Delaware: Election officials to restrict access to voter records | Delaware First Media

By the end of the week, most Delawareans will no longer be able to ask for a copy of the state’s voter registration database. That news comes in the wake of an effort by the Trump Administration to root out what they view as widespread voter fraud across the country. “I don’t feel like we should give that information,” said state Election Commissioner Elaine Manlove, referring to a panel led by Vice President Mike Pence (R). Last week, her office said it wouldn’t comply with a request from the group, which would’ve involved handing over voters’ dates of birth, the last four digits of their social security numbers and more.

Georgia: State Voting System Update Gaining Bipartisan Support | WABE

The call to overhaul Georgia’s 15-year-old voting system is getting bipartisan support. State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposed on social media to work together on an update. The problem isn’t a new one. Georgia’s voting machines leave no paper trail — that means there’s no way to confirm that what someone voted for is what gets recorded. Democratic state Rep. Scott Holcomb, who represents District 81, said what’s different about this moment is the national conversation about cybersecurity. “Part of Russian foreign policy — this is really simple, it’s not complicated — they purposely involve themselves in manipulating the elections in Western democracies,” Holcomb said. He said ensuring the public’s belief in the accuracy of Georgia’s voting system is especially important in a time when hacking headlines are a daily occurrence.

Indiana: Lawson could be check on Trump voter fraud commission | Indianapolis Star

Amid concerns about the intent of President Donald Trump’s voter fraud commission, one of the strongest checks on any potential federal overreach could be an unassuming Republican from Vice President Mike Pence’s home state. As a member of Trump’s commission, Secretary of State Connie Lawson is charged with recommending federal policies to buckle down on potential voter fraud. But as the incoming leader of the National Association of Secretaries of State and an advocate for state control over elections, she is skeptical of federal involvement. That could put her at odds with the commission and its vocal vice chairman Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Making matters even trickier for Lawson, Pence — who continues to have a major influence in Indiana politics — chairs the commission.

Nevada: Voting centers bringing technology upgrade to Clark County elections | Las Vegas Review-Journal

On election days in 2018, Las Vegas Valley voters will have to travel no more than 2 miles to cast a ballot. That’s because Clark County will implement voting centers by the primary election in June 2018. The technology allows voters to cast a valid ballot at any polling location inside Clark County, not just their local precincts. “It’s (like) early voting on Election Day,” County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said during a presentation on Monday night. “You don’t have to race across town at 5 o’clock to get to the voting place designated for you. You can stop anywhere.” County Commissioners voted in April to spend about $1.57 million to implement the new method of voting on Election Day. Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City used voting centers in their 2017 municipal elections.

New Hampshire: Sununu signs controversial GOP voter registration measure into law | WMUR

A bill to tighten New Hampshire’s voter registration identification requirements – one of the major Republican initiatives of the 2017 legislative session – was quietly signed into law by Gov. Chris Sununu on Monday. The governor’s office included Senate Bill 3 on a list of 18 bills he signed into law. There was no public bill signing ceremony, as had been the case when he signed several other high-profile bills in recent weeks. … The signing came amid a related controversy surrounding Sununu’s support for Secretary of State William Gardner’s intention to provide state voter data to President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

New York: Redistricting panel with diminished role lives on with $1.5 million budget | Times Union

Every decade, New York state redraws its legislative and congressional districts in a process that critics have derided as skewed toward incumbents and majority parties. The last redistricting ended in 2012, and the years between then and the 2020 federal census — which will provide fresh demographic data before a new round — would arguably include a lot of downtime for the task force that was once assigned to do the work. Yet records show the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Appointment maintains a large and expensive staff, even though its power to draw district lines was taken away by a constitutional amendment passed three years ago. LATFOR had faced criticism for drawing district lines that favor the candidates of majority Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans.

