National: Flaws seen in absentee ballot program for military voters | Washington Times

The Justice Department’s program for handling military absentee ballots suffers from major flaws, and a survey revealed low turnout among military voters in the 2010 mid-term elections, according to a report by a private group made public on Tuesday.

Less than 5 percent of 2 million military personnel in states that are home to 80 percent of U.S. troops voted last year, the report by the Military Voter Protection Project (MVP) said. The low numbers were in part the result of complicated and mishandled federal enforcement, said Eric Loveland, MVP founder and author of the report.

“We’re 10 years into conflict now, and we still can’t seem to get the absentee voting things right,” Mr. Eversole said. “This needs to be a priority now. We can’t let our servicemen suffer another election.”

Voting Blogs: Wisconsin’s Soft Launch and Hard Times | Rock the Vote Blog

As the Wisconsin recall elections kicked off yesterday, voters were greeted with a test run of the new photo ID law. The “soft implementation,” as officials were calling it, was an effort to get voters used to the real photo ID requirements, which will go into effect next year. Everyone who votes in the recall elections this year will be asked to show ID. If you don’t have one, you’ll still be allowed to vote and will be given a flyer on the new requirements and how to meet them.

The Government Accountability Board estimates that educating Wisconsin voters will cost about $750,000, not including the price of the IDs or infrastructure such as increased poll hours and worker training.

National: New EAC Report Shows Increased Voter Registration Among Low-Income Americans | Project Vote

A newly released review of a June 27 report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) shows that voter registration application rates at state public assistance agencies have risen sharply following National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) enforcement actions by advocacy groups Demos, Project Vote, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and others. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of states not targeted have continued to see a long decline in registration of lower-income residents.

The EAC report covers voter registration that occurred between the November 2008 and November 2010 elections.

Wisconsin: Robo Calls To Democrats Add To Voter Confusion | WISN Milwaukee

Automated telephone calls to Democrats placed on a primary election day could be adding to an already confusing and controversial election day in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Right To Life began placing calls to Wisconsin Democrats stating they will be sent applications for absentee ballots for an upcoming election.
The phone calls, which were traced to a telemarketing company in Virginia, carried the following message from Wisconsin Right to Life executive director Barbara Lyons:

Hello, this is Barbara Lyons from Wisconsin Right to Life. I’m calling today to let you know that you will be receiving an absentee ballot application for the upcoming recall elections in the mail in the next few days. These recall elections are very important and voting absentee will ensure that your vote is counted and that we can maintain a pro-family, pro-life state Senate. We hope that we can count on you to complete that application and send it back to us within seven days. Thank you for your support. Wisconsin Right to Life can be reached by calling 877-855-5007.

Egypt: No Internet voting in Egypt: Telecom Minister | Ahram Online

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) presented new draft amendments to the telecommunications law, according Maged Osman, minister of communications and information technology.

… The minister dismissed the possibility of utilizing electronic voting through the internet in the upcoming elections. “It has been proven worldwide that there is a high risk of security compromises using such method in elections”

Saint Kitts and Nevis: Nevisians took to the streets of Charlestown in Election protest | SKNVibes

The clamorous chants of “we want justice…we demand fair play” by some 1 500 supporters of the Concerned Citizens Movement, echoed through the streets of downtown Charlestown yesterday (July 12) in protest of what they claimed to be a rigged election.

At about 3:30 p.m., disgruntled supporters of the CCM began gathering at the Memorial Square in Charlestown for a 4:00 p.m. meeting at that venue with their party’s Leader Vance Amory.

On arrival of Amory and the party’s Deputy Leader, Mark Brantley, and hearing that the Premier-designate, Joseph Parry, Hensley Daniel and Robelto Hector were scheduled to be Sworn In at approximately 5:00 p.m. at the Elquemedo Willet Park, the rapidly growing crowd decided that a protest march should take the place of the meeting.

Louisiana: Louisiana Violated Disabled Voter Rights, U.S. Says in Suit | Bloomberg

The state of Louisiana and some of its agencies and officials violated the National Voter Registration Act through their treatment of disabled residents and people on public assistance, the U.S. said in a lawsuit.

The U.S. Justice Department said in the suit filed today in federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that the state broke the law by failing to provide voter registration services at offices administering to residents on public assistance or state-funded programs serving people with disabilities. The law requires states to “identify and designate” these offices as voter registration agencies, the U.S. said.

