Arizona: State Supreme Court to consider appeal on challenge to recall election for legislative leader | The Republic

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday is scheduled to consider whether to allow a Nov. 8 recall election to be held for state Senate President Russell Pearce, a Republican known nationally for championing legislation against illegal immigration.

A Pearce supporter appealed a trial judge’s Aug. 12 ruling that denied the supporter’s request to call off the election in Pearce’s legislative district in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb.

Maine: Homeless vote a non-issue in Maine referendum | Houston Chronicle

The right of homeless people to vote has become a non-issue in Maine’s referendum debate over voter registration.On Nov. 8, Mainers will decide whether to repeal a new law that requires voters to register at least two business days before an election. Passage would restore a state policy allowing election-day registration.

The debate has touched on the right of homeless people to vote. But as the Kennebec Journal in Augusta Reports Monday, both sides agree that the homeless have that right.

Oklahoma: US Government warns Special Election for Cherokee Nation Principal Chief may not be valid | FOX23 News

In a letter sent to Acting Principal Chief Joe Crittenden, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs warns that the Special Election for Principal Chief, scheduled for September 24th, will not be valid if the Cherokee Freedmen cannot vote.

Letter sent from Bureau of Indian Affairs to Acting Chief Joe Crittenden (379.7KB)

The letter states that the U.S. Government does not recognize the 2007 Cherokee Constitutional Amendment that was upheld by the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court. The amendment maintains that Freedmen are not citizens of the Cherokee Nation tribe, and are not eligible to vote. Because the U.S. Government is not recognizing the amendment, the special election would not be valid if the Freedmen are not allowed to vote.

California: Bill to Protect Senior’s Voting Rights Signed into Law | senior-spectrum.com

Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D- Los Angeles) AB 547, a measure to protect senior citizens from voter fraud and abuse, has been signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown and will thus take effect before the 2012 elections.

The new law makes it a misdemeanor, with stiff fines, for anyone providing care or direct supervision to a person who is at least 65 years old to coerce or deceive that senior into voting for or against a candidate or measure contrary to the senior’s intent.

Editorials: John Nichols: Voter ID rule is a poll tax | madison.com

When Wisconsin legislators passed the most restrictive voter ID law in the country earlier this year, they enacted what legal experts and voting rights activists have correctly identified as a poll tax. Proponents of the law argued otherwise. They pointed out that eligible voters who could not afford a state ID could obtain one without charge.

With the decision of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to direct DMV employees to refrain from actively informing the public about the ability to receive a free identification card for the purposes of voting, however, the potential that the voter ID law could serve as a poll tax becomes realistic — and legally significant. Notably, the head of the DOT is a former Republican legislator with close ties to Gov. Scott Walker, and the author of the memo on denying information to prospective voters is a political appointee.

The term “poll tax” has a sordid history. With roots in the anti-democratic practice of allowing only the landed gentry to vote, poll taxes became even more notorious when they were associated with the efforts of Southern segregationists to deny the franchise to African-Americans. A critical turning point came in 1962 with the ratification of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed poll taxes in federal elections.

Guatemala: Guatemala: 66 Cities at Risk of Election-Related Violence | Inside Costa Rica

At least 66 of Guatemala”s 333 cities are at risk for violence during Sunday”s presidential elections, the Human Rights Attorney”s Office (PDH) alerted. The PDH created a risk map to mark the regions where which problems could arise during the elections, identifying 17 of the country’s 22 departments, most of them indigenous populations.

Conflicts between communities and security forces, drug trafficking and changes to the electoral rolls were the main sourcs of conflict. Authorities presented a security plan to be implemented Friday which includes the protection of polling places and infrastructure, such as bridges and electricity towers, as well as citizen surveillance.

Ireland: Presidential front-runner Higgins wants Diaspora voting rights | The Irish Emigrant

Speaking at the London Irish Center to representatives from the Irish business, social and cultural community last week, Labour Party presidential hopeful Michael D. Higgins stressed the enduring importance of the Irish Diaspora, saying he wishes to give at least a conditional voting voice to the Irish outside of Ireland.

