New Mexico: Secretary of State Dianna Duran ruffles feathers | latimes.com

Dianna Duran, New Mexico’s secretary of State who took office in January, sounded a tad pugnacious in March when she reported that 117 foreign nationals with phony Social Security numbers had registered to vote and 37 had cast ballots in elections. There was, she said, “a culture of corruption” in the state.

Duran, who had ordered her staff to check 1.16 million voter registration records against motor vehicle and Social Security databases, also raised eyebrows by referring 64,000 voter registration records to the state police, citing irregularities.

No one has been charged with a crime, and Duran, a former Republican state senator and county clerk, has since taken fire from Democratic legislators, public interest groups and news organizations that say she has overstated her case, scared voters and withheld proof of her claims.

California: State vote-by-mail action taken in stride locally | Ukiah Daily Journal

The state’s plan to cut out reimbursement to counties for vote-by-mail ballots won’t affect Mendocino County much, according to Registrar of Voters Sue Ranochak. The state Legislature passed a bill in its 2011-12 budget that aims to save $33 million by suspending state mandates that require counties to process voter registration applications received by mail and to send vote-by-mail ballots to voters who apply for them, among other mandates suspended.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen opposes the suspensions, saying they could cause confusion and disenfranchise voters, and Ranochak concurs, along with about 45 other counties represented at a recent meeting. “I’m going to follow what the secretary of state recommends,” Ranochak said. “It’s important that people vote.”

Not that the suspensions change much for Mendocino County, according to Ranochak. She explained that the county pays all costs up front for each election, then waits for reimbursement from the state, which can take anywhere from six months to two years.

Wisconsin: Robocalls arouse suspicion with bad election date | LaCrosse Tribune

A round of automated phone calls urging residents of the 32nd Senate District to vote one week after the upcoming recall election has voters from both parties crying foul. Several voters reported receiving calls Saturday asking about their preference and likelihood to vote in the recall election pitting Republican Sen.
Dan Kapanke against Democratic Rep. Jennifer Shilling, both of La Crosse.

The recorded calls, recipients said, urged them to vote Aug. 16. Only one problem: The 32nd District votes on Aug. 9.

Government Account -ability Board spokesman Reid Magney said the Democratic National Committee called election officials Friday saying they initiated the calls but stopped them Saturday once the incorrect date was discovered. The DNC did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
There are two recall elections set for Aug. 16 in other districts.

Maine: Election Day registration supporters battle opponents’ stagecraft | Sun Journal

Supporters of a people’s veto campaign to restore Election Day voter registration were obviously concerned when Secretary of State Charlie Summers announced last Wednesday that he was holding a news conference to discuss what his office described as “preliminary findings regarding voter fraud allegations.”

The group’s anxiety was partially attributable to fears that Summers may have discovered voting impropriety within Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster’s mysterious — some say dubious — list of 206 out-of-state college students. But more worrisome to the coalition was the scene that unfolded the next day in Summers’ office.

A throng of television cameras, radio and print reporters awaited his remarks. Supporters of same-day voter registration knew that visuals of Summers in his office would appear on that night’s newscasts, that afternoon’s newspaper websites and in print the next day.

Nevada: North Las Vegas mayor: Ward 4 election challenge has cost city $100,000-plus | Las Vegas Sun

North Las Vegas Major Shari Buck is not happy with the ongoing legal battle for the Ward 4 Council seat occupied by Wade Wagner. She expressed her disappointment in how the election was handled by former councilman Richard Cherchio in a statement Friday.

“It is unfortunate that Richard Cherchio and his team have chosen to pursue phantoms and unresolved emotions by searching for nonexistent ‘problematic’ votes as they prepare to mount a feckless legal challenge. These actions have cost the taxpayers of North Las Vegas over $100,000 so far, which could have been used to mitigate layoffs. That cost continues to rise.”

Financially, the city is in a bind. It still has a $6.1 million gap in its 2012 budget and may have to lay off 35 to 40 non-public safety employees to save about $4.1 million.

