Russia: Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party wins regional elections | The Washington Post

President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party decisively swept regional elections, according to results tabulated Monday, paradoxically confronting his top-down authoritarian system with a serious challenge. Since December’s parliamentary vote, when large numbers of demonstrators unexpectedly began protesting rigged elections, Putin and his allies have been trying to regain what had been an undisputed grip on power. Sunday’s election would appear to confirm they had done so. The United Russia party won all five governorships at stake and dominated all six regional legislatures up for election, along with a host of municipal councils and mayoralties. Yet political observers called it an illusory victory because serious challengers were kept off the ballot, either through the inventive use of election laws or by secret deals. That meant Putin opponents found no outlet at the polls for their anger. “If the party of power continues playing games with imitation elections,” said Boris Makarenko, an independent political analyst, “the opposition will have to challenge them on the streets instead of at the polls.” Makarenko, chairman of the board of the Center for Political Technologies, said it was in United Russia’s interest to work for political pluralism, to determine the country’s direction through elections. But he was unsure, he said, whether authorities understood that.

Ohio: Secretary of State appeals early voting ruling to U.S. Supreme Court | Hudson Hub Times

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether Ohio should open its early polls to all voters on the final three days before Election Day. Husted announced the move Oct. 9, several days after a federal appeals court sided with an earlier judge’s ruling allowing voting on Nov. 3, 4 and 5 — a decision he called “an unprecedented intrusion … into how states run elections. This ruling not only doesn’t make legal sense, it doesn’t make practical sense,” Husted said in a released statement. “The court is saying that all voters must be treated the same way under Ohio law but also grants Ohio’s 88 elections boards the authority to establish 88 different sets of rules. That means that one county may close down voting for the final weekend while a neighboring county may open one. How any court could consider this a remedy to an equal protection problem is stunning.”

South Dakota: Judge rules South Dakota Secretary of State Gant must reprint pamphlets | Rapid City Journal

A judge on Friday ordered Secretary of State Jason Gant to reprint the state’s election pamphlet and include Sen. Stan Adelstein’s opposition statement to a constitutional amendment backed by the governor. Adelstein, a Republican from Rapid City, filed suit against Gant last week in circuit court in Hughes County, saying Gant broke the law by not including Adelstein’s opposition statement regarding a balanced-budget amendment proposed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard. Adelstein opposed the measure in the Legislature. The court ruling Friday means Gant must reprint the pamphlets with Adelstein’s opposition statement, distribute it to county auditors throughout the state and publish the new version online. Adelstein said the ruling gives voters balanced information about the amendment. “The voters otherwise would be voting for an entirely different thing than they are told,” Adelstein said. “It would be awful for the state to be stuck with this impediment to the constitution.”

Minnesota: Judge hears senator’s photo ID complaint against Minnesota Secretary of State Ritchie | StarTribune.com

A state senator who sponsored the proposed photo ID constitutional amendment took his beef against Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to a judge on Friday. Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, filed a complaint accusing Ritchie, a DFLer who opposes the amendment, of using his website, staff and state resources to promote his political opposition to the measure. An Administrative Law Judge heard arguments in the case Friday without making a decision. Lawyers for the two sides are to submit further briefs before the judge, Bruce Johnson, decides if there is probable cause for the case to go forward.

Maryland: Cracks in Maryland and Washington Voter Databases | NYTimes.com

Computer security experts have identified vulnerabilities in the voter registration databases in two states, raising concerns about the ability of hackers and others to disenfranchise voters. In the last five years, Maryland and Washington State have set up voter registration systems that make it easy for people to register to vote and update their address information online. The problem is that in both states, all the information required from voters to log in to the system is publicly available. It took The New York Times less than three minutes to track down the information online needed to update the registrations of several prominent executives in Washington State. Complete voter lists, which include a name, birth date, addresses and party affiliation, can be easily bought — and are, right now, in the hands of thousands of campaign volunteers.

Colorado: Colorado Secretary of State Gessler continues to stir things up | Colorado Statesman

Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler told a national conservative audience in Denver last Thursday that those on the left only pretend to care about vote fraud but are only interested in stirring up anger against conservatives to win votes when they “demagogue” the issue. What’s more, he said, his political opponents are happy to play “the racism card, and they are more than willing to lie to do this.” Speaking on a panel at the Conservative Political Action Committee Colorado conference, Gessler blasted the organizers of left-leaning voter registration drives for “illegally registering people to vote” by encouraging non-citizens to register and vote, despite the serious legal consequences. “I think they are very happy to manipulate people into believing it is OK to ignore these laws,” he said.

