Editorials: Replace Pennsylvania voting machines right now | Marian Schneider and Wilfred Codrington/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres last month directed that, going forward, all voting machines purchased in the state must employ “a voter-verifiable paper ballot or paper record of votes cast.” This was great news. It will help ensure the accuracy of vote-counting in Pennsylvania and give voters more confidence in election results. It was long overdue. The two key words in the directive are “verifiable” and “paper,” neither of which apply to how the vast majority of Pennsylvanians have been voting since 2006. Currently, 83 percent of Pennsylvania voters use direct-recording electronic systems, or DREs — voting machines that produce no paper ballot for voters to verify before leaving their polling places and that therefore leave no paper trail to follow if election results are contested. DREs are computer systems. Have you ever had your computer crash? Have you ever heard of computer systems being hacked?

National: ‘Off the rails’: House Russia probe hits new low | Politico

Mistrust, anger and charges of skulduggery between Democrats and Republicans have hobbled the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation for months. Hope Hicks and a pair of frustrated senators may have finally broken it. There are new signs that Republicans may soon conclude a probe that Democrats call far from complete following Wednesday’s testimony by President Donald Trump’s confidante, Hicks. Leaks revealed that Hicks had admitted to sometimes telling white lies on Trump’s behalf — a fact that Republicans called an unfair distortion of the departing White House communications director’s testimony. The next day, House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office confirmed that the top two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee paid an extraordinary visit to Ryan to express their “concerns” about how the House panel is operating — and, according to one report, to accuse Republicans of their own dishonest leaking.

Alabama: ‘No logic’ to Alabama’s special elections, which may be outlawed anyway | AL.com

Call it a political paradise if you live in certain places in Alabama and don’t miss an opportunity to cast a vote. The practicality of it all, however, remains questionable. Simply put, there are three special election cycles ongoing right now to fill vacancies in the Alabama legislature. But the winners of those races will not be elected until after the ongoing legislative session ends. And unless they are re-elected in the state’s regular 2018 election cycle, which begins with the June 5 Democratic and Republican primaries, they will leave office without ever casting a single vote as a state lawmaker. “There’s no logic to it but it doesn’t have anything to do with logic,” said John Merrill, the state’s top elections official as Secretary of State.

Georgia: Voter registration will be changed after ACLU complaint | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia election officials have agreed to change voter registration forms in response to a complaint that they misrepresented ID requirements for first-time voters. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia sought the change because the registration form says new voters must provide documentation of their name and address with their mailed applications. But federal election law only requires identification from first-time voters at some point before they cast a ballot, not at the time they register to vote.

Kansas: County officials and Kobach at war over elections | The Wichita Eagle

A battle raging from Wichita to Topeka could change how you vote — and how long you stand in line to do it. On one side are the county commissions of the state’s four largest counties, including Sedgwick, who seek more control over the costs of elections. On the other are Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and his election commissioners, including Tabitha Lehman in Sedgwick County. They say the system isn’t broken and doesn’t need to be fixed. So far, the county commissions are winning. The Kansas House recently passed House Bill 2509, which would give counties control over election budgets. It now advances to the Senate.

North Carolina: GOP defendants protest $124K bill from election map special master | Greensboro News and Record

Republican legislative defendants in North Carolina’s racial gerrymandering case say state taxpayers should not have to pay the full $124,125 bill from a special master in the federal lawsuit. A lawyer for state Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden), state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and other current and former GOP officeholders contends Stanford law professor Nathaniel Persily’s services were never really needed as special master. “The taxpayers of North Carolina should not be responsible for the fees and expenses incurred by the special master in this matter because it was not necessary for the court to employ a special master to fix the constitutional deficiencies,” attorney Phillip Strach of Raleigh said in his written objection to the bill Persily submitted recently.

Ohio: Bill providing election equipment funding updated | News-Herald

State Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Hudson, has updated his legislation that would provide funding to replace Ohio’s aging voting equipment. Under LaRose’s proposal, counties will be given a fixed amount of funding based on the number of registered voters to help with the startup costs associated with buying new machines.

The funding breakdown would be:

• Counties with zero to 19,000 registered voters will be given a base amount of $205,000

• Counties with 20,000 to 99,999 registered voters will be given a base amount of $250,000

• Counties with 100,000-plus registered voters will be given $406,000

• Remaining funds will then be distributed on a per registered voter basis.

Of the $114.5 million allocation, $10 million would be general revenue funding reimbursement for counties that have already purchased new machines.

Voting Blogs: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Ohio’s State Redistricting Commission | State of Elections

In 2015, Ohio voters approved a state constitutional amendment that reformed the process for drawing district lines for the state legislature. Previously, state legislative redistricting had been managed by a five-member Apportionment Board, consisting of the governor, the secretary of state, the state auditor, and one member of the state legislature from both parties. New district lines only required a simple majority vote to enter into effect. The amendment, Issue 1 on the 2015 ballot, enlarged (and renamed the board to the Ohio Redistricting Commission) the Apportionment Board by two members by adding a member of each party from the state legislature. Issue 1 also reformed the procedures of the board, particularly how it approves district maps. The Commission must now have votes in favor of a map by at least two members of the minority party for the district maps to be in force for a full ten years. However, if this requirement is not met, then the district maps will be in force for only four years and new maps will be drawn at the end of that time period.

