Burundi: Vice president flees after opposing president’s third term | Reuters

One of Burundi’s vice presidents has fled to Belgium, saying he had been threatened after denouncing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s quest for a third term in office, in remarks the government dismissed. Gervais Rufyikiri, who held the post of second vice president, is the latest senior official to flee in recent weeks, as Nkurunziza’s bid for what opponents say is an unconstitutional third term has plunged Burundi into its worst crisis since an ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005. In May, the vice president of Burundi’s election commission and a senior judge fled amid protests demanding Nkurunziza stand down. He has refused to change tack, citing a court ruling that found he was allowed to seek another term.

Canada: Ex-chief electoral officer warns of influence from PACs on Canadian politics | Toronto Sun

Decades of work to remove the influence of big money from Canadian federal political campaigns is going down the drain with the advent of political action committees, a former chief electoral officer says. Jean-Pierre Kingsley says Canada is headed down the road well trodden in the United States, where political action committees, or PACs, raise and spend staggering amounts of money to influence elections, without the same restrictions that apply to political parties. In Canada, such groups have been known as third parties and their activities are severely restricted during campaigns.

Trinidad and Tobago: Getting ready for General Election | Caribbean Life

The campaign for the Sept. 7, 2015 General Election in Trinidad and Tobago kicked off last week. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, 63, announced the date in a statement at the House of Representatives, Port of Spain that she would advise President Anthony Carmona “to dissolve parliament at midnight on June 17, 2015 — a move which will bring to an end the tenth parliament and clear the way for the eleventh.” She said her government was the first under the Republican Constitution to serve its full term.

National: Why the FEC’s Deadlock Won’t Change Any Time Soon | Morning Consult

The nation’s top political watchdog is so thoroughly mired in a toxic partisan gridlock that the members themselves can barely contain their disdain for each other. But there is no sign of a wholesale change at the Federal Election Commission for what might seem like a bizarre reason: There aren’t enough qualified lawyers in Washington. Five of the six FEC commissioners are currently serving beyond the expiration of their terms; only chairwoman Ann Ravel’s term has yet to expire. But there is little interest from either Democrats or Republicans on Capitol Hill in finding a new slate of members, one that could perhaps get along better than the current set.

Maine: House spikes bill to make ballot initiatives more difficult | The Portland Press Herald

The House of Representatives on Monday defeated a bill that would have made it more difficult for Mainers to create new laws through ballot initiative. The House voted 92-54 to approve the bill, but the margin was short of the two-thirds support required to advance it to the Senate. The proposal would have asked voters if they want to amend the Maine Constitution to require sponsors of ballot campaigns to obtain a percentage of voter signatures from each of Maine’s two congressional districts. The vote on Monday marked the end of a bill that had orginally garnered bipartisan support. The bill received two-thirds support in initial votes in the House and Senate, a margin that would have sent the bill to voters for final ratification.

Massachusetts: Online voting registration system launched | Associated Press

Massachusetts is now the 21st state to offer online voter registration. Secretary of State William Galvin said Tuesday that residents can use the new system to register to vote, change their address for voting purposes and change party affiliation. He says the system will make it easier to register and vote in next year’s presidential election. “We think it’s removing one more administrative impediment … to registering to vote,” said Galvin, the state’s top elections official.

New Jersey: Same day voter registration nixed from ‘Democracy Act’ | NJ.com

Just one week after it was introduced, a slightly pared down bill to overhaul New Jersey’s voting system began its legislative journey Monday. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 6-3 to approve the “Democracy Act” along party lines, with Democrats supporting it and Republicans opposing it. “We cannot afford to let our democracy sit with diminishing participation at the polls and do nothing about it, because democracy suffers,” said Deborah Cornavaca, legislative director for New Jersey Working Families, a progressive group that has been pushing the measure.

