Editorials: Voting Rights: Will Court Protections Deliver? | Allegra Chapman/The American Prospect

The electoral dirty work done by dozens of state legislatures in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision Shelby County v. Holder is the focus of determined legal challenges by voting-rights advocates, and decisions are coming down at a dizzying pace. Not every court involved has come down in favor of voters, but there’s encouraging evidence that judges, including conservatives, recognize state laws purportedly passed to ensure “voting integrity” for what they really are: suppressive tactics. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County, state legislators representing nearly half the country rolled back effective reforms and erected new barriers to voting. It was a throwback to the era before the 1960s, when Jim Crow laws finally triggered passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Alaska: Nageak’s lawsuit against state election officials to proceed | The Alaska Journal of Commerce

The case of Rep. Ben Nageak, D-Barrow, vs. Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott and Director of Elections Josie Bahnke will start on Tuesday, Sept. 27. Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi has ruled that the trial must begin next week and end no later than Oct. 3 so that the Division of Elections will have proper time to mail ballots ahead of the general election. Attorney Stacey Stone, representing Nageak, requested additional time to put together a comprehensive witness list, as rural witnesses must be both properly vetted and logistically organized, continue the discovery process, and issue the necessary subpoenas. “The reality is that absentee voting starts on Oct. 24,” countered Assistant Attorney General Margaret Paton-Walsh. “That means ballots need to be mailed out by Oct. 17 which means we probably need a decision by the Supreme Court by Oct. 14.” In order for that to happen however, Guidi would need to make a decision by Oct. 7.

Arizona: Judge rejects hold on Arizona ‘ballot harvesting’ law | The Arizona Republic

Democrats are taking their fight to block a controversial voting law to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, after a federal judge Friday denied their request for an injunction. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Rayes rejected a request from state and national Democrats to suspend Arizona’s law that bans ballot collection. He found the Democrats did not demonstrate that the new law would hurt minority voters more so than others, and said it would have a minimal effect, if any, on broader voting rights. That means that in the Nov. 8 election, as it was in the Aug. 30 primary, people who attempt to take another person’s mail-in ballot to elections officials will be subject to penalties.

Colorado: Secretary of State investigates votes cast with names of dead people | The Coloradoan

Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is investigating reports that votes have been cast for people months or years after their deaths. A review of databases by KCNC-TV of voting histories in Colorado compared with federal death records turned up dozens of discrepancies. The discrepancies involve mail ballot votes that were cast and possible errors by election judges. Williams says Colorado’s election system is not perfect and there are gaps that allow situations like this to occur. “We do believe there were several instances of potential vote fraud that occurred,” Williams said.

Editorials: The obvious case for automatic voter registration | The Denver Post

If a couple ballot measures pass on Nov. 8, Colorado could move a bit closer to the goal of becoming an actual democracy, 140 years after it achieved statehood. Propositions 107 and 108 would restore the presidential primary election to the state and allow all registered voters, including those who are unaffiliated, to participate. So, if these measures pass, in 2020 Coloradans won’t have to depend on folks in places like Iowa and New Hampshire to select presidential candidates. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still a long way to go. Why, in 2016, with all our whiz-bang technology, is it still so hard to vote? (Let’s pause here while we contemplate the obvious cynical reasons.)

Ohio: Federal appeals court rules against Ohio voter-roll purges | The Washington Post

A federal appeals court ruled Friday against Ohio’s procedure for removing voters from state rolls, dealing a blow to Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted and handing a victory to voting rights advocates in a key presidential swing state. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit overruled a U.S. district court judge’s decision that Husted was not violating any laws with the process he was using to take inactive voters off the rolls if they did not confirm their status. By a ­2-to-1 vote, the court of appeals sent the case back to the district court. The dispute centers on Ohio’s removal of possibly tens of thousands of voters from registration lists because they did not respond to letters seeking to confirm their addresses and have not cast a ballot since 2008, in what is being criticized as a “use it or lose it” rule for voting.

Pennsylvania: GOP makes 11th-hour push to relax rules for poll-watchers | Tribune Democrat

Republican lawmakers are poised to pass a bill allowing election monitors to be bused around the state to watch, and potentially challenge, voters at the polls. It’s an effort that echoes themes raised by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In an Aug. 12 campaign visit in Altoona, Trump suggested that people “go down to certain areas and watch and study, and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.” But Democrats argue those poll-watchers could be intimidating voters – instead of preventing intimidation. That’s not so far-fetched, said Adam Gitlin, counsel for the Democracy Program of New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice. “There’s actually a risk that, in a more disorganized way, people are going to be showing up to the polls, they won’t know the law, and they’ll be engaging in discriminatory challenges,” Gitlin told the news site ProPublica for a Sept. 14 story.

