National: Fixing Long Lines At The Polls May Be Harder Than You Think | NPR

Minutes after he was re-elected in November, President Obama vowed to fix the long lines that many voters faced at the polls. He mentioned the problem again in his inaugural address. And now, the president is expected to raise it once more in the State of the Union address on Tuesday — this time with some possible solutions. When Obama made his initial vow after midnight on election night, some Miami polling places had just closed — after voters stood in line for six, seven, even eight hours to cast ballots. There were similar waits at other polling sites in Florida and elsewhere. “For me, who voted in the state of Maryland, I was in line for seven hours,” says Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of Advancement Project, a leading voting-rights group. Today, not all Americans have equal access to the polls, she says. “We have 13,000 election jurisdictions that run elections 13,000 different ways,” she says. “That is what we have to fix.”

Voting Blogs: Will the Bauer-Ginsberg Election Reform Commission Improve Our Dismal Election System? | Rick Hasen/Election Law Blog

During tonight’s State of the Union speech, the President made the following remarks:

But defending our freedom is not the job of our military alone.  We must all do our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home.  That includes our most fundamental right as citizens:  the right to vote.  When any Americans – no matter where they live or what their party – are denied that right simply because they can’t wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals.  That’s why, tonight, I’m announcing a non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America.  And I’m asking two long-time experts in the field, who’ve recently served as the top attorneys for my campaign and for Governor Romney’s campaign, to lead it.  We can fix this, and we will.  The American people demand it.  And so does our democracy.

Here the President has followed up on his “we can fix that” statement about long lines from his victory speech on election night and his reiteration of the point in his inauguration speech. The issue is now officially on the agenda.

Editorials: Obama Says We Need to Fix Voting Lines. But How? | ProPublica

At tonight’s State of the Union address, Michelle Obama will be joined by 102-year-old Desiline Victor, who, like many in Florida and elsewhere, waited hours to vote on Election Day. “By the way,” Obama said in his election speech. “We have to fix that.” But how to fix it remains unclear. Though new research on states’ performance in the November election reveals long lines kept thousands from voting, there’s still much we don’t know about what would best speed up the process. Victor’s home state of Florida had the longest average wait timeof any state at 45 minutes. Victor waited for three hours. Other Floridians reported standing in line for up to 7 hours. Not every voter had Victor’s stamina: Professor Theodore Allen at Ohio State University estimated that long lines in Florida deterred at least 201,000 people, using a formula based on voter turnout data and poll closing time. The number only includes people discouraged by the wait at their specific polling site, and not those who stayed home due to “the general inconvenience of election day.” The real number, Allen says, is likely much higher. One study also showed that black and Hispanic voters nationwide waited longer on average than white voters.

Editorials: What of congressional power over voting? | Franita Tolson/The Great Debate (Reuters)

If the Supreme Court strikes down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, the focus will turn to Congress and the question of what legislation it should enact in place of Section 5. An equally compelling question is what will happen to the scope of congressional authority over elections. In City of Boerne v. Flores (1997), the court identified the Voting Rights Act as the ideal piece of remedial legislation, perfectly tailored to address the harm of voting discrimination and therefore an “appropriate” use of congressional authority. The court made this determination without discussing the combined authority of Congress under the 14th and 15th Amendments to regulate state and federal elections. The decision focused only on authority granted under the 14th Amendment.

Maine: Sponsors agree on one bill for ranked-choice voting in Maine | The Forecaster

Two legislators have joined forces to support a single bill to establish ranked-choice voting in Maine. The election-law bill submitted by Sen. Dick Woodbury, U-Yarmouth, is now co-sponsored by Rep. Janice Cooper, D-Yarmouth, who submitted similar draft legislation at the beginning of the year. Woodbury said the bill has generated notable public interest. “I think the fact that the next govorner’s race is shaping up to have Eliot Cutler as a prominent independent is increasing people’s interest in making sure there is some kind of narrowing down of the system, so that the ultimate winner of that race has the majority support of the people,” he said.

Missouri: House to Debate Voter ID Bill | KOMU.com

The Missouri House of Representatives will debate Wednesday about a bill that aims to require photo identification at all polling places in the state. 2013 is the seventh consecutive year the Missouri House has debated a voter identification bill, but Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) said he expects the bill to pass this time. The House passed a similar bill in 2006, but the Missouri Supreme Court struck it down, calling the photo requirement “an unconstitutional infringement on the fundamental right to vote.” Guernsey said the requirement would help prevent voter fraud and increase confidence in Missouri elections.