Arizona: Who will challenge Pearce in recall election? | azfamily.com

The petitions have been certified, and the recall election date has been set but it remains unclear who will run against State Senator Russell Pearce in his Mesa district in November. Political analysts say the fact that no one has come forward suggests a lack of planning on the part of those behind the recall.

“It’s a little alarming that we’re this far down the process and we have yet to have a candidate that’s running,” said political analyst Marcus Dell’Artino of First Strategic. Those organizers of the “Citizens for a Better Arizona” group say they expect a candidate will come forward in the coming week.

Montana: New tools to help Montana absentee voters move | KAJ18.com

Montana’s legislators might have shot down a move to allow people to do all their voting by mail, but Secretary of State Linda McCulloch is taking steps to make it easier for absentee ballots.

GOP lawmakers led the move to squash a proposal to allow vote-by-mail during the recently completed legislative session. That opposition came despite support from elections officials in every Montana county and successful adoption of vote by mail by other states like Washington a decade ago.

However, the Legislature did agree to have voter registration cards to display an option for people to sign up for the Annual Absentee List. McCulloch has now issued the new enhanced voter registration card, as well as a postcard allowing currently registered voters to permanently switch over to absentee voting.

Ohio: State OKs paying lawyers in Ohio voting-rights case | Columbus Dispatch

The State Controlling Board approved Secretary of State Jon Husted’s request for more than $332,000 yesterday to pay attorneys’ fees for plaintiffs who sued the state in 2006 over alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The lawsuit, filed by two Cleveland-area residents and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, named then-Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and Barbara E. Riley, then-director of the state’s Department of Job and Family Services, as defendants.

US Virgin Islands: Elections preparing to purge voter rolls | Virgin Islands Daily News

The St. Thomas-St. John District Board of Elections will begin cancelling about 4,700 voter registrations this week. According to law, if a voter misses two consecutive elections, that voter’s registration is cancelled, and he or she must re-register to vote in any future elections.

Following each election, the Elections staff sifts through the voter books and pulls out the registrations to be cancelled. Notices are sent out urging those voters to apply for reinstatement if they do not want to be pulled from the voter rolls.

Thailand: Thai Election Commission Postpones Certifying New Prime Minister | VoANews

Thailand’s Election Commission has delayed certifying the election victory of both Prime Minister-elect Yingluck Shinawatra and the former leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, because it says it is still looking into complaints of irregularities in the vote.

Ms. Yingluck is playing down the decision, but it is just one in a series of challenges she faces before forming a new government.
Voter fraud Thailand’s Election Commission has been investigating complaints of irregularities and fraud in the July 3 vote and postponed endorsing the victory of the 44-year-old Pheu Thai Party leader, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Ukraine: Nine Oppositional Parties Agree To Meet On September 12 To Create Committee To Ensure Fair Elections | Ukranian News

Oppositional political forces Our Ukraine, Ukrainian People’s Party, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, Svoboda All-Ukrainian Association party, Sobor Ukrainian Republican Party, Motherland defenders party, Ukrainian party, Republican Christian Party and the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine have agreed to meet on September 12 to create committee to ensure fair elections.

Respective agreement was reached at the working meeting of representatives of these political forces initiated by the Our Ukraine.

Hungary: Hungary Proposes Single-Round Election | Wall Street Journal

Over the weekend, Hungary’s governing party Fidesz proposed a mixed, single-round parliamentary election system instead of the current two-round one, immediately attracting huge public outcry.

The governing party, which has a sweeping majority in parliament, is in the process of revamping the country’s public sector. This spans from changes in the administration to cutting red tape to simplifying the election system. Part of the latter effort is a plan to eventually decrease the number of parliament members to 200 from the current 386.

Serbia: No elections this year, says Serbian parliament speaker | B92 News

Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović says there will be “no elections in Serbia this year”. The speaker, a high ranking official of Ivica Dačić’s Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), note that sge had received no initiative for early local elections.

Slavica Đukić-Dejanović told reporters at the parliament building today that the political elite would agree on whether to hold parliamentary and local election at the same time or separately.

UAE: Federal NationalNational Election Commission launches roadshows | WAM

In the run-up to the forthcoming elections to the Federal National Council (FNC), the National Election Commission will flag off a series of roadshows to enlighten the UAE community on the election process and its importance.