Texas: Redistricting trial opens with accusations 2013 maps diluted minority vote | Houston Chronicle

Civil rights groups and minority lawmakers opened a redistricting trial Monday with testimony they say shows the GOP-controlled Legislature illegally diluted the minority vote when it adopted temporary, court-ordered maps in 2013 as long term. The trial, in front of a bipartisan three-judge panel, is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute over which party will wield more or less power in Texas as a result of the once-a-decade redrawing of political lines. It grows out of a lawsuit filed in 2011 by minority groups and politicians who accuse the state of suppressing the minority vote through racial and partisan gerrymandering. The judges’ panel has previously denied the partisan gerrymandering claims but is taking up racial gerrymandering claims.

West Virginia: Secretary of State Warner: ‘No intention’ of sharing voter data | Huntingdon Herald-Dispatch

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner has no intention of releasing personal information of West Virginia voters to a White House commission investigating President Donald Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, a spokesman said Monday. Warner’s office received a request from the commission on July 3 requesting voter information as a part of the investigation, said Michael Queen, Warner’s deputy chief of staff for external affairs and director of communications. Warner, a Republican, has been consulting with legal counsel and Republican West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey before responding to the commission’s request, and he’s expected to make a decision Wednesday or Thursday, Queen said Monday.

Cambodia: Parliament changes election law ahead of 2018 vote | Reuters

Cambodia’s parliament on Monday amended the law to ban people from associating with anyone convicted of a criminal offense, a move the opposition says aims to hobble rivals of Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of a general election next year. Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) voted to change the election law to ban political parties from engaging with such individuals, who also face bans on participating in politics through images, audio recordings and writing. Political parties which violate the law face a five-year suspension or could be dissolved. The amendment effectively bans former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who lives in exile in France to avoid arrest in a number of convictions, from campaigning from abroad for the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Editorials: Cambodia: Revoke Ban on Election Monitors | Human Rights Watch

The Cambodian government should rescind its recent order restricting independent election monitoring groups, Human Rights Watch said today. On July 4, 2017, a month after the country’s flawed commune elections, the Interior Ministry issued a letter to two election-monitoring organizations to cease their activities in alleged violation of the country’s nongovernmental organization law. The government’s action sets the stage for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to broaden restrictions on election monitoring prior to the 2018 national elections. “The Cambodian government appears intent on quashing any challenges to its political control – and obviously doesn’t want any witnesses,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Cambodia’s donors should call for the government to rescind these orders and ensure independent monitoring of the 2018 elections.”

Kenya: Fears of rigging ahead of election | Deutsche Welle

Distrust is the best word to describe Kenya’s political mood ahead of the upcoming elections. Just as the country was getting ready for the first presidential debate ahead of the elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta pulled out. When the last election was held four years ago he complained that the moderators’ questions were biased. His main opponent, Raila Odinga, followed suit and the debate was postponed. The move is symptomatic of Kenya’s heated campaigning period, which has seen the debate over political reforms and development take a back seat. On August 8, Kenyans will not only elect the next president, they will also vote for new governors, senators and local governments.

Liberia: Alternative National Congress Still Confident of Credible Elections | FrontPageAfrica

The Alternative National Congress (ANC) says it is still confident in the ability of the National Elections Commission (NEC) to conduct free, fair and transparent elections, despite rejecting their vice standard bearer’s nomination. On Monday, the party’s chairman, Lafayette Gould told journalists that despite the NEC’s rejection, his vice standard bearer Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh will be on the ballot as running mate to Alexander Cummings. … The ANC chairman called on supporters of the ANC to remain calm, confident and undistracted over the recent announcement from the National Elections Commission (NEC).

Rwanda: Two candidates cleared to run against Kagame | AFP

Rwanda’s election commission on Friday permitted two opposition candidates to run against President Paul Kagame in elections due on August 4, ruling out three other challengers. National Election Commission (NEC) chief Kalisa Mbanda announced the approval of the Democratic Green Party’s Frank Habineza, independent Philippe Mpayimana and Kagame as candidates, while rejecting three other independents. Habineza’s is the only opposition party permitted to operate in Rwanda, long dominated by Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and the only opponent to a 2015 constitutional reform that cleared the way for the president to run again despite having been in charge of the country since 1994.

