Latvia: Latvians back dismissal of parliament in vote | Al Jazeera

Latvians have overwhelmingly voted in favour of dissolving parliament in a referendum called to combat the power of oligarch businessmen, early results of the poll showed.

With more than 57 per cent of ballots counted, 94.8 per cent of voters supported the legislature’s dissolution, according to Central Election Commission data released on its website on Saturday.

“Overall voter participation in the referendum was good,” election commission chairman Arnis Cimdars told a news conference. The referendum will lead to a snap election in September.

Latvia: Saulkrasti registers highest turnout as referendum polls close in Latvia | Latvians Online

Voter turnout in Latvia topped 44 percent in the July 23 national referendum on dissolving the Saeima, according to data compiled by the Rīga-based Central Election Commission shortly after polls closed at 10 p.m. local time.
Now the counting begins, but the result will likely be that 100 MPs will be out of a job and will start planning their campaign for the expected September elections.

In all, about 682,000 citizens voted, with turnout especially strong along the Gulf of Rīga, where many people were spending their weekend at a beach. Saulkrasti County, on the gulf’s eastern side, registered turnout that topped 150 percent thanks to voters from outside the district casting ballots there.

Egypt: Egypt’s vote in November, says election official | gulfnews

Egypt’s parliamentary elections will be held in the second half of November, two months later than originally scheduled, Chief of the Higher Election Commission Abdul Moaez Ebrahim said on Saturday.

He added that the elections of both houses of the parliament will be held at the same time and fully supervised by judges. “Whether Egyptian expatriates will be able to vote or not needs a political decision,” Ebrahim told reporters in Cairo.

Zimbabwe: New bill does not create peaceful electoral environment: Zimbabwe Election Support Network | The Zimbabwean

In its preliminary response to the bill, which has been welcomed by some sections , the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said that it has, “critically assessed the draft Electoral Amendment Bill gazetted last month and suggested further improvements.”

“The Electoral Amendment Bill addresses a number of issues which ZESN believes are essential for the creation of a conducive environment and the levelling of the playing field for credible free and fair elections. At the same time ZESN notes that, even though some of the reforms will significantly improve the current electoral legal framework, the proposed amendments do not go far enough in addressing the creation of a peaceful electoral environment.”

The Voting News Weekly: TVN Weekly July 18-24 2011

Estonian E-voting Questioned

Youth, especially students, will face new challenges in states that have passed restrictive voter ID laws, many of which specifically exclude student IDs as accepted forms of identification. Estonia’s internet voting system continues to be questioned. After two recounts, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court threw out the election for chief and called for a re-vote. Fox News offered an editorial in support of Voter ID laws, while Congressional Democrats voiced their concerns to the Department of Justice. The hardships that some individuals will face in order to vote in South Carolina were are described in an article in The State. Election integrity activists, with the support of the Secretary of State, stopped a bill that would have allow the electronic submission of voted ballots through email in California. And the Thai election commission certified Yingluck Shinawatra’s election as MP, setting the stage for her to become that nation’s first female Prime Minister.

The Voting News Daily: Youth Vote Faces Challenges With Voter ID Legislation, Florida Governor Rick Scott wants his name off bad election law

National: Youth Vote Faces Challenges With Voter ID Legislation | The Nation Voter fraud is an “epidemic.” It abounds, stealing elections from rightful candidates and places losers into unearned elected office. Republican dominated statehouses across the country are “combating” this problem through strict voter ID legislation, where a government-issued photo identification is required in order…

National: Youth Vote Faces Challenges With Voter ID Legislation | The Nation

Voter fraud is an “epidemic.” It abounds, stealing elections from rightful candidates and places losers into unearned elected office. Republican dominated statehouses across the country are “combating” this problem through strict voter ID legislation, where a government-issued photo identification is required in order to vote. Seven states have already enacted legislation requiring state-issued photo ID at the polls and many more are pending.

One of the states, Wisconsin, enacted what Milwaukee Common Council Alderwoman Milele Coggs accurately called “the most restrictive voter ID legislation in the country.” It requires photo IDs issued by the state or federal government and only allows a forgetful voter’s provisional ballot to count if they return within three days with a proper ID.