Nearly 130,000 citizens, both men and women from all the seven emirates in the UAE, are supposed to cast their votes to elect half of the members to the country’s national assembly.

The Voting News Daily: 6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls in Wisconsin, Cherokee Nation Orders Second Recount In Chief Election

Wisconsin: 6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls | JSOnline Six fake Democratic candidates put up by the Republican Party to buy time for Republican state senators subject to recalls accomplished that job Tuesday, but none of them did the unexpected and knocked off a real Democrat. Candidates backed by the Democratic Party…

Wisconsin: 6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls | JSOnline

Six fake Democratic candidates put up by the Republican Party to buy time for Republican state senators subject to recalls accomplished that job Tuesday, but none of them did the unexpected and knocked off a real Democrat.

Candidates backed by the Democratic Party won all six Senate primary elections, all but one of them by substantial amounts. They’ll all go on to face the Republican incumbents on Aug. 9, in an attempt by Democrats to regain control of the state Senate and put the brakes on Gov. Scott Walker’s agenda. That the primaries were held at all is a function of the twists and turns of political strategy played out in recent months as the state broke into warring camps over Walker’s attempt to restrict collective bargaining for public employees.

The Republican Party forced the primaries to give its six senators facing recall another four weeks before facing a Democratic challenger, in order to allow them to take their case to the voters and argue that their work on the budget was good for the state.

Oklahoma: Cherokee Nation Orders Second Recount In Chief Election | KOTV.com

The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ordered another recount Tuesday in the election for Principal Chief. The second recount will be done by hand and will start at 8:30 a.m. this Saturday, July 16, 2011.

The race has been the center of controversy since the election on June 25, 2011. Chief Chad Smith was initially declared the winner by just seven votes over challenger Bill John Baker. Baker ordered a recount and was declared the winner by 266 votes last week.

But over the weekend, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court counted absentee ballots. Their count showed more than 200 of those ballots were not included in the recount that reversed the election results.

California: Vote-suppression complaints filed in testy congressional election | latimes.com

As voters headed to the polls Tuesday to decide a hard-fought special congressional election in the South Bay area, attorneys for Democrat Janice Hahn filed complaints alleging that supporters of her opponent, Republican Craig Huey, were trying to suppress turnout of her voters.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the Los Angeles County district attorney, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles and the California attorney general, Hahn lawyers Stephen J. Kaufman and Steven J. Reyes asked for immediate investigations into “voter suppression actitivies” in the 36th Congressional District race.

The attorneys said several voters reported receiving telephone calls Monday night telling them the election had been postponed to Wednesday at Hahn’s request ,and others were given wrong polling place addresses.

California: CA-36: Robocalls telling voters the election is moved to Wednesday? | Politico.com

This was inevitable: An early complaint of voter suppression in California’s special House election. Janice Hahn’s campaign has filed a complaint with the state Attorney General to investigate “several reports” of calls to voters that Tuesday’s election had been moved to Wednesday.

According to Hahn’s attorney, other voters received calls including “incorrect polling information.”

One voter received a call Monday morning saying, “Called to let you know that the election has been moved to Wednesday, per Janice Hahn’s request.  Thanks, bye.”

Wisconsin: New voter ID rule leaves some absentee voters without ballot | Leader-Telegram

At least a few area voters have been confused by a new rule governing absentee voting. Yvonne and George Nelson of Menomonie planned to cast absentee ballots for the 10th Senate District recall primary Monday before taking a trip out of town.

But they were politely told at the Dunn County Courthouse that they couldn’t vote absentee because under the new voter ID law, they needed to vote by Friday. Before the new law had been passed, the deadline was the day before the election.

“I’m furious,” said Yvonne Nelson, who had been unaware of the change. “I feel disenfranchised. We either have to drive a couple hundred miles to come back to town or not vote. “My husband said he’s not driving back 200 miles at $4 a gallon.”

Wisconsin: Waukesha County clerk Nickolaus plans to use more secure ballot bags | JSOnline

After poorly sealed and torn ballot bags became one source of concern during the recent Supreme Court recount, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus plans to introduce new, more secure bags.

