Indiana: Easing Secretary of State White’s damage | The Journal Gazette

Secretary of State Charlie White could well have proven to be the worst thing that ever happened to the Indiana GOP – at least since Richard Nixon’s participation in Watergate triggered a Democratic landslide in 1974 – if not for a late-session maneuver by the GOP-controlled legislature.

If the Indiana Recount Commission rules next week that White was ineligible to run for the office he won last November, Democrats pick up a key statewide office and the Republican Party’s image is tarnished. But a White loss could have inflicted even greater damage to the party, giving it the legal status of an also-ran third party for the 2012 and 2014 statewide elections.

Indiana: Secretary of State’s request for investigation of voter fraud prosecutor gets rejected | The Republic

A prosecutor has turned down Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s request for an investigation into whether one of the special prosecutors pursuing voter fraud charges against him committed the same offense.

Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards said Wednesday that she saw no reason to move forward after a preliminary review of White’s allegations against Dan Sigler. A judge appointed Sigler last year as one of two special prosecutors for the case.

White, a Republican who took office in January, filed a complaint with Richard’s office on June 10, accusing Sigler, his ex-wife and current wife of voting at incorrect polling sites.

Indiana: Prosecutor won’t investigate Charlie White’s allegations | The Journal Gazette

Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards declined the request of embattled Secretary of State Charlie White to investigate allegations he directed at one of the special prosecutors handling his criminal case.

Last week, White filed a complaint with Richards’ office alleging special prosecutor Daniel Sigler Sr. committed voter fraud. White asked that Richards appoint a special prosecutor to investigate.

Sigler, a former Adams County prosecutor, is one of two special prosecutors handling the criminal case against White, who was indicted earlier this year on multiple charges, including voter fraud.

Nevada: One-vote winner of North Las Vegas City Council race sues to stop new election | ReviewJournal.com

The one-vote winner of a heated North Las Vegas City Council race is suing to stop a new election. An attorney for dentist Wade Wagner, who won election to the council’s Ward 4 seat by a single vote, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in District Court against the city and four council members over the decision to order a new election in one precinct after the discovery of an ineligible vote.

Wagner won the election “but is being deprived of the office due to the unlawful actions of partisan City Council members who claim the power to void lawful votes because their preferred candidate lost,” the complaint said.

It asks the court to order the city to certify the original election and to stop the city from going forward with a new one. The city has 45 days to respond.

Maine: Push to repeal new voting law in Maine | wlbz2.com

One of the more controversial decisions of this year’s legislative session is still being debated – and may ultimately be decided at the ballot box.

Lawmakers voted to eliminate election-day voter registration in the state. The Maine Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters and some other groups are angry, and are launching a “people’s veto” campaign to overturn the new law. For 39 years, Maine has allowed people to register to vote up to and including Election Day itself. In 2008, roughly 49,000 voters registered on Election Day. In 2010, according to the Secretary of State’s office, about 18,000 registered on Election Day. But that law has now changed.

The Gambia: Gambia’s electoral commission registers 837 029 voters | Jollof News

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) registered 837 029 voters during 44 days of voter registration exercise, according to the commission’s chairman Alhagie Mustapha Carayol. He expressed satisfaction over the just concluded voters’ registration, saying:  ‘’at the end of the 44 days of the exercise, the provisional number of registered voters is 837, 029.’’

Chairman Carayol told a press conference at the commission’s headquarters Thursday ‘’I seized the opportunity to register the electoral body’s gratitude to the Government of the Republic of the Gambia for entirely and exclusively funding the General Registration of voters exercise.”

Thailand: Troubled path to election in Buri Ram Thailand | Bangkok Post

The lead up to the election in Buri Ram is becoming heated with the Election Commission receiving evidence of alleged vote buying and facing a residents’ protest.

Police had given the election watchdog a photo of a person clearly handing out money to villagers, EC Apichart Sukhagganond said on Friday. He would not say where this occurred. Investigators are looking into which party was involved and election commissioner would meet to consider the case on June 28, he said.

Saint Kitts and Nevis: Premier Parry announces Nevis Election Day | SKNVibes

Amidst loud cheers by supporters and well-wishers, Leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), Hon. Joseph Parry last night (June 22) announced that Nevisians would go to the polls on Monday, July 11, 2011. The incumbent Premier made the announcement at a rally in Brick Kiln Village in the St. James Constituency.

Parry told the gathering that he consulted the Governor-General and advised him to dissolve the Nevis Island Assembly yesterday (June 22).

“Today, I consulted with His Excellency the Governor-General. It is with the confidence of knowing that we have done our best on the circumstances that I advised on the dissolution of Parliament here in Nevis,” Parry told his party supporters. “And with the dissolution of Parliament,” he added, “I can ring the bell.”

China: Web plan dumped by China Electoral Affairs Commission | China Daily

The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) has abruptly scrapped its proposal to regulate electioneering activities on websites. The announcement came a month after public consultation began, revealing the guideline was unpopular, unrealistic and hard to execute.

