James Smith thinks Wisconsin law makes it too easy to recall a sitting legislator. And he’s willing to spend taxpayer dollars to protest it.
Smith, a self-described libertarian Republican and former officer of the La Crosse County GOP, will be on the ballot Tuesday alongside Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Shilling in a bid to challenge Sen. Dan Kapanke. He is one of six fake Democrats across the state running as part of a GOP strategy to delay recalls until August.
County clerks estimate the partisan primary will cost taxpayers in the 32nd Senate district about $117,000, the same as the Aug. 9 recall election. Smith hopes his candidacy draws attention to Wisconsin’s laws. Read More
Oklahoma: Election Commissioners testify that recount is wrong | Cherokee Phoenix
Four Cherokee Nation Election Commissioners testified in front of the tribe’s Supreme Court today that they believe the recount numbers in the disputed principal chief’s race are wrong.
During a hearing regarding Principal Chief Chad Smith’s appeal of the election, EC Vice-Chairwoman Brenda J. Walker, Secretary Martha Callico and Commissioners Patsy Eads-Morton and Curtis L. Rohr told Supreme Court justices that they believe the recount numbers that they, along with former Chairman Roger L. Johnson, certified on June 30 are inaccurate. Read More
Ohio: House GOP pushes Husted to back photo ID | Columbus Dispatch
Pointing to recent action in Rhode Island, a member of House GOP leadership is calling on Secretary of State Jon Husted to get behind a bill stalled in the Senate that requires voters to show photo ID at the polls.
“It is very encouraging that other states are moving forward on this common-sense concept that will strengthen elections and restore voters’ confidence in the democratic process,” Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, said in a release. “I am disappointed that (Husted) has not supported this legislation despite nationwide bipartisan support from both state legislatures and the public.”
Husted has said he does not favor a strict photo ID bill and has not come out in favor of a softer Senate-amended version either, arguing that he has all the tools he needs to keep Ohio elections secure in a separate election overhaul bill that passed last week. Senate leaders have taken some action on the photo ID bill, House Bill 159, but have not brought it up for a full vote. Read More
Russia: Russians abroad to vote via electronic devices | Voice of Russia
December 4 will see parliamentary elections in Russia. However, Russian citizens who are now living and working abroad will also have a possibility to vote. On December 4, polling stations will open in all countries with which Russia has diplomatic relations. For the first time, they will be equipped with a technical novelty – electronic devices which will ease the procedure of voting and calculating the votes.
In total, there are over 1.7 mln Russian citizens abroad now – at least, those who are registered by consulates, – mostly, in former Soviet republics, Israel, the US and Europe. However, polling stations will appear in all countries with which Russia has diplomatic relations.
The main novelty of the electronic voting devices is that with them, you don’t need any paper bulletins. At the polling station, you get a plastic card and insert it into the device. On a sensor screen, the names of the candidates appear, and you just press the name of the one you’ve chosen. After that, the device gives you something like a reciept which confirms that you have voted. Read More
Today’s Columbus Dispatch suggests that there are efforts to revive the strict photo ID bill in Ohio in a special legislation session next week. Some Republican leaders are trying to push fellow Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has beenopposed to the photo ID legislation, and members of the Ohio Senate to accept the bill. Their rationale is that Rhode Island, which has a Democratic legislature and an independent Governor, passed legislation that implements new voter ID requirements at the polls.
… Let’s be clear: the newly enacted Rhode Island law is different from the Ohio proposal in many important ways. Read More
South Carolina: Critics challenge South Carolina ‘Voter ID’ plan | TheState.com
When Delores Freelon was born in 1952, her mother could not decide on a name for her. So the space on the birth certificate for a first name was left blank. In the decades since, the incomplete birth certificate did not prevent Freelon from getting her driver’s license and voter registration card in the various states she has lived, including Texas and Louisiana.
But a measure — already passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Nikki Haley — will create new hurdles for Freelon and others to vote.
Delores Freelon, 59, who has voted since she was 18 years old, worries she wont’ be able to vote under the new photo ID law. Although she has a Social Security card, a Medicare card, and an expired Louisiana drivers license the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles will not issue her a S.C. drivers license or S.C. identification card because her first name is not on her birth certificate. Read More
Nevada: Judge’s ruling halts North Las Vegas special election | ReviewJournal.com
A District Court judge ruled Friday that North Las Vegas must certify a City Council race decided by one vote and it can’t hold a special election to resolve questions about an ineligible voter who might have participated in the June 7 contest. Wade Wagner, a Republican, beat incumbent Councilman Richard Cherchio, a Democrat, by a single vote for the Ward 4 seat in the nonpartisan election.
The council later decided to redo the election on July 19 in one precinct and allow all registered voters to take part, even if they didn’t cast ballots in the first race.
Wagner’s attorney, Todd Bice, said the judge’s ruling nullifies an improper action by the council. He accused the council of trying to skew the outcome by picking a heavily Democratic precinct and not limiting participation to those who had voted before. Read More
Florida: Abhaxas Hacks Florida’s Voting System Again | Zeropaid
In an apparent effort to show that election votes can be tampered with, Abhaxas previously dumped parts of the Florida voting database to PasteBin. Officials since then downplayed the hack, but suggested that the systems are more secure than ever before. Even though authorities, on top of this, were contacted, it seems that Abhaxas decided to hack the database again. Call it whatever you like, but it seems that Florida is in for a repeat of what happened last week.