Indonesia: Election violence leaves 21 dead in Indonesia | Australia Network News

Indonesian police say 21 people have died in election-related violence in Papua. Clashes between hundreds of supporters of rival election candidates killed 17 people and injured dozens in remote Puncak district on Sunday.

Local police chief Alex Korwa Armed says they were armed with machetes, rocks and arrows and the mobs torched houses and cars. He says dozens of extra police and soldiers have been sent to secure the area and the situation is tense but under control.

The recently created district, which is only accessible by plane, is scheduled to hold its first local elections on November the 9th.

Thailand: Parliament to Open as Thaksin’s Sister Set for Premiership | San Francisco Chronicle

Thailand’s Parliament will open today for the first time since Yingluck Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party won a majority last month, paving the way for lawmakers to select her as the country’s first female prime minister.

The Election Commission has certified all but four of 500 winning candidates in the July 3 vote, discarding complaints aiming to thwart the sister of exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra from taking power. Court rulings and a coup have overturned three previous Thaksin election wins since 2005.

“They won a landslide so it will be easier to manage the country,” said Suwat Bumrungchartudom, an analyst at Bangkok- based Bualuang Securities Pcl. “The coalition is quite solid. The question now is whether they can follow through on their commitments before the election.”

India: Gujarat panchayat poll: Ballot boxes back in fashion | DNA India

The State Election Commission (SEC) may have encouraged online voting during the municipal elections but it is going back to ballots and boxes for the polls to be held in more than 11,000 gram panchayats later this year.

Sources in the SEC indicated that the commission doesn’t have enough electronic voting machines (EVMs) to conduct the gram panchayat elections. “The commission is considering various options to conduct the elections and has not yet taken a final decision. There are not enough EVMs in the state to hold elections in more than 11,000 gram panchayats of Gujarat,” an official said. The official further said that there are currently around 40,000 EVMs in the state which can be used to conduct the gram panchayat elections.

Sri Lanka: Plans to introduce electronic voting in Sri Lanka | SundayTimes.lk

Fanning the flame of speculation regarding an electronic voting system for Sri Lankans, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga publicly stated last week that the Government planned to introduce such a system in a bid to promote “democratic engagement” among citizens.

Making this comment as the keynote speaker at a recent event on electronic governance, the two-day FutureGov Forum Sri Lanka 2011, which was held in Colombo; he also asserted that the “whole idea of expediting government processes is to save time of citizens.

It also saves time for the public servant. The additional time available for citizens can be therefore spent productively – to engage with family members, community and voluntary work and more importantly, to live a contented life, the dream of every human being.”

Guyana: Electoral Assistance Bureau gearing up to monitor 2011 polls | Demerara Waves

The Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) says it has launched a programme to monitor Guyana’s general and regional elections due later this year.

A release from the EAB’s Council of Management on Friday stated that they would be testing the voters’ list and providing hotline and open house services to individuals wishing to check their names on the list or report any irregularities.

Additionally, the NGO will be conducting public awareness, training and placing observers at all polling stations to observe the polling process, and monitoring the count and award of seats to the National Assembly.

Thailand: Two re-elections, one recount, same results | Bangkok Post

Two MPs-elect who had been handed yellow cards by the Election Commission for vote-buying offences in the July 3 national poll retained their seats in a re-election yesterday, while a third victory was confirmed following a recount.

The two yellow-carded politicians were Pheu Thai’s Somkid Banthaisong of Nong Khai Constituency 2 and the Bhumjaithai Party’s Chakkrawan Chaiwiratnukul of Sukhothai’s Constituency 3. Meanwhile, Democrat Abdulkarim Dengrakina was the recipient of an even bigger victory following the recount in his Yala Constituency 2.

Mr Somkid, who was yellow-carded for buying votes in the general election, defeated his Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party rival candidate Pitak Sitabutr again. The Nong Khai Election Commission Office announced unofficial results that Mr Somkid received 46,403 votes, while Mr Pitak won 10,726. In the previous poll, Mr Somkid won 45,927 votes.

