Ohio: GOP defends tying driver’s license to voting | The Columbus Dispatch

Dismissing Democrats’ cries of voter suppression, majority legislative Republicans are poised to require those who register to vote in Ohio to also obtain state driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations. The measure is part of the state transportation budget approved Tuesday by a House-Senate conference committee and headed to possible floor votes in each chamber Wednesday. Democrats tried to remove the provision, saying it constitutes a “poll tax” on out-of-state college students, who would have to spend $75 or more on license and registration fees within 30 days of registering to vote. Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati, voted against the transportation budget on Tuesday, she said, because her caucus had a host of concerns about the provision.

Voting Blogs: Reading the tea leaves – what do recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions bode for Texas elections? | Texas Election Law Blog

Within the past week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant certiori to hear an appeal of a decision upholding Wisconsin’s appalling voter i.d. law, (Frank v. Walker) and just remanded two Alabama redistricting cases (Alabama Black Legislative Caucus et al. v. Alabama et al., linked with Alabama Democratic Conference et al., v. Alabama et al.) back to the lower courts on a 5-4 decision holding that the state legislature could not justify “packing” African-American voters into fewer districts on the basis that it was compelled to do so in order to comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Superficially, this seemed to be a bit of give-and-take when it came to voting rights, although the cases weren’t directly comparable on the facts or issues. So, what do these decisions mean for (1) the Texas voter i.d. case (Veasey et al. v. Perry et al.), or (2) the Texas redistricting case (Perez et al. v. Texas)?

Utah: GOP, Dems plan online Presidential Primary in 2016 | Fox13

Utah’s two major parties are poised to try something that could set an example for the rest of the country. One of them chose to do it, the other would rather focus on other things. Utah Democrats wanted Utah Legislators to pay $3 million to hold a statewide presidential primary during the 2016 election. Utah’s June primary for other races is too late for ballots to count in a party nomination.

Vermont: Amendment Would Push Same-Day Voter Registration to 2017 | Seven Days

Picture this: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) runs for president in the 2016 Democratic primary. Vermonters, newly awakened to the desire to vote for the hometown boy, rush to the polls for the March election. Should they be able to register on the spot? A bill pending in the Senate would have allowed them to, by enacting same-day voter registration in 2016. But faced with opposition from some town clerks, key senators decided Tuesday to push that date to 2017. “Town clerks earn a fair amount of deference because they run the world at home,” said Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison), a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee. Clerks have raised concerns about potential voter fraud and an increased election-day workload, particularly in a heavy-turnout, presidential-election year.

Virginia: Supreme Court Alabama decision may affect Virginia election maps | Daily Press

A divided U.S. Supreme Court handed down a victory Wednesday for black legislative leaders in Alabama, and the decision may signal a coming win for Virginia Democrats fighting Republican-drawn election maps here. The court’s 5-4 decision sends Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama back to the federal district court there with an admonition that the case be re-argued. Plaintiffs there argued that Alabama legislators unfairly packed minority voters into districts to dilute black voting strength elsewhere. A federal judicial panel in the state disagreed, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated that decision Wednesday. A three-judge panel in Virginia decided just the opposite in a case challenging the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which is held by U.S. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Newport News. Federal judges here decided last year that race was the predominant factor in drawing district lines and ordered the map redrawn.

Malta: No subsidised flights for early voters in coming election | The Malta Independent

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that there will not be any subsidized flights for early voters. The Prime Minister was responding to questions asked by PN Secretary General Chris Said in Parliament. The Prime Minister said that the dates for early voting coincide with the Easter break, and that such arrangements cannot be applies that early as they could have a negative impact on tourism during a time considered to be a ‘peak period’ for the industry. In his question, the PN Secretary General highlighted that such subsidized flights have always accommodated early voters, who would be unable to cast their vote on voting day.

