Indiana: Election official clarifies registration fraud probe | Indianapolis Business Journal

A day after warning of potential widespread voting fraud, Indiana’s secretary of state acknowledged Wednesday that many of the thousands of altered registration forms she flagged might just be from residents rushing to correct their names or birth dates ahead of the election. Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson told The Associated Press she wanted Indiana State Police to investigate to ensure there was no widespread fraud after her office found a heavier than usual number of changes to voter registration forms this election cycle. “It’s very possible that because of heightened activity this year that many of those changes are changes that the individual made,” Lawson told the AP. “… That should give Indiana voters the comfort that we are vigilant and we are protecting their rights and the elections here are not rigged.” Indiana is the home state of Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican vice presidential nominee, and also has contentious races for governor and U.S. Senate on the ballot.

Kansas: Kobach calls Trump’s stance on election results ‘reasonable’ | Associated Press

Kansas’ top election official said Thursday that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was justified in refusing to promise now that he’ll accept the election results, even as the state party chief and a GOP senator on the ballot urged candidates to do so. Secretary of State Kris Kobach called criticism of Trump over his refusal during Wednesday night’s presidential debate to commit to accepting the results “rather amusing.” He said no candidate should concede if the race is close and there are questions about the count, citing the 2000 contest in Florida, decided by fewer than 1,000 votes out of nearly 6 million cast. Trump has claimed that the election might be “rigged” against him. Kobach said he takes those comments to mean close results in several battleground states are susceptible to election fraud, which Kobach termed “entirely plausible.”

Maine: Election officials dismiss claims of voter fraud, but brace for criticism | The Portland Press Herald

On Tuesday, the day Maine Gov. Paul LePage told radio talk show hosts that he feared this year’s election may not be “clean,” a woman walked into Bangor City Hall and asked to speak with the clerk. Lisa Goodwin said the woman was concerned about what the governor, a supporter of Republican Donald Trump, had said and wanted to be assured that the process would be free of any funny business. “I talked with her for a while and then I told her if she still had concerns, she was more than welcome to volunteer on Election Day and see for herself,” Goodwin said. Across the state, clerks and other election officials are busy prepping for one of the most highly anticipated elections in modern times, in particular the presidential race between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. In recent weeks, Trump has cast doubts on the electoral process, warning his supporters that it will be “rigged,” even going so far during Wednesday night’s debate as to say he’s not sure he will accept the results. Fellow Republicans have cautioned Trump against questioning one of the bedrocks of democracy, but LePage has echoed the nominee’s allegations of potential fraud. He said the only way to combat that is to require voters to present identification at the polls.

Nebraska: Gale says Nebraska election safe and secure | Lincoln Journal Star

Secretary of State John Gale assured Nebraskans on Wednesday that the state’s election system is “very safe and secure” from outside manipulation. “I believe we have taken every step that is appropriate at this point to ensure that all aspects of the election system are protected at the highest level possible,” Gale said in a statement issued from his office. Gale’s assurance comes on the heels of attempted hacking of various election sites around the country as well as the breach at the Democratic National Committee that has resulted in the public release of private communications. U.S. intelligence officials have pointed the finger at Russia in identifying attempts to interfere in the U.S. election process.

North Dakota: Local election officials: Voter fraud ‘pretty impossible’ here | INFORUM

In less than 48 hours, Donald Trump said or tweeted more than 20 times how he believes the election process is rigged. He’s even gone as far as to encourage his supporters to go out on Election Day to ‘stop voter fraud.’ … “I think it’s all kind of ridiculous,” said Natasha Berg, first time voter. “It’s just the last straw he’s trying to grab to get any kind of relevance he has left,” said Jackson Frey, voter. Trump going as far as to tell his supporters to do their part to stop it. “Go to your place and vote and go pick some other place and go sit there with your friends and make sure it’s on the up and up,” Trump said. This could cause voter intimidation worries for local election officials on Election Day. “That’s always a claim people make but we don’t really see it,” said Mike Montiplaisir, Cass County Auditor.

West Virginia: ACLU files lawsuit over online voter registration in Cabell County | Charleston Gazette-Mail

The West Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole, claiming her refusal to recognize and permit online voter registration within the county violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Residents in every other West Virginia county but Cabell, the lawsuit states, are able to successfully use the electronic voter registration system through the Secretary of State’s website. And Cabell is one of the top five counties in the state where prospective voters have used the online system, according to the complaint, which was also filed by the national ACLU’s Voting Rights Project and Charleston lawyer Anthony Majestro. The organizations filed the complaint, which seeks class-action status, on behalf of Allison Mullins, who recently moved to Cabell County to attend Marshall University. Mullins used the Secretary of State’s website to update her voter registration information prior to the Oct. 18 deadline, the lawsuit states. Her “information was not and will not be processed by Defendant Cole without action from this Court,” her lawyers wrote.