Malaysia: Electoral reforms soon, says Malaysia PM Najib | Straits Times

The Government is committed to electoral reforms and ensuring that parliamentary democracy is forever maintained, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

‘I am committed to electoral reform. We will undertake it. For example, there are concerns about phantom voters. We will ensure there is no chance for phantom voters,’ he said at the fifth annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit here on Sunday.

eSwatini: Civil society opts to form transitional govt | SABCNews

Civil organisations and pro-democracy organisations in Swaziland have resolved to form a transitional government ahead of the 2013 National Government elections. This is after a three day convention aimed at finding possible ways to engage government on political discussions, held at Ezulwini in Mababane.

Civil organisations met to discuss solutions on the political situation in Swaziland. They want the state to consider a multi-party democracy. “It has always been our desire to achieve full democracy and human rights in accordance with the United Nations declaration on human rights,” said Civil Society Organisations Bishop Meshack Mabuza.

The Voting News Weekly: TVN Weekly July 25-31 2011

Getting at Voter Id at the Wisconsin DMV
Getting at Voter Id at the Wisconsin DMV

The Maine GOP chairman accused university students of committing a felony for voting in the state while paying out-of-state tuition though the University residency requirements are entirely unrelated to the residency requirements for voting in the State. A Wisconsin mother filmed her son’s effort to obtain a voter ID from the DMV and discovered that sufficient bank activity has apparently become a prerequisite for the right to vote. And finding a DMV office in Wisconsin in order to prove that sufficient bank activity will become more difficult – at least in some areas – under Governor Walker’s new plan. Budget cuts in California are threatening county election offices’ ability to mail absentee ballots. India’s pilot of voter verified paper audit trail printers encountered problems. The North Carolina House fell five votes short of overriding Governor Perdue’s veto of a voter ID requirement. Kentucky legislators consider whether a fixed address is required before exercising the right to vote and a proposed internet poll for Presidential candidates fails to consider the evidence of past experiments with online voting.

The Voting News Daily: Turning away college students in Maine, Democrats in Congress urge the Justice Department to look into new, GOP-authored voter ID laws

Editorials, Maine: Turning away college students | Bangor Daily News Here’s a great economic development strategy for the oldest state in the nation — treat college-educated young people as pariahs. Rather than encourage these people to begin to put down roots and get involved in the local community, ensure that you are as unwelcoming as…

Editorials: Turning away college students in Maine | Bangor Daily News

Here’s a great economic development strategy for the oldest state in the nation — treat college-educated young people as pariahs.

Rather than encourage these people to begin to put down roots and get involved in the local community, ensure that you are as unwelcoming as possible. Accuse them of fraud. Blame them when local elections didn’t go the way you wanted. Put up barriers making it harder for them to vote locally.

Earlier this week, Charlie Webster, head of the Maine Republican Party, held up a list he said showed 206 college students from other states have illegally voted in Maine.

National: The new Jim Crow? – Democrats in Congress urge the Justice Department to look into new, GOP-authored voter ID laws | Salon.com

This week over 100 House Democrats wrote to the Department of Justice urging an investigation into whether new voter identification laws — passed in seven states already this year and under consideration in many more — violate the Voting Rights Act. 16 Democratic senators made the same request of Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month.

The laws, which marginally differ from state to state, require that voters will have to bring photo ID — for the most part government issued — to the polls next year. Stricter voter ID requirements at the polls have been passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures claiming to promote honest elections. Democrats, alongside groups including the NAACP, have called foul on the new laws, arguing they disenfranchise minorities, students, the poor and disabled (for the most part, groups with Democratic voting tendencies).

Tennessee: Editorial: Trying to cope with voter ID | The Commercial Appeal

Tennessee’s new photo identification law is a solution in search of a problem that voters will have to deal with unless courts rule that it is an unconstitutional infringement on access to the polls. The voter ID law was taken from boiler plate legislation drafted by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

It is described by critics as part of an effort to solidify Republican majorities in state legislatures across the country and strengthen the GOP’s hand on the federal level. It takes effect next year.

