Yearly Archives: 2013

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi today said he expected parliamentary elections to be held in October after delays caused by a court decision. The delay could lead to heightened tensions over the summer between Mr Morsi’s supporters and a broad opposition movement that wants him out of power. There have been regular protests against his government since November, many of them violent. Mr Morsi had tried to fast-track new parliamentary elections last month, ordering them to begin at the end of April and continue over two months. But an administrative court ruled that the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament that is the only legislative body at the moment because the lower house was dissolved last year, did not properly consult the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) on revisions made to an elections law.

Nigeria: United Progressive Party makes fresh case for electronic voting | Nigerian Tribune

Ahead of the 2015 general election, the United Progressive Party (UPP) has stressed the need for legislative action that would empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to apply the electronic voting system for the election. This was even as it inaugurated a 19-man Board of Trustees (BoT) led by the former member of the House of Representatives, George Ozodinobi who represented Aniocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal constituency. Speaking at the end of the second National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, the national chairman of the UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie advocated a system that would enable a voter to vote from the comfort of the home, especially in view of the current wave of insecurity in the country and which he observed created apathy among voters.

Venezuela: Election is a High Stakes Affair for Local Vigilante Groups | ABC News

In the Caracas barrio of 23 de Enero, a coalition of armed vigilante groups serves as the de facto security force. It also helps run social welfare programs for a neighborhood overrun by drug dealing. The vigilante groups, known as colectivos, have a great deal at stake in the upcoming presidential election, which will pit opposition candidate Henrique Capriles against Hugo Chávez’s handpicked successor, acting President Nicolas Maduro. “If [Capriles] wins, he will go after all of the colectivos and cut the social programs. That would be terrible,” said William Ortega, a member of the colectivo Monteraz. “We will not let the police come into 23 de Enero and we will risk our lives to defend this area.” There are more than 20 autonomous colectivos in Caracas, and they’re mostly centered in 23 de Enero, a community of makeshift shacks and public housing projects that is home to about 100,000 people. Their arsenal of weapons includes AK-47s, handguns and homemade grenades.

Kentucky: Deal Reached on Military Voting Legislation, Passes in Final Minutes of Session | WFPL

Kentucky military personnel serving overseas will be able to get ballots electronically under legislation approved late Tuesday in the Kentucky General Assembly. How they send them back is still to be determined. Working until the last minute of the 2013 session, legislators went back to the original Senate version of the military voting bill that allowed for electronic sending of ballots to overseas military, but snail mail return of the ballot. The legislation also establishes a task force to study electronic returns—the preferred method of Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. The task force will address safety concerns with that option.

Virginia: Mixed Feelings Circulate Around New Voter ID Bill | WVIR

If you want to vote in the 2014 mid-term elections, you’ll have to bring a form of photo identification along with you. Governor Bob McDonnell officially signed a measure into law this week requiring photo identification to vote – and local registrars have mixed feelings. The state started requiring some form of identification during the 2012 elections, like a bank statement or pay stub – but now, the rules are changing again. Starting in July 2014, all voters will be required to present a valid photo ID to cast a ballot in Virginia. That includes driver’s licenses, passports or any state-issued photo ID. Voter registrars in Virginia will provide a free ID to anyone who lacks a valid photo ID. “It’s a way to get a free ID, I mean that’s basically what it is,” said Sheri Iachetta, Charlottesville general registrar.

Arkansas: Senate to take up override of voter ID veto | Assocaited Press

The Arkansas Senate is expected to attempt to override Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. Republican Sen. Bryan King is expected to ask the Senate on Wednesday to override Beebe’s veto of his voter ID bill. It takes a simple majority in the House and Senate to override a governor’s veto. If King is successful, the House is expected to vote on an override Thursday.

National: Lawmaker criticizes Obamacare questions on voter registration | Washington Times

A House Republican leader wants the Obama administration to explain why an application to use insurance marketplaces under the health-care law asks people if they would like to register to vote. “While the healthcare portions are lengthy and complex on their own, the draft documents wander into areas outside the Department’s purview and links applications for health insurance subsidies to voter registration,” Rep. Charles W. Boustany Jr., Louisiana Republican, said Monday in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Editorials: America needs the Voting Rights Act | Howard Simon/MiamiHerald.com

The U. S. Supreme Court seems poised to declare Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. The challenge, filed by Shelby County, Alabama, was invited by signals sent by the Supreme Court in earlier cases. It will be surprising if the decision departs from the Court’s ideological and partisan 5–4 divide. Section 5 requires that 9 states and parts of 7 others — all with a history of discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities — get approval from the Department of Justice or the federal court in Washington before making changes to voting laws or procedures. This “pre-clearance” is designed to ensure that changes do not have a retrogressive impact on the voting rights of minorities. … The tactics of voter suppression have changed since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act. It is less common that people of color face violence or are murdered when they try to exercise their fundamental rights as a citizen. Instead, bureaucrats purge voter rolls and legislators restrict voter registration activities. … The tactics of voter suppression have changed, but voter suppression has not ended.

