Florida: Floridians Protest New Voting Law | BET

Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. and leaders in Florida have embarked on a two-day campaign to build awareness among African-American voters and local lawmakers in the state about the impact that the proposed new voting regulations would have on minorities and low-income people.

“The irony is we fight wars for democracy abroad and declare war on democracy at home,” Jackson said during a news conference before a rally at the New Covenant Baptist Church of Orlando Monday night. “All we really want is an even playing field.”

Rev. Randolph Bracy, whose church hosted the Monday night rally, said that Jackson will be a key catalyst in getting people to think about this issue and recognize what’s at risk. The rally sought to “wake up the community” and was the first of what Bracy hopes will be several more voter awareness events and activities. Similar rallies took place Monday morning in Eatonville and in Tampa Tuesday afternoon.

Mississippi: Mississippi NAACP leader sent to prison for 10 counts of voter fraud | The Daily Caller

While NAACP President Benjamin Jealous lashed out at new state laws requiring photo ID for voting, an NAACP executive sits in prison, sentenced for carrying out a massive voter fraud scheme.

In a story ignored by the national media, in April a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots. Sowers is identified on an NAACP website as a member of the Tunica County NAACP Executive Committee.

Sowers received a five-year prison term for each of the 10 counts, but Circuit Court Judge Charles Webster permitted Sowers to serve those terms concurrently, according to the Tunica Times, the only media outlet to cover the sentencing. “This crime cuts against the fabric of our free society,” Judge Webster said.

Indiana: Indiana Democrats appeal Recount Commission ruling clearing embattled secretary of state | The Republic

Indiana Democrats on Thursday appealed a decision allowing embattled Republican Secretary of State Charlie White to stay in office while he fights voter fraud charges. The Indiana Democratic Party appealed the Indiana Recount Commission vote allowing White to stay in office. State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker said he wants a Marion County judge to review the decision.

The two Republicans and one Democrat on the Recount Commission voted unanimously last month to let White to keep his job. But comments from the commission’s chairman that White’s actions brushed up against the line of being illegal merited a court review, Parker said.

Editorials: Election certainty needs a put-it-on-paper foundation | Tri-State Defender

Recently, you ran articles of an interview with the Shelby County Election Commission’s Chairman and Secretary in the Tri State Defender’s July 14, 2011 and July 21, 2011 editions. During those interviews, Chairman Robert Meyers, while admitting the voting machines are hackable, indicated that he did not believe that hacking or other manipulation was the case with the August 2010 elections. He stated that he believed that “demographics” explained the losses by those who were claiming something improper happened. The inference was that those nine Democrats who lost did so because the traditional Democratic voters did not turn out.

Further in the article, Secretary Norma Lester states that in essence since everything is politically balanced that it is very unlikely that any improper action would take place. As a former Election Commissioner (2 ½ years) and a plaintiff in both the 2006 and 2010 election contest challenges, I feel compelled to challenge these perspectives.

Editorials: Our View: Voter fraud: Lay it out in the open | Silver City Sun-News

When the state’s top election official makes a public allegation of criminal behavior during prior elections, it is something that should be taken seriously and looked at closely. Secretary of State Dianna Duran made just such an allegation in March during a legislative committee hearing. Duran told lawmakers she had uncovered evidence that 37 people who are not U.S. citizens had voted in New Mexico elections.

But, when the ACLU filed an open records request the next day to examine the registration records of the 37 voters highlighted by Duran during the public meeting of the Legislature, she refused to turn them over, hiding behind the weak and inappropriate excuse of “executive privilege.”

Executive privilege allows a president, governor or other member of the executive branch to confer with advisors in private, without divulging the nature of those discussions or the participants. For example, when Democrats wanted to know who had served on an energy task force several years ago, Vice President Dick Cheney claimed executive privilege in denying that request. It does not allow a member of the executive branch to conceal evidence of an alleged crime.

