Nigeria: Boko Haram threatens to disrupt Nigeria poll | Al Jazeera

Nigeria’s presidential election on March 28 will not take place peacefully, AbuBakr Shekau, leader of Boko Haram, has said in a new video purportedly released by the group. In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan’s government that next month’s elections would be disrupted with violence. “Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land,” he said. “And finally we say that these elections that you are planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.

Nigeria: What’s next for Nigeria’s democracy? | The Washington Post

The delay of Nigeria’s elections, originally scheduled for Feb. 14 and now set for March 28, did not exactly come as a surprise for Nigeria watchers. The Associated Press reported nearly 12 hours before the announcements that the elections would be pushed back six weeks, referencing an anonymous source. Princeton Lyman, in Foreign Policy, advocated for a delay of the elections due to the difficulties posed by the “nearly one million people displaced or controlled by Boko Haram.” Others, including National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, noted that the low levels of voter ID card distribution would hamper the election’s credibility. In particular, the uneven distribution of voter ID cards among Nigeria’s states portended political violence in a country with a short history of democracy and a long history of inter-regional distrust. And yet, when Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, arrived at the press conference to announce the delays, after a delay of more than five hours, voter ID distribution and IDPs were not on the agenda.

Saint Kitts and Nevis: Confusion over poll results continues in St. Kitts and Nevis | EFE

Fifteen hours after the national polls closed in St. Kitts and Nevis, confusion over the outcome continues as the supervisor of elections said he would not disclose final results. The opposition Team Unity appealed Tuesday for “calm” after the state-owned radio and television station reported that there would be no more announcements about the results of Monday’s general election. “Let us be calm, your duly expressed will, will have life and substance,” Team Unity leader Timothy Harris said in a radio broadcast. “Clearly, the public know there has now been a movement for change from the results that have been made available to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. Clearly, what the supervisor is purporting to do cannot be done and will not be sanctioned by right thinking people in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Harris said.

Colorado: Despite criticism, few efforts to change mail ballot law | The Denver Post

Before last fall’s election, Colorado’s new mail-ballot election system was viewed with suspicion in conservative media channels as rife for corruption, inconvenience and higher costs. But one-third of the way through the legislative session that has more Republicans in the House and a new GOP-controlled Senate, little has been proposed to remedy those concerns. The 2013 law provided a mail ballot to every registered voter, including those formerly considered inactive because they hadn’t cast a ballot in a while. A report by the Colorado Voter Access and Modernized Elections Commission that examined the new law’s performance is due Tuesday, but it isn’t expected to cite major flaws or offer significant proposals for change, according to commission members.

Colorado: Voter ID bills scheduled for committee hearings | Colorado Public Radio

Lawmakers at the state Capitol will consider Wednesday whether people registering to vote close to Election Day should have to show a photo ID. Two bills on the policy have committee hearings scheduled. One measure would require people to show a photo ID when registering in the weeks leading up to an election. The other would put the same policy up for a statewide vote next year. When we interviewed the new Secretary of State, Wayne Williams, earlier this year, he said this type of voter ID law was part of his agenda. Specifically he wants photo ID for Election Day registration.

Illinois: State proposal would require county to buy laptop for each precinct | The Edwardsville Intelligencer

Madison County would be required to purchase more than 225 laptops if a proposal pending in Springfield becomes law. It would require larger counties to provide laptops at each of its precincts, and while that may be fine in Cook or DuPage counties, it’s too costly and impractical for most. If the law passes, counties with more than 200,000 residents would have to provide each precinct with an electronic poll book on Election Day, allowing voters to connect to that county’s voter registration database. But unlike many northern counties, Madison County has large pockets of rural areas that render Wi-Fi and cell tower coverage spotty in some places and non-existent in others.

Georgia: New Plan To Make Voting Even Harder | ThinkProgress

A plan to further slash the availability of early voting is rapidly advancing in Georgia. A committee of state lawmakers voted along party lines last week to slash the state’s early voting days from 21 to 12. The full legislature could call a vote on the cuts at any time, and with Republicans holding a majority of the House seats, the measure would likely pass. More than a third of the state’s voters cast their ballot early in this past election, and demand for early voting was so high that several counties opened the polls on a Sunday for the first time in state history. In 2008, more than half of participants voted early. But the bill’s sponsors say the goal of the cuts is to ensure “uniformity” and “equal access” between counties. Civil rights advocates, including President Francys Johnson of the Georgia NAACP, disagree, and tell ThinkProgress the measure would suppress the votes of the state’s growing minority population. “People of color tend to utilize early voting, and I think at the heart of all of this is an attempt to reduce the opportunities for people to let their voice be heard,” he said. “They’re saying to working Georgians and seniors and communities of color and the young: ‘We’re not interested in your participation.”

