Yearly Archives: 2011

The Voting News Daily: Battle over Saguache CO ballots continues, DC Court decision may affect TX Voter ID proposal

CO: Gessler, clerks battle over ballots in Saguache County | Real Aspen.com

A disputed election in south-central Colorado is now in the hands of a grand jury that is reviewing allegations that the clerk and other officials committed crimes when they tallied the votes. The officials under investigation stood to benefit from the election’s outcome — most notably Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers — who, along with County Commissioner Linda Joseph, at first lost but then won their races after Myers declared the races had to be retabulated due to a technical glitch. The snafu hasn’t just initiated secret court proceedings. It’s also knocked over a political hornet’s nest. “Family style voting” in Saguache County caught the attention of the Colorado Elections Division, which noted in a December report that partitions were not used Nov. 2 to protect voter privacy. It is but one example of problems that plagued the county’s disputed general election. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office initially claimed it didn’t have jurisdiction in the races, despite its heavy involvement in the election in question. A secretary of state official was present on election night — when Myers and Joseph were thought to have lost — but no one from the state directly oversaw the retabulation that changed the outcome. State officials did, however, remain in regular communication with Myers and provided her with guidance on how to proceed. The office also sent two officials to Saguache County two weeks after the election to conduct an audit. The secretary of state also rejected the county election canvassing board’s request to hand count the machine-plagued races. Full Article

TX: Impending decision by D.C. judge has implications for voter ID in Texas – The American Independent

Though Republican lawmakers remain unswayed by Texas Democrats’ arguments that disenfranchising minority voters should outweigh unsubstantiated fears of polling place voter impersonation — the U.S. Department of Justice, and possibly the courts, will consider those contentions in light of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) before allowing a voter photo identification law to take effect. That is, unless a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., issues an opinion — which is expected to come soon — that strikes down the part of the VRA requiring Texas and other states, mainly in the South, to seek federal approval before enacting election laws with the potential to adversely impact representation of racial or ethnic minorities. That includes voter photo ID. “During one of the telephonic conferences, Judge [John D.] Bates indicated that he would like to have this case settled by the first of April,” said Edward Blum, whose organization Project on Fair Representation is assisting the plaintiffs in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. “So we’re all just eagerly awaiting.” “If the court in Shelby County strikes down either Section 4(b) or Section 5 [of the VRA], and the judge does not stay his opinion, then Texas and all other states subject to Section 5 will no longer be required to preclear,” Blum said. “That doesn’t mean the DOJ doesn’t have the power to come in anywhere and sue a jurisdiction or sue a state under various constitutional statutory provisions to prevent discriminatory election practices from going into or staying in effect.”

The Voting News Daily: Kansas Senate, Ohio and Texas Houses approve Voter ID Bills

KS: Senate Approves Voter ID Bill – WIBW.com

The Kansas Senate has approved a bill containing Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The vote Wednesday was 36-3. The Senate version of the bill still includes Kobach’s proposal to require people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas to prove they’re citizens, but that would be delayed until 2013. Kobach and the House wanted that provision to take effect next year. The Senate’s version of the bill also omits proposals from Kobach to increase penalties for election crimes and to give the secretary of state’s office the authority to file and prosecute voter fraud cases in state courts. Read More

OH: Amid rancor, voter-ID bill moves to Senate | The Columbus Dispatch

With Democrats invoking racist images of the nation’s past and accusing Republicans of trying to disenfranchise minorities and the poor, the Ohio House voted yesterday along party lines to impose a new requirement that voters show a photo ID at the polls. House Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, said he was “a little bit embarrassed by the floor debate,” which featured passionate speeches mixed with repeated mentions by Democrats of Jim Crow laws and how the bill represents a modern-day poll tax. Read More

TX: Emotional voter ID bill debate ends in passage – statesman.com

Democrats in the usually congenial Texas House gave heated speeches Wednesday – sometimes with raised voices – against the Republicans’ voter ID bill, which they said discriminates against minorities. But after a long day and night of debate, Democrats just didn’t have to votes to significantly change or derail the measure. The bill passed 101-48. The Senate passed its version earlier in the legislative session. Both chambers were tasked by Gov. Rick Perry with making voter ID legislation a priority. The measure would require Texans to show a valid photo ID – such as a driver’s license or state-issued ID card, a military ID or a passport – to vote. The measure in the House is more stringent than the Senate version. Speaking against the bill, Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas , said there is “intentional disenfranchising of African Americans and Latinos” in the bill.  Full Article

The Voting News Daily: Voter Fraud App assisting voter fraud?