Solomon Islands: Electoral Commission Receives New Advisors | Solomon Islands News

The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission through RAMSI’s and Solomon Islands Government’s legal framework on reform and capacity building has received new advisors to help on electoral reform.

The Electoral Commission this week received one operations advisor, two new graduates and a program manager to the Electoral System Strengthening Program (ESSP) to be based at the Electoral Commission Office. A legal advisor is expected to join the office in mid August. Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Polycarp Haununu, welcomed the advisors into the office on Tuesday.

New Zealand: Electoral commission seeking Maori speakers

The Electoral Commission is looking for fluent Maori speakers to make sure Maori communities are informed about this year’s referendum on the electoral system.

Maori Media co-ordinator Mabel Wharekawa-Burt says the referendum gives people a chance to say how they think MPs should be elected.

Philippines: Philippines to probe Arroyo vote ‘fraud’ | Channel NewsAsia

The Philippine government said Thursday it would investigate fresh allegations that former leader Gloria Arroyo used the police to steal the 2004 presidential election. The inquiry will look into claims by a senior police officer that he broke into parliament in 2005 to switch election documents stored there so that Arroyo’s victory would survive a recount, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

“We’ve always known that in each election there’s cheating, but the scale of it in 2004, based on the various bits and pieces that we’ve been getting from our sources… it’s really mind-boggling,” de Lima told reporters. She said Arroyo’s win could not be overturned by a finding of fraud, but the evidence could be used to file criminal charges against those involved.

Saint Kitts and Nevis: NGOs National Observer Group highlights irregularities in Nevis Elections | SKNVibes

In an interim report on the July 11, 2011 Nevis Island Elections, the local Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) Observer Group stated that despite the generally peaceful nature of the campaign and the electoral process, a number of irregularities were observed. The first noticeable irregularity noted was that voters had difficulty finding their polling stations or their names on the partial Electoral List inside the polling stations, and this caused several of them to be disenfranchised.

“We welcome the generally peaceful nature of the campaign and the electoral process. At the same time, we were saddened by the fact that a number of Nevisians were disenfranchised, and persons known to be permanent residents in St. Kitts were able to participate in the elections are voters.

“There remain shortcomings with the voters’ registration, based on the number of people with voter cards but missing from the voters’ register. This needs to be urgently addressed,” the report states.

Zambia: Electoral Commission of Zambia to announce date for candidates to file nomination papers | Lusaka Times

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says it is ready to host the elections and is today set to announce the date for presidential and parliamentary candidates to file their nomination papers. ECZ chairperson Ireen Mambilima said in Lusaka yesterday that the electoral body has set the timetable for the commencement of campaigns.

Justice Mambilima told journalists that the ECZ will be objective and professional in conducting the elections as it has done in the past. “We have set the timetable for the nominations of presidential and parliamentary candidates which will kick-start the campaigns,” Justice Mambilima said.

The Voting News Daily: California vote-by-mail service under threat in budget cuts, Setback to Indian Election Commission as paper trail pilot poll reports errors

California: Vote-by-mail service under threat in budget cuts | San Jose Mercury News California’s beloved vote-by-mail system will remain largely intact, despite state legislators’ raid on its relatively small pot of dollars. County election clerks say they likely will scrape up the $33 million the state sliced from the budget for elections. Permanent vote-by-mail allows voters to…

Wisconsin: Walker administration working on plan to close offices where people can obtain driver’s licenses and Voter IDs | BusinessWeek

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is working on finalizing a plan to close as many as 10 offices where people can obtain driver’s licenses in order to expand hours elsewhere and come into compliance with new requirements that voters show photo IDs at the polls.

One Democratic lawmaker said Friday it appeared the decisions were based on politics, with the department targeting offices for closure in Democratic areas and expanding hours for those in Republican districts.

A high-ranking DOT official rejected that claim, saying the changes were based on economics, not politics. Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, called on the state Department of Transportation to reconsider its plants to close the Fort Atkinson DMV center. The department plans to expand by four hours a week the hours of a center about 30 minutes away in Watertown.

