Arizona: State turns down Pima County proposal to do ballot scans | Arizona Daily Star

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office has rejected Pima County’s proposal to do a pilot project creating digital scans of ballots. The measure had been a key element of the county’s efforts to improve election procedures by electronically auditing a certain percentage of ballots. In a memo dated Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Jim Drake said the recent election has “once again demonstrated that our election machines are incredibly accurate and reliable.” As a result, the office doesn’t want to pay for bolstered audit measures. Pima County, then, should expect more of the same.

Connecticut: Early voting initiative rekindled in Connecticut | GreenwichTime

Connecticut’s top election official is tossing around the concept of early voting and expanded access to absentee ballots, putting the Land of Steady Habits more in line with the vast majority of states. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill met Wednesday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a fellow Democrat, to gauge his support for a constitutional amendment that could open the door to voting alternatives.

Florida: Democrats file bills to increase early voting hours | Palm Beach Post

Democrats in the Florida Senate on Thursday filed the first legislation arising out of concerns over voting difficulties, seeking to expand early voting times and the places where early voting can occur. The measures would also eliminate a requirement that people who have moved into a community from outside the county vote a provisional ballot on Election Day if they hadn’t earlier changed their legal address.

Florida: Election Woes Lead Miami-Dade Panel to Seek Remedies | NBC 6

The marathon waits faced by thousands of voters in this month’s 2012 election should never have to happen again. That was the goal voiced by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Wednesday. He convened an election advisory group to identify what went wrong during the election and what steps can be taken locally to fix them. Wednesday’s gathering by the advisory group was its second one this week.  At least two more meetings are expected before the group starts coming up with remedies. “It’s just not right that any voter in Miami-Dade County has to stand in line for five hours to cast a vote,” Gimenez said.

Illinois: Lawmakers change Christmas Eve election quirk | DailyHerald.com

Local election officials likely won’t have to wait around on Christmas Eve for candidates to file for office or pay out thousands of dollars in overtime costs because of a proposal awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature. The Daily Herald reported this month that because of the local election calendar, the last day for candidates to file for offices like school board is set for Christmas Eve. But legislation approved by the Illinois Senate Thursday would push that final date back to Dec. 26. The House already approved it, and Quinn’s spokeswoman says he supports the plan. Local offices then would be free to close or observe holiday hours on Christmas Eve.

Verified Voting Blog: Some modest proposals for voter signature verification

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz proposes that we use some kind of electronic scanning system to evaluate voter signatures. I have no idea how good signature comparison software is these days, but I do I know that my own signature isn’t very consistent. Would automatic signature matching software really work well enough to recognize that all of my signatures are mine while rejecting forgeries? I’m skeptical. If one person’s absentee ballot is incorrectly rejected because someone or some software thinks their signature does not match, that would seem to me to be a violation of that voter’s civil rights. If signature matching has a higher likelihood of failing for one group of people than for another, then signature verification can be said to systematically deny voting rights to that group.

Iowa: Secretary of State eases two rules on voting | The Des Moines Register

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz on Wednesday relaxed two administrative rules he’s seeking to enact regarding complaints about noncitizens registered to vote in the state. The changes do away with a written complaint form that had drawn criticism from civil libertarians and immigrants rights groups and extend the period in which voters whose eligibility has been challenged may contest the complaints against them. Schultz cast the changes as the results of a robust public debate over the last few months.

Minnesota: With recount complete, Franson has 12-vote lead | Alexandria Echo Press

A two-day recount put Minnesota State Representative Mary Franson 12 votes ahead of Bob Cunniff, apparently sending her to a second term in the House. There are not enough ballots in question to give Cunniff the lead. The State Canvassing Board is to certify the vote Tuesday. Franson, R-Alexandria, picked up one vote Thursday during the Otter Tail County recount on Fergus Falls. Franson and Cunniff, DFL-Alexandria, each gained a vote during Wednesday’s Douglas County recount.

Montana: Voter ID Law Pushed By State Lawmaker | Huffington Post

A Republican lawmaker in Montana is pushing legislation to restrict voter identification in the state to driver licenses and tribal ID cards. State Rep. Ted Washburn (R-Bozeman) told The Huffington Post that his proposal would prevent out-of-state residents from coming into the state with the purpose of registering to vote. He said by moving to the use of a driver license as the primary form of identification, anyone registering to vote would need to have lived in the state for at least 60 days, since state law requires residents to obtain a Montana driver license within that time frame. Under current law, residents can register within 30 days of moving and can present a utility bill as proof of residency.