American Majority’s “Voter Fraud” App: It’s a Tool for Election Law Violations | The Awl

The last time we heard from the corporate-funded Washington D.C.-based “free market” candidate seed organization American Majority, it was training candidates to assume local offices like school boards in Wisconsin (and elsewhere) to better implement the “tools” that legislators like Governor Scott Walker have fashioned. Well, it appears American Majority has a new endeavor to help you “take control of your elections.” The American Majority Action Voter Fraud App. Except, on its way to stopping voting fraud, it seems the app may encourage election law violations. As we already know from a video featuring the group’s Director of New Media Strategy, Austin James, instructing seminar attendees how to vote down liberal books on Amazon.com while at the same time voting up conservative books, American Majority likes technology. So it’s no surprise that “Just in time for Election Day,” American Majority started offering “the nation’s first mobile application to help identify, report and track suspected incidents of voter fraud and intimidation” and “help you report violations at the election booth and serve to uphold the democratic process.” (iPhone, Blackberry, Android). And it’s free! Full Article

The Voting News Daily: ES&S to pay Cuyahoga $200K, Military Voters Bill stalled in Colorado

OH: Ballot scanning company Election Systems & Software agrees to give Cuyahoga County $200,000 | cleveland.com

A maker of ballot scanners will pay Cuyahoga County more than $200,000 because its equipment could not scan larger-sized ballots. The settlement approved Tuesday between Election Systems and Software Inc. and the county Board of Elections covers the county’s costs of printing extra pages of smaller ballots in 2009 and last year, along with extra staff costs to test the scanners and for repairs to ballot boxes the county bought from ES&S. “We got what we thought we could get,” Assistant County Prosecutor Dave Lambert told the elections board Tuesday. Elections Board Director Jane Platten said the issues were all caught before election day and no votes were affected. The county has avoided the problem by using smaller ballots, she said. Platten also said the company has made software changes to handle larger ballots which should be approved for use by the fall. Read More

CO: Overseas military voter bill stalled in Colorado House – The Denver Post

A Democratic overseas military voter bill is in limbo in the House, but the reason it’s stalled depends on who’s talking. Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said when she asked about her bill she was told that Republicans, who took control of the House in November after six years in the minority, are frustrated with Democrats for “locking down” and voting against their proposals. But Rep. Jim Kerr, R-Littleton, who chairs the committee hearing House Bill 1219, said the secretary of state says the bill is flawed and unnecessary, and Levy knows that. Read More

CO: Gessler’s proposal for voters draws fire – The Longmont Times-Call

Secretary of State Scott Gessler and critics of his push for citizenship verification in Colorado’s voter-registration rolls agree on one thing: No one who’s not a U.S. citizen should be casting ballots in Colorado elections. They disagree, however, over Gessler’s latest proposal for a state law he says he needs to identify people who may not be citizens and block them from voting until they can prove that they are. Earlier this month, Gessler issued a report in which he and his staff said that as many as 11,805 of Colorado’s nearly 3.3 million registered voters aren’t eligible to vote. Those 11,805 individuals got or renewed Colorado’s driver’s licenses since 2006 using documents the state requires of noncitizens seeking licenses. Full Article

The Voting News Daily: Estonian Court Rejects E-Voting Challenge, Technical Problems in Monroe County Indiana

Estonia: Supreme Court Rejects Last Voter Complaint – ERR

The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Review Chamber ruled on March 21 that the petition by student Paavo Pihelgas to invalidate the electronic voting results in the March 6 parliamentary elections lacks substance. Pihelgas sought nullification of the election result on the grounds that the software used in the electronic voting was flawed and could make it possible for a virus to block a vote without the voter knowing that any interference had occurred. To prove his case, Pihelgas conducted a series of experiments with the participation of several voters who had been informed by him of the nature of the test and had given express consent to participate. According to the law, the Supreme Court can nullify election results in case a violation of voter rights has been established that had or may have had a significant effect on the election outcome. Therefore the Chamber set out to determine whether a violation of Pihelgas’s rights had occurred. Full Article

IN: Technical woes force Monroe County to alter primary plan – chicagotribune.com