North Carolina: House leader defends voter ID changes | News & Observer

Responding to criticism that legislators sharply weakened the state’s voter ID law last week, House Rules Chairman David Lewis posted a 1,000-word “open letter” Monday defending the changes. The House and Senate quickly approved the changes last week; the legislation is now on Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk awaiting action. It would set up a process for voters to use a “reasonable impediment declaration” outlining why they couldn’t provide a photo ID at the polls. Voters could claim one of eight reasons, including a lack of transportation, disability or illness, lost or stolen photo ID, or a lack of a birth certificate or other documents to obtain a photo ID. Voters using the form would provide their date of birth or the last four digits of their Social Security number, or show a voter registration card to prove their identity.

Puerto Rico: Congress tackles issue of Puerto Rico’s status | The CT Mirror

For the first time since the Republican Party took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, Congress will hold a hearing on Puerto Rico’s status. Wednesday’s hearing, featuring witnesses representing all of Puerto Rico’s political parties, has been scheduled by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the head of a House Natural Resources subcommittee. It has with authority over the five U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico. In addition to considering the island’s identity as a geo-political unit, the hearing will also focus on Puerto Rico’s severe economic problems. Young has long favored granting statehood to Puerto Rico and cosponsored legislation proposed by Resident Commisioner Pedro Pierluisi that would require a vote on the island within one year on the statehood question.

Utah: The price to perform a primary election | Standard Examiner

Because 12 candidates filed to run for office in Centerville, and 10 candidates filed to run in Layton, both Davis cities will be required to host an Aug. 11 municipal primary at a cost of thousands of dollars to the taxpayer, whether those taxpayers take the time to vote or not. “We budgeted right at $50,000 for both (the primary and general election) and you can pretty well split (the cost between the two elections),” Layton City Recorder Thieda Wellman said. “The biggest portion of that goes to (Davis) county,” Wellman said. Davis County will be serving as the administrator for the municipal elections in the various cities. Some cities will be utilizing a vote-by-mail process, while others will remain with a more traditional ballot election.

Editorials: China’s plans for Hong Kong backfire | The Washington Post

For 79 days last year, thousands of protesters occupied major roads in Hong Kong in an attempt to force Chinese authorities to grant the territory genuine democracy. They failed. Local leaders and their overlords in Beijing refused to negotiate over an electoral plan that would allow for a popular vote for Hong Kong’s next leader but would limit candidates to nominees approved by the Communist regime. That left opposition representatives in Hong Kong’s legislature with an unappealing choice this month: Sign off on the inadequate reform or block it at the risk of freezing the current, even less democratic, system in place. “To kowtow, or to veto,” was the way opposition leader Alan Leong summed up the dilemma.

Ethiopia: Opposition Parties Vow to Continue Peaceful Struggle | VoA News

Ethiopian opposition parties did not manage to break the rule of Ethiopia’s ruling party last month or receive a significant amount of seats in parliament. It complained of harassment, intimidation and vote-rigging during the May election in which the ruling party probably won all of the parliament seats and another five years in power. The opposition Ethiopia Democratic Party claims the pre-election process was not fair and the election results are not credible. EDP Executive Committee member Wasihun Tesfaye feels there is a deadlock in the current multi-party system, but said the opposition will continue.

France: France considers banning MPs aged over 70 | Newsweek

France’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is pondering a proposal to introduce an age cap on politicians seeking election after a government-backed report recommended it as a measure to make sure more young people were included in politics. The report made a series of recommendations including lowering the voting age to 16, limiting the number of terms which an official can serve in the houses of parliament to three, and banning politicians over 70 from standing for election. Although youth minister Patrick Kanner is considering the measures insisting they can make a positive difference, the concept of an age cap has provoked accusations of ageism from MPs.

Venezuela: Legislative elections date set for 6 December | The Guardian

Venezuela will hold legislative elections on 6 December, election officials announced on Monday after months of mounting pressure from local opposition groups and international observers. The South American country’s laws mandate that national assembly balloting be held this year, but elections officials had delayed setting a date, raising concerns the contest would be cancelled. In her announcement, the elections council head, Tibisay Lucena, said the organisation had always intended to set a date and was not reacting to public pressure.