California: Vote-by-mail service under threat in California budget cuts | San Jose Mercury News

California’s beloved vote-by-mail system will remain largely intact, despite state legislators’ raid on its relatively small pot of dollars. County election clerks say they likely will scrape up the $33 million the state sliced from the budget for elections. Permanent vote-by-mail allows voters to sign up once and automatically receive ballots. Under the old system, voters who wished to vote by mail requested a ballot each election.

Nearly half of the 10.3 million residents who cast ballots in November did so through the mail. The percentage topped the halfway mark in most counties, offering further evidence that voting by mail has become an indispensable feature for many.

However, the fact that the fate of permanent vote-by-mail service rests with each of California’s 58 counties now that the state suspended reimbursement is prompting voting rights advocates to rekindle their calls for a stronger state role in elections. California’s decentralized election system means counties could “decide to eliminate the permanent vote-by-mail option,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. “Voter access is already uneven from county to county, and the suspension of the mandates is only going to make it worse.

“What do we tell voters when they want to know if they can vote by mail?”

India: Setback to Election Commission as India paper trail pilot poll reports errors | menafn.com

In a setback to the Election Commission (EC), its pilot poll conducted on Sunday to establish a paper trail for electronic voting machines (EVMs) reported significant errors.

Preliminary results of the EC pilot poll indicated discrepancies between votes polled in EVMs and the paper trail, according to three people involved and familiar with the testing process. Two of them are EC officials who confirmed the mismatch, but did not give any more details. EC will release a comprehensive report on the pilot poll in a few days.

“Even a difference of one vote is not acceptable,” said one of the EC officials, who, like the other EC official familiar with the matter, asked not to be identified given the controversial nature of the findings.

South Carolina: Democrats challenge Gov. Haley’s voter ID claims | MidlandsConnect.com

South Carolina Democrats are taking aim at Governor Nikki Haley after she made bold claims about the state’s new voter photo ID law.

In a recent interview with WHNS, a Fox affiliate in Greenville, Haley said she would personally drive people who lack a form of photo identification to the Department of Motor Vehicles so they could get a new photo ID card.

“Find me those people who think that this is invading their rights.  Find, and I will go take them to the DMV myself and help them get that picture ID,” Haley said in the interview.

Editorials: Sen. Finney: Voter ID law needless ploy to disenfranchise voters | The Daily News Journal

It is a little over a year until the 2012 elections, and you’re eligible to vote for the first time. Maybe you’ve moved to another county, or maybe you haven’t voted in a while and need to know your precinct. You call your local election office, where someone tells you that you will need a photo ID to vote. You learn that you’ll need several pieces of documentation to prove your identity in order to receive the ID.

If you live in any of the 54 counties — yes, 54! — where there is no drivers license center, you’ll have to travel to a neighboring county to get the ID. Unfortunately, this will be the new norm.

Since coming to the Senate in 2007, each year my fellow Democrats and I have opposed efforts to place barriers between voters and the polling booth. Earlier this year, the Republican majority passed a law requiring photo identification to vote, despite warnings that it would hurt thousands of voters and potentially cost the state millions in federal lawsuits.

Oklahoma: Cherokee Nation commissioners mull election issues | Tahlequah Daily Press

The Cherokee Nation Election Commission decided Tuesday morning to delay filling a vacancy created by the resignation of former Chairman Roger Johnson. The EC opted to instead wait until after tribe’s attorney general issues opinions on the upcoming special election for principal chief, and a rules committee and special tribal council meeting have been held over the next two weeks.

Three of the four commissioners – Patsy Eads-Morton, Brenda Walker and Curtis Rohr – met with commission attorney Lloyd Cole Tuesday. Martha Calico was absent, but only three commissioners are needed to make a quorum.

Maine: Portland Prepares for Voting Experiment in Crowded Mayoral Race | MPBN

This November, Portland is undertaking a type of voting never tried in Maine before. Its next mayor will be chosen by a process by which voters rank their choices in the order of preference. But that could be quite the task for both the voters and the city officials preparing for the election, given a crowded field of candidates. It now stands at 19 with former state senator Ethan Strimling announcing his bid for mayor today.