Meanwhile, advocates for the elderly, minorities and others who may be discouraged from voting can help counter its effects with an educational and assistance campaign.

Florida: Browning avoids Obama administration review for parts of election law | Orlando Sentinel

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning has asked a federal court to review the state’s new election law, sidestepping the Obama administration’s examination of the most controversial pieces of the law that was a major priority for the GOP-led Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Critics of the new law have been lobbying the U.S. Justice Department to invalidate the new law, saying it disenfranchises voters, particularly women and minorities. The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging part of the law in court and Rev. Jesse Jackson held rallies in Florida this past week in protest of the bill.

Maine: Same Day Voter Registration and Charlie Webster’s Infinite Wisdom | Price on Politics

I have been avoiding this topic for the past couple of weeks because it has received plenty of coverage, but given GOP Chairman Charlie Webster’s latest actions, it was time for a college student’s take on the matter. For the past four years I have been a registered Republican in a college town and as frustrating as it often can be to go up against the liberal leanings of the area, restricting voting access is wrong and will not change the outcome of elections.

I am from Maine and have voted since I was 18, and never once was it in my hometown. I follow the local politics of the area I reside in and am most informed about the issues of that area. While I am not one of the students Webster has decided to target, I still take issue with his accusations. I’d also be curious to know where LePage’s children voted during their time (paying in state tuition?) attending college in Florida. If we are heading down this road, why not look at Maine citizens voting in other states while attending school. Does this concern Webster? No, because to him they represent one less liberal voting in a Maine election.

Editorials: North Carolina Voter ID bill down, but not out | The Asheville Citizen-Times

North Carolina is safe, for the moment, from what appears to be little more than an attempt to disenfranchise people who might vote Democratic. But, as Andrew Jackson once put it, “eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty.”

The House fell five votes short Tuesday of the three-fifths vote needed to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a bill requiring North Carolinians to show a photo identification in order to vote. But the GOP performed a parliamentary maneuver to keep the bill alive through the remainder of the 2011-12 session.

Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Cornelius, was unhappy. “I am hopeful that North Carolinians will continue to express their support for this critical issue and that their representatives will respond appropriately,” he said after the vote.

Oklahoma: Special Election for Principal Chief set for September 24 | kjrh.com

Cherokee citizens will head to the polls September 24 to decide who will be the next Principal Chief. “That was the date recommended by the Election Commission to best allow our citizens to fully participate in the election,” said Principal Chief Chad Smith. “The commission thought that gave enough time to notify our citizens of the dates important to the election, including a period of time for voters to request absentee ballots.”

Cherokee Nation law says that in such cases, a special election must be called by the Principal Chief “as soon as practical.”

All citizens who were registered to vote in the June 25 general election will be eligible to vote in the special election, officials said. The election law ends voter registration for an election year on March 31 of that year, so voters who registered after the deadline will not be eligible to vote in the special election, says election commission officials.

Nevada: Cherchio questions vote by North Las Vegas mayor’s son | ReviewJournal.com

The latest twist in a tangled North Las Vegas election tale involves both a union stagehand who voted in the city but doesn’t live there and the mayor’s son. Voter Greg Mich’l, who lives in Las Vegas, admitted Thursday he voted in the North Las Vegas contest between incumbent Councilman Richard Cherchio and Wade Wagner, which was decided by a single vote.

Mich’l, 26, said he didn’t know he couldn’t vote in North Las Vegas. “I’m really embarrassed,” he said. “I never vote, and then this happens.”

Meanwhile, Cherchio’s attorney on Thursday said Jordan Buck, Mayor Shari Buck’s 23-year-old-son, might have cast an invalid ballot. “There’s substantial question about whether he has the right to vote here,” Bradley Schrager said. “We are investigating every potential discrepancy.” Wagner, a 48-year-old dentist, won the June 7 election with 1,831 votes. Cherchio got 1,830.