Montana: Senate passes bill for to fill U.S. Senate vacancies | The Montana Standard

The state Senate on Tuesday endorsed a bill to require a special election for a U.S. Senate vacancy, as the law currently does for House vacancies, but it would allow the governor to appoint a temporary senator until the election occurs. Senate Bill 169, by Sen. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade, won approval on a 48-2 vote and will face a final Senate vote before heading to the House. In brief, here’s how the bill would work: If a vacancy occurs in the Senate, the Montana governor would immediately order a special election. The date of the election would vary depending when the vacancy occurred. It would allow the governor to make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy until special election occurs. The governor’s temporary appointee to the Senate would have to be from the same political party as the person who vacated the job.

Nebraska: Voter photo ID bill prompts filibuster | Lincoln Journal Star

The legislative proposal to require photo IDs for voters in Nebraska ran into a buzz saw of opposition Tuesday during floor debate that signaled the beginning of a filibuster that will resume Wednesday. The bill (LB111) sponsored by Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID, but provides for acquisition of a state card at no cost for voters who may not have a photo ID. Opponents said there is no evidence of voter fraud to suggest that the new requirement is needed and that the result would be an impediment to voting that would tend to depress, if not actively suppress, voter turnout. Larson said the requirement is needed to “protect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.”

Nevada: Voter ID bill introduced in Nevada Senate | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Voters would be required to show photo identification before casting a ballot under a bill introduced Tuesday in the Nevada Senate. Under Senate Bill 169, sponsored by Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, and eight other Republican lawmakers, proof of identity would include a document or identity card issued by the state, federal government or recognized Indian tribe that contains a “recognizable photograph.” It also would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a voter identification card free of charge to anyone who lacks other proof. Settelmeyer said requiring voter ID is “something my constituencies have been clamoring about for a long time.”

New York: Judge orders Cuomo to set special election | The Hill

A federal judge has ruled that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has until Friday to set the date for a special election to replace former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), or the court will do it for him. Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Federal District Court in Brooklyn ruled on Tuesday in favor of a group that sued Cuomo in an attempt to force him to call for the vote in New York’s 11th District. “The right to representation in government is the central pillar of democracy in this country,” Weinstein wrote. “Unjustified delay in filling a vacancy cannot be countenanced. Unless the Governor announces the date for a special election on or before noon on Friday, February 20, 2015, or justifies a further delay at a hearing to be conducted by this court at that time and date, this court will fix the date for a special election as promptly as the law will allow.”

North Carolina: House members file redistricting bill to ban ‘irregularly shaped’ boundaries | News Observer

A bipartisan group of N.C. House members filed the second of two proposals Monday to create a nonpartisan redistricting process. House Bill 92 would be modeled on an Iowa plan that lets lawmakers vote on redistricting proposals drafted by legislative staffers. It would take effect for the next round of redistricting, after the 2020 U.S. Census. The group Common Cause North Carolina, which advocates for election reforms, is pushing for the bill. “For decades, North Carolina’s flawed redistricting system has resulted in gerrymandered districts that deprive voters of having a real voice in their elections,” executive director Bob Phillips said in a statement Tuesday. “We applaud these Republican and Democratic lawmakers for working together to pass reform that would protect the fundamental right of voters to choose their representatives.”

Virginia: Challenge ahead, state senator’s bill would make his district even safer | The Washington Post

A state senator facing a competitive reelection bid this fall has proposed legislation that would make his district more Republican — and therefore safer for him. Sen. Bryce E. Reeves, a freshman senator from Spotsylvania County, about an hour south of the District, won his seat four years ago by 226 votes. He already faces a Democratic challenger this year. Reeves filed a bill that would trade precincts with a neighboring district represented by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D), giving Deeds a heavily Democratic precinct and taking for himself a Republican one.