South Dakota: After failing in Pierre, redistricting forces turn to ballot | Associated Press

After years of trying to get South Dakota legislators to surrender control of redistricting to an independent commission, supporters of the idea are trying to do it instead through a constitutional amendment. Backers say the measure before voters this November would eliminate lawmakers’ conflict of interest and make people feel elections are fair to all parties. “It’s time for fair representation. Period,” said Democratic Rep. Peggy Gibson, who has backed at least nine independent redistricting measures since 2009. “I’m not saying it’ll be perfect, but I’m certainly thinking it will be better than the method that we have now.” Opponents — including majority Republicans — say the current system is working fine. “The idea, I think, is to elect people that are more in line with liberal ideas as far as spending money and a whole host of issues,” said GOP Rep. Jim Bolin, who served on the commission that oversaw the last redistricting plan in 2011.

Texas: Judge Orders Texas Officials To Reprint Misleading Voter Education Materials | News One

A federal Judge in Texas has ruled the state violated an agreement it made in July to soften its voter ID law, one of the strictest in the country and as a result, will have to reprint their voter education materials. In July, a court ruled that the Texas voter ID law discriminated against Blacks and Hispanics who were less likely than Whites to have government-issued photo ID’s. Texas officials agreed to ease the photo ID restrictions allowing other forms of identification to be used, but the phrasing in their voting guidelines did not make that clear. According to the agreement made in July voters would be allowed to cast their ballots with a signed affidavit and a paycheck, bank statement, utility bill or other government document that included their name.

Editorials: Automatic voter registration would boost Utah democracy | Chase Thomas and Judi Hilman/The Salt Lake Tribune

The “right to vote” is mentioned five times in the Constitution — more than the right to free speech, the right to bear arms or the right to privacy (which most of us believe is a fundamental right but is not even mentioned in the Constitution). It is then shocking to learn that many do not consider voting to be a “right” and that millions of people every year are denied this basic democratic function. The Constitution protects a citizen’s right to vote regardless of race, gender and age, while prohibiting states from making it more difficult to vote through devices such as poll taxes. Despite these protections, there is no Constitutional provision that guarantees every United States citizen the right to vote. As a consequence, states have, for years, used a variety of “creative” means to limit some citizens’ ability to vote.

Gabon: Heavy security in tense Gabon after Bongo re-election validated | AFP

Libreville’s nearly empty streets were under the watch of a heavy police and military presence Saturday after Gabon’s top court upheld President Ali Bongo’s re-election in bitterly disputed polls. Security force checkpoints dotted routes into the capital’s centre, helicopters hovered overhead and elite troops protected the presidential palace, but no violence had been reported. The Constitutional Court, while partially changing the results of the close Aug. 27 vote, said Bongo maintained a lead over his former ally-turned-opponent Jean Ping, at a televised public hearing overnight Friday-Saturday.

Palestine: Next month’s Palestinian local elections aren’t happening. Here’s why. | The Washington Post

Voting in the Palestinian territories rarely occurs when it is supposed to, and this year is no exception. One month before local elections were scheduled across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Supreme Court in Ramallah postponed the vote until it rules on two complaints regarding the authority of Gaza’s court system to disqualify candidates and the exclusion of voters in East Jerusalem. Though nominally independent, the court’s judges were appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas, and the decision provides a convenient pretext for the ruling party, Fatah, to avoid an embarrassing defeat at the polls. But with an extensive security apparatus — and with Israel, the United States and neighboring Arab states dependent on Fatah’s continued control of the central Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions — what does Abbas have to fear from Palestinians electing their village, town and city councils? A look back at the recent history of municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza sheds light on why opportunities to elect new leadership at the local level can be so important in this context of frozen conflict.