Apparently, since the initial hack, Florida officials downplayed the incident saying that there is no reason to fear because of a paper trail and that only a select few are able to have access to the votes to begin with. Read More
Kentucky: Johnson plans legal action regarding homeless voters issue | Kentucky Politics
GOP Secretary of State candidate Bill Johnson said he will either file an ethics complaint or motion in court soon objecting to a memo sent from the state on the procedure for registering homeless voters.
The Kentucky Board of Elections sent a memo to county clerks identifying the need for clarification in voter registration applications from the homeless that have incomplete address information, due to a recent increase in the number of those voters.
Both Johnson and Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown have expressed concerns that the policy could lead to voter fraud. Read More
The sponsor of Arizona’s controversial immigration law faces a recall election after opponents collected more than 10,000 voter signatures.
County Elections Director Karen Osborne says her office is certifying that the petitions have 10,365 valid signatures of voters from the Mesa Republican’s legislative district. They needed 7,756 signatures to force a recall election. Read More
New Jersey: Supreme Court reverses decision in Atlantic Beach Town Council election | TheSunNews.com
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that two write-in candidates for seats on the Atlantic Beach Town Council may begin serving their terms as council members, saying there “was a direct attempt by the [Atlantic Beach Municipal Election Commission] to interfere with the full and fair expression of the voters’ choice.”
In the opinion, the state Supreme Court justices reversed a circuit court ruling that upheld the town election commission’s decision to overturn election results. Former town manager Carolyn Cole and the Rev. Windy Price were thedeclared winners in the town’s municipal election in November 2009. Read More
Texas: Officials confirm irregularity in Rowlett special election | dallasnews.com
Elections officials confirmed Wednesday that there was an opening-day glitch in the early voting process for the July 16 special election. The glitch involved voters in Rowlett, which straddles Dallas and Rockwall counties.
A voter who lives in the Rockwall County part of Rowlett, Nicholas Kreekon, went to vote at about 12:15 p.m. on June 29 and was turned away. He was told only the Dallas County portion of Rowlett was eligible. Read More
New Mexico: Vigil-Giron seeks to restore her name | Alamogordo Daily News
Former secretary of state Rebecca Vigil-Giron has no job, few obligations, too much idle time. At 56, her life is on hold, but she still burns with one ambition. “I want vindication,” she said.
Almost two years have passed since state Attorney General Gary King obtained indictments against Vigil-Giron and three other people who were contract employees in her office. They are charged with 49 counts of money laundering, fraud and kickbacks.
“I was quiet for quite a while. Not now. This is a political witch hunt,” Vigil-Giron said in an interview. Read More
Thailand: Thai Democrats seek Pheu Thai Party’s dissolution | Bangkok Post
The Democrat Party of Friday initiated legal action seeking the dissolution of the Pheu Thai Party, filing a complaint with the Election Commission about the involvement of banned politicians.
Democrat Party’s legal team member Wirat Kallayasiri (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
The outgoing ruling party asked the Election Commission to recommend that the rival Puea Thai Party, which won the July 3 general election, be disbanded on the grounds that banned politicians were involved in its election campaign. Read More
Vietnam: Over 300,000 selected for Vietnamese People’s Councils | Viet Nam News
The nation selected 302,648 members for People’s Councils at all levels for the 2011-16 term, reported the Ministry of Home Affairs at a conference in Ha Noi yesterday to review the parliamentary election.
Just 3,843 candidates failed to win seats, according to Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Huu Thang. Of those elected, 3,822 will sit on provincial People’s Councils, over 21,000 on councils at district level and 277,740 at commune’s level.
During the election, which took place on May 22, 500 National Assembly deputies were also elected. The result was announced earlier. Read More
Indonesia: Committee may probe alleged fraud in Indonesian presidential election | The Jakarta Post
The House’s committee tasked with inquiring into alleged election fraud involving a justice and a former poll body member may expand its probe to other cases, including alleged crimes during the 2009 presidential poll.
Committee chairman Chairuman Harahap said that since his committee’s purpose was to ensure transparent and accountable elections in the future, it was necessary for it to review the 2009 legislative and presidential election.
“This is not an expansion of the committee’s authority as since the beginning, the committee was formed to ensure transparent and accountable elections,” he said. Read More
Guatamala: Former Guatemalan first lady’s presidential bid hits obstacle — CNN.com
Guatemala’s former first lady, who divorced the sitting president in order to run herself for the top post, had her candidacy rejected by the country’s electoral tribunal Wednesday.
The decision is a setback for Sandra Torres, who announced her intention to run for president in March, but had been dogged by critics who called her candidacy illegitimate because of a constitutional article that bars relatives of the president from seeking the high office.
To get around this law, Torres split from her husband, President Alvaro Colom. Many called the divorce a sham and many individuals, organizations and political parties filed motions to block it, but a judge allowed it. Read More