Washington: Secretary of state says we need 2016 presidential primary that counts | Seattle Post Intelligencer

Washington needs a 2016 presidential primary that’s not merely a “beauty contest” but will count in allocating Democratic and Republican convention delegates, Secretary of State Kim Wyman argued Tuesday. Wyman is asking the Legislature to revive the primary and to give it clout. She will run into resistance. The state’s Democratic and Republican parties are long wedded to their presidential caucuses, which maximize influence of party activists and provide lists of names for fundraising. “My goal is to secure a voice for our Washington voters with a plan that assures a meaningful election where the results are used to allocate at least part of the national convention delegates from our state,” said Wyman, the state’s lone Republican statewide elected official. Wyman estimated that the primary would cost $11.5 million, the bulk of the money to reimburse costs incurred by the state’s 39 counties.

Wisconsin: Will the U.S. Supreme Court Weigh in on Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law? | Shepherd Express

Voting rights advocates are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up Wisconsin’s voter ID law, one of the most stringent in the country. “There are a lot of barriers that Wisconsin’s law imposes on voters that have not been resolved,” said attorney Karyn Rotker of the ACLU of Wisconsin, which is among the groups asking the court to review the voter ID law. “We hope that the Supreme Court will make sure that voting rights are protected.” The law, passed in spring 2011 and only in effect during one low-turnout election, has had a tumultuous legal history. As it was challenged in state and federal courts, it was put on hold, then suddenly revived by a federal appeals court just before last November’s general election—and put on hold once again, this time by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wyoming: Voting centers bill marches ahead in Legislature | Casper Star Tribune

A House committee Tuesday forwarded a bill that would allow county clerks to establish centralized voting places for future elections. Senate File 52 previously passed the Senate and now has three rounds of voting before potentially becoming law. In Wyoming, people vote by geographical precinct. A county voting center would be a place where anyone, regardless of their precinct, could vote. Laramie County Clerk Debbye Lathrop told members of the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee voting centers would be helpful to someone who lives in one town and works in a larger city, where a voting center could located. Instead of having to drive home during the lunch hour, the voter could cast a ballot in the city.

Myanmar: Myanmar Court Deems White Card Holders’ Vote Unconstitutional, Sends Law Back to Parliament | The Irrawaddy

Burma’s Constitutional Tribunal informed Parliament on Monday that the articles of the recently passed Referendum Law that granted white card holders voting rights are in violation of the Constitution. Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann read out the Tribunal’s verdict stating that “white card holders are ineligible to vote in a referendum on amendment[s] of [the] State Constitution,” as it violated the charter’s Article 4, Article 38(a) and Article 391, state media reported on Tuesday. According to Article 391, only those with citizenship can be granted voting rights, the verdict stated. The verdict of the Tribunal had become a moot point after President Thein Sein last week decided to backtrack on the implications of the Referendum Law he had sent to Parliament by issuing a directive that let all temporary identification cards expire per March 31.

Editorials: The UK should encourage prisoners to be good citizens and let them vote | Juliet Lyon/openDemocracy

Last week’s ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on prisoners’ voting reinforces previous judgments of the Court that the UK’s blanket ban on sentenced prisoners voting is unlawful. But with three months to go before the UK general election, it’s clear that the government would rather flout human rights law, ignore the advice of prison governors, bishops to, and inspectors of, prisons and take up Parliamentary time and taxpayers’ money in order to stop sentenced prisoners from acting responsibly by voting in democratic elections. For ten years now successive UK governments have wasted public money resisting the European Court’s judgment. The current Prime Minister has even admitted to feeling “physically ill to even contemplate having to give the vote to anyone who is in prison”.

United Kingdom: Outsourcing voting: How private companies could profit from British elections | Politics.co.uk

Switching to electronic voting poses lucrative opportunities for private companies – and they’re now champing at the bit to get involved. It is, right now, a relatively small market. Only about 20 countries around the world look to the international marketplace to procure electronic systems which will help their elections run smoothly. Most of them have done so out of necessity. Governments facing limited public trust have proved more likely to abandon the laborious – and easily manipulated – paper-based voting methods than those in countries whose system isn’t obviously broken. Latin American states have been the most enthusiastic adopters. They’ve had some success. In Brazil, where the most recent presidential contest saw a gap of just 1.5% between the two main candidates, the results were released by the morning after polling day. And they weren’t contested. In Europe progress has been slower. An Irish attempt turned into a classic IT fiasco. A Dutch effort was quickly hacked, prompting embarrassment and a rapid retreat to paper-only systems. Europe has on the whole been a tricky market because of widespread worries about cybersecurity and privacy issues. And then, last month, a sudden enthusiasm for making the change suddenly emerged in Britain.