Somalia: Officials miss date set to start elections | AFP

Somalia’s electoral team failed to meet the September 24 deadline for the start of the elections of members of the Lower House, raising concerns the delay could affect the election of the president slated for October 30. By Saturday, the day polling stations were set to open in the regional capitals, the Federal Indirect Elections Implementing Team, FIEIT and its state level equivalent were still held up in a meeting to iron out contentious issues. The polls body said in a statement on September 21 that elders tasked with choosing the delegates who will elect members of the Lower House were yet to submit their lists to the electoral body even as it emerged clans were not willing to reserve seats to women in line with the poll procedures.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for September 19-25 2016

cybersecurity_260After multiple hacks of Democratic Party e-mail systems and fears of Russian cyber attacks on the U.S. election, paper ballots have taken on an unexpected appeal as voter advocates, election officials and others have raised concerns about the risks involved in conducting elections over the all-too-vulnerable internet. Election officials are still looking for last-minute fixes to ensure that the patchwork of voting technology used around the country can fend off the increasingly troubling prospect of hacker attacks and, in the latest of those efforts, Georgia representative Hank Johnson is set to introduce two bills today designed to shore up that fragile system’s security. The New York Times examined the enduring fear of voter fraud in spite of overwhelming evidence of the rarity voter impersonation. Verified Voting’s Pamela Smith wrote about the importance of post-election audits in this month’s edition of NCSL’s The Canvass. North Dakota will offer an affidavit to voters who don’t bring an identification to the polls, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Court. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in a case involving removal of names from voter registration rolls. Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton will ask the Supreme Court to determine whether the state’s voter id laws are legal. Opposition leader Jean Ping criticized a decision by Gabon’s top court to validate President Ali Bongo’s re-election, as police and troops patrolled the deserted streets of Libreville to prevent a new flareup of violence. Inflated turnout figures, ballot-stuffing and people voting more than once with reported after United Russia’s landslide victory in parliamentary elections while election officials in Venezuela blocked the opposition’s hope of holding a recall referendum that could wrest the presidency from the ruling socialist party.

National: Cybersecurity Threats Curb Online Voting Company Ambitions | Bloomberg

After multiple hacks of Democratic Party e-mail systems and fears of Russian cyber attacks on the U.S. election, paper ballots have taken on an unexpected appeal. Online voting software companies are convinced convenience-loving Americans will increasingly push to cast their ballots on smartphones and laptops, and they’re working to make that happen. But voter advocates, election officials and others are still leery of the risks involved in conducting elections over the all-too-vulnerable internet. For now, fears about voting security may be giving paper-ballot backers the upper hand where it matters most: Americans’ confidence in the integrity of the election system. “In recent weeks, reports on cyber attacks have voters questioning whether their vote will actually count, and that, in my opinion, is more damaging than the potential for hacking,” Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler told a House committee meeting Sept. 13. The best voting system, he said, is the one which “people of that state feel comfortable voting.”… The U.S. Election Assistance Commission—which develops voluntary guidelines, tests and certifies voting hardware and software—has not certified any internet voting systems. A commission spokesman told Bloomberg BNA it was not clear if an update to its technical guidelines—slated for 2018—would include language about online voting systems. However, the guidelines committee adopted a list of priorities in September 2016 which include discussions on the risks and benefits of electronically returning ballots.

National: Officials Are Scrambling to Protect the Election From Hackers | WIRED

As the United States barrels toward November elections, officials are still looking for last-minute fixes to ensure that the patchwork of voting technology used around the country can fend off the increasingly troubling prospect of hacker attacks. And in the latest of those efforts, Georgia representative Hank Johnson is set to introduce two bills today designed to shore up that fragile system’s security. The Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2016 would mandate that the Department of Homeland Security classify voting systems as critical infrastructure, and the Election Integrity Act would limit which voting machines states can buy and also create a plan for handling system failures. The bills reflect a growing debate about whether designating voting tech as critical infrastructure (like the public water supply, energy systems, transportation, communication grid, and the financial sector) would help to secure the U.S.’s highly decentralized voting setup. In the wake of the Democratic National Committee breach and increasingly brazen Russian cyberespionage attacks, concern is mounting about the potential for election hacking in the 2016 presidential race and beyond. Voting registries and election board websites have been compromised, security researchers have shown that electronic voting machines are vulnerable, and agencies like the FBI are on alert.

National: Proposed cybersecurity bills would forbid internet-connected voting machines | FedScoop

A pair of comprehensive, complimentary election infrastructure reform bills, which will be first introduced Wednesday in the House of Representatives, seeks to take all voting machines offline, offers funding for election cybersecurity research and mandates the use of paper ballots across the U.S. by 2018, FedScoop has learned. These two pieces of legislation — named the “Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2016” and the “Election Integrity Act,” respectively — are being sponsored by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a lawmaker whose constituents will rely on paperless ballots to cast their votes in November’s presidential election. “In the wake of the DNC server hack and well-documented efforts by states to suppress the vote, citizens are rightly concerned,” Johnson said in a statement. “We must work to reduce the vulnerability of our crucial voting systems, protect the security and integrity of our electoral process, and ensure all Americans have the opportunity to vote.”