College students are some of the unintended—or intended—citizens affected by the law. They broke for Barack Obama in 2008 by an astonishing 38 points and remained loyal to Democrats in 2010 by wide margins.

Editorials: Governor Rick Scott wants his name off bad election law | St. Petersburg Times

So the governor wants his name off a lawsuit filed over Florida’s cynical new elections law. Can you blame him?

Gov. Rick Scott — already sued more times than your average crooked contractor — is named in a suit contesting a new law that brings controversial changes in how we vote. How controversial? His office got thousands of e-mails while the bill awaited his signature, most urging him to reject something so fundamentally wrong.

The bill’s supporters kept saying, honest, it’s all about stopping our terrible problem of voter fraud. Except we don’t have a terrible problem of voter fraud. And their specifics were beyond scarce. What the new law will do is make it harder for some citizens — minorities in particular — to vote. How many years would that set Florida back?

Indiana: Election challenge dismissed in Clarksville clerk race | News and Tribune

Clark Circuit Judge Daniel Moore dismissed a case that had been filed by Clarksville Clerk-Treasurer Gary Hall, which claimed Election Day irregularities due to a lack of handicap accessible voting machines at the polls on May 3.

Moore’s decision was a win for Bob Leuthart, who defeated Hall in the Democratic primary by 24 votes. Hall was challenging the results of the election because handicap accessible machines around the county were out of commission on Election Day. A bench trial, which took only about an hour, took place on Friday morning.

John Vissing, Hall’s attorney, based his case on the fact that federal laws passed as a part of the Help America Vote Act require such machines at each polling location. The Clark County Election Board conceded that the machines were not functional.

Voting Blogs: Wisconsin Clerk: Anger and Lines Greet ID Soft Launch | Rock the Vote Blog

Wisconsin’s recall elections are serving as a “soft implementation” of the new voter ID law, and poll workers and clerks are already expressing concerns about the new process. Even with modest turnout, voters experienced long waits and confusion, alarming clerks for future elections.

The concerns of elections officials and poll workers – including voice fears about long lines stretching from two to three hours, frustrated voters leaving before casting a ballot, anger revolving around poll book signatures and IDs, and drastically understaffed polls – were captured in a letter from the Madison City Clerk, Maribeth Witzel-Behl.

Texas: Senate Bill 100 May Change Voting in Municipal Elections | Examiner.com

Voting in Garland, TX and other cities in Dallas County has gotten a lot more complicated, thanks to Senate Bill 100. The Bill was introduced to the Texas Senate, passed by the Senate and House and was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on June 17.

Mary Kayser, Garland City Secretary said the purpose of the bill is to adopt voting procedures necessary to implement the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act) which is aimed at making the voting process easier and faster for military and overseas voters.

Nevada: Wagner wins recount in North Las Vegas Ward 4 race | ReviewJournal.com

It took election workers just over two hours on Friday to come to the same conclusion they had on election night. Wade Wagner, a 48-year-old dentist, had beaten incumbent North Las Vegas City Councilman Richard Cherchio, 64, by a single vote for the Ward 4 seat.

The result of the afternoon recount, requested by Cherchio, “validates the accuracy” of the June 7 election, said Larry Lomax, Clark County registrar of voters. “Nothing changed,” he said. “Wade Wagner still has one more vote. I’m very confident in the system we use to conduct elections.”

The final tally was again 1,831 votes for Wagner, 1,830 for Cherchio.

India: India, US to take fair poll practices to West Asia, Africa | TMCnet

World’s biggest democracies, India and United States, have joined hands to help building up strong electoral institutions in emerging democracies, especially in middle-east and Africa. As part of the collaboration, the Election Commission’s newly started International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM) and Washington DC based International Federation of Electoral Systems (IFES) will work together to strengthen election management capacity in the interested countries.

“We will be training officials from middle-east and African nations in conducting free and fair elections,” chief election commissioner SY Quraishi told HT, a day after US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in Chennai described the commission as a “gold standard” institution. Reaction to her statement, the CEC said, “We feel the credibility and reputation of Election Commission has gone beyond our boundaries”.

Russia: Russian Internet whistleblower goes to court over government failure to act | RIA Novosti

Russian blogger Alexei Navalny has asked a court to declare illegal the failure of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)  to act in a case which involves state purchases of electronic equipment, an official said on Friday.