Ohio: Ohio voting dispute makes its way to the Supreme Court | The Washington Post

On one side, 15 states have joined Ohio in asking the Supreme Court for emergency protection from federal judges who seek to “micromanage” elections. On the other, President Obama’s reelection committee has invoked the lessons of Bush v. Gore to counter that Ohio is attempting to favor one group of voters above all others. And now, in a case with legal and political ramifications, the Supreme Court must decide whether to intervene just three weeks before the election in a state that both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney consider critical to their chances of winning.

Tennessee: Tennessee voter ID law challenge continues as early voting starts | The Tennessean

Tennesseans will begin casting ballots this week in a general election for the first time under the state’s new voter identification requirement, but the law’s future remains in question as a Nashville court prepares to hear arguments on whether it should be struck down. Early voting starts Wednesday for the Nov. 6 election, one day before the Tennessee Court of Appeals is to hold a hearing on the constitutionality of the law that requires voters to show photo ID at the polls. The timing of the hearing means that some voters will go to the polls without certainty about the law’s status. Foes say they will shift from their assault on the law itself to get-out-the-vote efforts. State election officials are similarly proceeding as if the law will be upheld.

Vermont: Vermont to fight Justice Department lawsuit over late ballots | Burlington Free Press | burlingtonfreepress.com

The state plans to argue it won’t be necessary to extend the deadline to count votes in the upcoming election until Nov. 16 to be sure that ballots from the military and other Vermonters overseas have been returned. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a court to require the state to give military and overseas voters more time because some towns failed to send out ballots 45 days prior to Election Day as required under a 2009 federal law. The lawsuit claims local election officials received 894 requests for ballots from citizens overseas and military stationed both abroad and elsewhere in the United States, but failed to respond to 191 of those requests by Sept. 22, which is 45 days before the Nov. 6 election.

Arizona: Fake write-in votes cost the county | Arizona Republic

If some voters had their way, Mickey Mouse would be an Arizona senator. And U.S. president. And a mayor. And on every local school board. Donald Duck, a close runner-up for all those races, likely would concede. Mickey has always been the front-runner among fake write-in candidates. Superheroes from Marvel comics are popular, too, along with other characters from box-office favorites around election time. Some voters write in their names, or names of friends or family members. Others go on rants about politics on the write-in line. While some may find it funny, Maricopa County elections officials aren’t laughing. Every write-in entry must be verified with the list of legitimate write-in candidates for that election, by a three-member review team. In the August primary election, Maricopa County elections officials saw the biggest ratio of fake-to-legitimate write-in candidates in recent memory: Among 90,433 entries in write-in slots, 1,738 were votes for legitimate write-in candidates. Each fake entry cost Arizona counties money and manpower and slowed down the tabulation process, said Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, who oversees elections.

Belgium: De Wever eyes victory in Antwerp | euronews

Eight million Belgians are voting in local elections today which may mark a sea change in politics if there is an historic shift of power in second city Antwerp, and it is taken by a man who has never held elected office. Bart de Wever leads the nationalist N-VA, and might use the capture of Antwerp, Europe’s second largest port, as a springboard for national power, and Flemish secession from Belgium.

Editorials: Did Republicans Just Save The Voting Rights Act? | Andrew Cohen/The Atlantic

One year ago, maybe even six months ago, conventional wisdom had it that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act was in jeopardy, susceptible to another aggressive ruling by a very conservative United States Supreme Court. The five Republican-appointed justices would rule, the theory went, that there was no longer a need for local lawmakers to “pre-clear” voting laws or gerrymanders with federal officials, because Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act had been so successful since its implementation that it was no longer necessary to protect minority rights. Justice Clarence Thomas, a black man who grew up in Georgia, one of the states “covered” by the Voting Rights Act because of its long history of racial discrimination, said so himself just a few years ago. In Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder. a 2009 decision in which the Court uneasily upheld the Voting Rights Act, Justice Thomas declared, as the lone dissenter, that: “The extensive pattern of discrimination that led the Court to previously uphold §5 as enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment no longer exists. Covered jurisdictions are not now engaged in a systematic campaign to deny black citizens access to the ballot through intimidation and violence. And the days of “grandfather clauses, property qualifications, ‘good character’ tests, and the requirement that registrants ‘understand’ or ‘interpret’ certain matter,” are gone. There is thus currently no concerted effort in these jurisdictions to engage in the “unremitting and ingenious defiance of the Constitution,” that served as the constitutional basis for upholding the “uncommon exercise of congressional power” embodied in §5.”