National: Voting rights for minorities threatened, experts say | Gannett

Since 2010, 21 states have restricted voting rights, said Nicole Austin-Hillery, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Washington, D.C., office. Proponents of the new laws, which do such things as requiring government-issued photo IDs to vote, say they are designed to combat voter fraud. Opponents point out that documented cases of in-person voter fraud are all but non-existent. The real reason for the new laws, the say, is to make it harder for minorities or poor people to vote. “The move ‘Selma’ has come out, and we’re still in the fight to secure and protect voting rights,” said Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization founded in 1999. “We no longer have poll taxes. But instead, we have voter IDs. We don’t have literacy tests. But we have things like cuts to early voting and cuts to Sunday voting, all which are targeted at communities of color who have gained access to the ballot because of the Voting Rights Act. “We see more subtle attempts to make it harder to vote. It’s just a different page out of the playbook that makes it harder for African Americans to participate,” Browne Dianis said.

Editorials: How To Run For Congress in a District That Doesn’t Exist | Jack Fitzpatrick/National Journal

Andy Tobin has an odd problem. The Arizona Republican thinks he can win a House seat in 2016 after his 2014 bid to unseat a Democratic incumbent fell just short. But as he prepares his next bid, he can’t say for sure what district he’ll run in, or even if, by 2016, the districts he’s currently eyeing will still exist. That’s because the fate of Arizona’s electoral map is currently sitting before the Supreme Court. The court will hear arguments next month in a case that pits Arizona’s Republican-led legislature against a state commission that was assigned to draw its Congressional districts. The commission was created in 2000 in order to stop gerrymandering and create competitive districts, but lawmakers say that process was unconstitutional because the authority to draw districts should belong solely to the state’s elected officials. After the March arguments, the court will likely issue a ruling by the end of its term in late June. And when the ruling comes down, it has the potential to shake up the Congressional map not just in Arizona, but in a host of states (including California) that have looked outside their legislatures for help drawing the boundaries of their Congressional districts.

California: Special interests are at center of L.A. election date debate | Los Angeles Times

As it waits for a City Council vote on new rules for electronic billboards, outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor has become a major backer of the campaign to change L.A.’s election dates. The company recently gave $25,000 to the campaign for Charter Amendments 1 and 2, the March 3 ballot measures that would align L.A. city and school board races with higher-turnout state and presidential elections. Supporters say the change in election dates, which are backed by council President Herb Wesson and would go into effect in 2020, will diminish the power of special interests by getting more voters to the polls. But records show that, so far, many of those lining up behind the measures — public employee unions, business groups and a handful of private companies — have past or present stakes in City Hall decisions. Denver-based CP Development, which won city approval last year for a downtown high-rise, gave $25,000 to a committee promoting the measures. So did the L.A. County Federation of Labor, which fought a move to scale back city employee pension costs and, more recently, convinced the council to hike the minimum wage at large hotels.

California: Latino activists consider voting rights lawsuit against Orange County | KPCC

Activists in Orange County are considering a voting rights lawsuit after a Latino supervisorial candidate lost a special election last month. Some activist say county district lines split Latino residents and dilute their voting power. This month, Vietnamese American attorney Andrew Do was sworn into office as First District Supervisor after beating career Latino politician Lou Correa in a special election by 43 votes. There are now three Asian American supervisors and two white supervisors. “(Latinos) have no voice in the county government,” said Latino activist Art Montez. “No voice in health care, they have no voice as to what public parks are going to get.

Georgia: Republicans look to cut early voting again | MSNBC

Georgia Republicans look set to significantly cut their state’s early voting period — the latest fallout from the Supreme Court’s crippling of the Voting Rights Act. A legislative committee voted on party lines last week to advance a bill that would shorten Georgia’s early voting period to 12 days, from a current maximum of 21 days. It would also bar counties from offering more than four hours of voting on weekends. The state’s early voting period was already cut dramatically just four years ago. The new move comes after a 2014 election in which 44% of voters — disproportionately minorities — cast their ballot early. Many counties, responding to popular demand, offered Sunday voting for the first time. Rep. Carolyn Hugley, a member of the Democratic legislative leadership, said the scheme is an effort to produce an electorate that’s more favorable to the GOP. “We cannot choose the electorate, the electorate chooses us,” Hugley said. “And it looks like somebody has an idea that they want to choose who is going to make the decisions, based on the patterns of how people vote.”

