Editorials: Casting Votes | Jeffrey Toobin/The New Yorker

Here’s a safe prediction for 2013: few people will pine for the Presidential campaign of 2012. Even Barack Obama’s most ardent supporters acknowledge that his victory provided little of the euphoria of four years ago. Not many Republicans have longed to hear from Mitt Romney since his swift journey to political oblivion. Anyone miss the barrage of Super pac ads? (Those, alas, will probably be back in four years.) The pseudo-candidacy of Donald Trump? (Ditto.) But in last year’s spirited competition for the nadir of our political life the lowest blow may have been the Republicans’ systematic attempts to disenfranchise Democrats. To review: after the 2010 midterm elections, nineteen states passed laws that put up barriers to voting, including new photo-I.D. and proof-of-citizenship requirements, and restrictions on early and absentee voting. In most of those states, Republicans controlled the governorship and the legislature. The purported justification for the changes was to limit in-person voter fraud, but that claim was fraudulent itself, since voter fraud is essentially nonexistent. Mike Turzai, the Republican leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, revealed the true intent behind most of the laws last June, when, after the House passed such a measure, he boasted, in a rare moment of candor, “Voter I.D., which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania: Done.” Turzai’s prediction was wrong, but that doesn’t mean that the Pennsylvania law and others like it weren’t pernicious. Obama won in Florida, too, but a recent study by Theodore Allen, an associate professor at Ohio State University, found that, in central Florida alone, long lines, exacerbated by a law that reduced the number of days for early voting, discouraged about fifty thousand people, most of them Democrats, from casting ballots.

National: Obama’s re-election official: 332 electoral votes, 51.1 percent of popular vote | Pentagraph

President Barack Obama was declared the winner of the 2012 presidential election Friday in a special joint session of Congress, finally closing the book on the tumultuous and expensive campaign. Vice President Joe Biden, serving as president of the Senate, presided over the counting of Electoral College votes from the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the sparsely attended session. The vote count lacked the history of 2009, when Obama became the first black president, or the controversies of 2001 and 2005, when some lawmakers protested contested votes in Florida and Ohio, respectively. As expected, the Obama-Biden ticket received 332 votes for president and vice president, well in excess of the 270 needed to win. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., received 206 votes. There were no “faithless electors,” or members of the Electoral College who cast votes for a different candidate than the one who had won in his or her state.

National: Cynthia Bauerly, FEC Commissioner, To Resign On February 1 | Huffington Post

Cynthia Bauerly, one of six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission, handed in her resignation on Friday and will officially leave the body that oversees campaign finance regulation in February. “It has been my honor and privilege to serve on the Federal Election Commission since 2008,” Bauerly, one of the three Democrats on the commission, wrote in the resignation letter obtained by The Huffington Post. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve the country in this role and I will step down on February 1, 2013.”

Montana: Judge throws book at American Tradition Partnership again; finds that it violated multiple state laws on disclosure | Helenair

The conservative “dark money” political group fighting state efforts to force disclosure of its finances lost another key court decision Friday, as a state judge ruled that it violated multiple state campaign-finance and election laws. District Judge Jeff Sherlock, of Helena, citing American Tradition Partnership’s continued failure to produce records requested by the state and the court, adopted the state’s proposed findings that ATP acted as political committee in 2008 and therefore must report its spending and donors. Sherlock ruled that members and officers of ATP used its corporate, nonprofit status “as a subterfuge to avoid compliance with state disclosure and disclaimer laws during the 2008 Montana election cycle.”

North Carolina: Voter ID bill will get prompt attention in Republican-led House | State Port Pilot

When the Republican Party takes control of the Governor’s Mansion in addition to both chambers of the legislature after inauguration this month, a fresh run at the previously attempted “Voter ID” law should no longer face the political roadblocks of past sessions. In fact, according to Oak Island Republican Rep. Frank Iler, it will be the first thing on the menu for lawmakers when they reconvene on January 30.

South Carolina: Voter ID lawsuit cost $3.5 million | TheState.com

It cost South Carolina $3.5 million to sue the federal government over the state’s voter ID law – but the federal government will have to pay some of that bill. Late Friday, a court ruled that because South Carolina was the “prevailing party,” the federal government had to pay some of South Carolina’s expenses. A spokesman for S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said he did not know how much money the federal government would pay South Carolina. The state has until Jan. 11 to file a revised bill with the court.

West Virginia: GOP supports voter ID law | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

West Virginia is preparing for debate on its own voter identification bill this year, amid a changing political climate in the state and circumstances that differ from election fights in Pennsylvania. On Nov. 6, Republican lawmakers in the state capital saw the biggest surge in their ranks since the 1920s, with the addition of 11 new members to the state House and the ouster of the incumbent Democratic attorney general. Party leaders are hoping that momentum, when mixed with the notorious history of political mischief in the state, could lead to adopting a voter ID bill similar to one approved by the GOP-controlled Pennsylvania Legislature last year.