Nigeria: Elections in the Season of Fear | allAfrica.com

On Saturday (March 28, 2015), Nigerians will once again troop to the polls to choose who among the several contestants vigorously campaigning and scheming out there would be their president and members of the Senate and House of Representatives for the next four years. In several other countries, including even some of our smaller and leanly-endowed neighbours here, election periods usually provide the populace pleasant opportunities to savour the excitement of democracy. People go to the polls with beaming faces exchanging pleasantries and banters while waiting to cast their votes. They are not gripped by any benumbing fear that some daredevil thugs might swoop on the voting centres to shoot into the air, snatch away ballot boxes, and, possibly, wound or even kill some people in the process. Even the contestants would just come to the voting centres with little or no security and without any fanfare, unobtrusively cast their votes like every other person. And as they return to their homes, they are not looking over their shoulders to see if some killers hired by their opponents are trailing them to eliminate them.

Somalia: Somalia To Recruit National Independent Electoral Commission for the 2016 election | Somali Current

As required by the Provisional Federal Constitution of Somalia and in line with the recently passed laws on the National Independent Electoral Commission and the Boundaries and Federation Commission, Somalia is now urging qualified citizens to apply for the 18 vacant seats of the National Independent Election Commission (NIEC) and the Boundaries and Federal Commission (BFC); the deadline for applications to the two Commissions has now been extended to 30th March 2015. The Minister of State from Interior and Federalism, H.E. Abdirashid Hidig, said the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that the selection process is free, fair and transparent, with a strict process involving approvals by several committees, the Federal Parliament and finally the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Uzbekistan: All set for Uzbek presidential polls | Arab News

All arrangements have been made to hold presidential elections in Uzbekistan on March 29, Uzbek Consul General Ulugbek Maksudov said at a press briefing in Jeddah. An OIC delegation that will monitor the election process attended the press conference. The Central Election Commission will carry out all activities related to the preparation and conduct of elections in an open and transparent manner in accordance with the constitution of Uzbekistan, the consul general said.

Editorials: Tell the election success stories, too | Katrina vanden Heuvel/The Washington Post

“I had a college degree, a decade of experience, and the only job I could get was making $8 an hour at the local convenience store in my neighborhood,” Maine state Rep. Diane Russell (D) said in January, recalling her unlikely path to public office. “I have no business being in politics. I was not groomed for this. But thanks to public financing, I have a voice. And thanks to public financing, a gal who takes cash for the convenience store for selling sandwiches can actually talk about the stories that she’s learned from behind the counter.” Russell was speaking at an event on the fifth anniversary of the Citizens United ruling that set off an avalanche of money in politics. After her state’s “clean elections” system propelled Russell into office in 2008, she quickly became a force in Maine politics. Her progressive record of defending voting rights and workers, for example, led the Nation to recognize her as its “Most Valuable State Representative” in 2011.

Arizona: Senate gives initial approval to elections bill | Associated Press

The Senate gave initial approval to a bill on Tuesday that increases the number of signatures third-party candidates need to run for office. The proposal by J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, is one in a series of piecemeal legislation similar to a sweeping Arizona election law that the Legislature abandoned last year after opponents took steps to repeal it. House Bill 2608 allows candidates to gather signatures from their own party, independents and parties not represented on a ballot. It also expands the signature requirements to include a minimum number of these so-called “qualified voters.”

Florida: Plan to replace Florida’s “obsolete” voter registration system set for July | Herald Tribune

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner verified to the State Senate on Monday that his office is working to “refresh” the state’s glitch-prone voter registration system by July, averting potential problems that could have threatened the 2016 presidential election cycle. Detzner said his office has already ordered the new computer hardware and expects it to be delivered next month. He said his office is on course to have the new voter system up and operating by July. Two weeks ago the Herald-Tribune reported that statewide county supervisors of elections have become increasingly vocal about their concerns over the current Florida Voter Registration System, which has been prone to crashing – sometimes for days at a time. The voting system is a statewide database that is used to check in voters to ensure their eligibility to cast a ballot.

Hawaii: Lawmakers push plans for voting by mail | Associated Press

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that could make voting by mail the norm in Hawaii. The panel passed HB 124, which aims to boost Hawaii’s low voter turnout and increase participation in elections. It would start with smaller counties and gradually build so all voters get ballots in the mail. The current system allows people to sign up to vote by mail or they can vote in person during the two weeks before Election Day. “It’s a very complicated operation,” said Janet Mason of the League of Women Voters. “This would smooth out the operation.”