New Jersey: Democrats’ Bill Would Have New Jersey Offer Early Voting Option | njtoday.net

An Assembly panel today advanced a Democrat-sponsored bill that would allow early voting  in primary and general elections. The bill (A-3553) aims to give residents more voting alternatives following the Election Day woes created by Hurricane Sandy. “People are busy, and many have long work days or responsibilities that prevent them from hitting the polls on Election Day,” said Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), one of the bill’s sponsors. “Then there are natural disasters that we simply can’t plan for. Sandy threw a wrench into the machinery of Election Day and created tremendous confusion. This is a matter of convenience and ensuring every resident who is registered and wants to vote will have the opportunity to do so.”

North Carolina: Voter ID legislation could hinder Duke voters | The Chronicle

As many as 613,000 North Carolina voters may be unable to cast ballots if a voter ID law moves through the state legislature. Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature are discussing changes to the state’s voting laws, namely a new requirement for voters to show valid state-issued identification at the election polls. Although no specific bill has been proposed yet, experts say that Duke students, many of whom are from out of state, may experience significant changes to their voting rights. “A photo ID requirement might not seem like that big of a deal to most of us, but the fact of the matter is that democracy and our voter rights is not about most of us, it’s about everybody,” said Bryan Warner, director of communications for the North Carolina Center for Voter Education. “We need to… ensure that we’re not disenfranchising anyone.”

North Dakota: Voter ID amendment survives debate in North Dakota House | Grand Forks Herald

Despite arguments that a significant proposed change to the North Dakota voting process was not given enough attention by a House committee, the House on Tuesday passed an amendment that would require voters to show identification before casting a ballot. The amendment would require all voters to present a valid ID before they cast their ballot during a primary or general election. The ID does not need to include a photo. The amendment’s sponsor, Rep. Randy Boehning, R-Fargo, and other lawmakers are concerned about the current system that allows a voter to cast a ballot without proof of eligibility by signing an affidavit that says they are a North Dakota resident.

Virginia: Is voter ID contingency clause in jeopardy? | HamptonRoads.com

Democrats in the Virginia Senate thought they’d won a modest victory last week when a bill to pare the list of acceptable identification voters can present at the polls was amended to delay the effect of that policy until July 2014, contingent on state funding to support it. Now, days later, some who support that amendment fear it may be in trouble. The legislation, SB 719 from Republican Sen. Dick Black of Loudoun County, is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday afternoon in a House of Delegates subcommittee whose docket also includesphoto ID legislation from Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. Like Black’s bill, the Obenshain SB 1256 wouldn’t take effect until next year, and then only if the state appropriates funds to implement its provisions.

Virginia: Gov. McDonnell disappointed at death of restoration of rights legislation | dailypress.com

Gov. Bob McDonnell expressed his disappointment Monday after a Senate measure to restore voting rights to non-violent convicted felons met its end in a House of Delegates subcommittee. McDonnell announced his support for the legislation in his State of the Commonwealth Address Jan. 11. Under current law convicted felons who have served their full sentences must appeal to the governor to have their voting rights restored. McDonnell has restored the rights of more convicted felons using the process than any of his predecessors. “It is disappointing that the General Assembly was not able to enact this common sense reform to restore the fundamental rights to vote and serve on juries to these citizens who have atoned for their earlier mistakes,” McDonnell said in a press release. “

Armenia: Leader Poised to Win Vote Clouded by Shooting | Bloomberg

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is poised for victory in elections next week after rivals withdrew from a campaign that’s been dominated by one candidate’s attempted assassination and another’s hunger strike. Sargsyan, 59, has 69 percent support before the Feb. 18 vote, compared with 11 percent for his nearest challenger, Raffi Hovhannisyan, a former foreign minister, according to a Gallup poll published Feb. 9. Paruyr Hayrikyan, a former dissident who was shot and wounded in a Jan. 31 incident, has 5 percent backing, while Andrias Ghukasyan, who hasn’t eaten in 26 days and calls the ballot “fake,” has 1 percent, the survey showed.

Armenia: New kind of identification ink hoped to avoid previous problems | ArmeniaNow.com

A new type of ink will be used in the February 18 presidential election, as announced Tuesday by the Central Election Commission — one that is hoped to perform better than the type that was used in last May’s parliamentary elections that resulted in charges of fraud, as the ink evaporated long before its intended duration. The ink, applied into passports of participating voters, is meant to prevent repeated voting. While it is hoped that the new ink will fulfill its aim, at least one member of the ICES monitoring mission has urged Armenia to abandon the practice in favor of more modern methodology.

