprising second-place finish to little-known Republican Craig Huey. Huey, a wealthy advertising executive who spent $500,000 out of his own pocket, will face Democratic Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn in a July 12 runoff.…

North Carolina: Shorter early voting costlier | The Charlotte Observer

A bill that would shorten North Carolina’s early voting period would create longer lines at the polls and increase the cost of elections, the executive director of the state elections board said Wednesday. Gary Bartlett’s comments came in a memo shortly after the House narrowly passed the measure that would reduce the current 21/2-week early…

Canada: Vancouver voters to get online choice this fall | The Vancouver Observer

If the provincial government approves, Vancouver residents will be able to vote for their municipal representatives online this fall. Vancouver is set to join a small but growing number of Canadian municipalities that allow internet voting, subject to the province’s approval. That approval, according to City Councillor Andrea Reimer, is very likely, as the province is…

Wisconsin: Senate poised to pass Wisconsin voter ID bill | weau.com

The state Senate is set to finally pass a bill that would require Wisconsinvoters to show photo identification at the polls. Republicans who control the chamber hoped to pass the bill on Tuesday. But Democrats railed against the plan for nine hours before ultimately using a procedural move to delay the vote until Thursday. Republicans have…

Kentucky: Secretary of State Candidate intends to seek recanvass in Kentucky GOP secretary of state race | Kentucky.com

Republican secretary of state candidate Hilda Legg said Wednesday that she intends to ask for a recanvass after Tuesday’s vote totals are certified. The Republican race for secretary of state was the closest of Tuesday’s primary. According to The Associated Press, Todd County businessman and teacher Bill Johnson beat Legg, a Somerset consultant and former federal…

Egypt: India ink for scripting new era in Egypt | Hindustan Times

Egyptian elections will have a ‘made in India’ stain. The country electing its new President, after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak this February, will use indelible ink used as a marker in India since 1952 to prevent multiple voting. It would also be a litmus test for the Indian electoral system, as United Nations wants…