Australia: Long beta for Australia eVote | iTnews.com.au

Electronic voting isn’t likely to replace voting at the ballot box anytime soon, according to identity and security experts, despite progress in NSW and Victoria and renewed interest in Queensland. A discussion paper [pdf] on electoral reform released last week by the Queensland Government asked whether electronically assisted voting (conducted online or by phone) should be introduced for all voters in the state. While Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said the government must review rules and processes governing the electoral system to ensure they are “right for modern times”, experts say there is a lot standing in the way of electronic voting. “It’s easy to see the appeal and convenience of online voting, without being aware that the capacity for votes to be manipulated is much higher than with older or more clunky methods,” said Vanessa Teague, electronic voting researcher and honorary fellow in the department of computing and information systems at University of Melbourne. “It’s very difficult to construct valid mechanisms for proving that each person’s vote has been handled in the way they intended,” Teague said.

Australia: Abolishing compulsory voting would take Queensland back to Joh era, says Wayne Swan | The Australian

Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan have taken aim at Queensland for considering scrapping compulsory voting, with the Treasurer comparing the Newman government to the conservative Tea Party in the United States. The Queensland government released a discussion paper today on electoral reforms which questions whether the century-old practice should be dumped at a state level. It lists the pros and cons of compulsory voting and highlights other possible reforms, including allowing the return of big money donations, forcing unions to allow members a vote on political donations, and introducing truth in political advertising legislation.

Cyprus: Efforts to reduce polling expenses in Presidential elections, Chief Returning Officer says | Famagusta Gazette

A number of 1.100 polling stations will operate in the Republic of Cyprus during the upcoming Presidential elections, scheduled for February 17, while another 40 stations will be operating in 26 countries abroad, Chief Returning Officer Andreas Assiotis has said. Assiotis also said that efforts are underway to reduce expenses, in light of the financial crisis. “Everything is proceeding smoothly”, concerning preparations for the election day, the Chief Returning Officer said. According to Assiotis, savings will incure from the full employment of embassy personnel in the polling procedure, to reduce spending from the dispatch of personnel in polling stations abroad.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly January 1-6 2013

The Obama Administration faces political challenges in fixing problems encountered in the November election. Internet voting problems forced an extension of the deadline for Academy Award votes. Electoral College votes from November’s election were officially accepted as the 113th Congress opened. The Washington Post considered the ineffectiveness of the Federal Election Commission. Proposed voter registration rules faced criticism in Iowa. Republican lawmakers publicly acknowledge that election law changes made in 2011 need to be revised. Voters in the Czech Republic prepare for their first direct Presidential election and Vladimir Putin made significant changes to Russia’s system for electing members of Parliament in a bid to solidify his party’s power.

National: Log-in problems confound Oscar electronic voting process | UPI.com

Some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, Calif., said online voting system bugs kept them from casting Oscar ballots. Electronic voting was a new option this year in Oscar voting. In response to problems with user log-ins and passwords, the academy extended the voting deadline for Oscar nominations by one day to Friday. Amy Berg, an Oscar-nominated member of the documentary branch, said the voting website rejected her password three times before locking her out, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Editorials: Toothless election oversight | The Washington Post

It is to identify a federal agency in Washington more dysfunctional than the Federal Election Commission. Terms have expired for five of the six commissioners, and by next spring, the entire commission will be a lame duck if nothing is done. The number of enforcement actions — at the core of the FEC’s mission — has fallen to an all-time low. Created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, the commission now behaves as an immobilized observer while campaigns are swamped with a tidal wave of hidden cash. At the heart of the trouble is the way the commission was structured when it was established in 1974, with three members from each party. To approve any action requires four votes. Political deadlock has paralyzed the commission in the past few years, leading to split votes, three-to-three, that result in no action on enforcement, auditing or advisory matters. The commission’s three Republicans have repeatedly used this tactic to undermine election laws that they oppose on ideological grounds. According to a Dec. 12 letter sent to President Obama by nine groups advocating campaign finance reform, official actions by the FEC in 2012 amount to only one-tenth the number pursued annually before 2008.

National: Academy Members Sound Off On Oscar Voting Issues Analysis | Hollywood Reporter

As Academy members select the nominees for the 85th Oscars — phase one voting began Dec. 17 and will close Jan. 4 — they are feeling the impact of two major changes to the voting process that were implemented by the board of governors: Nomination ballots can be cast online, but the deadline to submit them has been moved up nine days. (That number was 10 days, but the Academy extended the voting deadline by 24 hours on Dec. 31.) These might not sound like earth-shattering developments, but they have significantly altered the balloting experience of the Academy’s roughly 5,700 voting members and also might impact the sorts of nominees those members select. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on this situationDec. 27 after reaching out to a considerable number of voters and spoke a whole new crop for this follow-up story — virtually none of whom had discussed e-voting publicly.

