Yearly Archives: 2012

The Egyptian president’s top legal adviser says the country’s election commission has begun preparations for the referendum on a highly contentious draft constitution. Mohammed Gaballah said Monday that the commission, which is composed of senior judges, began meeting a day earlier to organize the Dec. 15 referendum. Gaballah claimed that judges will oversee the vote despite a strike by the judiciary to protest a set of decrees issued by President Mohammed Morsi that place him above judicial oversight. According to Egyptian law, judges must observe the voting at polling stations.

Iran: Speaker dismisses “concerns” over presidential election reform bill | APA

Speaker Ali Larijani dismissed Monday “concerns” over the recent presidential election reform bill prepared by the Iranian lawmakers, APA reports quoting Xinhua. On Sunday, Majlis passed generalities of the presidential election reform bill. According to part of the bill, a presidential candidate requires at least 100 lawmakers to endorse him as a statesman or at least 12 members of the assembly of experts to endorse him before he can present his credentials, Press TV reported.

Japan: Election Draws Record Number of Parties | WSJ.com

Official campaigning for Japan’s general election kicked off Tuesday with the main opposition party leading in voter support. But the crowded race is likely to result in a coalition government plagued again by gridlock and policy stagnation. A record number of parties—12 in total—are expected to register more than 1,400 candidates to compete for the 480 seats in the lower house. The leaders of the two main parties—Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and main opposition leader Shinzo Abe—both hit the campaign trail starting in Fukushima prefecture, highlighting the region’s significance in the wake of the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.

South Korea: Elections driven by voters’ desire for reform | Guardian Weekly

When the popular independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo pulled out of South Korea’s presidential contest last month, he completely changed the odds in a race that might have marked a new phase in the country’s history. Now only two candidates are still in the running, representing the main conservative and progressive camps, which have been squabbling over power since the end of the dictatorship in the late 1980s. On the right is Park Geun-hye, 60, standing for the ruling New Frontier party, and on the centre-left Moon Jae-in of the opposition Democratic United party.

National: Boehner Taps Candice Miller to Helm House Administration Committee | Roll Call

Michigan Republican Candice S. Miller was appointed chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, House Speaker John A. Boehner announced Friday afternoon, making Miller the only female chairman of a House committee for the 113th Congress. Miller’s selection over Mississippi Rep. Gregg Harper — who had expressed interest in the post — comes just days after House Republicans were chided by Democrats and some womens’ groups for signing off on an all-white male cast to lead the 19 major House committees. Miller will replace Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., who lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Ami Bera.

Editorials: Defending the Voting Rights Act From Its Conservative Critics | Huffington Post

In a condescending but shallow response to a Huffington Post piece written last week by my colleague Emily Phelps and me, Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto accuses us of appealing to “emotion” and wallowing in “nostalgia for the heroism of the civil rights movement half a century ago.” Our piece mourned the recent death of Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights hero who was repeatedly “challenged, jailed and beaten” in his efforts to register black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s, while making broader points about the continued need for the law — the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — that represents one of the most important accomplishments produced by the struggles of Mr. Guyot and his civil rights movement compatriots.

Florida: Early voting limits motivated Democrats, minorities to turn out | Palm Beach Post

Pizza, popsicles and port-a-potties may have helped secure the decisive win for President Barack Obama and other Democrats in Florida. Obama’s data-driven campaign machine and the popular president himself deserve most of the credit. But the GOP-majority legislature may have unwittingly given Obama a boost with a restrictive election law reportedly targeted at Democratic and minority voters. Progressives, left-leaning groups and the NAACP, which did not endorse Obama, rallied in opposition to the law and used it to motivate voters, including blacks for whom restrictions on early voting triggered a generations-old sensitivity to having their vote suppressed.

Iowa: Judge will rule ‘soon’ on Iowa voter rights lawsuit | Sioux City Journal

A Polk County judge said she would rule “soon” on whether an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Secretary of State Matt Schultz will go on. Judge Mary Pat Gunderson also will decide if lawyers from the ACLU can depose Schultz and a Department of Criminal Investigation agent working for him as part of the case. The main issue was a pair of voter registration rules Schultz’s office approved as emergency measures in the run up to the November election.

Nevada: Democratic leaders oppose voter photo | Elko Daily

A proposal by Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller to seek a voter photo requirement in the upcoming Legislature appears dead before arrival, with legislative leaders of his own party expressing opposition. Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, and Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas question how Nevada can afford the $10 million to $20 million price tag of a voter ID program when the state faces more pressing needs. Denis said there was scant evidence of organized voter fraud in the fall elections, so it makes no sense to implement the Miller plan.

Editorials: Gov. Cuomo and Campaign Finance Reform | NYTimes.com

Here’s one way Gov. Andrew Cuomo can match the acclaim he achieved by getting same-sex marriage approved in New York State: persuade the State Legislature to make New York’s system of electing legislators the fairest and most transparent in the country. Such a system should include a public financing mechanism modeled on New York City’s successful efforts to involve small donors with matching contributions. It would set sensible limits on individual and corporate contributions. It would close loopholes. It would be transparent and strictly enforced. By setting a national standard for public financing, New York State could go from laggard to leader.