Arkansas: Governor rejects voter ID measure | CNN.com

A bill that would have required voters in Arkansas to produce photo identification before being allowed a ballot was rejected on Monday by the state’s Democratic governor, who said the measure was too expensive and could disenfranchise legal voters.
Gov. Mike Beebe wrote that he thought the bill “unnecessarily restricts and impairs our citizens’ right to vote,” adding the implementation costs would have risen to $300,000. Beebe’s spokesman Matt DeCample said those costs would come in “establishing and distributing a new ID card as required by the law,” adding the state would be prohibited from charging for the new voter identification cards under the proposed legislation.

California: Report shows online registration drive draws broader voter base | UCB News

California’s new online voter-registration system, which premiered last fall, generated some striking results, including that more registrants come from low- and middle-income neighborhoods than expected, says a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Researchers Lisa García Bedolla, a UC Berkeley associate professor of education and of political science, and researcher Véronica N. Velez, a postdoctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley’s Center for Latino Policy Research, just released their report for the center about California’s entry into online voter registration. California opened up its voter registration process last fall, and UC Berkeley researchers have found some interesting results. “Given voters in California are, on average, significantly more affluent than the general population, this study suggests that online voter registration opened up the … process to a wider range of voters in terms of their socioeconomic status,” García Bedolla and Velez reported.

Minnesota: Clerk looks for ‘Plan B’ to fund Minneapolis election | Minnesota Public Radio

A request to boost the budget for this year’s Minneapolis election has received a thumbs-down from the city’s finance department. The City Clerk’s office says it needs an extra $385,000 to run the election, which combines the relatively new ranked-choice voting system with a red-hot mayor’s race. The clerk proposed using unspent money left over from last year’s budget to pay for the added expense. But a list of Finance Department recommendations for allocating those rollover dollars contains no mention of the election request.

Missouri: Senate Bill Would Eliminate Electronic Voting | KMBZ

Electronic voting machines could be on their way out in Missouri. A bill before the Missouri Senate wants to go back to all-paper ballots, with the legislation’s sponsor saying there have seen numerous reports of the machines miscounting and malfunctioning. In Kansas City, Elections Board Director Shelley McThomas says most folks here already vote on paper, but it could mean problems in larger elections. “When we use our satellite absentee voting polls, when we set those up, we always use the touch-screen machines because a voter can come in from any part of the city and vote on that machine,” says McThomas.

Texas: Caucus versus primary: Party leaders consider costs, role of voters in candidate selection | Daily News Journal

The 2014 race for county mayor, sheriff and four other offices will start out with either party primaries offered to all voters or caucuses where a limited number will decide the nominees. To help the county save money during tough economic times in 2010, the Republican and Democratic parties agreed to hold caucuses for mayor, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, register of deeds and Circuit Court clerk. The cost for a countywide primary that would be May 6, 2014, will come to an estimated $110,000 to cover poll workers and voter machine expenses, said Nicole Lester, the administrator who oversees the full-time staff for the Rutherford County Election Commission.

Virginia: Governor signs strict voter ID law | MSNBC

Only a day after Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe’s veto of a strict voter ID law, Virginia’s Republican Governor Bob McDonnell signed into law Tuesday the second major change to voting requirements in just over a year. The bill shrinks the list of acceptable forms of identification a voter can use to cast a ballot starting in 2014. The law eliminates the use of a utility bill, pay stub, bank statement, government check or Social Security card as acceptable identification, leaving only drivers licenses, voter ID cards, student IDs, and concealed handgun permits. Republicans insist the measure will help prevent voter fraud and improve the integrity of election, although according to an exhaustive study from News 21, there has been only one case of voter fraud in Virginia that would have been prevented by an ID requirement since 2000.

Virginia: McDonnell signs bill requiring photo ID for voting | Richmond Times Dispatch

Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed legislation requiring voters to present photo ID at the polls. He will also issue an executive order directing the state Board of Elections to implement a campaign to educate the public on the changes and to help them obtain a photo ID before the 2014 election. The legislation allows for a free photo ID for those who need a valid photo identification. In his executive order, McDonnell says Virginia has “long required” voters to bring valid ID to the polls in order to cast a vote and that federal law has required ID for certain first-time voters in federal elections for almost a decade. “These efforts have made our electoral system less subject to fraud, but we must continue to look for ways to further address any vulnerabilities in our system,” the executive order states.