Australia: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange now a step closer to a Senate run | News.com.au

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is a step closer to contesting a Senate seat in the federal election, with an application made to put him on the electoral roll in Victoria. WikiLeaks Australian Citizens Alliance (WACA) spokeswoman Sam Castro said Assange’s application for electoral enrollment was made to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in Melbourne today. “It was lodged on Julian’s behalf with his signature,” Ms Castro told AAP. Ms Castro also confirmed the address nominated in Assange’s application was his mother’s house in Mentone, in the federal electorate of Isaacs.

Cyprus: Economy, not North, dominates Cyprus vote | Global Post

Cypriots vote in a presidential election Sunday more worried about securing an international bailout for the crisis-hit economy than choosing a leader to bridge the island’s decades-old divide. The vote marks the first time since independence in 1960 that progress on reunification with the island’s Turkish-occupied northern third has been forced to take a back seat. “The economic crisis has dominated the debate and the Cyprus problem is second by a long distance,” political analyst Hubert Faustmann told AFP. “Whoever comes in as president will have to sign the bailout or face state bankruptcy. These are the only two options. There is no third option,” said Faustmann, associate professor of history and politics and Nicosia University.

Ecuador: Electoral law dulls reporting as Correa nears re-election | Committee to Protect Journalists

It’s by far the dullest space in the newspaper: Every day in El Universo, Ecuador’s leading daily, readers can find eight small photos and news blurbs summing up the activities of the eight presidential candidates. The articles are the same size and blocked together in a layout that resembles a tic-tac-toe game, minus the ninth square. This drab coverage is one result of reforms to the electoral law that took effect in February 2012, which prohibit biased reporting on electoral campaigns and allows candidates to sue reporters and news outlets who allegedly violate the law. To avoid lawsuits, El Universo’s editors have set aside an inside page of the newspaper devoting equal space to everyone from the frontrunner–President Rafael Correa, who is seeking a third term–to fringe candidates. That may sound like fair and balanced reporting, but it’s also shallow. Journalists and press analysts told CPJ that the electoral law has made it far more difficult to pursue aggressive, investigative reporting ahead of the February 17 presidential and legislative elections.

Ghana: Petitioners submit particulars as Electoral Commission provides number of voters abroad | Ghana Business News

The petitioners contesting the declaration of President Mahama as the winner of the December 2012 polls have submitted the names and codes of 4,709 polling stations where alleged irregularities took place. They have also filed the names and codes of the polling stations where voting took place without biometric verification. President John Dramani Mahama and the Electoral Commission (EC), who are the first and second respondents in the petition are expected to be served with the filed documents before the end of the week.

Iran: Iran Begins Its Election-Season Web Crackdown a Few Months Early | The Atlantic

Iran appears to be taking measures to tighten online censorship ahead of its presidential vote. In recent days, a long list of online activities has been designated as criminal, including calling for an election boycott, organizing sit-ins or protests, and insulting presidential candidates. Simultaneously, reports by Iran’s Fars and ISNA news agencies say that linking to Facebook, Twitter, and other websites that are blocked in Iran, or even promoting blocked websites, has also become a crime. Iran is already one of the world’s harshest online censors. The regime bans tens of thousands of websites it considers immoral or a threat to national security, including news websites and social-media sites. The new measures, if enforced, would put increased pressure on people who use the web or social media as platforms for online activism.

National: State of the Union guest Desiline Victor, 102, will be the face of voting delays at address | The Washington Post

When she set out to her local library in North Miami, Fla., to cast her vote in the presidential election last year, Desiline Victor had no way of knowing the journey would lead all the way to the White House. On Tuesday night, Victor, a 102-year-old Haitian immigrant, will sit in the ornate House chamber as a guest of first lady Michelle Obama to listen to President Obama’s State of the Union address. Victor voted for the president, but it was not easy. On her first visit to the polls on the morning of Oct. 28, the first day of early voting, she waited in line for three hours. Poll workers eventually advised her to come back later, and she did. She finally cast her vote that evening. Her story spread around the polling place and inspired some would-be voters to stay in line, too, instead of being deterred by the delays.