Nevada: Prosecution unlikely for voting error in North Las Vegas race | ReviewJournal.com

The man who voted in a disputed North Las Vegas election — though he is not a resident of the city — may have unwittingly committed a crime. But such cases are rarely prosecuted in Clark County, officials said. Such voting mistakes “probably happen a whole lot but don’t come out,” said Ron Bloxham, a chief deputy district attorney for the county. Prosecution “is rare in comparison to the number of times” such errors likely occur, he said.

Election officials often say no election is perfect, and the North Las Vegas election was no exception. But votes cast in the contest for the City Council’s Ward 4 seat drew unusual scrutiny after Wade Wagner, a 48-year-old dentist, beat incumbent Councilman Richard Cherchio, 64, by a single vote.

Northern Mariana Islands: 2,000 Northern Mariana Islands voters register – will decide on alienation rule | Marianas Variety

About 2,000 Northern Marianas Descent voters who will decide on the land alienation rule have so far registered with the Commonwealth Election Commission. But CEC Executive Director Robert Guerrero in an interview on Wednesday said this does not mean that the CNMI has 2,000 NMD’s only.

Public Law 17-40, which was signed by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial last March, creates with the election commission a Northern Marianas Descent Registry “for the purpose of maintaining official listings and records of persons of Northern Marianas descent.”

The CNMI Constitution provides “that only persons of Northern Marianas descent can vote on constitutional  amendments affecting the protections against alienation of land.”

Seychelles: Seychelles President Appoints Electoral Commission | cri.cn

Seychelles President James Michel has appointed a five-member Electoral Commission, including its chairman, Hendricks Gappy, in preparation for the fresh legislature election, according to news reaching here on Saturday.

In a press communique released by State House on Friday afternoon, Gappy, a statistician and former Electoral Commissioner, along with other four members were appointed by the Head of State for a term of seven years effective from July 28. Other members include businessmen Betty Hoareau and Gerard Lafortune, educationalist Marie-Therese Purvis and Bernard Elizabeth who heads the umbrella body of the Non-Governmental Organizations, LUNGOS.

Thailand: Red Shirts threaten lawsuit against Election Commission | Pattaya Mail

Key leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the Red Shirts, on Thursday threatened to file suit against the Election Commission (EC) for dereliction of duty if the poll agency fails to endorse top Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan as a member of parliament by the end of this month.

Natthawut Saikua, now a new Pheu Thai party-list MP, announced the UDD stance after visiting fellow Reds, Mr Jatuporn, now being detained on terrorism charges at Bangkok Remand Prison.

Some Red Shirt supporters also turned up at the prison to show their moral support for the detained protest leader. The EC on Wednesday endorsed 94 more MPs-elect, including all elected Red Shirt candidates, except Mr Jatuporn, bringing the total number of endorsed MPs to 496, more than 95 per cent of total 500 seats, to open way to convene the first House session next Monday.

Voting Blogs: Bank Account Activity New Voting Requirement in Wisconsin? | Rock the Vote Blog

Did you know that your constitutional right to vote actually hinges on how often you swipe your debit card at Starbucks? No? Neither did a Wisconsin voter who went to the DMV to get his “free” voter ID card.

Since you will need to show a government-issued photo ID to vote in Wisconsin in 2012, the requirements for actually getting an ID at the DMV are pretty important. This video showcases the apparently new requirement that a bank account has to show a certain amount of “activity” to be used to prove your residency. I don’t remember seeing that in the Constitution.

Ohio: Ohio Voter ID rule is dead, at least for now – opposition from Husted, Senate stymies House | The Columbus Dispatch

A plan to require Ohioans to show a photo ID before voting is dead. “I think we’ll probably not see it again,” said House Speaker William G. Batchelder after a brief legislative session today. “There’s a limit to the amount of times you want to run your head into a wall, and it makes your ears ring.”

Although the Medina Republican strongly supports the photo-ID requirement, the bill passed by the House is opposed by Secretary of State Jon Husted, a fellow Republican, and the GOP-controlled Senate.