National: Trump fraud commission halts data collection amid lawsuits | Slate

On Monday, Donald Trump’s election integrity commission paused its collection of voter data in response to the latest in a series of lawsuits and complaints alleging the controversial task force is breaking the law. The commission, which is led by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, recently asked every state for an immense amount of sensitive voter information. In its rush to get the data, it seems, the commission has ignored any number of statutes and agency rules, an oversight that could ultimately prevent the group from getting its hands on any of the information it wants. Monday’s abrupt halt in data collection is a direct response to a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC alleges that the commission is violating the E-Government Act of 2002, which requires federal agencies to establish adequate data protections before collecting personal information using information technology. Specifically, an agency must prepare and publish a Privacy Impact Assessment that explains its methodology, outline how it would secure its data, and state whether the data would be disclosed to others. EPIC claims the Pence-Kobach commission has ignored this safeguard while storing voter records on an unsecure system that is not designed to protect personal data. By doing so, EPIC insists, the commission has run afoul of federal law.

National: A Secretaries of State Meeting Used to Be Friendly. Then the White House Asked for Voter Data. | The New York Times

In the partisan battlefield of elective office, the National Association of Secretaries of State has always been a DMZ of sorts, an alliance of obscure officials who would rather talk charity regulations than politics, a conclave so committed to comity that it alternates its chair between Democrats (“a nonpartisan organization,” said Denise Merrell, the outgoing president) and Republicans (“we stand together,” said Connie Lawson, the incoming one). But as the group held its semiannual meeting here this weekend, a whiff of gunpowder wafted through the air. The secretaries had the bad timing to gather the week after the Presidential Advisory Commission on El ction Integrity asked them for reams of data on the nation’s 200 million registered voters, a request that might as well have been a political call to arms. News reports from Florida and Colorado stated that voters were asking to be removed from the rolls, fearing that their personal data would wind up in the wrong hands.

National: State election officials complain feds keep them in the dark on possible voting breaches | Associated Press

State election officials gathering this weekend amid an uproar over a White House commission investigating allegations of voter fraud and heightened concern about Russian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections say a lack of information from federal intelligence officials about attempts to breach voting systems across the country is a major concern. Both Republicans and Democrats gathered in Indianapolis for a meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State say they are frustrated because they have been largely kept in the dark by federal officials. “The chief election official in each state should be told if there are potential breaches of that state’s data or potential intrusions,” said Republican Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams.

National: Trump’s plan to create a cybersecurity partnership with Putin draws ridicule from within his own party | Los Angeles Times

President Trump’s touting of a proposed partnership with Russia on cybersecurity drew withering reviews Sunday from lawmakers, including several from his own party, while the president’s aides were left struggling to answer questions about just how hard Trump pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow’s meddling in last year’s U.S. presidential election. Late Sunday, Trump appeared to back away from the cyber-partnership idea. Trump’s encounter with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday was his first meeting as president with the Russian leader. It came after months of controversy over Russian meddling and whether anyone close to Trump’s campaign had colluded in it.

National: Advocates Worry Trump Administration Wants To Revamp Motor Voter Law | NPR

Lost in the uproar last week over a written request by a White House commission for state voter registration lists was another letter sent that same day. It came from the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), and asked states for details on how they’re complying with a requirement in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) — also known as the motor-voter law — that election officials keep their voting lists accurate and up to date. The timing and focus of the two letters — one from the commission and the other from DOJ — has made some voter advocacy groups nervous about what the Trump administration is up to, and whether its ultimate goal is to weaken or revamp the motor voter law. “It’s very concerning,” said Brenda Wright, vice president of policy and legal strategies at Demos, a liberal advocacy group that’s been fighting state efforts to purge voters from the rolls. Wright notes that the main purpose of the motor voter law is to expand opportunities to register to vote, but that millions of eligible Americans are still unregistered.