New York: Federal judge cites Albany County redistricting failure; legal fees could top $1M | Times Union

Albany County diluted minority voting power in its 2011 redistricting plan, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a decision that temporarily freezes this year’s legislative elections until a new plan is drafted. Senior U.S. Judge Lawrence Kahn’s 81-page decision orders the county to submit an amended map of its 39 legislative districts within three weeks -— a timetable aimed at minimizing disruption to an election calendar that begins in June. The defeat marks the third straight time the county will be forced to alter its political lines amid a challenge under the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act — a landmark piece of legislation aimed at protecting the franchise of minority voters. “With rare exceptions, there is not yet an equal, fair opportunity for minority-preferred candidates to be elected on a county level absent special circumstances,” Kahn wrote, calling the county’s entire redistricting process “questionable.”

Editorials: Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted proposes reasonable strategy to prevent voter fraud | Cleveland Plain Dealer

A recent review by Secretary of State Jon Husted found 145 non-citizens were registered to vote in Ohio, and that 27 may have voted. (Seven were in Cuyahoga County.) A 2013 Husted review found another 291 aliens registered to vote; 17 had voted. That total of 44 voting aliens equals less than 0.0006 percent of Ohio’s 7.7 million voters. Husted is asking non-citizens who are registered to vote, but who’ve not voted, to remove themselves from the rolls. Illegal voting is a crime that can bar someone from naturalization. Husted said asking non-voting aliens to cancel their registrations can protect them from inadvertently disqualifying themselves from future citizenship by voting.

Oklahoma: Voter encouragement: Legislature doing about-face on election reform | Tulsa World

After years of doing just about all it could to restrict voting, the Oklahoma Legislature is now trying to encourage it. Historically low voter turnout last year prompted lawmakers to come forward this session with dozens of election reform proposals. About a half-dozen remain in play. The proposals range from increasing the number of absentee ballots a notary public can notarize to an 80-percent reduction in the number of signatures needed for a political party to gain access to the ballot. Others include consolidating elections, online registration and a permanent absentee ballot list. All are Republican bills, and in most cases survived their first floor votes with little opposition.

Pennsylvania: Online voter registration a possibility, state election official says | PennLive.com

Other states allow voters to register online, permit pre-Election Day voting, and provide for no-excuse absentee ballots. Pennsylvania allows none of those but that efforts are afoot that could change that as soon as this summer. Acting Secretary of State Pedro Cortes told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday the administration will be in a position to roll out some form of online voter registration within four months “if it meets with your approval.” According to Pew Charitable Trust, 20 states have online voter registration systems and four others have passed legislation to authorize it as a more convenient way to get more people on the state voter rolls.

Editorials: In the fight for Puerto Rican statehood, is San Juan the new Selma? | Julio Ricardo Varela/Quartz

Leave it to a British comic to school us all on the least talked-about race problem in America—well, except the millions of Americans living in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. John Oliver’s recent viral video about the Insular Cases, and their role in this country’s ugly racial past entertained and shocked a lot of Americans, just hours after President Obama told a crowd gathered in Selma that “our work is never done.” Oliver’s wit, framed around Obama’s words, created a perfect storm of discovery. Though, you would think, in 2015, this wouldn’t seem so surprising—yes, the American government was blatantly racist toward peoples conquered as spoils of war. But anyone from non-state territories like the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or Puerto Rico—especially, Puerto Rico—could have told you that. The problem was no one was really listening until Oliver gave the Insular Cases comedic street cred.

Vermont: Senate to take up same-day voter registration this week | VTDigger

The Senate will take up a same day voter registration bill this week. S.29 would allow a town clerk to add a registrant’s name to the voter checklist during regular business hours on Election Day. Under the legislation, eligible voters could fill out a registration form, and the presiding officer at the polls would inform them if they were approved to vote. The Senate Government Operations Committee passed the bill in a 3-2. Sens. Jeanette White, D-Windham, Anthony Pollina, D/P-Washington, and Christopher Bray, D-Addison, voted for the bill. Sens. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, and Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, opposed it.