A southern Indiana county’s plans to move from electronic voting to paper ballots is being hampered by possible technical problems with the ballot-counting machines officials had hoped to have in place for the May primary. Those technical concerns, including whether the machines might misread ballots that are longer than standard sizes have forced Monroe County to alter its plans for the primary as a state weighs whether to certify the machines from Omaha, Neb.-based Election System and Software. The county had finalized the nearly $1 million purchase of the new equipment in December, but county clerk Linda Robbins said the county has not taken delivery of the equipment because of the technical issues. “We decided we would not accept delivery of any of the equipment until we can be assured we can have a really good election for the Monroe County voters,” she told The Herald-Times. Full Article

The Voting News Daily: House committee questions future of EAC, MIT asks “How Long Before Hackers Steal Votes?”

CO: Gessler sues for access to Saguache ballots – The Denver Post

Secretary of State Scott Gessler filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking access to voted ballots from the 2010 Saguache County general election, arguing the county clerk doesn’t have the power to stop him from “inspecting and reviewing all aspects of the election process.” The complaint, filed in the 12th Judicial District in Saguache, asks a judge for an injunction requiring Saguache County Clerk and Recorder Melinda Myers to “obey the secretary’s order” to make the ballots available. Gessler announced Tuesday that his staff would travel to Saguache this week to lead a hand review of three races, including Myers’ re-election bid. But Myers threw a wrench in Gessler’s plan late Tuesday, when she e-mailed a letter to his office indicating she wouldn’t unseal the ballots without a court order. Read More

ID: When to count absentee ballots subject of committee hearing « IdahoReporter.com

How many hours before an election should county clerks be able to open ballots? Should clerks be limited to open ballots only on Election Day? Those are the questions that came before the House State Affairs Committee Thursday and panel members couldn’t decide, so they moved to strip any time frame references from the legislation. The time frame provision was only one element of a mini-elections reform bill pitched by the secretary of state’s office. The bill also includes clarification for identification requirements for voting on Election Day. Read More

KS: Weaker voter ID bill passes in Kansas Senate – KansasCity.com

The Kansas Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on Thursday passed a weakened version of Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s bill to require a photo ID and proof of citizenship for voters. Senators stripped HB 2067 of provisions that would have given Kobach the authority to criminally prosecute allegations of voter fraud. The committee also voted to delay until 2013 the start date at which new voters will have to provide proof of citizenship when they register. Kobach said the action virtually ensured that photo ID will be required when voters go to the polls or send in absentee ballots in 2012. Read More

NM: Judge says AG cannot prosecute case against former secretary of state | KOB.com

A district court judge has ruled the New Mexico Attorney General’s office cannot prosecute a case against the former secretary of state and three other defendants. District Court Judge Pat Murdoch ruled a new prosecutor must be found. Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three others are accused of misusing taxpayer money in a 2006 ad campaign to educate voters. Read More

NC: Voter ID Bill Stirs Legislative Passion – WFAE 90.7 FM

A bill in the legislature that would require North Carolinians to show a photo ID at the polls has become a flashpoint of controversy among lawmakers. The measure’s Republican sponsors say the bill aims to fight voter fraud and ensure that every vote is counted. But Democrats believe the proposal is a regressive measure aimed at keeping many of their supporters away from the polls.

The Voting News Daily: State fights over CO ballots, Debate over Photo ID in NC

AZ Senate Eliminates Spanish Election Material – Texas Observer

So this really isn’t about immigrants, undocumented or not. The folks in power in Arizona don’t want anything in their state that doesn’t look or sound like they do. This recent vote in the Arizona state senate proves the point. The bill, SB1490 proposed by Maricopa County Senator Steve Smith, bars the production of all government material in languages other than English. The Arizona Senate has approved it. The Bill, according to some observers, targets election material; specifically, according to the Yuma Sun, it is “aimed at the brochures mailed out before every general election by the Secretary of State’s Office detailing all the measures on the ballot as well as the recommendations of a commission on whether judges should be retained in office.” And apparently that’s the technicality on which Sen. Smith hangs his bill. He says his bill is legal because it only bars material mailed prior to an election. Opponents say that the Voting Rights Act of 1968 is clear on the matter. Read More

CA: Court hears appeal of San Francisco’s ranked-choice voting system – San Francisco Examiner