National: Early Voting Rising | Michael P. McDonald/Huffington Post

More than 800,000 people have already voted in the 2012 general election. A clearer picture of the potential 2012 electorate is emerging in some states where election officials are providing information on who has voted. Early voting — both mail and in-person — is on pace to exceed 2008 levels, when about 30 percent of all votes nationally were cast prior to Election Day. The 2008 levels may be exceeded even further in states such as Iowa and Ohio, where early voting has been brisk. As a corollary, with no collapse in early voting, there is no indication so far that overall turnout, both early and Election Day, will be substantially lower than 2008.In two states where party registration of early voters is available — Maine and North Carolina — slightly more registered Democrats have requested ballots as of a comparable date in 2008. Conversely, fewer registered Republicans have requested ballots. In Iowa, both registered Democrats and Republicans are voting above their 2008 levels, with a greater increase among Democrats.

National: Fired RNC consultant preps get-out-the-vote campaign | latimes.com

The political consultant fired by the Republican National Committee amid fraud allegations in Florida is now hiring workers for a voter canvassing operation this fall in as many as 30 states, his spokesman said. Nathan Sproul, whose career as a GOP get-out-the-vote consultant has been dogged by reports of fraudulent registrations, has been advertising for $15-an-hour workers for “conservative voter identification” in Virginia, Wisconsin and Iowa. ‘No experience is necessary!” says the ad, first reported by the liberal blog BlueNC. “All you need to qualify is a positive attitude and a strong work ethic to get the job done.” The ad says applicants must pass a criminal background check. Sproul was hired this year by the RNC to register and canvass voters in eight swing states, under the name of Strategic Allied Consulting. Sproul told the Los Angeles Times that he set up that firm because RNC officials, fearful of bad publicity, wanted to conceal his role in the operation. Sean Spicer, an RNC spokesman, said that never happened. He said the party believed that Sproul had strong systems in place to prevent such problems, but dumped him after the allegations surfaced because it has “zero tolerance” for fraud.

Editorials: In November Elections, Cast Your Vote For…Evil? | Forbes

Boring and evil.  That’s the November election in a nutshell. The latest edition of Vanity Fair is surely revealing on this end.  They come down on the boring side of things.  In his signature front-of-the mag editor’s letter, VF’s editor Graydon Carter says President Barack Obama “has fallen short on selling himself and his achievements.”  It seems safe to say that Democrats “aren’t all that excited by Obama,” Carter writes.  In the liberal Hollywood world Vanity Fair inhabits, the red carpet left is — oh, let’s just say — ehh, about Obama. According to a round-up of major polls on Real Clear Politics, Obama is running neck and neck with ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt “RomneyCare” Romney, in an election that is going to be decided by three states.  Maybe two.  It’s back to red state versus blue state.  And while this should be a redo of Clinton versus Dole, Obama is struggling in the polls.

National: New Election System Promises to Help Catch Voting-Machine Problems | Wired

When voting system activists in the U.S. managed to get many paperless electronic voting machines replaced a few years ago with optical-scan machines that use paper ballots, some believed elections would become more transparent and verifiable. But a spate of problems with optical-scan machines used in elections across the country have shown that the systems are just as much at risk of dropping ballots and votes as touchscreen voting machines, either due to intentional manipulation or unintentional human error. A new election system promises to resolve that issue by giving election officials the ability to independently and swiftly audit the performance of their optical-scan machines.

Colorado: Online voter registrations aids democratic process | USAToday

Online registration systems have dramatically boosted voter sign-ups in the dozen states that allow citizens to register to vote over the Internet. Colorado has logged more than 79,000 voter registrations since Sept. 1 — and more than 300,000 since introducing online sign-ups in 2010. In the two years prior to going online, the state logged roughly 90,000 registrations. This year Colorado introduced a service that delivers versions of voter registration forms optimized for tablet PCs and smartphones. “We’ve increased our voter registration to a new level,” says Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler. New York, which ranks 47th in percentage of eligible voters registered to cast a ballot, in August began letting citizens sign up to vote via a Department of Motor Vehicles Web page. Some 29,200 New Yorkers have since used the online system — 11,185 of whom will be first-time voters.