National: Trump’s Fraud Commission Is Facing A Tough Data Challenge | FiveThirtyEight

Every state in the union was sent a letter last week seeking data from its voter rolls — including names, addresses, dates of birth, political party affiliation and the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers. The request came from Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. States have responded in a variety of ways: About 20 have agreed to send publicly available data, including Kansas, where Kobach is secretary of state. Other states have said the commission can only have that data if they buy it. A few — including California and Mississippi — have said they won’t be complying with the request at all. The commission was created by President Trump to investigate improper and fraudulent voting — an issue the president has said he believes is widespread (most experts disagree). The states’ arguments against compliance with its request have centered on skepticism of the commission’s intentions, as well as issues of privacy and political autonomy. But experts who have worked with voter data said the letter raised some other red flags for them. They said that although the idea of compiling and analyzing voter data makes sense — states and academics have been working on it for years — they’re concerned that the commission may not be adequately prepared to do the data analysis work it seems to want to take on.

National: Even Some Republicans Balk at Trump’s Voter Data Request. Why the Uproar? | The New York Times

The political uproar over a White House commission’s request to state election officials for a trove of personal data on the nation’s voters continued as secretaries of state gathered for their annual meeting on Friday in Indianapolis. The panel was set up to investigate claims of voter fraud, which experts generally agree is rare, after President Trump claimed illegal voting had cost him the popular vote in November’s election, and it has come under attack by election officials from both parties. As of Thursday evening, 20 states and the District of Columbia had outright rejected the request by Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, which works to promote expanded access to the ballot. Most of the remaining states either said they were studying the request or agreed to provide only public information like lists of voters who are registered.

National: Voting Rights Battle Just Getting Underway | Roll Call

Even before the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity raised alarms with its sweeping requests for state voter data, House Democrats rolled out legislation they hope will ensure the voting process is fair. One measure, introduced at a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 22, would restore voter protections across 13 mostly Southern states. Sponsored by Alabama’s Terri A. Sewell and Georgia’s John Lewis, a civil rights icon, the measure is a response to the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision. That ruling struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required those states to seek federal approval before changing voter laws and also set a formula for determining which states would be subject to the law.  …Another measure, introduced by Virginia Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., aims to end gerrymandering of House districts by using ranked-choice voting — where voters get to rank candidates rather than just pick one — and creating districts where more than one member represents a diverse group of constituents.

Editorials: Commission wants to snoop on voting in the name of ‘integrity’ | Tulsa World

The government wants to know more about how we vote. No. President Trump authorized the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to investigate voter fraud in the 2016 election. Independent studies all have shown that voter fraud is either non-existent or is so slight that its effect is minimal. Nevertheless, Trump established the commission last month. Its report is expected in 2018. Studying election results is nothing new. Campaigns do it to see what worked and what didn’t. Most rely on public information for their research. This commission, however, goes a dangerous step beyond. Letters were sent out last week to all 50 states and the District of Columbia asking for evidence of voter fraud, convictions for election-related crimes and recommendations for preventing voter intimidation.

Colorado: Hundreds withdraw Colorado voter registrations in response to compliance with commission request | The Denver Channel

At least two Colorado county clerks say they’ve seen a large increase in the number of people who have withdrawn their state voter registration since Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said he would send the Trump administration’s election integrity commission some voter-roll information in accordance with state law. Alton Dillard, a spokesperson for the Denver Elections Division, said 180 people have withdrawn their registration in the county since July 3. When compared to the eight people who withdrew their registration from June 26-29, it marks a 2,150 percent increase, according to Dillard.

Florida: Worried voters try to unregister after Trump voter-roll request | Orlando Sentinel

Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Michael Ertel got 15 calls from voters wanting to “unregister” to vote after the state said it would comply with part of a federal commission’s request for voters’ personal data. Ultimately, he convinced all who called to stay on the voter rolls. He says concerns over personal data being given to the federal panel are overblown because the state is only giving what is already available to the public. “You can’t pick and choose which public-records requests you comply with because you’re not sure about what the person’s going to do with the information,” Ertel said. Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Thursday wrote to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, saying the state couldn’t give partial Social Security numbers, driver’s license information, criminal histories or personal data for police officers, judges and prosecutors because such information was exempt from Florida’s public records laws.