A lawyer for six San Franciscans who oppose The City’s ranked-choice voting system argued before a federal appeals court Tuesday that the procedure deprives them of their constitutional voting rights. “This case presents the issue of whether voters have the right to have their vote counted in the most important part of an election — that is when the winner is decided,” attorney James Parrinello told a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The six voters, led by former Board of Supervisors candidate Ron Dudum, want the appeals court to overturn a federal trial judge’s ruling dismissing their lawsuit. Read More

CO: State to fight over Saguache ballots – The Pueblo Chieftain

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler will conduct a review of the Saguache County election that includes a hand count of the ballots — if he can get his hands on them. While that issue will be a matter for the courts to decide, Gessler came to town Wednesday night to explain the scope of a proposed review to roughly 60 county residents. Controversy over the Saguache election has persisted since Nov. 5 when County Clerk and Recorder Melinda Myers, with the blessing of the state, conducted a second count of the ballots to correct a computer error that counted mail-in ballots from a precinct twice, while excluding the precinct’s polling place tallies. Read More

CO: Common Cause throws weight behind Fort Collins’ ranked-voting campaign – The Denver Post

The Fort Collins ranked voting campaign today said Colorado Common Cause is backing the April 5 measure that would make ranked voting the norm in city elections. Ranked voting — also called instant runoff voting — allows voters to rank their candidates from their top to last choices. If a candidate with an absolute majority of votes, 50 percent plus one, isn’t determined in the first round of voting, the lowest ranked candidate is dropped from the ballot and those who picked that candidate as No.

The Voting News Daily: CO Clerk Denies SoS Access to Ballots, Voter ID Bills Debated in NM & NC

CO: Secretary of state, clerks battle over Saguache ballots – The Denver Post

What started as small-town suspicions of a “stolen” election has erupted into a fight between Secretary of State Scott Gessler and the state’s county clerks over whether voted ballots should be public records — and the issue appears headed to court. Gessler announced Tuesday his staff and local election judges will conduct a public hand review of ballots from the 2010 general election in Saguache County, where the attorney general’s office already is investigating allegations of election fraud. But in a letter emailed to Gessler late Tuesday, Saguache County Clerk and Recorder Melinda Myers, whose re-election would be one of the races reviewed, indicated she wouldn’t unseal the ballots without a court order. Read More

CO: Myers denies Gessler access to Saguache ballots – Valley Courier

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler will speak to Saguache residents tonight (Wednesday) and answer questions about concerns stemming from races overturned in November after a voting machine allegedly malfunctioned. The town hall meeting with Gessler will consist “more of questions and answers,” press officer Rich Coolidge told the Center Post-Dispatch Tuesday. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at the Saguache Community Center and is expected to last until 7 p.m. But Gessler, who intended to announce a hand count of contested races in Saguache Thursday and Friday, will likely tell Saguache residents instead he will not be allowed to review the ballots. Read More

NM: Voter ID: Partisanship or common sense? – WRAL.com

It was standing-room only in House Elections today for the public comment period on H351, the Voter ID proposal. There was a lot of passion, some strong words and the occasional outbreak of applause, politely squelched by Chairman David Lewis. But overall, it went pretty smoothly. Contrary to fears some Democrats had expressed, the procession of 43 speakers seemed pretty evenly divided between opponents and supporters of the proposal. It was clear both sides had done some organizing work to get their people there. Read More

NC: Voter ID bill fuels passion and questions – CharlotteObserver.com

A bill that would require photo IDs for N.C. voters was slowed down Tuesday after a long, often-passionate hearing and a wave of challenges. But the bill – which supporters call a common-sense way to ensure the integrity of elections and which critics call unneeded and “a solution in search of a problem” – could reach the House floor soon. It has wide support among Republicans, who control the General Assembly. “The purpose of this bill is simply to restore confidence in the process and not to (deny) access,” said Rep. Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican. Along with GOP Rep. Ric Killian of Charlotte, Moore is one of the bill’s chief sponsors. But critics said the bill would disenfranchise many voters who don’t have a picture ID. They said the measure would affect elderly, minority and disabled voters particularly hard. Read More

NC: Voter I.D. bill heads to House next week | Triangulator

Legislation that would require North Carolina voters to show photo I.D.