Bhutan: Bhutan’s Second Trip to the Parliamentary Polls | The Diplomat

Nestled in the eastern Himalayas, Bhutan conjures up images of peace and tranquility. Indeed, it is a country of serene and striking geographic beauty. But this setting brings with it an isolation that kept Bhutan politically sealed off from the rest of the world as an absolute monarchy until 2008, when it became a democracy. Over the next couple of months Bhutan will take steps towards further consolidating its fledgling democracy. Its people will vote first for the National Council (the upper house of parliament) and then the National Assembly (the lower house). This is the second time in their country’s history that the Bhutanese will be voting in parliamentary elections. Voting for the 25-member Council will take place on April 23. While voting dates for the more influential Assembly are yet to be announced, they are expected in June.

Bulgaria: More parties register for Bulgaria’s May 12 early elections | The Sofia Globe

The process of Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission accepting applications by political parties to register to stand in the May 12 ahead-of-term parliamentary elections continued on March 25, with those filing documents including the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Volen Siderov’s ultra-nationalists Ataka. “Today is the Annunciation, a nice and bright Christian holiday that always brings hope, so I express hope for our society in the upcoming election,” BSP leader Sergei Stanishev said. He said that the BSP had submitted more than 21 000 signatures in support of its registration, more than three times the number required by statute.

Kenya: Petition challenging Kenyatta’s vote win to be heard | Reuters

Kenya’s Supreme Court hears a petition on Wednesday challenging the victory by Uhuru Kenyatta in this month’s presidential election, a case that will test Kenyan democracy five years after a disputed vote ignited tribal violence. Peaceful voting on March 4 went a long way to restoring Kenya’s reputation as one of Africa’s more stable democracies, reinforced when losing candidate Raila Odinga took his challenge to court rather than letting it play out on the streets. But the final test will come on Saturday, the deadline for the court to announce its ruling after petition hearings on Wednesday and Thursday. That is when the court will decide whether to uphold Kenyatta’s win or order another vote.

Venezuela: Country readies for key post-Chavez election | BBC

As Venezuela prepares for 14 April elections – the first presidential poll without Hugo Chavez’s name on the ballot in almost two decades – the choice for voters appears as stark and as divisive as ever, the BBC’s Will Grant in Caracas reports. While he was alive, very few committed supporters of late President Hugo Chavez would ever openly criticise him. They had no time for opposition arguments about the government’s control of the media and the judiciary, and rejected the idea that Venezuela was living under a dictatorship. Rather, when there were complaints they tended to be over more immediate quality-of-life issues: infrequent rubbish collections or a lack of local sporting facilities. In pro-Chavez neighbourhoods – like 23 de Enero in the capital, Caracas – such problems were easily solved with oil money.

Kenya: Odinga Says Technology Failures Led to Vote Fraud | ThisDay

Lawyers challenging Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in the Kenyan presidential election said on Wednesday new technology meant to counter fraud had broken down, leading to a manipulated vote count. Losing candidate Raila Odinga is contesting the result in court and both sides have agreed to accept the outcome. A disputed vote five years ago ignited tribal violence that dented Kenya’s reputation as a stable democracy but the presidential election on March 4 took place without bloodshed, reports Reuters. Lawyers for Odinga told the Supreme Court that the failure of an electronic system to transmit numbers from polling stations to a tallying centre and the breakdown of other equipment had undermined the chances of a transparent vote. “The voting system was prone to manipulation in the absence of electronic voter identification,” said Odinga’s lead counsel, George Oraro. “Tallying was manipulated to achieve certain results.”

National: Voter ID – fraud prevention or minority voter suppression? | UPI.com

The U.S. Supreme Court may be holding the political future of the United States in its hand as it tries to decide how far the states may go in requiring identification from those who attempt to vote. Last week, the justices heard argument on whether Arizona or any state may require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An eventual decision in the case could shape the national political landscape for some time. Seventeen states have enacted laws requiring the presentation of some type of government-issued photo identification, such as a driver’s license, before voting. The Brennan Center for Justice said those 17 states account for 218 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. The Arizona case pits the state requirement for proof of U.S. citizenship against the federal “Motor Voter” law that requires only filling out a form to register for federal elections.

Arizona: Redistricting challenge heads to US court today | Arizona Daily Star

Republican interests head to federal court today hoping to realign the state’s legislative districts more to their liking. Challengers are pinning their hopes on the fact that 30 districts crafted by the Independent Redistricting Commission are not all equal in population. Attorney David Cantelme contends the differences were done “deliberately, intentionally and in violation of the one-person/one-vote principle.” The goal of the commission, he charges, was to cluster as many Republicans as possible together in districts, leaving the other, underpopulated districts with more Democrats than otherwise would occur, giving Democrats an unfair and illegal advantage in electing their own candidates to the Legislature. Attorneys for the commission do not dispute the population disparities.