Voting rights for Irish citizens living both abroad and in Northern Ireland has become a hot issue of late, as Ireland prepares for its October 27 presidential election, in which Higgins is seen by many as the frontrunner. His speech comes a month after activists from Ógra Shinn Féin protested outside Leinster House, wearing GAA jerseys from the six northern counties and holding gags in their mouths to symbolize the lack of a voting voice for Irish citizens of Northern Ireland.

Cameroon: Cameroon Presidential Candidates Contest Disqualification | VoA News

Election authorities in Cameroon have disqualified half of the country’s 51 presidential candidates before the October 9 poll, prompting mild demonstrations this weekend outside the electoral commission.

Cameroon’s Supreme Court is reviewing the cases of presidential hopefuls whose candidacies were thrown out Friday by the electoral commission, also known as ELECAM. Election officials say they expect the Supreme Court to issue speedy judgments. Election Board Chairman Fonkam Azu’u said the exclusions stemmed from flaws in candidate applications.

Pakistan: Electoral transparency: Biometrics could eliminate bogus votes if approved | The Express Tribune

Technological innovations will make bogus voting difficult if not impossible in Pakistan, where the number of bogus votes has called into question the legitimacy of the present government, if the introduction of biometrics is mandated for the next elections.

Once election authorities have compiled computerised electoral rolls with voters’ pictures, they plan to introduce specially designed ballot papers inscribed with a watermark, magnetic ink and biometrics to determine voters’ identity. Voters will stamp the ballot paper with magnetic ink. Once the votes are polled, the election commission (ECP) will be able to verify them by their counterfoils.  “In case of any complaints, the fake voter can be traced by biometrics,” an official involved in the electoral reforms told The Express Tribune.

The Voting News Daily: Indiana county cancels voting machine contract with ES&S, Voting in Mahoning County Ohio to return to paper ballots

Indiana: Monroe County cancels voting machine contract with ES&S | The Indianapolis Star A southern Indiana county has terminated its contract with a Nebraska company following concerns about its voting machines. The Herald-Times reports (http://bit.ly/oTMNIu ) that the Monroe County Commissioners voted unanimously Friday to end its contract with Omaha, Neb.-based Election System and Software. Read…

Ohio: Voting in Mahoning County to return to paper ballots | Youngstown News

Nine years after switching from paper ballots to electronic touch-screen voting, the Mahoning County Board of Elections plans to return to paper for the November general election. The new, more sophisticated system will have voters complete a paper ballot and feed it into an optical-scanner machine.

The machine would keep track of the vote totals with the paper ballot dropped into a sealed box. State law requires all ballots have paper backups. It would cost $684,000 to buy the new machines from Election Systems & Software, the same company that sold the electronic voting machines to the county, said Joyce Kale Pesta, the board’s deputy director.

The county may not have the money to purchase the machines so leasing them is an option that would cost less than $100,000 a year, she said.

Voting Blogs: Mahoning County’s Voting Machine Switch and the Growing Buyer’s Market in Voting Technology | PEEA

Mahoning County, OH (Youngstown) recently announced that it will be switching to optical scan voting machines for the November 2012 general election. The decision means County voters will no longer rely on touchscreen machines as the primary method of casting ballots, as they have since they were purchased in 2002.

The Mahoning story is a perfect example how the market for voting technology has changed in the years since passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), enacted by Congress in 2002 in response to the controversial 2000 Presidential election.

HAVA authorized almost $4 billion in federal funds for election improvements at the state and local level – much of which were earmarked for voting machine upgrades. Those funds – and the various mandates included in HAVA – made election offices motivated buyers and created a huge sellers’ market as vendors rushed to help states and localities spend their newfound dollars. In this environment Mahoning County’s $2.95 million purchase of 1100 touchscreen machines was typical.

Ohio: Volunteers work to pull voting law off books, onto ballot | The Chillicothe Gazette

Local volunteers have joined the statewide effort to repeal House Bill 194, a would-be law that opponents say smacks of voter suppression. Volunteers across Ohio hope to collect more than 231,000 signatures and file them with the Ohio Secretary of State by Sept. 29 — one day before the bill is supposed to go into effect.