The Voting News Daily: Struggling States May Cancel Or Delay Primaries, Paper Ballots Still the Gold Standard

CO: Denver City Council endorses pay raise for elected officials – The Denver Post

After spirited debate Monday, Denver’s City Council voted 10-3 to tentatively approve a 6.6 percent raise for the next sitting council and every other elected official — an increase to be delayed for half of their four-year terms. The city is facing a $100 million budget shortfall for the 2012 budget and has a structural budget problem that, if not addressed, could balloon into a $500 million deficit by 2030. Many council members think the meager increase would not affect that problem and that denying a raise would be symbolic rather than practical. “The substance of passing this has virtually zero impact on the budget,” said council president Chris Nevitt. “I was sent here to do a job to get things done. I much more prefer substance over symbolism.” All 13 council positions, along with the mayor, auditor and clerk and recorder, are up for election May 3. Read More

FL: Disenfranchised West Palm Beach voters file lawsuit for new mayoral election – Palm Beach Post

Mayor Lois Frankel, Mayor-Elect Jeri Muoio and Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher were among defendants named in a lawsuit Monday by an attorney seeking a new mayoral race. Attorney Nikasha Wells, who was paid as a consultant by candidate Paula Ryan during the election to help reach black voters, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Carmen Van Buskirk and Tiffany Green after 224 voters in a precinct off Haverhill Road were never told they lived in the city and could vote. Bucher said it was the city’s responsibility to inform the county that the land was annexed years ago by West Palm Beach and the voters lived in the city, not unincorporated county. Read More

IN: Daniels urges fast end to secretary of state’s voter-fraud case – The Indianapolis Star

As another key staffer fled the Indiana secretary of state’s office, Gov. Mitch Daniels called for a swift resolution to Charlie White’s voter-fraud case — and others called for White to quit. White’s spokesman, Jason Thomas, said in an e-mail that he resigned to “pursue other career opportunities.” Thomas, a former Indianapolis Star reporter who left in December to take the position of communications director with the incoming secretary of state, didn’t respond to follow-up questions. Read More

IN: 2nd resignation for beleaguered secretary of state; new deputy appointed – The Indianapolis Star

The secretary of state’s office lost another staffer today, as Charlie White’s chief spokesman quit. Jason Thomas quit to “pursue other career opportunities,” he said in an e-mail. Thomas, a former Indianapolis Star reporter who resigned in December to take the position with the secretary of state’s office, didn’t respond to several follow-up questions. Thomas’ resignation came after another top White staffer, deputy secretary of state and chief of staff Sean Keefer, abruptly quit Friday. Read More

ME: Portland won’t be counting on voting machines – The Portland Press Herald

Officials are looking at ways to handle Portland’s first mayoral election with ranked-choice voting, which the city’s voting machines aren’t equipped to handle.

The Voting News Daily: IN SoS pleads not guilty to voter fraud; FL candidate requests manual ballot review; KS lawmaker proposes ID compromise

CA: City Clerk Cites ‘Human Error’ for Ballot Miscalculation – West Hollywood, CA Patch

Simple human error caused ballot counters to overestimate the number of ballots still to be counted in the West Hollywood City Council election. That’s the word from City Clerk Tom West, who oversaw the counting Tuesday night. Read More

CA: Ranked-Choice Voting Ain’t Rocket Science – San Francisco News – The Snitch

We wrote earlier today about the headline-grabbing Chamber of Commerce poll that indicates San Francisco voters can’t figure out how ranked-choice voting works.

It’s an interesting survey. Somehow, the 500 San Franciscans queried understood enough about payroll taxes that they overwhelmingly support one in mid-Market. And they know what “earned revenues” means well enough to approve of the Recreation and Park Department chasing more of it. But the majority of the respondents don’t know if their vote “is counted” in a ranked-choice election. Read More

CA: An agenda as clear as 1, 2, 3 | San Francisco Bay Guardian

The main story ran front page above the fold, the big headline calling the seven-year-old voting system “a mystery” because the poll found many voters didn’t know precise details about how votes are tabulated. And even though the poll found “voters evenly split on whether they prefer the current system or a runoff,” according to the story, columnist CW Nevius writes that the poll shows voters “would prefer a two-candidate runoff.” Read More

CO: Keep it simple by voting down instant runoffs | Northern Colorado Business Report

November’s elections produced one clear majority: Voters fed up with political campaigns.