South Dakota: ‘Top two’ primary backers fail to gather enough support | The Argus-Press

A group trying to bring a “top two” primary system to South Dakota didn’t collect enough valid signatures to get the issue onto the November ballot, the state’s chief elections official said Friday. Secretary of State Shantel Krebs’ office said in a statement that a random sampling of signatures collected by Open Primaries South Dakota found that the campaign submitted about 25,500 valid signatures, not the nearly 28,000 needed for the proposed constitutional amendment to go to voters. The rejection could be challenged in court. The group’s treasurer, De Knudson, said she’s contacted the group’s attorney but that a decision hasn’t been made on whether to challenge the decision.

Virginia: Redistricting Reformers Push for End to Gerrymandering | Public News Service

The borders of certain voting districts in Virginia could be changed more than state lawmakers may have expected. A group known as OneVirginia2021 is spearheading the charge for redistricting, convinced that 11 of the 100 districts in the House of Delegates are unconstitutionally drawn in favor of one political party. This process, known as gerrymandering, ignores the size and shape requirements of the districts, and the group says both major parties are to blame. Brian Cannon, executive director of OneVirginia2021, said the current lines are a way for politicians to create an advantage rather than playing fair.

Editorials: Putin and Sissi are putting on elections. Why bother? | Jackson Diehl/The Washington Post

With Western democracy on the defensive, China’s Xi Jinping is aggressively advancing a new model for human governance in the 21st century: personal dictatorship backed by nationalism, state-directed capitalism and a security apparatus empowered by cutting-edge technologies. There’s no pretense of evolution toward democracy or even the rule of law. On the contrary, Xi explicitly casts his regime as an alternative that “offers a new option for other countries.” Among the world leaders seemingly most likely to embrace this neo-totalitarianism are Russia’s Vladi­mir Putin and Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, both of whom have consolidated personal power on a platform of nationalism. So it’s interesting that both Putin and Sissi are putting on presidential elections this month. Sure, these are not real elections. They are Potemkin pageants that will award the two strongmen overwhelming victories, thanks in part to the exclusion of all serious opponents. The only suspense about the March 18 vote in Russia, or the ballot in Egypt concluding 10 days later, will be about the abstention rate, because opposition leaders in both countries are calling for boycotts.

Canada: Ex-CIA director says Canada should be concerned about election interference | CTV

The former director of the CIA says Canada should be concerned about potential interference, Russian or otherwise, in the fast-approaching 2019 federal election. “I think any democracy these days needs to be concerned about foreign interference in their elections,” said John Brennan in an exclusive interview with Evan Solomon on CTV’s Question Period. “Canada, like other countries in Europe and throughout the world, need to be mindful that there are individuals in countries out there that are going to try to do them harm, including in their electoral systems,” he said.

China: Trump praises Chinese president extending tenure ‘for life’ | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday after the ruling Communist party announced it was eliminating the two-term limit for the presidency, paving the way for Xi to serve indefinitely, according to audio aired by CNN. “He’s now president for life, president for life. And he’s great,” Trump said, according to audio of excerpts of Trump’s remarks at a closed-door fundraiser in Florida aired by CNN.“And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday,” Trump said to cheers and applause from supporters. It is not clear if Trump, 71, was making the comment about extending presidential service in jest. The White House did not respond to a request for comment late Saturday.

El Salvador: Salvadorans vote in key legislative and municipal elections | AFP

Salvadorans cast ballots yesterday in legislative and municipal elections that will serve as a test of strength of leftist President Salvador Sanchez Ceren in his final year of office. Police and army troops were deployed across the country to provide security for the elections, the ninth since a 1992 peace accord ended a bloody 12-year civil war. “The elections are taking place peacefully across the country,” but “there have been some difficulties” in staffing voting stations in some areas, Sanchez Ceren said after voting at a school in San Salvador. “The process is a little complex and there won’t be very quick results,” he said.

Italy: Election Gives Big Lift to Far Right and Populists | The New York Times

Italians registered their dismay with the European political establishment on Sunday, handing a majority of votes in a national election to hard-right and populist forces that ran a campaign fueled by anti-immigrant anger. The election, the first in five years, was widely seen as a bellwether of the strength of populists on the continent and how far they might advance into the mainstream. The answer was far, very far. After Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France beat back populist and far-right insurgencies in the past year, Europe had seemed to be enjoying a reprieve from the forces threatening its unity and values. That turned out to be short lived.

Serbia: Ruling populists sweep election in capital Belgrade | Associated Press

Serbia’s ruling populists of President Aleksandar Vucic swept the municipal election in the capital of Belgrade Sunday, further cementing an already tight grip on power in the country. Preliminary results by the Ipsos polling agency and carried by Serbian state TV, projected that Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party won around 45 percent of the votes, while the main opponents — groups behind former Belgrade mayor Dragan Djilas — trailed with some 19 percent. “This is the best result ever in Belgrade,” Vucic told supporters. “This victory wasn’t easy to achieve!”

Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone heads into hotly contested elections | Deutsche Welle

Sixteen candidates are campaigning to become Sierra Leone’s next president. It’s the first time more than two candidates have real chances of winning and a chance for a more diversified parliament. On Wednesday  March 7, Sierra Leone is heading to the polls as the second of President Ernest Bai Koroma’s constitutionally mandated two terms comes to an end. The ruling All People’s Congress (APC) party and the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have always dominated politics since Sierra Leone gained independence from Britain in 1961. But two new political parties upset the political dynamics and support bases of the SLPP and APC when they joined the 2018 presidential race.