Voting Blogs: Virginia’s Odd Recount Law | State of Elections

Virginia is certainly no stranger to statewide recounts. It’s had two in the last ten years and the nail-biter senatorial race on November 4th almost increased that number to three. For a key swing state with a trend toward close elections, Virginia’s recount laws could become a deciding factor in national politics. The birth of Virginia’s current recount laws come from the 1978 senatorial race between former Virginia Attorney General Andrew P. Miller and former Virginia Senator John Warner. Senator John Warner won the seat by 0.39% of the total vote. Andrew Miller immediately filed a recount petition, but the law on the books required the losing candidate to fund the entire recount. Miller was forced to concede after failing to raise the $80,000 necessary to go forward. If a former state attorney general was unable to raise the money, it was implausible to assume that anyone else could, so the Virginia legislature enacted the current law that requires localities to bear the costs if the margin of loss is less than 0.5%.

Australia: NSW iVote security flaw may have affected thousands of votes: Researchers | Computerworld

Thousands of NSW state election votes submitted to iVote may have been affected by a server vulnerability according to two security researchers who discovered the issue. University of Melbourne Department of Computing and Information Systems research fellow, Vanessa Teague, and Michigan Centre for Computer Security and Society director ,J.Alex Halderman, posted a blog with their findings on March 22. “The iVote voting website, cvs.ivote.nsw.gov.au, is served over HTTPS. While this server appears to use a safe SSL configuration, the site included additional JavaScript from an external server,” wrote the researchers.

Kazakhstan: Snap Election in Kazakhstan | Diplomatic Courier

Kazakhstan’s decision to hold early presidential elections in April, a year ahead of time, comes at a time of turmoil for the country. Generally considered a success story of the post-Soviet space, Kazakhstan faces a number of simultaneous storms, ranging from the declining oil price and fallout of sanctions on Russia to the general geopolitical instability resulting from the Russian-Ukraine war and uncertainty concerning Afghanistan’s future. Against this background, the decision to hold the election a year ahead of time raises the question whether Kazakhstan’s prized stability is in question. Any decision to hold early elections could seem to provide the incumbent with an added advantage and leave potential challengers scrambling to mobilize for an election they did not expect. Incumbency provides an important advantage in any country, and clearly, an incumbent president is at an advantageous position in planning for an election only two months away. This is no doubt the reason why incumbents in many countries have made the practice commonplace. In Israel, early elections were held in 2012 and another is scheduled for 2015. The United Kingdom, of course, has institutionalized the practice, and there, a Prime Minister is expected to call elections at the time that is most suitable for his party.

Luxembourg: €1.3m price tag for referendum | Luxemburger Wort

The Luxembourg consultative referendum scheduled for June 7 is expected to come with a price tag of around 1.3 million euros, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has confirmed. In answer to a parliamentary question by ADR MP Roy Reding, Bettel said that he could not give an exact figure at this point in time. Especially the costs for the communes, such as letters to residents and staffing voting booths, are only estimated at one million euros.

Nigeria: Court bars military from deploying around polling stations | Reuters

The Nigerian federal high court in Lagos has barred the military from deploying around polling stations during March 28 national elections, the lawyer for the parliamentarian who brought the case said on Tuesday. Opposition leader Femi Gbajabiamila argued a deployment would violate the constitution, lawyer Ijeoma Njemanze said, amid opposition fears that soldiers may intimidate voters or tamper with ballot boxes. The ruling, made on Monday by Justice Ibrahim Buba, does not affect troops already dispatched to northeast Nigeria, where Islamists have waged a six-year insurgency, she added.

United Kingdom: Security bug in Australia’s online voting system throws doubt on Britain’s digital election goal | Information Age

Britain’s hopes of enabling online voting in general elections by 2020 have faced a dose of reality after a security vulnerability in an Australian system was exposed. The iVote system was introduced for the New South Wales (NSW) State Election in 2011 for voters who are more than 20 kilometres from a polling station, and has also been used in subsequent state by-elections. But its use in NSW’s state election this month has faced intense scrutiny after researchers discovered a major security hole that could allow a hacker to read and manipulate votes. With 66,000 online votes already cast by the time Vanessa Teague and J. Alex Halderman, of the University of Melbourne and University of Michigan respectively, disclosed their revelation, the legitimacy of the entire election has been called into doubt.