She said the bags are made of tougher plastic and are comparable to bags used by banks, with an adhesive tape closing that would reveal signs of tampering. Ballots from individual polling places are bagged after they’re counted on election night and stored either at municipal halls or with the county clerk until results are final and uncontested.

Wisconsin: Glendale voters head to Milwaukee in recall primary mixup | JSOnline

About 20 Glendale voters tried to cast recall primary ballots Tuesday at Milwaukee City Hall, a Milwaukee election official said.

The mixup apparently was part of the confusion triggered by the North Shore suburb’s decision to consolidate all of its polling places at Glendale City Hall for Tuesday’s Democratic primary. State Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) is facing Gladys Huber, a Republican running as a Democrat, for the right to challenge Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) in the Aug. 9 recall election.

Arizona: Brewer calls Nov. 8 recall election for Pearce | Arizona Republic

Barring a legal challenge, Senate President Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, will face recall election on Nov. 8.

Pearce, one of the state’s most powerful and controversial politicians, released a statement late Tuesday afternoon saying that he told Gov. Jan Brewer that he was in support of her calling the election this fall. It is believed to be the first recall election of a state legislator in Arizona history.

Pearce made it clear in his statement that he has no intention of resigning his office, as some of his detractors have suggested.

Malaysia: Poll activists call for royal commission | Straits Times

Malaysian activists who staged a mass rally for poll reforms called on Tuesday for a royal probe into the electoral system after the clampdown on their weekend protest.

Bersih 2.0, a coalition of non-governmental organisations, said it would not abandon its campaign, with Prime Minister Najib Razak widely expected to call elections by early next year. The opposition say voting favours the Barisan Nasional coalition, who have ruled Malaysia for half a century but saw their majority slashed in the previous general election, in 2008.

Malaysia: Malaysia government fights criticism after rally chaos | The Brunei Times

Malaysian authorities sought yesterday to deflect criticism that the government was suppressing dissent after making mass arrests and unleashing tear gas against at least 20,000 demonstrators who marched for electoral reforms.

The political fallout from rare scenes of mayhem in Kuala Lumpur is certain to complicate efforts by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition to bolster its support ahead of general elections that many expect to be held within a year.

International rights groups and Malaysian opposition parties denounced the government’s response to the country’s largest political rally in four years, which resulted in the arrest of 1,667 people Saturday. All were freed without immediate charges by yesterday. Amnesty International called it “the worst campaign of repression we’ve seen in (Malaysia) for years,” while Human Rights Watch said it was “a maelstrom of the Malaysian authorities’ own making.”

Thailand: Prime Minister-in-waiting confident she will be cleared | Channel NewsAsia

Thai prime minister-in-waiting Yingluck Shinawatra said on Wednesday that she was confident that alleged campaign irregularities which are holding up her appointment would be dismissed.

Thailand’s Election Commission on Tuesday put off a decision on whether to approve Yingluck and 141 other candidates, including outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, as members of the 500-seat lower house.

“There’s still time left under the law. I think the EC is trying to finish its investigation,” she said. “I hope and am confident that the EC will treat me and my Puea Thai Party with fairness and justice.”

Thailand: Yingluck yet to be endorsed by Thai election commission for fraud complaints | xinhua.net

The Election Commission (EC) of Thailand on Tuesday verified the election result of 358 members of the parliament, or 71.6 percent of the total 500 MPs, but decided not to verify the incoming prime minister (PM) Yingluck Shinawatra and the outgoing PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Both Yingluck and Abhisit are facing complaints filed in connection with electoral frauds and EC needs to investigate. Among 358, 249 are from constituency-based system and 109 from party-list.

Some key “Red-shirt” leaders — Jatuporn Prompan, Nutthawut Saikua and Weng Tojirakarn, who are also on Pheu Thai Party’s list, are not yet endorsed by the agency as they also have complaints regarding their qualification.

Editorials: The right to vote | The Manila Times

The right to vote is more technically called “suffrage.” It was first found in the US Constitution in 1787 (Dictionary.com). The Philippine Constitution provides: “Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines, not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote, for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.”

Clearly, it is not obligatory to exercise suffrage. It is due to this permissive provision of the Constitution that failure to cast one’s vote without justifiable excuse (an election offense under Section 261, sub-paragraph 1 of the Omnibus Election Code) is said to have been decriminalized. Under such 1978 penal provision, suffrage was more an obligation than a right.