Alaska: New District Maps Fail to Pass Muster | Courthouse News Service

For a third time, the Alaska Supreme Court emphasized deference to state law while nixing the latest congressional district lines. Alaska’s redistricting board began redrawing congressional districts in 2011 after receiving data from the 2010 U.S. Census. A federal voting rights expert urged the board to draw district boundaries with a focus on creating “effective” Native districts that give Natives the ability to elect candidates of their own choosing. But when this map led to a slew of lawsuits, a Fairbanks superior court judge threw it out and found that four of the proposed House districts unnecessarily deviated from state constitutional requirements.

Arizona: Ken Bennett’s Explanation of Provisional Ballot Issues Disputed by Organizer | Phoenix New Times

The cause of the provisional-ballot uproar has not been solved. At least, there doesn’t appear to be an agreement over the cause. Although Secretary of State Ken Bennett said one of the people involved in an effort to register 34,000 new Latino voters admitted that they were checking the permanent early-voting list box on registration forms without the voters’ knowledge, the details of that meeting are in dispute. Bennett’s spokesman Matt Roberts told New Times that this information — which Bennett presented to a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago — came from a meeting with a few people who were concerned about the provisional-ballot issue.

Iowa: Criticisms of proposed voter fraud rules aired at hearing | The Des Moines Register

Rules proposed by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz to guide a new process for verifying voter eligibility weathered nearly two hours of near-universal criticism during a public hearing on Thursday. More than 40 people weighed in, variously accusing Schultz, the state-level elections administrator, of overreaching his authority, wasting state dollars pursuing non-existent voter fraud and intimidating immigrants who have a legal right to vote. The rules concern a months-long effort by Schultz, a Republican, to gain access to a federal immigration database to check the citizenship status of thousands of registered voters in Iowa that his office has tagged as potentially ineligible to vote.

Editorials: Mississippi Republicans playing voter ID games | The Clarion-Ledger

Deciding whether to believe the Brennan Center study which “estimated 48,000 low-income Mississippians could have trouble obtaining government-issued photo identification” or an afterthought-study (no federal observers, eligible voter percentages) which suggests only 21,855 Mississippians total would need one? Mind you, the afterthought was prepared by proponents who requested $395,000 for poll-tax (driver’s licenses aren’t free and Mississippi’s unexpired license requirement is tantamount to a recurring voting fee) ID litigation and requested none for related education and outreach.

New Hampshire: Conservative group trying to block voting lawsuit | Fosters

Does the U.S. Department of Justice have ulterior motives for allowing New Hampshire to be released from a portion of the Voting Rights Act? That’s the theory being advanced by some conservative groups, including The Center for Individual Rights (CIR). Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CIR is questioning the motives behind a decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to release New Hampshire from Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. A key piece of civil rights legislation, the Voting Rights Act of 1964 guarantees that voters aren’t disenfranchised on account of race or color. It also contains several special provisions that impose stringent federal oversight in certain areas of the country, known as “covered jurisdictions.”

South Carolina: Lillian McBride resigns from Richland County Election Commission | wistv.com

Embattled Richland County Election Commission executive director Lillian McBride has submitted her resignation to the commission. In a letter dated on Jan. 3 from her attorney to the commission, McBride relinquished control of the commission and took the blame for what happened on Election Day. McBride and other members of the county elections commission were criticized after voters were forced to wait as long as seven hours to vote. “In taking this action, I accept fully the responsibility for what occurred during the election on November 6, 2012,” said McBride in the letter.

South Carolina: Bill to opt out of complying with South Carolina voter ID law spurs debate | TheState.com

Republican state senators want to make it easier for people to opt out of the state’s new voter ID law – just not too easy.
Republicans tried Thursday to advance a bill that would allow voters to opt out of showing a photo ID at the polls if they signed a document saying why they had a “reasonable impediment” to getting one. State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, tried to amend the bill further to say that state and county officials may not “review the reasonableness of the voter’s explanation” as to why they could not get a photo ID.

US Virgin Islands: Judge will not stop swearing-in of V.I. officials | Virgin Islands Daily News

Chief District Judge Curtis Gomez has blocked an attempt by five Virgin Islands candidates to prevent the swearing-in of the territory’s newly elected officials. The candidates, who lost their races in the November General Election, are preparing to file a motion today to recuse Gomez from hearing the case. In an amended complaint filed Dec. 21, senatorial candidate Lawrence Olive, Senate At-large candidate Wilma Marsh-Monsanto, Delegate to Congress candidate Norma Pickard-Samuel and Board of Elections candidates Harriet Mercer and Diane Magras asked the court for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Jan. 14 swearing-in ceremony. Each party is acting “pro se” and representing himself or herself.