Editorials: Did Republicans kill N.C. Voter ID? | The Charlotte Observer

North Carolina Republicans did a startling and uncharacteristic thing last week: In the face of a potentially unfavorable legal outcome, they gutted a bad provision in a bad law. No, it wasn’t the state’s abortion ultrasound law, which finally died last week when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take it up. It also wasn’t the state’s same-sex marriage amendment, which is likely to be gone for good in the next week when those same justices decide on the issue for all states. It was another, very significant law: North Carolina’s Voter Information Verification Act (VIVA), which would have required voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a ballot beginning in 2016.

National: Congressional Democrats to introduce new Voting Rights Act fix | The Washington Post

Congressional Democrats are expected to unveil new legislation this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday, that if passed would restore the requirement for federal approval for voting procedure changes in some states, a provision of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court two years ago. The legislation, titled “The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015,” would force any state that has had 15 or more voting rights violations in the last 25 years to be subject to federal preclearance for any change in voting procedure or law. That criterion would initially subject 13 states to preclearance: New York, California, Arkansas, Arizona, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, according to a copy of the legislation obtained by the Washington Post. Those states would be able to free themselves of the preclearence provision by going 10 consecutive years without a voting rights violation.

Press Release: Minnesota Secretary of State Certifies Innovative New Voting Technology | Hart InterCivic

Upon completion of an extensive system evaluation by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, the Verity Voting system by Hart InterCivic has been certified for use in all Minnesota elections. That means that all jurisdictions in the state can now use Verity Voting’s new paper ballot scanners and accessible ballot-marking devices for polling location use and a new high-speed, scalable central scan solution for processing absentee ballots. The Verity Voting system offers a completely new choice for all jurisdictions in the State looking to replace their aging voting systems. Verity uses advanced voting technology to easily address all of Minnesota’s election needs, including built-in accessibility features that grant equality of access for all voters.

National: Lawsuit filed challenging general election debate rules | Associated Press

A nonprofit group and the Green and Libertarian parties filed suit Monday seeking to force open the general election presidential debates to candidates from outside the two major political parties. The lawsuit filed against the Federal Election Commission seeks to force it to crack down on the Commission on Presidential Debates, which it argues is violating FEC rules that dictate that debates must be staged in a nonpartisan manner and candidates selected for participation based on objective criteria. Alternatively, the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeks permission to sue the debate commission directly.

Arkansas: New voting system to roll out in the fall | Blytheville Courier News

New voting system equipment for the state of Arkansas has been selected, but Mississippi County will likely not implement the new paper ballot system until November 2016. Secretary of State Mark Martin has chosen Election Systems & Software (ES&S) as the vendor for any state-purchased integrated voting system equipment going forward. This announcement comes after months of evaluation and analysis and input from state and county officials.

California: State Senate tells U.S. Supreme Court not to mess with ‘one person, one vote’ | Los Angeles Times

The state Senate on Monday sent a strong message to the U.S. Supreme Court to not mess with the principal of “one person, one vote.’’ The resolution, which passed 36-0, comes just weeks after the Supreme Court announced it would consider a Texas case challenging the way electoral districts are drawn. At issue is whether voting districts should continue to be drawn by using census population data, which include noncitizen immigrants as well as children. Conservative challengers want the system changed to count only citizens who are eligible to vote. Senate President Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), author of the resolution, said he was “deeply concerned by the inexplicable decision” by the Supreme Court to hear the case. Since the Supreme Court established the principal of “one person, one vote” in 1964, it has ensured that all people in the country have received fair representation, the senator said.

New Jersey: Lawmakers advance Democrats’ election law overhaul | Associated Press

New Jersey residents could be automatically enrolled to vote when they apply for a driver’s license or register online under an election law overhaul being considered by an Assembly panel. The Appropriations Committee advanced the legislation on Monday. Democratic legislators unveiled the measure last week, saying it would revise an outdated system. The proposal comes weeks after Gov. Chris Christie criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton for suggesting Republicans want to restrict voter access.