… With a vigilant eye on the growing roster of candidates, the city is planning voter education workshops with the League of Women Voters ahead of the Nov. 8 election. And it’s prepared to sign a contract this week with a DC-based election balloting company called True Ballot, which has experience with ranked-choice voting.

“We want to identify any of the possible pitfalls and avoid any kind of voter confusion on the day of the election,” says city spokeswoman Nicole Clegg. Clegg says that if someone gets a simple majority of first choice votes–that’d be 50 percent plus 1 vote–the person wins.

Oregon: How Wu vacancy would get filled | kgw.com

Under Oregon law, Gov. John Kitzhaber calls for a special election to replace a member of Congress. His spokeswoman Christine Miles said he was still reviewing the procedures Tuesday and would outline the election parameters when a review was completed.

Complicating that review is the fact that U.S. Rep David Wu, while announcing his intent to resign, has not officially done so. Nor has he specified a date, other than sometime after the debt ceiling vote in Congress has taken place.

Mexico: Making It Easier to Vote Abroad | New America Media

Beginning Oct. 1, Mexican nationals abroad will be able to register to vote for the 2012 Mexican presidential election. Mexicans living outside their country will only need two documents to vote: their application and a photocopy of their voter ID card issued by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE).

In an effort to better facilitate foreign voter registration, the IFE General Council owill allow Mexican nationals to register their address outside Mexico without any other documents. The same address will be where voter ballots will be mailed to.

Kyrgyzstan: Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission to allow news agencies to participate in the elections coverage | eng.24.kg

The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan to allow news agencies to participate in the elections coverage.

“Banning any news media from covering a crucial event such as an election is unbecoming of any country that aspires to be regarded as a democracy,” the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Nina Ognianova, told 24.kg news agency commenting on the CEC Decision to deprive local news agencies of an accreditation.

Zambia: Government Printers didn’t bid to print ballots-ECZ | Lusaka Times

The Electoral Commission of Zambia outsourced the printing of ballot papers for this year’s elections because the Government Printing Department (GP) required about K44 billion to be equipped for the job. This is against the K1 billion which is in the budget.

ECZ director Priscilla Isaac said in a statement yesterday that K43,897,966,174 is needed to fully equip the department to carry out the job.
She said the commission was left with no alternative but to outsource the printing of the ballot papers. Ms Isaac said the tender was advertised in daily newspapers for a period of four weeks and it closed on April 29, 2011, but the Government Printing Department did not apply despite being free to do so.

Botswana: National Front Youth League backs opposition cooperation | The Monitor

The Botswana National Front Youth League (BNFYL) has said it supports the opposition cooperation involving the BNF, Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Botswana Peoples Party (BPP), but warned that the parties should be cautious to ensure the project succeeds.

In a report to the just ended BNF conference held in Tsabong, which has been leaked to The Monitor, BNFYL president Kagiso Ntime, who read it, told the BNF faithful his league, gives a thumbs-up to the opposition cooperation project, also indicating that it has been a few steps ahead of the mother body in that it worked in concert with other opposition parties’ youth leagues and even sponsored a resolution at the BNF congress in Mochudi last year calling for cooperation talks with other parties.

Thailand: Election Commission certifies enough MPs to hold House session -| Shanghai Daily | 上海日报

The Election Commission of Thailand (EC) on Wednesday certified the status of 94 more MPs, allowing the House of Representatives to have enough MPs to hold its first session to select prime minister. EC Secretary-General Suthipol Taweechaikarn said at press conference on Wednesday evening that the EC committee resolved to certify MP status of 94 more MPs, that was elected on the general election on July 3, making the number of certified MPs to 496 of 500 or more than 95 percent of the House seats.

According to the Thai Constitution, 95 percent of MPs, or 475 out of 500, must be endorsed before the first meeting of the Lower House of Parliament is able to take place within 30 days from the election date.