Florida: Absentee ballots: easy to cast, open to fraud | MiamiHerald.com

With a relentless barrage of phone calls, mailers and targeted ads, local and statewide campaigns are now aggressively pursuing absentee voters — the most valued of voters, and the most vulnerable. Absentee voters, who submit their ballots by mail, make up an ever-increasing share of the Florida electorate — the result of relaxed voting laws and aggressive campaign strategies. In the coming election, as many as one in four Florida voters will cast their ballots from home instead of a voting booth. In Miami-Dade County, the share of absentee voters this fall could be even higher: Already more than 208,000 absentee ballots have been mailed to Miami-Dade voters since Oct. 5. In the primary election in August, almost 40 percent of the votes cast in Miami-Dade were absentee. In some precincts in Hialeah and Sweetwater, as many as two-thirds of the votes were cast by mail, records show. “If you do not work absentee ballots you will not have a successful campaign,” said political consultant Sasha Tirador, who represented several local candidates in the Aug. 14 primary.

Florida: Human error a concern in hand-copying Palm Beach County votes | Palm Beach Post

With some Palm Beach County voters voicing concerns about Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher’s plan to hand-copy votes from thousands of defective absentee ballots onto new ones, it appears there’s no other solution to the problem that was created by a printing error, a lawyer who is monitoring the situation said Thursday. “Our main issue is how to deal with the defective ballots,” said Tallahassee attorney Barry Richard, who represents three Florida Supreme Court justices who face merit retention in the November election. “There’s going to be a lot of people opening ballots and recording votes on new ballots. This obviously is fraught with the possibility for human error.”

Editorials: Republican again nixes satellite voting sites in Marion County | The Desert Sun

For the fifth time in nearly three years, the Republican appointee on the Marion County Election Board used his veto power Friday to stop a plan to open satellite early voting sites. Early in-person balloting at the City-County Building has spiked 24 percent compared to the 2008 presidential election. Clerk Beth White, a Democrat, said the steady lines — sure to build in coming weeks — justified offering Northside and Southside sites later this month. First, Republican Patrick J. Dietrick applauded the efforts of White and her staff to handle the crowds. Then he voted no. “Satellite voting, conceptually, in our situation, is a solution in search of a problem,” Dietrick said after Friday’s meeting.

Indiana: Concerns mount over electronic voting; some call for return to paper ballot | Journal and Courier | jconline.com

Ten years ago, West Lafayette artist Sandy Daniel walked into the White Horse Christian Center to vote in the primary election and had an unsettling encounter with what was supposed to be a major advance in voting technology — the touch-screen ballot. After choosing her favored candidates, a list that included her husband and Republican circuit court judge candidate Don Daniel, she touched the screen to finalize her choices and an “error” message appeared. Not knowing whether her vote counted or not, she pressed election officials for an explanation. An hour later, they tried to reassure her, saying the number of votes tallied at the poll matched the number of people who had signed in to vote and that her vote had been counted. A service technician later attributed the error to an unknown “hardware problem.” Thinking back to the incident, Daniels says she’s put it all behind her. Her husband went on to win the primary and general election and continues to hold the judicial post.

Indiana: Concerns mount over electronic voting; some call for return to paper ballot | Journal and Courier

Ten years ago, West Lafayette artist Sandy Daniel walked into the White Horse Christian Center to vote in the primary election and had an unsettling encounter with what was supposed to be a major advance in voting technology — the touch-screen ballot. After choosing her favored candidates, a list that included her husband and Republican circuit court judge candidate Don Daniel, she touched the screen to finalize her choices and an “error” message appeared. Not knowing whether her vote counted or not, she pressed election officials for an explanation. An hour later, they tried to reassure her, saying the number of votes tallied at the poll matched the number of people who had signed in to vote and that her vote had been counted. A service technician later attributed the error to an unknown “hardware problem.” Thinking back to the incident, Daniels says she’s put it all behind her. Her husband went on to win the primary and general election and continues to hold the judicial post.

Minnesota: Absentee voting more popular this year; state sees requests top 100K month before election | Bemidji Pioneer

An increasing number of Minnesota voters, including those in Beltrami County, are requesting absentee ballots in advance of November’s general election. “We’re having a good incidence of absentee requests,” said Kay Mack, auditor/treasurer for Beltrami County. “We’ve sent out a large number of them considering the election is four weeks away.” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said Thursday that more than 100,000 Minnesota voters have requested absentee ballots. Of those, 41,208 have already been returned by the voter and accepted. The number of absentee ballot requests in Beltrami County wasn’t immediately available, but Mack said her office has received more compared to the last presidential election. In 2008, there were 1,888 absentee ballots cast. That’s slightly more than 8 percent of the 23,313 total ballots cast in the election. Beltrami County could easily top the 2008 numbers. “The big push comes the last week or two,” Mack said.