Washington: Federal appeals court turns back Yakima’s request to stay election | Yakima Herald

Yakima’s appeal seeking to stay City Council elections has been turned back by the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a decision released Friday, the court said the city’s appeal should be heard by the federal district court judge who first ordered the elections. And in a related development, that district court judge, Thomas Rice, ordered the city of Yakima to pay $1.8 million in legal costs and fees to the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. In a lawsuit brought against the city by the ACLU, Rice ordered the city to revamp its election process earlier this year after ruling Yakima’s voting system violated the federal Voting Rights Act by routinely suppressing the rights of Latinos.

Burundi: Grenade attacks kill four ahead of election | BBC

Four people have been killed and 30 wounded in a wave of grenade attacks overnight in Burundi, police say, a week before parliamentary elections. A single attack on a bar in Ngozi, the hometown of President Pierre Nkurunziza, accounted for the majority of the victims. Police blamed the attacks on opposition supporters and said three suspects had been arrested. Violent protests began in April against the president’s third-term bid.

Ethiopia: Governing party sweeps parliament in final vote count | AFP

Ethiopia’s ruling party and its allies celebrated a clean sweep victory in parliament Monday with the announcement of last month’s election results. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn secured all 546 parliamentary seats, including the sole seat held by an opposition MP in the previous chamber, said Merga Bekana, chairman of the electoral board. Preliminary results for the last outstanding constituency, the southwestern Bonga district where elections were delayed, showed the EPRDF also winning that seat.

Poland: Opposition Leader Steps Aside in Election Campaign | Wall Street Journal

The leader of Poland’s conservative opposition on Saturday ruled himself out of the running for prime minister in this year’s parliamentary election, and instead nominated a female lawmaker who is considered less divisive. After more than two decades at the forefront of Polish politics, Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he wouldn’t put himself at the center of this year’s campaign, and instead threw his support behind Beata Szydlo. Ms. Szydlo is widely credited with softening the conservative party’s image and, as campaign chief, helping Andrzej Duda secure a five-year term in May’s presidential election.

Venezuela: Date set for elections after mounting pressure | Associated Press

Venezuela will hold legislative elections Dec. 6, election officials announced Monday after months of mounting pressure from local opposition groups and international observers. The South American country’s laws mandate that National Assembly balloting be held this year, but elections officials had delayed setting a date, raising concerns the contest would be canceled. In her announcement, elections council head Tibisay Lucena said the organization had always intended to set a date and was not reacting to public pressure. “These attacks and phony analyses from national experts and international figures have mostly been very ignorant,” she said. The date is timed to commemorate the first election of the late President Hugo Chavez, who launched the country’s socialist revolution when voters chose him overwhelmingly on Dec. 6, 1998.

Delaware: Same day voting legislation again moving forward | Dover Post

A bill to allow prospective voters to register and cast their ballots on the same day as an election is pending a vote in the Delaware Senate. Introduced June 3, Senate Bill 111 was reported out of the Administrative Services/Elections Committee on June 11, and now is awaiting consideration by the full Senate. A similar bill was barely approved in the House during the last General Assembly session, but died before being considered by the upper chamber.

Florida: Broward elections supervisor agrees on absentee ballots postage | Sun Sentinel

There’s one less excuse for not voting in the coming elections. The absentee ballots won’t require postage. Broward Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes has agreed to send absentee ballots postage-paid, after county commissioners made the request in hopes it would increase voter turnout. Snipes also has agreed to seek a Florida Bar ethics decision about whether she should continue allowing her office’s contract attorney to contribute to or participate in political campaigns on the side.

Illinois: How Kane County might combat same-day voter registration law | Daily Herald

Facing a $1.8 million price tag for implementation, Kane County is poised to ask Springfield politicians to back away from a new law requiring same-day voter registration at all polling places.A state law that just went active June 1 requires same-day registration at all polling places in counties and municipalities with populations of more than 100,000. The new law followed an experiment with same-day voter registration at a handful of polling places in each county during the November 2014 election.