Navalny, who has become well known in Russia for using the Internet to lampoon the country’s ruling elite and expose high-level graft, said on his website he found violations in purchases of electronic voting systems for the Central Election Commission and filed a complaint to the FAS.

Latvia: Polling stations open in preparation for referendum on Saeima’s dismissal | Latvians Online

Polling stations in Latvia and abroad began work July 13 in preparation for a referendum that could result in dismissal of the 10th Saeima. The stations—including 78 abroad—will have information about the balloting process available for anyone interested, according to the Central Election Commission in Rīga.

The polling stations are to be open four hours per day from July 13-July 22. Hours are to be set by local election officials. The referendum is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time on July 23.

Croatia: Croatian parliamentary elections scheduled for Dec. 4 | SEE news

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told reporters after the meeting that the idea was to hold the vote before Dec. 9, when Croatia is supposed to sign an accession deal with the EU, followed by a Croatian referendum on joining the 27-nation bloc. On July 15, the representatives of Croatia’s ruling coalition in Zagreb set Dec. 4 as the date of the next parliamentary election.

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor told reporters after the meeting that the idea was to hold the vote before Dec. 9, when Croatia is supposed to sign an accession deal with the EU, followed by a Croatian referendum on joining the 27-nation bloc.

Zimbabwe: Constitution Select Committee deadline for Zimbabwe referendum now 31 December | swradioafrica.com

The country’s draft constitution is now only expected to be ready for a referendum by December and not September, as originally set at the beginning of this year, a co-chairman of COPAC said on Thursday.

The new charter is meant to clear the way for fresh polls following the country’s bloody 2008 elections, but the drafting process is running months behind after public outreach meetings were repeatedly postponed over outbreaks of violence.

The Voting News Daily: Tallinn Calls in Expert to Denounce E-Voting, Cherokee Nation Supreme Court throws out election for chief

Estonia: Tallinn Calls in Expert to Denounce E-Voting | ERR Yesterday, July 20, the City of Tallinn bolstered its drive to bar the nation’s much-touted e-voting system from local elections, holding a press conference where prominent US computer scientist Barbara Simons said that such systems are inherently vulnerable. The University of California, Berkeley PhD and…

Estonia: Tallinn Calls in Expert to Denounce E-Voting | ERR

Yesterday, July 20, the City of Tallinn bolstered its drive to bar the nation’s much-touted e-voting system from local elections, holding a press conference where prominent US computer scientist Barbara Simons said that such systems are inherently vulnerable.

The University of California, Berkeley PhD and former Association for Computing Machinery president spoke about risks such as malware, attacks on the server managing the election, insider threats and false websites.

Speaking in general terms, not about Estonia’s system in particular, she said that the nature of e-voting makes it impossible to audit or recount the votes. She also warned of the possibility of software viruses or worms that could infect a computer, casting votes without the user’s knowledge.

Oklahoma: Cherokee Nation Supreme Court throws out election for chief of Oklahoma’s largest Indian tribe | The Washington Post

The Cherokee Nation’s Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the results of a disputed election to determine the chief of Oklahoma’s largest Native American tribe following weeks of legal wrangling and multiple vote tallies that each came out with a different number.

The court’s ruling means a new election will be held in Tahlequah, although a date was not set by the five-justice court. At stake is the leadership of 300,000 Cherokees, one of the largest tribes in the U.S. Uncertainty about the accuracy of the results of the June 25 election and repeated flip-flopping in terms of the declared winner has eroded confidence among Cherokee voters.

Virginia: Homeless Have Right to Cast a Ballot | NBC29

Casting a ballot may be the last thing on your mind if you’re homeless but election officials say everyone’s voice matters. Even if you don’t have an address, you still have the right to vote here in Virginia.

Charlottesville City Councilor Kristin Szakos is taking voter registration to The Haven, where many didn’t know they can cast a ballot. “I think that when people’s lives are difficult, it’s hard to think about things like civic participation,” she said.

Sheri Iachetta is the city’s voter registrar and she wants to see more homeless voters coming out to the polls. “The people who are homeless don’t realize that they have the opportunity to register and vote. That’s what we’re realizing,” she said.