Pennsylvania: State sending mixed messages on voter ID requirements | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

State agencies stumbled in the rollout of Pennsylvania’s voter ID requirements over the last several months. The rollback hasn’t been perfect, either. Some PennDOT driver’s license centers were still offering materials Thursday saying photo identification will be required to vote on Election Day, Nov. 6, despite a ruling to the contrary last week by a Commonwealth Court judge. A bustling center in Penn Hills was still displaying posters for the state’s “Show It” voter education campaign on the suspended voter ID requirement and had a table with information sheets saying “Photo ID required for November 2012 Election.” The center in Harrisburg had that handout, too. Several complaints about out-of-date voter ID materials in other PennDOT centers have been reported to staff at the Pennsylvania Voter ID coalition in Philadelphia, according to Ellen Kaplan, vice president and policy director of the civic group Committee of Seventy. There are also some billboards still indicating IDs will be necessary next month for voting.

Vermont: State to fight Justice Department lawsuit over late ballots | Burlington Free Press

The state plans to argue it won’t be necessary to extend the deadline to count votes in the upcoming election until Nov. 16 to be sure that ballots from the military and other Vermonters overseas have been returned. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a court to require the state to give military and overseas voters more time because some towns failed to send out ballots 45 days prior to Election Day as required under a 2009 federal law. The lawsuit claims local election officials received 894 requests for ballots from citizens overseas and military stationed both abroad and elsewhere in the United States, but failed to respond to 191 of those requests by Sept. 22, which is 45 days before the Nov. 6 election.

Vermont: to fight Justice Department lawsuit over late ballots | Burlington Free Press

The state plans to argue it won’t be necessary to extend the deadline to count votes in the upcoming election until Nov. 16 to be sure that ballots from the military and other Vermonters overseas have been returned. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a court to require the state to give military and overseas voters more time because some towns failed to send out ballots 45 days prior to Election Day as required under a 2009 federal law. The lawsuit claims local election officials received 894 requests for ballots from citizens overseas and military stationed both abroad and elsewhere in the United States, but failed to respond to 191 of those requests by Sept. 22, which is 45 days before the Nov. 6 election.

Lithuania: Voters back opposition populists, SocDems, reject nuclear plant plans | The Washington Post

Lithuanians exasperated with economic hardship handed a stunning victory to a populist party led by a disgraced Russia-born millionaire, nearly complete results of Sunday’s election show, while voicing resounding disapproval of plans to build a costly new nuclear power plant. The opposition Labor Party, led by Viktor Uspaskich, once dubbed as the “pickle king” for having made his fortune selling jarred pickles, was leading with 23.4 percent of the vote after nearly three-fourths of precincts was counted.The victory set the stage for a coalition with the Social Democrats, who were second with 19.4 percent, and Order and Justice, a populist party led by Rolandas Paksas, a stunt pilot who eventually became president in 2003 — only to be impeached the following year for violating the Constitution and abuse of office. Paksas’ party was fourth with 9.2 percent.

Russia: Country’s regional elections | Voice of Russia

On October 14, the regional elections are to take place in 77 regions of Russia. More than 57,000 candidates will be running for different posts in the regional and municipal governing bodies. It is expected that about 28 million Russians will come to polling stations. It will be possible to monitor the elections via the Internet. Many polling stations will be equipped with electronic ballot boxes. What makes the election unique is an unprecedented number of new political parties, which are to take part in it: 25 instead of only 4-7 parties, as it was before.

Russia: Country Votes in Putin’s First Election Test Since Kremlin Return | Bloomberg

Russians are electing regional and municipal leaders today in the first electoral test for President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to reassert control after the largest protests in more than a decade. In Russia’s first gubernatorial elections in eight years and about 5,000 other polls, contenders backed by the ruling United Russia party may suffer setbacks in at least 10 mayoral and local legislative elections, the Carnegie Moscow Center projects. Governing-party candidates are leading by double-digit margins in all five gubernatorial races, according to the Civil Society Development Fund. Putin, who handed the chairmanship of the United Russia party to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev a year ago, is struggling to reverse a slump in approval ratings that are near the lowest level since mass protests broke out in December. A crackdown has since ensued, including prosecution of opposition activists and leaders, increased fines for unsanctioned rallies and tightened controls over the Internet.