Editorials: The Success of the Voter Fraud Myth | The New York Times

How does a lie come to be widely taken as the truth? The answer is disturbingly simple: Repeat it over and over again. When faced with facts that contradict the lie, repeat it louder. This, in a nutshell, is the story of claims of voting fraud in America — and particularly of voter impersonation fraud, the only kind that voter ID laws can possibly prevent. Last week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that nearly half of registered American voters believe that voter fraud occurs “somewhat” or “very” often. That astonishing number includes two-thirds of people who say they’re voting for Donald Trump and a little more than one-quarter of Hillary Clinton supporters. Another 26 percent of American voters said that fraud “rarely” occurs, but even that characterization is off the mark. Just 1 percent of respondents gave the answer that comes closest to reflecting reality: “Never.” As study after study has shown, there is virtually no voter fraud anywhere in the country. The most comprehensive investigation to date found that out of one billion votes cast in all American elections between 2000 and 2014, there were 31 possible cases of impersonation fraud. Other violations — like absentee ballot fraud, multiple voting and registration fraud — are also exceedingly rare. So why do so many people continue to believe this falsehood?

Verified Voting Blog: What are the post-Election Day procedures states can take to confirm the election went well?

Ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the vote count can help generate public confidence in elections. Two of the most important steps happen after voting concludes on Election Day. Ballot accounting and reconciliation (BA&R) is a not-so-exciting name for a crucial best practice. BA&R is a multi-step process that is designed to account for all ballots, whether cast at the polling place or sent in remotely, and compare that with the number of voters who voted, as the first pass. After that, the next step is to ensure that all batches of votes from all the polling places are aggregated into the totals once (and only once). This is a basic “sanity check” that makes sure no ballots are missing, none are found later, none were counted twice, etc. Most jurisdictions do a good job at this task.

North Dakota: Judge’s order requires voter affidavit option in North Dakota | Bismarck Tribune

North Dakota will offer an affidavit to voters who don’t bring an identification to the polls, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland’s order comes roughly a month and a half after he said the state couldn’t implement its voter ID laws without offering some kind of “fail-safe” mechanism. Seven members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa sued Secretary of State Al Jaeger in January, arguing the voter ID laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2013 and 2015 disproportionately burden Native Americans. The 2013 change eliminated the option to use an affidavit, which voters could use to swear they were a qualified elector in a particular precinct, as well as the ability for poll workers to vouch for a voter’s eligibility.

Ohio: Court rules Ohio’s process for removing voters from rolls is illegal | The Columbus Dispatch

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today against Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in a case involving removal of names from voter registration rolls. A 2-1 decision by the Cincinnati-based appeals court overturned a decision by a federal district court earlier this year, which found Husted was not illegally deleting voters. The case will now go back to the U.S. District Court for reconsideration.”The secretary’s newly issued form does nothing to correct the fact that Ohio has, for years, been removing voters from the rolls because they failed to respond to forms that are blatantly non-compliant,” the court said. Read the full decision here.

Texas: Attorney General To Ask Supreme Court To Rule On Voter ID Law | CBS

The nation’s highest court may soon decide the fate of the controversial voter ID law here in Texas. State Attorney General Ken Paxton will ask them to take up the case. Paxton will make the request to find out once and for all whether the state’s voter id laws are legal. Republican State Senator Don Huffines of Dallas applauds Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s decision to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state’s voter ID law. “I think it’s a great decision.” says Senator Don Huffines. Huffines says he’s confident the nation’s highest court will overturn lower court rulings that the 2011 law is discriminatory against minorities. “We’ve had voter ID in Texas for several years now, and we’ve conducted several major statewide elections under the law, and we have no history of anyone being disenfranchised.”

Gabon: Opposition chief slams election court ruling | AFP

Opposition leader Jean Ping on Saturday lashed a decision by Gabon’s top court to validate President Ali Bongo’s re-election, as police and troops patrolled the deserted streets of Libreville to prevent a new flareup of violence. Ping accused the Constitutional Court of “bias (and) miscarriage of justice” following a ruling early Saturday that upheld Bongo’s disputed victory in the August 27 presidential election. “I will not retreat. As president clearly elected by the Gabonese people, I remain at your side to defend your vote and your sovereignty,” Ping said. Concern has been growing that a ruling in favour of Bongo, in power since the death of his long-ruling father Omar Bongo in 2009, could spark more of the deadly unrest Gabon saw after the president’s re-election was announced.