Arkansas: Governor vetoes voter ID bill | Reuters

Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe on Monday vetoed a bill proposing citizens show photo identification before casting a ballot, citing risks it could disenfranchise voters, the governor’s office said. Supporters of the proposal, who say it would eliminate the possibility of fraud, plan to override the veto by Beebe, a Democrat. That would require a simple majority in a vote in each chamber of the Republican-dominated state legislature. Should the bill become law, Arkansas would join the nearly three dozen U.S. states that have similar voter ID measures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Arkansas: Governor Beebe Vetoes Voter ID Bill; Override Expected | Ozarks First

Governor Mike Beebe vetoed a bill Monday that would require voters to show identification prior to casting their ballot. Beebe, a Democrat, cited cost to taxpayers, growth in bureaucracy, and the risk of disenfranchising voters as the reason for his veto. Text from Governor’s Veto Letter: Senate Bill 2 is, then, an expensive solution in search of a problem. The Bureau of Legislative Research estimates that Senate Bill 2 will cost approximately $300,000 in tax dollars to implement; and that estimate does not take into account the ongoing costs that the taxpayers will continue to bear in future years. At a time when some argue for the reduction of unnecessary bureaucracy and for reduced government spending, I find it ironic to be presented with a bill that increases government bureaucracy and increases government expenditures, all to address a need that has not been demonstrated. I cannot approve such an unnecessary measure that would negatively impact one of our most precious rights as citizens.

Connecticut: Lawmakers mull early voting and cross endorsements | Connecticut Post

Connecticut lawmakers are considering allowing early voting during state elections and eliminating cross endorsements by minor parties. “I strongly support early voting,” said Secretary of State Denise Merrill on Monday.”We need to modernize our voting practices. If a voter has made up their mind, why wait till [Election Day]? More than 30 other states have enacted early voting with great success.” Through testimony and remarks submitted Monday to the government administration and elections committee, early voting garnered considerable support, while eliminating cross endorsements drew sizable opposition.

Iowa: Voter fraud case against West Iowans dismissed | SFGate

Charges have been dismissed against three Council Bluffs residents accused of election misconduct for registering to vote without U.S. citizenship, though the charges could be refiled at a later date, prosecutors said Monday. A Canadian couple and a woman originally from Mexico were charged with election misconduct and fraudulent practice in September. Prosecutors alleged they registered to vote without being U.S. citizens, but the three individuals, who were legally living in the U.S., said they were unaware they had done anything wrong. Prosecutors dismissed the charges because a key witness, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent looking into the cases, has been called to active military duty and unable to testify. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber confirmed Monday that the charges could be refiled at a later date.

Maryland: General Assembly considering state voter ID law | Cecil Daily

A bill currently being discussed in the state legislator would require voters to show identification at the polls to be able to cast a ballot.
House Bill 137, introduced on Jan. 17 by a number of delegates, would prevent individuals without a government-issued photo ID, voter notice card or specimen ballot from voting on a regular ballot. Such individuals would then be able to fill out a provisional ballot. Voters currently must state their name upon arriving to vote, at which an election judge checks to confirm if the would-be voter is on the election register or the inactive list. Individuals who are in one of these indexes may then vote on a regular ballot. Delegate Michael Smigiel (R-Cecil), one of the sponsors of the bill, said the proposal is intended to prevent voter fraud from becoming an issue.

Missouri: Senate Panel Considers Paper-Only Ballots | Associated Press

A Missouri Senate panel is considering a measure to phase out electronic voting machines. (The voting measure is SB375) The committee heard testimony Monday from some former poll workers who say the machines now used in Missouri malfunction and miscount votes. The legislation would require voters to use either paper ballots or certain ballot-marking devices to help people with disabilities. An electronic machine could still be used if it has an independent paper record of votes cast on the device.

Ohio: Secretary of State says the state’s early-voting laws need changes | Vindy.com

Voting for the May primary begins next Tuesday, which is a little too early for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. Rather than starting early voting 35 days before an election, it should be less than 30 days, Husted said Monday during a 70-minute meeting with The Vindicator’s editorial board. But Husted, a Republican elected in 2010 to secretary of state, said he doesn’t have a specific plan. Husted wants in-person at county boards of elections early voting to be less than 30 days before an election with some weekend access, extended hours during the final week before an election and no in-person voting on Mondays before Tuesday elections.

Ohio: Legislature approves bipartisan bill benefitting disabled voters | cleveland.com