An upstart citizens group, Stand Up For Ohio — Ross County Movement Builders, has amassed nearly two-thirds of its goal of 1,122 signatures in Ross County, coordinator Portia Boulger said. The larger goal, Boulger said, is to put HB 194 on hold and place it on the ballot in November 2012 as a statewide referendum.

Editorials: Education on state’s voter ID law a must for Tennesseans | Knoxville News Sentinel

If Tennessee absolutely must have a law requiring voters to produce photo identification, the state Election Commission is absolutely right to conduct an education campaign to make voters aware of the law.

The law was passed by Republican majorities in both houses of the Legislature last spring, despite warnings about its questionable constitutionality. The law becomes effective in January 2012, so it will not pose an obstacle for the 2011 city of Knoxville and state Senate elections, for which early voting has begun.

The law was touted by supporters as a check on voter fraud, an argument that made it to the U.S. Senate on Thursday. However, Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and chairman of the Senate’s subcommittee on civil rights, said the incidence of voter fraud is minimal and doesn’t require this remedy, according to a story on Tennessean.com.

Australia: Thousands fail to turn up for elections – more than $1.64 million in fines will be issued | Illawarra Mercury

More than $1.64 million in fines will be issued across the Illawarra after residents put in a mass no-show at this month’s council elections.
Around 23,000 people failed to vote in Wollongong, and each will be slugged with a $55 fine unless they can produce a valid excuse.

NSW Electoral Commission figures show just 83 per cent of Wollongong’s 135,468 eligible voters turned up to cast their ballot at either a polling place, at pre-poll or through a postal vote. Taking polling day figures in isolation, the turnout rate in Wollongong dropped to just 71 per cent.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said it was pleased with both the polling place and overall turnout, saying it was a “very reasonable” result for a local government election. He said the unavailability of absentee voting in local government elections could reduce overall turnout figures by 10 per cent.

Guatemala: Vote heads towards runoff | Al Jazeera

Ballot counting is under way following Guatemala’s presidential election with Otto Perez, a retired general from the right-wing Patriot Party, holding an early lead, according to preliminary results. But with candidates needing more than 50 per cent of ballots to avoid a runoff, the election looked certain to be heading for a second round later in the year.

Otto Perez Manila, 60, who promises to send troops to the streets to fight criminal gangs, had received 37 per cent support with more than 60 per cent of ballots counted by 9.34GMT. This was still well shy of the 50 per cent needed for an outright first-round victory.

Denmark: Nationalist party’s influence waning in Denmark | The Associated Press

One of Europe’s most influential anti-immigration parties could lose its leverage in Danish politics in next week’s election. Polls ahead of the vote Thursday show that the Danish People’s Party stands to lose the kingmaker role which for 10 years has given it an important say on government policy, including pushing through sharp restrictions on immigration.

For Phillip Hobbs, a 26-year-old Australian online entrepreneur who was denied a residence permit even though his wife and their 8-month-old son are Danish citizens, the change would be welcome.

Hobbs is an unintended target of a rule that prevents Danish citizens from bringing in a foreign spouse if one of them is younger than 24. Hobbs’ wife is 23. The rule is aimed at reducing forced marriages in immigrant communities for immigration reasons.

Maldives: Maldives to introduce electronic voting for 2013 election | Haveeru Online

The Maldives is to introduce the electronic voting technology for the first time for the presidential election to be held in 2013, Elections Commission announced today.

In a statement, the commission said its members unanimously made the decision at a meeting held today. The commission said it would make necessary amendments to the election laws and submit the amended legislations to relevant authorities in order to introduce the electronic voting technology for the 2013 election.

Norway: Prime Minister: ‘Vote for democracy’ | The Foreigner

Local election voting points towards increased participation at the polls this time around compared with four years ago. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg urges voters to show what is important for them.

NRK reports about 16 percent cast their ballot in Tromsø, yesterday, 4 percent higher than in 2007. Whilst the broadcaster says Sarpsborg and Lillehammer showed a good turnout, with queues in Kongsberg. Voters in Oslo were not put off by the rain, and there are indications of increased voter numbers in Stavanger and Bodø today.