Russia: Phantom voters, smuggled ballots hint at foul play in Russian vote | Reuters

Voters across Russia handed a sweeping victory to President Vladimir Putin’s allies in a parliamentary election on Sunday. But in two regions Reuters reporters saw inflated turnout figures, ballot-stuffing and people voting more than once at three polling stations. In the Bashkortostan region’s capital Ufa, in the foothills of the Urals, Reuters reporters counted 799 voters casting ballots at polling station number 284. When officials tallied the vote later in the day, they said the turnout was 1,689. At polling station 591 in the Mordovia regional capital of Saransk, about 650 km south-east of Moscow, reporters counted 1,172 voters but officials recorded a turnout of 1,756. A Reuters reporter obtained a temporary registration to vote at that station, and cast a ballot for a party other than the pro-Putin United Russia. During the count, officials recorded that not a single vote had been cast for that party.

Venezuela: Officials deny opposition a recall vote in 2016 | Associated Press

Election officials on Wednesday quashed the opposition’s hope of holding a recall referendum that could wrest Venezuela’s presidency from the ruling socialist party. Officials said a national vote on removing President Nicolas Maduro could take place if the opposition gathers enough signatures over the course of three days at the end of October, but add that a referendum would be held in the first quarter of 2017. That timing is crucial. A successful vote to oust Maduro this year would trigger a presidential election and give the opposition a shot at winning power. If Maduro were to be voted out in 2017, though, his vice president would finish the presidential term, leaving the socialists in charge. With Venezuela’s economy in crisis, with soaring inflation and widespread shortages, polls say a majority of Venezuelans want Maduro gone.

National: Voter Registration Flap Still Haunting Election Agency | NBC

Voting rights advocates are accusing a Washington bureaucrat of helping Republican-led states enforce tight restrictions on voter registration, a move they say turned a federal voting agency into a de facto ally of state officials looking to make voting harder. A progressive group on Wednesday called on the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to conduct an internal investigation into the actions taken by Brian Newby, the agency’s executive director. The group, Allied Progress, charged that Newby had improper private communications with his former boss, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and perhaps other election officials, about their requests to change the federal voter registration form to require applicants to show proof of citizenship. Patricia Layfield, the inspector general of the EAC, said no decision had yet been made on whether to open an investigation into Newby’s actions. “I continue to consider the various options available,” Layfield told NBC. “I’m taking the concerns expressed in the letter very seriously.”

National: State Computers Increasingly Under Attack by Cybercriminals | Stateline

State information technology officials have strengthened their defenses against hackers and cybercriminals who attack their computer networks millions of times a day, but admit they’re not fully prepared for increasingly complex threats that could expose the personal information of their residents. A report by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and consulting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP released Tuesday revealed that cybersecurity is the foremost priority for state IT officers, who are highly concerned about increasing efforts, especially by sophisticated crooks, to breach their systems. “These sophisticated threats have grown significantly,” said Doug Robinson, NASCIO’s executive director. “There’s a never-ending parade of bad guys who are attempting to penetrate the network.” For citizens, the stakes in averting breaches are high. State data systems contain personal information about millions of people that is valuable to identity thieves. They house birth and death certificates, and driver’s license numbers. The systems also house Social Security numbers of state income taxpayers and the credit card numbers of people who make payments to state agencies.

National: Michelle Obama passport scan appears online in apparent hack | Associated Press

The White House said Thursday it was looking into a cyber breach after what appeared to be a scan of first lady Michelle Obama’s passport was posted online. The fresh disclosures, which included emails to and from White House staffers, raised further concerns about the security of sensitive systems following a string of breaches affecting government agencies, private companies and the Democratic National Committee. Though officials declined to say whether the disclosures were authentic, there were no immediate reasons to suspect they were not. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said it was “something that we are looking into.” The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for the first lady’s safety, also expressed concern.

National: Even Small Hack Could Create Chaos on Election Day | NBC

It won’t take Russian hackers or a wide-scale attack to undermine the November election, cyber security experts warn. What they fear most is something far easier to pull off: Smaller, targeted attacks on a few voting systems that create widespread doubt among voters. In the age of social media, even a small cyber-attack could explode into chaos by casting doubt on the election’s integrity, experts warn. “Today we have social media, where a lie can circle the globe before the truth can reach the keyboard,” said Gregory Miller, co-founder of the Silicon Valley non-profit OSET Institute. “It doesn’t take very long for incredible chaos to break out over the presumption that something has gone wrong.” Both President Obama and the FBI have warned of possible tampering with this year’s election process. Miller says that sets the stage for potential turmoil with or without an actual attack on Election Day.