Illinois: New voter system security questioned | Herald-Review

At a time when computer systems of major corporations have been under attack by hackers, Illinois is poised to join other states in a first-ever national database of voter registration information. But, despite concerns from scholars and others who monitor online security, state and national officials involved in the Electronic Registration Information Center program say every voter’s information will be safe. “We make a pretty good argument that we do more to protect the data than the states do themselves. We follow above-normal security protocols,” said John Lindback, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based program.

Indiana: Two Senate bills would affect voters | Lafayette Journal & Courier

A pair of bills working their way through the Indiana Senate could spell trouble for some voters, Tippecanoe County Clerk Christa Coffey contends. Senate Bill 535, authored by Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, and Senate Bill 466, authored by Sen. Pete Miller, R-Avon, are two of the more problematic bills at this time, Coffey said. SB 535 would require absentee voters to include their voter ID number on their ballots. Coffey testified against the bill and said no one spoke on its behalf. She said since most people do not know their voter ID number, the state would have to mail that number privately to every voter, which could cost about $3 million, she estimated. The ID numbers are not available online and were recently removed from voter registration postcards due to privacy issues. “Our biggest concern is it will discourage people from voting if that’s the only way they can cast a ballot,” she said.

Maryland: Democrats seek to change Senate vacancy procedure | The Frederick News-Post

Two Democrats in the Maryland Legislature want to change the way U.S. Senate vacancies are filled, and Republicans are crying foul. We understand their distress, but the bill sponsored by Sen. Jamie Raskin and Delegate David Moon, both of Montgomery County, is a more democratic and less political method of filling a vacancy should a U.S. senator resign or die before his or her term ends. Current law empowers the governor to appoint a replacement until the next statewide election. That could conceivably mean a full two years in the U.S. Senate for a political appointment, as opposed to someone chosen by voters. But Republicans are understandably irked at the timing of this legislation. If Democrats are so sold on its merits, why was it not introduced during Gov. Martin O’Malley’s eight years at the helm? ”It’s interesting that the first year of a Republican governor, they’re trying to strip powers from him,” state GOP executive director Joe Cluster said in a recent Baltimore Sun story. Both Raskin and Moon argue that the bill will put this power appropriately in the hands of voters.

Editorials: Maryland redistricting reform | Baltimore Sun

Maryland almost certainly will not enact reforms to the way it redraws legislative and congressional districts this year because the most powerful proponent of the idea, Gov. Larry Hogan, isn’t pushing it. He wants a commission to study the issue and provide advice on the best way to remove partisan politics from the process, and given the variety of reforms other states have tried in that vein, his approach makes sense. But he’d better not wait for long, otherwise the unique conditions that make this reform possible will soon evaporate. Many of the Democrats who control Maryland’s General Assembly would probably agree philosophically that district lines should be drawn without party politics in mind, and few would be willing to mount a defense of the state’s Congressional districts, which are generally considered among the nation’s most gerrymandered. But the reason reform efforts have gone nowhere in the past is that the Democratic powers that be viewed them as unilateral disarmament in the face of aggressive gerrymandering in Republican-dominated states. Indeed, a number of Democratic lawmakers have explicitly suggested that Maryland should not enact such reforms unless it could recruit a buddy state dominated by Republicans to make an offsetting switch at the same time. That’s another way of saying it’s never going to happen.

Minnesota: Bill Would Make it Easier for National Guard Members to Vote When Called to Serve | KSTP

Absentee voting procedures available to military members called to service by the president could soon be extended to members of the Minnesota National Guard. There’s currently a difference in absentee voting rights between National Guard members who are called to service by a governor and members called to service by the president. National Guard members called up for federal service can receive their ballot in some circumstances by email and do not need a witness for their absentee ballot.

Mississippi: Timing is everything in calling special election | Jackson Clarion-Ledger

A few Republicans are getting a little antsy over when Gov. Phil Byrant will call a special election to fill the congressional seat held by the late-U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee. Several people have said Bryant was originally thinking of setting the election for Aug. 4, which coincides with primary elections for state races. That would make some fiscal sense in that it would save a little money holding all the elections at the same time. However, that idea is not being met with fanfare because more than one state elected official is looking at running for the seat. Nobody likes the idea of running for two offices simultaneously.