Editorials: Voting Rights 2.0: How the Supreme Court could make the VRA better instead of striking it down | Emily Bazelon/Slate Magazine

Congressional District 23 cuts across a rural swath of southwestern Texas, from the state’s border with New Mexico, hundreds of miles south along the Rio Grande, stretching east to San Antonio. It’s among the least densely populated terrain in the country—and the most electorally disputed. The district was created in 1967, two years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The voters of District 23 sent a Democrat to Congress every term until the 1992 election. At that point, following the 1990 census, which gave Texas three additional seats, District 23 was redrawn to include a Republican-leaning part of San Antonio. Republican Henry Bonilla won the 1992 election. And in 2003, the district was redrawn again to keep him there, by moving 100,000 Latinos out. Bonilla was still in office in 2006, when the Supreme Court ruled that District 23 violated the Voting Rights Act. The act bars states and cities from discriminating against minority voters with crude tools like poll taxes and literacy tests (and in our time, some voter ID requirements); it also aims to ensure that when district lines are redrawn, they can’t be gerrymandered in a way that dilutes the electoral power of minorities. District 23 was supposed to be a Hispanic opportunity district—one in which Latinos could potentially elect their preferred candidate despite the racially polarized voting patterns of Anglos in the area. From ’92 on, Latinos were voting against Bonilla in greater numbers each time, nearly ousting him in 2002. But the 2003 map, the Supreme Court said, in essence “took away the Latinos’ opportunity because Latinos were about to exercise it.”

Editorials: Shelby County v. Holder: Reasons to believe | Michael J. Pitts/SCOTUSblog

With the Shelby County case, the Supreme Court has provided itself with a “clean” litigation vehicle to strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  In academic circles, the conventional wisdom seems to be that the seminal preclearance provision of the Act is a goner.  Indeed, academics are already conducting online forums speculating about what comes next after the Court dismantles Section 5. But are there any reasons to think that Section 5 might survive?  Although Section 5’s position seems precarious, let’s consider three reasons why Shelby County might turn out differently than the conventional, academic wisdom holds. Why the wait? A little less than four years ago, the Supreme Court had Section 5 teed up to be declared unconstitutional.  In Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder (NAMUDNO), a majority of the Court easily could have sunk the preclearance provision if they so desired.  Instead, the Court opted to engage in a less than credible interpretation of the statute that allowed the Court to duck the constitutional question.  If the Court now is hellbent on using Shelby County to declare Section 5 unconstitutional, why the wait?

Editorials: Shelby County v. Holder: Why Section 2 now renders Section 5 unconstitutional | Hashim Mooppan/SCOTUSblog

The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments proscribe intentional racial discrimination in voting, and Section 2 of the VRA already vigorously “enforces” those constitutional proscriptions by imposing a prophylactic nationwide ban on voting practices that are judicially determined to cause discriminatory “results.”  Accordingly, Section 5 of the VRA – which additionally imposes an extraordinary preclearance regime on all voting changes in selectively covered jurisdictions – can be justified as an appropriate “enforcement” measure only insofar as it targets potentially unconstitutional voting practices that are somehow beyond the effective reach even of Section 2’s ordinary anti-discrimination litigation. This is common sense, but it is much more than that.  The Supreme Court consistently has relied upon this limited remedial justification for Section 5 when upholding and construing prior versions of the statute.  Indeed, the Court has strongly suggested that exceeding this narrow supplemental function would impose excessive burdens on covered jurisdictions and could require excessive consideration of race in electoral decision making, thereby drawing Section 5 into conflict with the very constitutional provisions that it purports to “enforce.”

Alabama: Lawmaker suggests changes to runoffs – TimesDaily.com

A north Alabama lawmaker is kicking an idea around Montgomery that could dramatically change the state’s election process. Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, said he’s researching and gathering opinions about discontinuing most party primary runoffs. He said he wants to file a bill to do so by the end of March. “We go to the polls an awful lot in Alabama,” Ball said last week. Ball said because of runoffs, which are six weeks after the primaries, almost an entire legislative session can go by without a district seat being filled. Case in point: Former Rep. Jeremy Oden’s seat representing a portion of Morgan, Cullman and Blount counties. Oden resigned late last year when he was appointed to the state Public Service Commission. If no primary runoff is required in the special election to replace Oden, a new representative will be elected March 26. But if a primary runoff were required, the special general election won’t occur until May 7. The legislative session will end somewhere around May 20.

Arizona: Lawmaker seeks pilot program to test online voting in Arizona | Cronkite News

The future of voting is online, and moving Arizona’s elections to the Internet would save money, deter voter fraud and increase efficiency, a state lawmaker says. “We will vote online some day,” said Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa. “So why not start to figure it out and get ahead of the curve and have Arizona lead the way on this?” Worsley introduced SB 1387 to create an online voting pilot program before the 2014 primary election. It would require at least one county and one city, town or other local jurisdiction to be involved and allow for votes to be cast via the Internet. … Bruce Schneier, the author of five books on cryptography, computer and network security and overall security, said he likes the idea of online voting but doesn’t think it can be done securely. “We have not, in the history of mankind, created a computer system without a security vulnerability,” he said. Worsley, founder of retail catalog giant SkyMall, insists the system he proposes can be reliable. “My business did over a million transactions a year,” he said. “I know that this can be done securely.” Worsley compared Internet voting to the millions of online banking or stock transactions that happen every day, but Schneier said there’s a fundamental difference. “The important difference is that voting, by definition, is anonymous,” he said. “If there’s electronic banking fraud, we look at what happens, we can roll it back and make everybody whole. We can’t do that with a voting system.”