Wisconsin: Election Officials Refute Trump’s Prediction of Massive Voter Fraud | WUWM

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been ruffling feathers lately by suggesting there could be massive fraud at the polls on Nov. 8. Local elections officials are among the many refuting Trump’s allegations and insist every voters’ ballot will count. … In theory, someone could try to tamper with elections well in advance of Election Day. They could try to change the state’s list of registered voters. Reid Magney of Wisconsin’s elections commission says people have called his office with questions. “Because in the news it’s been reported that elections databases in Arizona and Illinois were entered by hackers. Nothing like that has happened in Wisconsin,” he says. Magney says he’s confident the state’s voter registration database will remain secure. “We actually upgraded our system to the absolute latest technology. We’re also working with the Department of Homeland Security to conduct regular scans to make sure there have been no intrusions,” he says.

Canada: Trudeau taking heat for walking back electoral reform | iPolitics

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have opened the door to maintaining Canada’s first-past-the-post voting system, despite having promised the 2015 federal election would be the last to use it. In an interview with Le Devoir Ottawa correspondent Marie Vastel to mark the end of his government’s first year, Trudeau said he no longer sees the same appetite for electoral reform he did when the Conservatives were in power. “Under Stephen Harper, there were so many people unhappy with the government and their approach that people were saying, ‘It will take electoral reform to no longer have a government we don’t like’. But under the current system, they now have a government they’re more satisfied with and the motivation to change the electoral system is less compelling,” he said.

Moldova: Scandal-weary Moldovans may back pro-Russia candidate for president | Reuters

The frontrunner in Moldova’s presidential race wants to end his country’s seven-year flirtation with the European Union and pivot back to Russia amid deep public discontent with a pro-Western ruling elite that has presided over economic turmoil. The ex-Soviet republic is still reeling from a banking scandal last year involving the looting of one billion dollars – the equivalent of an eighth of Moldova’s economic output – that highlighted the scale of corruption in Europe’s poorest nation, where the average monthly family income is below $300. A victory for Igor Dodon, the opposition Socialist party candidate, in the Oct. 30 election, would be good news for Russia as it vies with the West for influence across eastern Europe, including in Moldova’s much bigger neighbor Ukraine.

Montenegro: Authorities defends election day ban of Viber, WhatsApp | Associated Press

Montenegrin authorities on Wednesday defended a decision to block popular messaging services WhatsApp and Viber during the country’s parliamentary election, saying it was prompted by citizens’ complaints and in line with EU regulations. The state Communications Agency said in a statement that its move on Sunday was designed to prevent the abuse of the services on election day. The agency said a number of users — it did not specify how many — complained of receiving unwanted election propaganda. “The users of mobile communications in Montenegro asked for protection,” the agency said. “The ban of Viber and WhatsApp application turned out to be the only option to prevent the distribution of unwanted communication.”

Russia: State Department accuses Russia of ‘PR stunt’ in election-monitoring flap | Politico

The State Department on Thursday accused Moscow of a “PR stunt” after reports emerged that the U.S. had rejected Russia’s request to send delegates to “monitor” November’s polls — the latest twist in a bizarre election season sullied by accusations of Russian meddling. Kremlin-backed news outlets such as RT, sometimes citing other media, reported Thursday that representatives of Russia’s Central Elections Commission had talked to the State Department about sending a delegation to watch the U.S. polls on Nov. 8. Although allowing in foreign observers to watch Americans vote is nothing new, “U.S. officials categorically rejected even the possibility of such a mission” by Russia, RT reported. The U.S. is “suffering from some sort of persecutory delusion,” a Russian lawmaker was quoted as saying. “They imagine that Russians want to distort their elections and somehow intend to do it while acting as observers.”

Trinidad and Tobago: Appeals court rejects opposition election challenge | Caribbean News Now

The Court of Appeal in Port of Spain, Trinidad, took just two hours on Monday to reject an appeal by the opposition United National Congress (UNC) challenging the dismissal of its election petitions over the results of last year’s general election. Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appellate Judges Allan Mendonca and Peter Jamadar dashed the UNC’s hopes of having a by-election in five marginal constituencies as they ruled that the polls had been conducted “in a free and fair manner consistent with the constitutional requirements for democracy,” the Trinidad Guardian reported. However, the appeal panel, comprised of the country’s most senior judges, ruled that the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) overstepped its remit when it decided to extend the polls by one hour in Trinidad due to heavy rainfall.