Iowa: Woman pleads guilty to voting twice for Donald Trump | The Independent

An Iowa woman charged with voting twice for Donald Trump last fall has pleaded guilty to election misconduct. Court records show Terri Lynn Rote entered a plea on 27 June to the felony charge and a district court judge in Des Moines accepted the plea. Sentencing is set for 15 August. Rote, who is 56 and lives in Des Moines, told police she turned in two absentee ballots before the November election because she believed Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the election was rigged and that her first ballot would be changed to a vote for Hillary Clinton. She was arrested on 21 October at a satellite voting station in Des Moines attempting to vote the second ballot.

Ohio: How Trump, Russia and purging voters is shaping the race for Ohio’s next elections chief | Akron Beacon Journal

Two of the three candidates to succeed Ohio’s current secretary of state support his decision not to release sensitive voter information to President Donald Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity. And the third, who would not comment for this story, is accusing her primary opponent of not being a loyal Republican because he criticized Trump in the election. The commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, was formed by presidential decree in May after Trump repeatedly said he only lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton because of three to five million illegal votes. There’s no proof of such widespread voter fraud. On that, Rep. Kathleen Clyde and Sen. Frank LaRose, each a candidate for secretary of state, agree. “To say that there is massive widespread voter fraud is not correct in my assessment,” said LaRose, who didn’t mind “studying the issue.”

Ohio: Ken Blackwell, who accidentally released Social Security numbers is on Trump’s voter fraud panel | Los Angeles Times

The Republican gubernatorial primary was just weeks away, and then-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had his sights set on securing the nomination. Blackwell had served as mayor of Cincinnati and state treasurer before becoming Ohio’s top elections official, so a bid for governor in 2006 seemed a logical next step in his political career. But in March of that year, his office caused a stir: The full Social Security numbers of 1.2 million Ohio voters were posted accidentally on the secretary of state’s website. A month later, in a separate incident, Blackwell’s office inadvertently distributed voter lists with the Social Security numbers of 5.7 million voters. The numbers, by law, are supposed to remain private. “It wasn’t good at all,” said former Ohio Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in an interview. “Sloppy … that’s what it was.”

Texas: Judges to determine fate of Texas political districts | Austin American-Statesman

In a confrontation six years in the making, a federal court in San Antonio will devote the upcoming week to a jam-packed trial that will determine whether Texans have been electing members of the U.S. House and Texas House in districts that discriminate against minority voters. If the challenge to the maps succeeds, many Texans can expect to be voting in new districts during the 2018 primary and general elections — giving Democratic candidates a boost in areas redrawn to give greater clout to Latino and African-American voters. The trial before a three-judge panel begins Monday. The days will be long, starting at 8 a.m. and ending about 6 p.m., and the testimony will include a dense blend of legal theory, statistical analysis and expert opinion.

Texas: The Justice Department Says Texas’s Voter ID Law Is No Longer Discriminatory | The Atlantic

One of the toughest voter ID laws in the country might soon be back in use, only this time with a stamp of approval from the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, the department submitted a brief to the U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, in support of the state’s Senate Bill 5. The legislation is currently facing a lawsuit in that court from plaintiffs who claim it discriminates on the grounds of race. In its current form, it requires voters to have an authorized photo ID—driver’s license, passport, military identification, or gun permit—or a signed affidavit and other identifying documentation, like a utility bill, in order to cast a ballot. This is the third time a Texas voter ID law has gone through the courts, each time through Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who in 2014 called a 2011 bill’s even stricter ID requirement—it didn’t offer affidavits as an option—a “poll tax without the tax.” 

Editorials: A startling reality: Hacking democracy easier than you think | David Shipley/CBC

It’s hard to imagine that people thousands of miles away are able to sit at a computer and change the course of an election. But as we’ve seen in the United States, that’s not just a troubling concept, it’s a startling reality that has profound implications for voters, politicians, political parties and the media. When it comes to Canada, most experts agree it’s not a matter of if or even when (we experienced some limited interference in 2015), but of how badly nation-states, organized crime, activists and thrill seekers will want to sow chaos, confusion and manipulation.