Zambia: President mulls over electronic voting in 2016 elections | ITWeb Africa

The Zambian government plans to introduce electronic voting (e-voting) system in next year’s presidential and general elections. Zambian president Edgar Lungu said, however, that there is need to educate people on the importance of e-voting system to avoid conflict with stakeholders as government considers upgrading its voting method. The Zambian president said they are already in discussion with funding agencies regarding e-voting in the Southern African country, but added that stakeholders had to agree on the system before it is introduced.

National: High Court lets Wisconsin voter ID law stand | Bloomberg

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Wisconsin to implement a voter-identification law that opponents say is one of the strictest in the nation. Rejecting an appeal by civil rights groups, the justices Monday gave a victory to Republicans, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who have championed voter-ID laws around the country. Wisconsin is one of 30 states with ID laws and one of 17 that enacted measures since the Supreme Court upheld an Indiana statute in 2008. Civil rights groups say ID requirements disproportionately affect minority and low-income voters while doing little if anything to protect against fraud. The organizations pressing the Wisconsin appeal said 300,000 registered voters in that state lack a qualifying ID.

National: U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Wisconsin voter ID law | Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to Wisconsin’s Republican-backed law requiring voters to present photo identification to cast a ballot, a measure Democrats contend is aimed at keeping their supporters from voting. The justices declined to hear an appeal filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law. The ACLU said it then filed an emergency motion with a federal appeals court to try to keep the law from taking effect immediately. Republican Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said the law cannot be implemented for the state’s April 7 election because absentee ballots are already in the hands of voters but would be in place for future elections. “This decision is final,” Schimel said. Voter identification laws have been passed in a number of Republican-governed states over Democratic objections. Republicans say voter ID laws are needed to prevent voter fraud. Wisconsin’s measure, blocked by the Supreme Court last year, was backed by Governor Scott Walker, a potential 2012 Republican presidential contender.

Editorials: Should the Supreme Court Have Accepted a Challenge to Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law? | Ari Berman/The Nation

Ruthelle Frank, an 87-year-old resident of Brokaw, Wisconsin, has voted in every presidential election since 1948. But after the passage of Wisconsin’s voter-ID law in 2011, she became one of 300,000 registered voters in the state without the required ID. Frank was paralyzed on the left side of her body at birth and doesn’t have a driver’s license or birth certificate. Her name is misspelled in Wisconsin’s Register of Deeds, an error that would cost hundreds of dollars to correct. These circumstances led Frank to become the lead plaintiff in a challenge to Wisconsin’s voter-ID law. That law was blocked in state and federal court for the 2012 election and struck down in May 2014 following a full trial, only to be reinstated by a panel of Republican judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit less than two months before the 2014 election. The Supreme Court prevented the law from taking effect for the 2014 election, but only on a temporary basis. After the election, voting rights advocates asked the high court to consider the full merits of the case. Today, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. As a result, Wisconsin’s voter-ID law—among the most restrictive in the country—will be allowed to go into effect.

Arizona: Ban on Ballot Collection Voted Down by Arizona Lawmakers | Phoenix New Times

Arizona lawmakers yesterday rejected another attempt to ban the practice of people collecting others’ election ballots to turn in. Such a practice was utilized by the group Citizens for a Better Arizona during the successful 2012 recall of then-Senate President Russell Pearce. CBA workers collected early-voting ballots from voters who agreed to have their completed ballot hand-delivered to elections officials to make sure it was counted. A ban on such a practice was included in 2013’s House Bill 2305, a Republican-backed package of changes to election law. Seeing that Democrats, third-party supporters, and other non-Republicans had enough support to put the issue on the ballot for voters to decide, the Republican-led Legislature repealed the whole law last year, but Democrats have kept their eye out for any attempts to pass parts of this bill again.