The Voting News Weekly: TVN Weekly September 5-11 2011

Electronic Voting in Abu Dhabi

The Senate Judiciary committee, chaired by Senator Durbin, held a hearing on new voting laws in states across the country. The chairman of the Maine Republican Party accused more students of voter fraud. A memo from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation informed employees not to mention that voter ID cards are free – unless they are specifically asked and a state employee was fired for alerting his friends of this policy using a government email address. Reports from British Colombia and India cast doubts on the security of online voting proposals. The Atlantic analysed Arizona’s challenge to the Voting Rights Act. The Muncie Star Press raised concerns over Indiana’s plan to remove the names of unopposed candidates from ballots and The Denver Post noted that democracy didn’t come to a halt when citizen volunteers were allowed to inspect ballots from Saguache County.

The Voting News Daily: Maine GOP chair questions 19 voter registrations in 2004; probe reveals displaced medical students voted legally, Congress Investigates GOP War on Voting

In the latest twist in the debate over same-day voter registration, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party on Friday questioned why 19 individuals staying in a South Portland hotel were allowed to register to vote on Election Day in 2004. As it turns it out, the individuals were American college students, who appear to have registered and voted legally.

Questioned by the Sun Journal, Jason Bartlett, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express on Sable Oaks Drive, said the students had been “permanent guests” at the hotel because their medical school on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean had been destroyed by Hurricane Ivan.

The 19 students, who came from states across the country, were among 383 students enrolled at St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine. All were displaced by the storm. According to Bartlett, the students were sent to Maine to continue their studies while their school was repaired. St. Joseph’s College in Standish assisted in the relocation program, according to a college spokesperson. The relocation was the subject of a Press Herald story published in September 2004. Read More

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, I examine how Republican officials in a dozen states have passed new laws this year designed to impede voters at every step of the electoral process. It’s a widespread, deliberate effort that could prevent millions of mostly Democratic voters, including students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly, from casting ballots in 2012. Congress is, belatedly, starting to pay attention, and yesterday afternoon Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, held a hearing on “New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?”

“I am deeply concerned by this coordinated, well-funded effort to pass laws that could have the impact of suppressing votes in some states,” said Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate.

“Rather than protecting right to vote,” said Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a witness at the hearing, “we’re seeing a brazen attempt around the country to undermine it.” He pointed to legislation that would make it more difficult for citizens to register to vote or for groups like the League of Women Voters to register new voters, cut back on early voting, require government-issued IDs that specifically target young and minority voters, and disenfranchise ex-felons. Read More

Maine: GOP chair questions 19 voter registrations in 2004; probe reveals displaced medical students voted legally | Sun Journal

In the latest twist in the debate over same-day voter registration, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party on Friday questioned why 19 individuals staying in a South Portland hotel were allowed to register to vote on Election Day in 2004. As it turns it out, the individuals were American college students, who appear to have registered and voted legally.

Questioned by the Sun Journal, Jason Bartlett, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express on Sable Oaks Drive, said the students had been “permanent guests” at the hotel because their medical school on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean had been destroyed by Hurricane Ivan.

The 19 students, who came from states across the country, were among 383 students enrolled at St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine. All were displaced by the storm. According to Bartlett, the students were sent to Maine to continue their studies while their school was repaired. St. Joseph’s College in Standish assisted in the relocation program, according to a college spokesperson. The relocation was the subject of a Press Herald story published in September 2004.

National: Congress Investigates GOP War on Voting | Rolling Stone

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, I examine how Republican officials in a dozen states have passed new laws this year designed to impede voters at every step of the electoral process. It’s a widespread, deliberate effort that could prevent millions of mostly Democratic voters, including students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly, from casting ballots in 2012. Congress is, belatedly, starting to pay attention, and yesterday afternoon Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, held a hearing on “New State Voting Laws: Barriers to the Ballot?”

“I am deeply concerned by this coordinated, well-funded effort to pass laws that could have the impact of suppressing votes in some states,” said Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate.

“Rather than protecting right to vote,” said Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a witness at the hearing, “we’re seeing a brazen attempt around the country to undermine it.” He pointed to legislation that would make it more difficult for citizens to register to vote or for groups like the League of Women Voters to register new voters, cut back on early voting, require government-issued IDs that specifically target young and minority voters, and disenfranchise ex-felons.