Illinois: Lawmakers consider online voter registration; some fear fraud | Herald-Review

You can do your banking on your smartphone or buy a refrigerator on the Internet, but you can’t register to vote in Illinois without putting pen to paper. On Wednesday, Gov. Pat Quinn announced he wants to change all that by setting up a system that would allow Illinoisans to register to vote online. “In our Illinois, we embrace the voices, and the votes, of all people. Our democracy is strongest when more voters raise their voices at the ballot box,” the Chicago Democrat said during his annual State of the State speech. “We must move our election process into the 21st century.” Quinn aides say the move could boost turnout and eventually save taxpayer dollars by eliminating the need for personnel and paper to process applications.

Indiana: Students could lose right to cast vote | WLFI

Students who pay out-of-state tuition in Indiana might not have the chance to vote come election time. State lawmakers are considering a bill that might cost some Purdue students a little more than some extra cash for their education. In fact, if passed the bill could end up costing some students their vote. “The thing that has raised so much attention, not just in Indiana but across the nation, has been the effort to tie eligibility for voter registration to the university’s billing process,” West Lafayette City Councilman Eddie VanBogaert said. VanBogaert, a Purdue graduate originally from Illinois, said under House Bill 1311, students who pay out-of-state tuition would no longer be able to vote in Indiana. VanBogaert said this is something he doesn’t agree with. “I’ve seen first hand how this billing process isn’t an appropriate stand-point for being able to determine someone’s eligibility to exercise a really fundamental right,” VanBogaert said.

Kentucky: Even-year voting bill would shift elections | Cincinnati.com

A Northern Kentucky senator believes state and local governments in the commonwealth could save money if voters agree to move the election of the governor and other constitutional officers to coincide with presidential elections. State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that would move the next election of the state’s constitutional officers from 2015 to 2016 and set the cycle for every four years after that. It would extend the current term of the governor and other statewide officeholders by one year. The Kentucky Constitution set the election of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, agriculture commissioner and auditor every four years beginning in 1895. With U.S. Senate, House and presidential races in even years, that means Kentucky has statewide elections every three out of four years.

Minnesota: Ritchie suggests election system improvements | PostBulletin.com

Minnesota’s election system is one of the best in the country but could be improved, especially with a complete online registration system, said Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie during his visit Thursday in Rochester. Ritchie referred to the Elections Performance Index report released Thursday by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The report uses data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and ranks their election systems according to 17 criteria. Minnesota ranked No. 1 in election administration, but was “dinged” slightly, Ritchie said, because it still doesn’t allow people to update voter registration information online. The system allows people to check their registration, but doesn’t allow changes.

New Hampshire: Early voting? Not if Secretary of State Gardner can prevent it | Union Leader

Secretary of State William Gardner takes a dim view of congressional efforts to address with federal legislation the long lines some states saw at polling places during the November election. In his experience, he said, “One-size-fits-all usually fits very few.” The White House and some in Congress are pushing for changes to federal election laws, such as those involving early voting and online voter registration. But if such measures were to pass, Gardner said, “we would first work to get out of it like we did with the National Voter Registration Act.” New Hampshire got an exemption from that 1993 “motor-voter” law by passing same-day voter registration and making it retroactive to the date of the federal legislation. Gardner stressed that different states have very different cultures. “We are who we are because of our history,” he said. And, he said, “the federal government hasn’t had the best of track records when it comes to changing election laws for states. And I would prefer that the federal government stay out of this.”

New Mexico: Joint panel hears about Election Day challenges | The Santa Fe New Mexican

It may be an American’s right to vote on Election Day, but that right was hampered in last November’s elections by excessively long waits, a limited number of voting machines, a lack of Spanish-speaking translators and — in one case — an “intimidating” police presence at the polls. Those were just a few of the stories that people told legislative members of both the House Voter and Election Committee and the Senate Rules Committee on Saturday morning. The special session was dedicated to hearing testimony on unexpected and unpleasant challenges facing New Mexico voters in last November’s general election. “There’s no such thing as a perfect election, but it’s always troubling to hear of issues on Election Day,” said Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who has served as county clerk for Bernalillo County since 2007. She was one of about 20 people offering first-hand testimony — and also the only county clerk to show up for the event.