National: Hillary Clinton urged to call for election vote recount in battleground states | The Guardian

A growing number of academics and activists are calling for US authorities to fully audit or recount the 2016 presidential election vote in key battleground states, in case the results could have been skewed by foreign hackers. The loose coalition, which is urging Hillary Clinton’s campaign to join its fight, is preparing to deliver a report detailing its concerns to congressional committee chairs and federal authorities early next week, according to two people involved. The document, which is currently 18 pages long, focuses on concerns about the results in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “I’m interested in verifying the vote,” said Dr Barbara Simons, an adviser to the US election assistance commission and expert on electronic voting. “We need to have post-election ballot audits.” Simons is understood to have contributed analysis to the effort but declined to characterise the precise nature of her involvement.

National: Cybersecurity experts write open letter calling U.S. hacking investigation | Mashable

A huge group of scholars is refusing to let the sophisticated hacks that marred the U.S. election be forgotten. Dozens of experts in cybersecurity, defense, elections and authoritarian regimes have signed an open letter calling on members of Congress to investigate reports of hacking by foreign powers in an effort to influence the outcome of the U.S. election. The letter called for a particular focus on Russia’s involvement. “In this case, what is right is simple: our country needs a thorough, public Congressional investigation into the role that foreign powers played in the months leading up to November,” the experts wrote. “As representatives of the American people, Congress is best positioned to conduct an objective investigation.”

National: Harassment or Hail Mary? Electors feel besieged | USA Today

To supporters of Hillary Clinton, the number looks intoxicating: 155 electors in states where the popular vote went for Donald Trump — some by slim margins — who apparently aren’t legally bound to vote for the GOP presidential nominee when the Electoral College meets Dec. 19. Solicit them like lobbyists schmooze members of Congress, right? Persuade just a portion, and you’ve got the first woman president, winner of the popular vote, certified by a constitutional authority. She’s got 232 in the bag. She would need 38 “faithless electors” to win this game. That’s the problem with this particular political fantasy. Though electors in several states report that they’re getting thousands of emails, letters and even telephone calls to ask them to switch their votes, they’re among the Republican Party’s most loyal members.

Missouri: Judge orders new system for voting for Ferguson-Florissant school board members | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A U.S. District Court judge is calling for a new system of voting in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, one intended to bolster the ability of African-Americans to elect school board members of their choice. Judge Rodney Sippel — who struck down the school district’s voting methods in August — calls for a system involving so-called cumulative voting. Under such an approach, voters cast as many votes as there are candidates, distributing those votes among candidates as they choose. Unlike the current system, a voter could use all votes on a single candidate. In the ruling, the judge argues the system allows voters to “concentrate their full voting power behind their preferred candidate without requiring voters to give up any of the votes they are entitled to cast.” The new system is to go into effect in time for the board’s April election. The ruling requires that voters first be educated on the new system.

North Carolina: Gov. Pat McCrory wants recount in race with Roy Cooper | News & Observer

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has formally requested a recount of votes in his close race with Democrat Roy Cooper. Two weeks after Election Day, Cooper is moving ahead with preparations to take office as governor but McCrory has sought to raise doubts about the integrity of the election. More than half of the state’s 100 counties reported final results on or before Tuesday, even as county officials awaited guidance from the State Board of Elections on how to deal with allegations from Republicans of people voting in two states, ineligible felons voting and absentee voters who died before Election Day. Those questioned ballots add up to a few hundred, not the thousands of votes by which McCrory trails. A recount would happen after all counties report final results and only if fewer than 10,000 votes continue to separate Cooper and McCrory. More than 4.69 million votes were cast in the race.

North Carolina: State board to counties: Keep counting | WRAL

County election officials should keep counting votes from the Nov. 8 election despite numerous protests, the State Board of Elections ruled Tuesday afternoon. It’s unclear whether lawyers for Gov. Pat McCrory or Attorney General Roy Cooper won the day at the conclusion of the three-hour dive into election minutia. The Republican incumbent and his Democratic rival have been battling over election results that give Cooper a roughly 6,100-vote edge. A written order that was to be issued later Tuesday will likely clarify matters on all sides. However, it is all but certain that this is not the last time the two sides will clash. The five-member state board did not look at individual cases Tuesday. Rather, the board wanted to give counties broad guidance about how to handle certain categories of voters, including those who cast ballots and then died or those who may have been on probation for felony crimes when they voted.

North Carolina: Legislature could revisit election laws in wake of McCrory complaints, Moore says | News & Observer

N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday that the legislature could revisit voter ID requirements and other election laws in the wake of complaints filed with help from Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign. During a news conference announcing House Republican leaders for next year’s legislative session, Moore was asked about the complaints filed amid a tight governor’s race – making claims that dead people and convicted felons voted in this year’s election. “The fact that there are a number of protests related to the election at least make it an issue that it’s something that needs to be dealt with,” Moore told reporters.