So an alternative that promises positive electioneering and a clear mandate from the people seems attractive. But ranked choice or instant runoff voting, on the April 5 Fort Collins ballot, is not the answer. Read More

FL: Caragiulo wins after recount, Clapp wants ballot review – City Beat – Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Sarasota, FL – Archive

Any citizen can request to see election ballots at the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office, but the results of the review, even if machine voting errors are caught, will not change the election

Clapp, who estimates he will pay up to $300 for election staff to review the ballots, said “voting machines have made mistakes before.” He said since he can’t get a hand recount, a ballot review is the next best thing. Read More

HI: Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Hawaii House Passes Instant Runoff Voting Bill

On March 8, the Hawaii House passed HB 638 unanimously. It provides that in special Congressional elections, and county elections, Instant Runoff Voting will be used. Read More

IN: Not guilty is plea entered for Secretary of State White – southbendtribune.com

A Hamilton County court magistrate entered a not guilty plea Friday for Indiana’s top elections official, who was indicted last week on seven felony counts including voter fraud. Read More

IN: White targets prosecutors, news media | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Charlie White’s first day in court was short and uneventful.

The Voting News Daily: Turning Back the Clock in FL, Judge Sentenced to 26 Years in KY, Estonian E Voting Architect Defends System

CO: Saguache County Clerk Myers refuses Denver Post request – Center Post Dispatch

Saguache County Clerk Melinda Myers received a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request Tuesday from Denver Post reporter Sara Burnett asking her to produce the ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election. In a response e-mailed on Tuesday, Myers reportedly denied Burnett access to the ballots. Burnett wrote an article on the election last week that ran Feb. 27 on the front page of the Denver Post. Saturday, the Post ran an editorial that called the failure of he Secretary of State’s Office under Bernie Buescher to supervise the Nov. 2 Saguache election process in its entirety “a huge mistake,” adding that “voters deserve to know what happened” on election night last November.” Read More

CO: Editorial – Keep it simple by voting down instant runoffs | Northern Colorado Business Report

November’s elections produced one clear majority: Voters fed up with political campaigns. So an alternative that promises positive electioneering and a clear mandate from the people seems attractive. But ranked choice or instant runoff voting, on the April 5 Fort Collins ballot, is not the answer. The underlying premise is that any election should produce a winner with 51 percent of the vote. Nations around the world operating under the parliamentary system, which requires collaboration among minority parties, would disagree, as would we. Read More

FL: Turning Back the Clock in Florida | Brennan Center for Justice

In less than an hour yesterday, Florida Governor Rick Scott denied the right to vote to hundreds of thousands, maybe as many as a million, Florida citizens, turning back the clock decades and making Florida the most punitive state in the country when it comes to disenfranchising people with criminal convictions in their past. The Florida constitution denies the right to vote for life to anyone with a felony conviction, unless he is granted clemency by the governor. Essentially it gives the governor, an elected official, the power to decide who will (or won’t) be allowed to vote in the next election. The new clemency rules not only roll back reforms passed by former Governor Charlie Crist, they are far more restrictive than those in place under former Governor Jeb Bush. Read More

FL: Editorial – A shameful setback on civil rights – St. Petersburg Times

Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the rest of the Florida Cabinet on Wednesday made a hash of civil rights restoration for nonviolent felons who are trying to put their lives back on track. How they did it — with little public notice or input — was also appalling. The immediate travesty is for those nonviolent released felons who will face long mandatory waiting periods before they can apply for restoration of their right to vote, sit on a jury, run for public office and qualify for certain occupational licenses. The move reverses progress Gov. Charlie Crist made in 2007 when he and two of three Cabinet members expedited the restoration process for nonviolent offenders who had completed their sentence and made restitution.

The Voting News Daily: Students can vote for now in NH, IN SoS White MIA?, Flaw revealed in Estonian Internet Voting

CA: San Francisco ranked-choice voting confusing, poll says – San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco is heading into its first competitive mayor’s race using ranked-choice voting with a majority of voters who don’t understand how the system works, according to a poll to be released today. Despite ranked-choice voting being introduced for Board of Supervisors races in 2004 and used in every city election since, 55 percent of respondents to a recent poll commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce said they didn’t know whether their vote counted once their first-, second- or third-choice candidate had been eliminated. In that scenario, their vote would not affect the outcome of the race, although 29 percent of respondents thought that their vote would be counted. Only 15 percent of the respondents said that their vote would not be counted, according to the poll, which was conducted by David Binder Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Read More