Virginia: Ruling: Virginia voter applications must be public | HamptonRoads.com

A federal judge has ruled that Virginia must make its voter registration applications available for public inspection. The opinion, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, stems from a lawsuit filed by the national voting rights group, Project Vote, which sought access to voter applications of Norfolk State University students in the 2008 presidential election.

The state Attorney General’s Office said Thursday it will ask the judge to stay the ruling while it prepares an appeal. Project Vote was seeking to investigate what it believed was an unusually high number of application rejections. It sued the head of Norfolk’s Office of Elections and the state Board of Elections.

South Carolina: Democrats want Lt. Governor Ken Ard recall vote | The Post and Courier

If Lt. Gov. Ken Ard won’t go on his own, Democrats want to give voters the chance to kick him to the curb themselves. Three House Democratic members joined their party chairman, Dick Harpootlian, Thursday to announce a plan to push legislation that would allow voters to recall Ard’s election.

The bill, which could become law in the upcoming special session scheduled for next week, would apply to all constitutional officers. If the bill passes, voters would be given the chance to amend the state constitution in November to allow future election recalls.

For an election recall to be put on the ballot, under the proposal, 15 percent of the voters who took part in the original election must sign a petition.

Colorado: Colorado Secretary of State sued over election-complaints standard | The Denver Post

An Aspen election-integrity activist is suing Secretary of State Scott Gessler and his office, saying Colorado has set an overly restrictive standard for who may allege violations of federal election law.

“When an election irregularity occurs, it’s important that anyone be able to complain and have their complaint fully investigated,” Marilyn Marks said Wednesday. “If a very, very high hurdle is up, it will discourage complaints. It sends a message to the county clerks that ‘You don’t have to worry; we’re not going to let anyone complain.’ “

Marks filed a complaint in April alleging that violations of the federal Help America Vote Act occurred during the 2010 general election in Saguache County — an election so plagued with problems, it prompted a statewide grand jury investigation.

West Virginia: City Council dismisses election challenge  | The Charleston Gazette

Defeated mayoral candidate Janet “JT” Thompson’s quest to overturn the May 17 city election came to an abrupt end Thursday when Charleston City Council dismissed her challenge on multiple grounds.

Council members wasted little time considering Thompson’s June 3 Notice of Election Contest and later filings, especially since Thompson — as promised — skipped the court-like tribunal entirely.

Voting Blogs: Complying with minority languages requirements | From Our Corner

If you ever wonder why our state or a certain county provides ballots or elections material in some language besides English, it’s because we’re complying with a federal mandate resulting from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act were added in 1975. These minority language mandates are found in Section 203 of the VRA.  The way it works is that if at least 10,000 (or over 5 percent) of the voting-age citizens in a voting jurisdiction are members of a single language minority group and are limited-English proficient, that jurisdiction has to provide any registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, ballots and other  elections-related info in that minority language.

Thailand: Abhisit, Yingluck ask Red Shirts not to pressure Election Commission | People’s Daily Online

Thailand’s outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Prime Minister in-waiting Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday asked the members of “Red Shirt” movement not to put pressure on the Election Commission (EC) to endorse all elected Pheu Thai MPs.

The caretaker premier Abhisit said Thursday morning that leaders of the Red Shirt, or the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), should stop putting pressure on the Election Commission (EC).

Hungary: Hungarian socialists approve of dual citizenship, object to voting rights | Politics.hu

An important component in the renewal of the Socialist Party is reconsidering its nation policy, deputy head of the party Andras Balogh told a press conference on Thursday, adding that his party approved of ensuring easy citizenship access for ethnic Hungarians, but would not consider granting voting rights “an integral part” of the process.

Balog said that the government’s efforts to seek closer ties with Hungarians in neighbouring countries and re-unite the nation should also involve reducing differences within the country’s borders.

India: Election Commission gets proposal to hold 2012 Uttar Pradesh polls in February | The Times of India

The possibility of early assembly election gains ground in UP with the Election Commission of India saying that it is not averse to examine the suggestions made by two political parties for holding the election in the month of February.

This was announced by chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi here on Thursday at a press conference held after a two-day interactive session by the commission with government functionaries and political representatives in connection with the poll-preparedness in the state. The Mayawati government is due to complete its tenure on May 13, 2012.