Oregon: America’s First Test of Automatic Voter Registration, in Oregon, Has Mixed Results | Governing

Nearly 100,000 Oregonians who otherwise may not have voted cast ballots in the Nov. 8 election after registering to vote in the state’s new automatic voter registration program, Democratic Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said. Nearly 43 percent of voters who registered automatically after visiting a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office voted. That’s a lower rate however, than the 79 percent who registered by mail and through the secretary of state’s website. Many states were eyeing Oregon which was the first to start automatically registering voters in an attempt to encourage more residents to vote.

Texas: Wichita County is considering revising some ballot procedures after election delay | The Times Record

Wichita County is considering revising some ballot procedures after election results were delayed November 8. Wichita County Clerk Lori Bohannon presented the election canvass to the county commissioners at their regular meeting Monday morning. Bohannon said several factors contributed to the voting report that delayed a final local tally of votes by several hours. One reason was the more than 3,000 paper ballots mailed in – the most she has seen in her history with the county, Bohannon said. Usually the Monday prior to election day, an early ballot crew checks the signatures on the forms and other important information. This year, they were not able to review all of the forms on Monday.

Wisconsin: Discrepancies in unofficial Outagamie County election results explained | WBAY

Some people took to social media after finding discrepancies in some Outagamie County election results. In four out of almost a hundred wards, the number of votes cast in the presidential race were greater than the number of ballots voted, that’s according to unofficial election results. The Towns of Cicero and Grand Chute along with the Villages of Bear Creek and Hortonville are where unofficial election results showed less ballots cast overall, than the number of total votes in the presidential election. The discrepancies led some to take to social media, questioning what happened, calling for a Hillary Clinton victory. In a statement to Action 2 News, explaining the discrepancy in Hortonville, Lynn Mischker, the Village Clerk-Treasurer wrote, “In order to give election returns to the Outagamie County Clerk’s office as quickly as possible the Chief Inspector added together the votes from the election machine tapes. An error was made while keying the numbers on the calculator during this process resulting in an incorrect number of votes reported on Election night.

Wyoming: Bill would let residents become “permanent absentee” voters | Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Wyoming voters would be able to apply for status as a permanent absentee voter under a proposed law that will be considered by the Legislature in 2017. The Legislature’s Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee voted Monday to forward such a bill to the full body. Under a permanent absentee designation, a voter would automatically be sent an absentee ballot instead of having to request one for each election. However, a voter could lose his or her permanent absentee status for one of several reasons stipulated in the bill. Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said absentee voting saves her office time as the election nears, as it cuts down on paperwork and the number of people who vote early in person as well as on Election Day. “That is a big savings to us,” she said.

Ireland: Referendum on Irish emigrant vote further delayed by Irish leader | Irish Central

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams described Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s rejection of a promised referendum next year on the right of the diaspora and Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland to vote in presidential elections as “unacceptable and deeply disappointing.” The Sinn Féin leader also criticized the announcement by the Taoiseach ruling out a referendum before the next presidential election in 2018. In his response to a question from the Sinn Féin leader, the Taoiseach blamed the delay in holding the referendum on the need for officials to determine who would be included in a new franchise, what categories of people would be covered, and the cost of the venture. Kenny, according to an Irish Times report, said he was still committed to holding a referendum on the issue of emigrant voting for the president and had recently met with Diaspora Minister Joe McHugh to request that the research being done by an interdepartmental group be concluded soon.

Italy: No campaigners in Italy referendum threaten to challenge final result | Europe Online

Campaigners for a ‘no‘ vote in Italy‘s December 4 Italian constitutional referendum said Tuesday they are ready to challenge the final result if votes cast by Italians living abroad prove to be decisive. The threat followed repeated media reports that postal voting procedures for more than 4 million Italians registered abroad are at high risk of being rigged. The Foreign Ministry has rejected those reports as speculation. “In voting for Italians abroad, the requirement for secrecy is not fulfilled, and if votes by Italians abroad were to be decisive […] and lead to a ‘yes‘ victory […] we could decide to appeal,” Alessandro Pace, the head of the Comitato per il No, said.

Mali: Wave of sabotage hits long-delayed Mali vote | AFP

A series of deadly attacks and targeted disruptions have marred Mali’s long-delayed municipal elections, security sources said Monday, leaving six people dead as vote counting began. The election of 12,000 councillors on Sunday was due to take place in 2014 but ongoing political instability caused by jihadists and rival militias has pushed the vote back several times. Turnout was expected to be below 20 percent in the capital Bamako due to continuing security fears and fatigue among voters who complain the government has failed to deliver peace. Results were not yet available by early evening on Monday.