FL: Florida’s Clemency Board Approves Secret Plan To Further Restrict Voting Rights In State With Troubled Voting History | American Civil Liberties Union

The Florida Board of Executive Clemency voted today to change its rules to require Floridians with past felony convictions to endure harsh mandatory waiting periods of up to seven years before being eligible to apply to have their civil rights, including their right to vote, reinstated. The unanimously approved change of clemency rules will potentially affect more than a million voters in Florida, a state which already has a troubling history of voter disenfranchisement. The new plan stands to harm communities where people with past criminal convictions are attempting to reenter society. The board did not make the proposal public until today’s hearing – providing copies of the 24-page plan to speakers and members of the media within minutes of the vote. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan even though some members publicly admitted they had not yet reviewed it. Read More

IN: Where is Secretary of State Charlie White? – WISH TV

Days after Secretary of State Charlie White was indicted for felony voter fraud charges, he was hard to find at his office. The door was open, the lights were on and coats hung on the rack White’s office. 24-Hour News 8 went there to talk to White, but he wasn’t there. His staff said they would not give out any information about where White was — only that every question had to go through White’s director of communications. “I understand you’re working on a story about Secretary White’s schedule. Secretary White is working at the Statehouse and the Indiana Government Center. Unfortunately, due to his schedule – which includes legislative matters, meetings and other agenda items – Secretary White will be unavailable for media interviews,” Jason Thomas, Director of Communications wrote in an e-mail. Read More

ME: Maine Lawmaker Presses for State Election Changes – MPBN.net

In Maine, the gubernatorial candidate who gets the most votes wins. So both Govs. John Baldacci and Paul LePage were able to win with just a plurality of votes.

The Voting News Daily: Ex-Felon Voting Rights in AK and FL, KY Officials Sentenced in Vote Buying Scheme

AK: Felon voting rights bill passes first committee but may face opposition later – The Republic

The Alaska Senate State Affairs Committee on Tuesday advanced a bill allowing felons the right to vote, despite concerns from one lawmaker. Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel of Anchorage says her constituents were concerned that the bill would absolve felons of their crimes before they had fully paid their debt to society. Read More

CO: Colorado secretary of state seeks authority to cross-check voter rolls for non-citizens – The Denver Post

More than 11,000 registered Colorado voters were not U.S. citizens at the time they obtained a driver’s license, according to a review by Secretary of State Scott Gessler. The department is certain that 106 of these voters were improperly registered because they presented the state Department of Revenue with a noncitizen document after the date they registered to vote. Gessler and Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, are pushing legislation that would allow the secretary of state to check the statewide voter database to determine whether registered voters are in fact citizens. Read More

DC: Libertarian Party Loses District of Columbia Write-in Vote Counting Case – Ballot Access News

On March 8, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, ruled against the Libertarian Party, which was seeking a court order to require the Election Board to count write-in votes for Bob Barr in the November 2008 election. Barr was the only presidential candidate who had filed a declaration of write-in candidacy. Judge Howell upheld the constitutionality of refusing to count the write-ins for a declared write-in presidential candidate, unless the vote-counting computer believes that a write-in candidate might have won the election. Here is the 23-page opinion. In 1972, supporters of Benjamin Spock, presidential candidate of the Peoples Party, had filed a lawsuit to obtain write-in space for president on general election ballots in the District of Columbia. That case was called Kamins v Board of Elections, and was in the D.C. Court system, not the federal court system. The D.C. Court of Appeals said, “The Board was in error when it failed to count appellant’s vote…The fundamental nature of the right involved persuades us that construction of the statute in favor of the franchise is the course which we must follow.” On remand to the D.C. Superior Court, that lower court wrote, “Ordered, that the Defendant Board of Elections count the names of write-in candidates for President and Vice-President, provided said write-in candidate has a qualified slate of electors whose names and affidavits have been filed with the Defendant Board of Elections.” Notwithstanding that court order, the D.C. Board of Elections has never tallied the write-in votes for any write-in presidential candidate in the general election. After the Kamins decision, the Board passed a regulation saying only the total number of all presidential write-ins must be counted, and that no count need be made of how many write-ins any individual candidate received, unless the total number of write-ins showed a write-in candidate might have won.