The MPs who were certified Wednesday included anti-establishment “red-shirt” core leader and Pheu Thai MP Nattawut Saikua who was jailed for about nine months for terrorism charge after the “red- shirt” demonstration ended in May last year.

The Voting News Daily: North Carolina House falls short of canceling governor’s veto of photo identification mandate, GOP’s state-by-state crusade to disenfranchise voters

North Carolina: House falls short of canceling governor’s veto of photo identification mandate for voters | The Republic Republican lawmakers failed Tuesday to override a veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue that would have required voters to show photo identification before casting an in-person ballot. The House voted 67-52 in favor of the override, five votes short…

North Carolina: North Carolina House falls short of canceling governor’s veto of photo identification mandate for voters | The Republic

Republican lawmakers failed Tuesday to override a veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue that would have required voters to show photo identification before casting an in-person ballot. The House voted 67-52 in favor of the override, five votes short of what’s needed to move it to the Senate.

Republicans argued the photo ID mandate would discourage voter fraud. Democrats said the requirement is unnecessary because reports of fraud are few and that it would only lead to voter suppression, particularly older people, minorities and women.

The override question spurred passionate debate about voting in an era in which citizens show identification to enter government buildings or get on an airplane but only a half-century since blacks in the Jim Crow-era South were discouraged from voting because of the color of their skin.

Editorials: The GOP’s state-by-state crusade to disenfranchise voters | The Washington Post

With only a week left before the United States of America could default on its debt, it’s easy to look at the federal government and wonder how we ever made it this far. Who would have guessed that a committed gang of extremists could bring down the economy? And yet, that’s where we find ourselves today, cornered by a manufactured crisis and running out of time. As Larry Sabato rightly tweeted over the weekend, “For anybody who teaches the American system and believes in it, this has been an extremely discouraging week.”

Unfortunately, the assault on our democracy is not confined to Congress or the standoff over the debt ceiling. It is also seeping into the states, where voting rights — the fundamental underpinning of any democracy — are being curbed and crippled.

In states across the country, Republican legislatures are pushing through laws that make it more difficult for Americans to vote. The most popular include new laws requiring voters to bring official identification to the polls. Estimates suggest that more than 1 in 10 Americans lack an eligible form of ID, and thus would be turned away at their polling location. Most are minorities and young people, the most loyal constituencies of the Democratic Party.

Wisconsin: The Next Step in Wisconsin’s Disenfranchisement Agenda | Campus Progress

If there has been any doubt regarding the intent behind this year’s upsurge in voter ID legislation, Governor Scott Walker’s latest move leaves little room to question the conservative disenfranchisement agenda, at least in the state of Wisconsin. In what seems like a blatant attempt to lessen the accessibility of photo identification, Governor Walker’s administration has announced the closure of sixteen DMV centers throughout the state – for “economic” purposes.

“What the heck is going on here? Is politics at play here?” asked Rep. Andy Jorgenson (D-Fort Atkinson). The Department of Transportation plans to close the DMV center in Jorgenson’s county of Fort Atkinson, with the next nearest station more than thirty minutes away by car.

An official from the Department of Transportation, however, insists that there is no correlation between the state’s recent passage of legislation requiring photo ID to vote and the planned closing of sixteen centers that provide the required identification.

Maine: State GOP Chair: Students Who Vote And Pay Out-Of-State Tuition Are Committing Voter Fraud | TPM

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is claiming that college students who pay out-of-state tuition rates and vote in state are committing voter fraud. At a press conference at the Maine State House, Webster gave the media a list of over 200 students — their names redacted — who paid out-of-state tuition rates but were registered to vote in the state.

Webster said he came up with the list because of opposition from voter rights groups to a law passed by the Republican-led legislature in June which banned voter registration on Election Day. A coalition of groups have launched a petition drive to overturn the law.

One problem. The University of Maine only allows individuals who previously lived in Maine — those who aren’t just living into the state to attend school — to pay a discounted in-state tuition rate.