New Jersey: Sussex County election boards finally get ballots to add up | NJ.com

The election boards in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties have certified their election results with the state. Many elections officials, however, expect they’ll be adjusting the totals for some time as provisional and federal overseas ballots continue to trickle into their offices. There aren’t enough outstanding late provisional ballots to alter the results of the Robert Menendez/Joe Kyrillos Senate race or the Barack Obama/Mitt Romney Presidential election. But for local races, such as school board and council elections, incoming ballots could make a difference. In Cumberland County, some of the unofficial election results—from polling places—were overturned by the addition of mail-in and provisional ballot counts. Meanwhile, Gloucester County and Morris County results remained unchanged.

New Mexico: Ballot Counting Blues | Santa Fe Reporter

A few candidates in New Mexico are still waiting for the official outcome of their races, even though Election Day happened three weeks ago, and the State of New Mexico was supposed to certify the election results today. New Mexico’s State Canvassing Board—comprised of the Governor, Secretary of State, and Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court—met today at 1:30pm and approved a recommendation from Bobbi Shearer, the State’s Bureau of Election Director, that recounts occur in two races, the state be allowed to continue with its canvass, and the board reconvene on December 7 to finish certifying election results.

Ohio: State reps call Ohio’s provisional process ‘broken’ | Athens Messenger: News

Ohio State Reps. Debbie Phillips, D- Albany, and Kathleen Clyde, D- Kent, are working to expose the state’s “broken” provisional ballot process, the two stated in a news release on Wednesday. They said they believe the state’s high number of rejected provisional ballots could be affecting two Ohio House of Representatives races, which are now heading to a recount. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office website, “A provisional ballot is used to record a vote if a voter’s eligibility is in question and the voter would otherwise not be permitted to vote at his or her polling place.” Such scenarios for this include a recent change in address, not providing identification at the polls, or your signature not matching the one on your voter registration.

Oregon: Election worker in Oregon indicted in ballot-tampering case | HeraldNet.com – Northwest

A grand jury has indicted a former Clackamas County election worker accused of tampering with ballots before the November election, state officials said Thursday. Deanna Swenson, 55, of Oregon City, has been charged with altering a cast ballot, unlawfully voting more than once and official misconduct, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said. Swenson, who has yet to be taken into custody, is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 4. She did not return a message left on her answering machine and it is unknown if she has hired a lawyer. Investigators found no evidence that others were involved.

Texas: Voter ID Suit May Await Related High Court Ruling | Businessweek

The U.S. Justice Department agreed to defer further proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Texas over the state’s voter identification law until the Supreme Court rules whether part of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a filing today in federal court in Washington, said the department could wait for the Supreme Court to review a provision of the 1965 law that requires all or part of 16 mostly Southern states to get federal approval before changing their voting rules.

Wisconsin: Walker didn’t consult poll workers about ending same-day voter registration | Appleton Post-Crescent

Appleton City Clerk Char Peterson, who oversaw the registering of 4,505 voters on Election Day, has a message about the state’s law that allows residents to show up, sign up and vote on the same day: The more the merrier. “I thought we were supposed to make it easier for people to vote and not more difficult. This could be a deterrent,” said Peterson, who opposes ending same-day registration in Wisconsin — an idea Gov. Scott Walker advocated recently in a speech to a conservative group in California.

Ghana: Voters hope for peaceful elections | Deutsche Welle

Ghanaians will be going to the polls on December 7, 2012 to elect a new president and parliament. The elections come after the death of President John Atta Mills in July 2012. In addition to John Dramani Mahama, former vice-president and initial replacement for the late President Mills, seven other candidates are contesting the presidency. In late November all eight signed a peace pact pledging to ensure a peaceful electoral process. Ghana has the reputation of being one of Africa’s few stable democracies. However, the previous election in late 2008 was marred by a number of violent incidents. As a result, a conference was held in Accra the following year to analyze events and try to establish new standards and practices for African electoral commissions.

Slovenia: Thousands protest in Slovenia fueling tensions ahead of runoff presidential election | The Washington Post

Clashes broke out Friday night in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana as angry demonstrators tried to push through a police cordon to storm parliament. Several protesters were arrested and police fought to disperse the crowd, which was throwing rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them. Tensions have been soaring ahead of this weekend’s presidential runoff in the small, economically struggling EU nation. Thousands joined the protests Friday against Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and his Cabinet, accusing them of corruption and fraud and demanding their resignations.