California: Legislative Analysis Shows Election Administration-Related Problems Caused by Prop. 14 | Ballot Access News

As reported previously, AB 1413 had been set for a hearing in the California Senate Elections Committee on September 7. That hearing was never held, but in preparation for the hearing, legislative employees had prepared an analysis of the bill, which was introduced to make alterations in the “top-two” Proposition 14 procedure. Proposition 14 passed in June 2010 and says all candidates for Congress and partisan state office run on a single primary ballot in June. Then, only the two top vote-getters may run in November.

The analysis says, “In 2009, as part of a state budget agreement, a measure was placed on the ballot for the voters to consider authorizing a ‘top-two’ primary election system. At the same time that measure was approved, the Legislature also approved a series of changes to the Election Code to implement a top two primary election system. Unfortunately, due to the nature in which those statutory changes were adopted, they created a number of problems for the effective and efficient operation of elections. Last year, the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee held an oversight hearing to hear from elections officials about some of the problems with those statutory changes. Among other problems, county elections officials testified that certain ballot printing requirements created an unnecessary burden, and could significantly increase election costs.

Colorado: Review of Saguache ballots not transparent, citizens maintain | Center Post Dispatch

The majority of those participating in the hand count of the Saguache 2010 election Aug. 29-31are in agreement that key materials they needed to review in order to determine the cause of election irregularities were withheld from the public.

The count varied little from the initial totals released by the county following the SOS review of the retabulation and the subsequent recount. Most importantly, judges were not allowed to break mail-in ballots into precincts for a close examination or to count Precinct 5 votes as a separate group.

Voting Blogs: Saguache County Case Asks: Whose Election is it Anyway? | PEEA

Lost in the national news about Congressional hearings and high-profile fights in Maine, Ohio and South Carolina is a running controversy in one Colorado county that raises fascinating questions about our system of elections and who’s ultimately in charge. Saguache County, located southwest of Denver, is huge in size (Rhode Island and Delaware could fit inside) but tiny in population (6,108 in the latest Census).

In November 2010, the County’s general election featured, in addition to federal and statewide races, a re-election contest for the County Clerk and Recorder position held by Melinda Myers. On Election Night, results appeared to show that Myers, a Democrat, had had lost to her GOP challenger Carla Gomez. A few days later, though, Myers’ office announced that her office had discovered an error and conducted a retabulation that resulted in her winning re-election.

Indiana: Judge: Ballot suit ruling Monday | Palladium-Item

Wayne Superior Court No. 2 Judge Gregory Horn will decide by Monday whether to order the Wayne County clerk to put the names of those running unopposed in Richmond’s Nov. 8 general election back on the ballot.

Horn presided over a preliminary hearing Friday in the lawsuit filed last week by Wayne County’s two political parties, two candidates in that election and two voters in districts where candidates are unopposed.

They filed an injunction asking for a prompt ruling opposing an interpretation of a new Indiana law that requires county clerks statewide not to list names of unopposed candidates on ballots in municipal elections. The Indiana Legislature this year created the law in the hope of helping counties save on election costs.

Texas: Elections Office In Limbo Over Voter ID Law | KSAT San Antonio

The upcoming Nov. 8 election could be the last one where no photo identification will be needed to vote if the state’s new voter I.D. law is given the needed pre-clearance by the U.S. Department of Justice. Jacque Callanen, Bexar County elections administrator, said normally the review takes 60 days.

“The Texas Secretary of State’s office says that could be by the end of next week,” Callanen said. According to the Voting Rights Act, any possible changes to the state’s election laws require pre-clearance because of the state’s history of discriminatory voting practices.

Maine: Latest GOP Voter Fraud Allegations Questioned | MPBN

The Maine Republican Party says 19 people who registered to vote on Election Day 2004 used a Holiday Inn Express in South Portland as their home address.

But the Sun Journal in Lewiston is reporting the 19 were American medical students who were “permanent guests” because their school on Grand Cayman Island was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The hotel manager told the paper that the students were sent to Maine to continue their studies while their school was under repair.