Cuba: Preparations for Next February 3rd Elections | Escambray

The 612 deputies to Cuban Parliament, and the 1 269 delegates to the provincial assemblies of the People’s Power will be elected next February 3rd.
Cuban authorities work in the preparations for the election next February to choose the 612 deputies to Parliament, said the president of the National Electoral Commission (CEN), Alina Balseiro. In statements to Prensa Latina, the civil employee emphasized that 89 electoral districts were created, organizations destined to obtain fairness in the number of voters, being considered the difference of inhabitants between the 168 municipalities in the country. The districts can arise in municipalities where the population exceeds the 100,000 residents, said Balseiro regarding to the election in the ballot boxes, from which the 1,269 delegates will come in addition to the provincial assemblies to the Popular Power.

Cyprus: Presidential elections proclaimed for February 17 | Famagusta Gazette

Presidential elections in the Republic of Cyprus were officially proclaimed today by the Minister of Interior and will take place on February 17. An eventual second round is set for a week later, on February 24. The Minister also appointed today the Chief Returning Officer Andreas Assiotis and the rest of the Returning Officers in Cyprus’ election districts and abroad. According to an announcement by the Office of the Chief Returning Officer, Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou has set January 18th as the date for the submission of candidacies by the contestants for the Presidential Elections, according to a decree published today in the official gazette.

Czech Republic: Constitutional Court Confirms Presidential Election Date | Bloomberg

The Czech Constitutional Court ruled that the country’s first direct presidential elections may take place next week after reviewing a complaint filed by a candidate excluded from the vote. The court, based in Brno, the Czech Republic’s second- largest city, said today that the first round of elections may be held Jan. 11-12 as planned, spokeswoman Jana Pelcova said by phone today. The court earlier reviewed a complaint from Tomio Okamura, who was excluded from the vote.

Ireland: Oscars online voting mess reminds us of a certain electronic voting machine bought by the Irish government | joe.ie

When it comes to voting do any of us really trust machines? We’ve seen so many hacker incidents in the global media, not to mention our own email and Facebook pages, that we don’t really trust our votes not to be tampered with if made electronically. The 85th Annual Academy Awards tried to upgrade their voting system to e-voting this year but has met with nothing but problems. Usually voting for the awards is done via the post. This year, there was a choice of posting the vote traditionally, or voting online. Many users found that they had more trouble trying to get their votes cast online that they would trying to perform an online banking transfer.

Israel: Election Committee: Likud violated election laws | Ynetnews

Central Election Committee Chairman Justice Elyakim Rubinstein ruled Friday that a performance given by popular Israeli singer Sarit Hadad at the launch of the Likud-Beiteinu’s election campaign was in violation of campaign laws. Article 17 of the Israel Election Act states that political parties are barred from employing the services of artists as part of their campaign. Anyone found in breach of this article is subject to a fine of NIS 29,000 (roughly $7,800) – or six months in jail.

National: E-Voting Snafu Pushes Back Oscar Nomination Deadline | Wired.com

This year, Oscar voters are getting a deadline extension, giving members an extra day to vote on the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards after technical issues plagued the first attempt by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to allow online voting. The Academy announced in early 2012 that it would be making e-voting available to members, and as is often then case in the move from analog to digital, the transition to the new voting platform hasn’t been without hiccups. In a recent Hollywood Reporter analysis, many Academy voters complained of issues with logging in to the voting site — something an Academy representative attributed to voters “forgetting or misusing passwords”  – difficulty navigating the site once they were logged in, and even the potential for hackers to infiltrate the website and influence the vote.

Florida: Republicans rethinking election law | TBO.com

In the wake of Florida’s Nov. 6 election fiasco, Republican state legislators and Gov. Rick Scott acknowledge the massive election reform law they passed amid partisan controversy two years ago needs to be revised. Scott, who signed the new rules into law and initially defended the conduct of the Nov. 6 voting, has since said Floridians “are frustrated” and the state needs “bipartisan legislation … to restore confidence in our elections.” Republican legislative leaders who solidly backed the election reform bill two years ago now say it needs revisiting. “The only 10 laws that were divinely inspired and could never need any amendment came down from the mountain with Moses,” said state Senate President Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican.

Michigan: Voters must affirm citizenship on ballot application under bill signed by Snyder | Detroit Free Press

Voters won’t have to check a box affirming that they’re U.S. citizens when they go to vote in the future. But there will be a sentence on ballot applications affirming U.S. citizenship that every voter will have to sign before they get a ballot. After vetoing similar legislation in July, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill late Friday that requires the citizenship affirmation to be included on ballot applications. The amendment was included in a separate bill at about 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 14 in the final hours of legislature’s lame duck session.