Pennsylvania: Legislative Step May Help Republicans Win Electoral Vote | Bloomberg

A Pennsylvania lawmaker’s plan to divvy up electoral votes based on a presidential candidate’s public support may be just the first of many state legislative moves to alter the way the nation chooses a leader. State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Republican from Chester, wants to replace the winner-take-all system, which gave President Barack Obama Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, with one that divides them to reflect the proportion of public support for each candidate. His method would have given 12 votes to Obama and eight to Republican Mitt Romney this year.

South Carolina: More uncounted votes discovered in Richland County | TheState.com

Two days after Richland County election officials assured their bosses and the public that all votes had been counted, they learned that a voting machine from the Lincolnshire precinct, stored in a warehouse after the election, contained 27 uncounted votes. The notice came not from keen-eyed election officials but from a USC computer science professor who analyzes elections and who happened to be a poll watcher at Lincolnshire, a precinct off Monticello Road north of I-20. The analysis by professor Duncan Buell also found that in addition to the machine used by curbside voters at Lincolnshire, votes in six machines at six other precincts might not have been counted.

US Virgin Islands: Federal audit of Elections System delayed by John Abramson’s absence | Virgin Islands Daily News

A federal audit of the V.I. Elections System scheduled to begin last week is being delayed because of the absence of V.I. Elections Supervisor John Abramson Jr. Curtis Crider, the inspector general for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, said Thursday that two factors contributed to the delay. “One, we wanted to make sure it was after the election was over,” Crider said.

Virginia: Voter fraud gets another spin | Roanoke.com

Del. Mark Cole is worried about voter fraud in Virginia. Not that any evidence of widespread fraud has come to light in the commonwealth. But, well, it could be happening, Cole figures. So he’s going to double back on his effort this year to tighten up. Cole, a Republican from Spotsylvania County, has prefiled a bill for the 2013 General Assembly session, HB 1337, that would remove several forms of identification voters can present at the polls when they go to cast their ballots. He wants to strike current utility bills, bank statements, government checks or pay stubs that show a person’s address — all added this year to help win Justice Department approval when the Republican-dominated assembly passed, and Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell signed, legislation making it significantly harder for Virginians to vote without proper ID.

Virginia: Legislators debate early voting | Martinsville Bulletin

Three of this area’s state legislators are divided on whether they would support no-excuse, in-person early voting in Virginia to alleviate some of the long waits to vote that occurred on Election Day Nov. 6. Del. Charles Poindexter said Virginia’s current election system has worked well — “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said — and he sees some drawbacks to allowing voters to cast ballots early in person without an excuse. Del. Don Merricks said he would not be opposed to no-excuse, in-person early voting in concept, but a lot of logistical issues would need to be worked out. Del. Danny Marshall said he would favor such early voting if it could be done at registrar’s offices. State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Glade Hill, could not be reached.

Editorials: Ghana’s Election – High Expectations | allAfrica.com

Ghana’s presidential and legislative elections set for 7 and 28 December 2012 respectively, will be extremely close and come at a significant time given the region’s instability. The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has again selected Nana Akufo Addo as its presidential candidate and aim to regain power after its 2008 defeat. Akufo Addo was defeated by less than 1% of the vote in the final run-off – just 40,500 votes. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, President John Mahama, is campaigning to convince voters that he and his party are fit to continue in office.

Slovenia: Police clash with protesters ahead of vote | Reuters

Police used water canon to break up rock-throwing protesters in Slovenia’s capital on Friday after a rally against budget cuts and alleged corruption turned violent two days ahead of a presidential election. Officers said it was the first time they had used that level of crowd control since the country’s independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and 15 people, mostly policemen, were injured. Thousands of Slovenians took to the streets in Ljubljana and six other cities in the financially troubled euro zone country, the latest in a series of protests.

Slovenia: More street protests rock tiny EU nation Slovenia | CharlotteObserver.com

Slovenia’s prime minister is on trial accused of involvement in a bribery scandal. The main opposition leader – who is also mayor of the capital – is under investigation for alleged corruption. So is the mayor of the EU nation’s second-largest city. Slovenes say they have had enough. Chanting “Thieves!” several thousand people took to the streets again Monday in this small, crisis-hit Alpine state, rejecting what they call the country’s “corrupt elite.” Thousands also took to the streets last week in what has become biggest outburst of public discontent in decades, outrages that has seriously shaken the nation once praised for its smooth transition from communism to market economy.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly November 26 – December 2 2012

December 2, 2012

Two bills have been introduced in Congress to address long lines and other problems experienced in the November elections. The security challenges of Internet voting have become an early issue in the 2014 race for California Secretary of State. Former Florida GOP leaders have said that voter suppression was the motivation for changes made to the states election code in 2011. Rutgers Law School has requested information on the processing of email votes in New Jersey. In North Carolina a recount was completed in the last unresolved Congressional election. Democrats have raised concerns about the processing of provisional ballots by the Ohio Secretary of State. Rumors about inflated turnout in Philadelphia precincts are unfounded. In the November Puerto ricans voted in favor of statehood in a non-binding referendum, marking the first time such an initiative garnered a majority. Technical problems interfered with Likud Party primaries in Israel and separatist parties gained a majority of seats in Catalan parliamentary elections.

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