The EAC on Thursday published guidelines on subsector elections of the Election Committee to be held in December and the 2012 Legislative Council (LegCo) geographical constituency elections.

Nigeria: Seven Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission staff arrested over election materials | Vanguard

Ekiti State Police Command has nabbed seven staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for allegedly doctoring electoral materials used in April general elections. The workers were said to have been caught in the act at an undisclosed hotel in Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government area of the state.

Their motive was not immediately known. Vanguard however, gathered that they were working for unnamed politicians in the area in attempt to use the doctored electoral materials as evidence in the state Election Petition Tribunal.

Afghanistan: Afghan Court Ruling Seeks to Alter Parliamentary Election Results | NYTimes.com

A special court set up at the behest of President Hamid Karzai ordered on Thursday the reinstatement of 62 candidates who had lost their seats or had been disqualified from last year’s parliamentary elections, reviving the prospect of a constitutional crisis for the nation.

The decision was the latest chapter in a heated dispute over allegations of fraud in last September’s elections. Coming a day after President Obama’s announcement of troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, it provided a stinging reminder of the potential for turbulence in the country’s fledgling democracy.

India: India’s new democracy institute opens doors to Kenyans | Mangalorean.Com

The newly established Indian Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM) will be sharing India’s experience of conducting elections for six decades with its very first batch of students: election officials from Kenya.

The institute will be formally opened with a special five-day training programme for the Kenyan officials from June 27. Eight Kenyans, including an Election Commissioner (Kenya has eight Election Commissioners), will participate in the first training programme in New Delhi.

The Voting News Daily: House rejects GOP bill to terminate Election Assistance Commission, Recall elections surge in state and local governments

National: House rejects GOP bill to terminate Election Assistance Commission | The Hill Members of the House on Wednesday rejected a bill to end the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which Republicans said would save $33 million over five years by eliminating a commission who’s primary purpose has been achieved. Members voted 235-187 in favor of…

National: House rejects GOP bill to terminate Election Assistance Commission | The Hill

Members of the House on Wednesday rejected a bill to end the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which Republicans said would save $33 million over five years by eliminating a commission who’s primary purpose has been achieved.

Members voted 235-187 in favor of the bill, which was not enough to ensure passage under a suspension of House rules. Suspension votes require the support of two-thirds of all voting members. Every voting Republican supported it, and every voting Democrat opposed it.

The House debated the bill, H.R. 672, Tuesday night. Republicans said the vote would test the willingness of Democrats to support cuts to federal spending, while Democrats argued that the EAC still serves a useful purpose in helping states establish voting standards and test voting equipment.

National: Recall elections surge in state and local governments | latimes.com

The new president of Arizona’s state Senate, Russell Pearce, had only 21 days to enjoy that position before opponents began circulating petitions in January to recall the freshly reelected conservative.

That’s more time than Jim Suttle had. The night the Democrat was elected mayor of Omaha in 2009, backers of his rivals began to talk online about trying to remove him from office. Suttle barely survived a recall election in January. Once a political rarity, recall elections are surging in local and state governments.

The number of mayors who faced recalls doubled in 2010 from the previous year, the U.S. Conference of Mayors said. Anti-tax activists even tried to recall two Democratic U.S. senators last year, only to be shot down by courts, which noted that there are no provisions for recalls in federal law.

Indiana: Testimony on White’s residency does little to settle basic issue | The Indianapolis Star

For months, Secretary of State Charlie White tried to fend off Democrats’ challenge to his eligibility to hold office. He also tried to secure a promise that what he said during an election hearing Tuesday couldn’t be used against him in an ongoing criminal investigation in Hamilton County.

But when the Indiana Recount Commission hearing began, White seemed only too happy to provide the details of his personal life that are related to that challenge.

However, those details seemed to do little to conclusively answer the question Democrats are raising: Was White illegally registered to vote when he ran for office?

National: Rep. Charlie Gonzalez triumphs as House saves Election Assistance Commission | Texas on the Potomac

A decade after Florida’s hanging chads became a national joke and George W. Bush‘s disputed victory became a part of American history, the House voted to save the commission created to ensure that such an electoral debacle would never happen again.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, was a leader of forces trying to save the Election Assistance Commission from the scrap heap of history. Those pushing the bill to kill the commission didn’t have the supermajority needed to succeed, and, on a largely party-line vote, Gonzalez and other House Democrats saved the remnant of the Bush v. Gore era.

Although originally planned as a five-year, temporary commission, Congress continued to fund the agency amid praise for its mission from election reformers.

Ohio: Voter ID provision yanked from Ohio bill | Middletown Journal

After discussion with Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Senate Republicans removed a provision in an elections reform bill on Wednesday that would require Ohio voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls.

Husted opposes the voter ID requirement that was inserted into the bill on Tuesday. But the issue lives on in a separate bill that is slated for a hearing and possible vote on Thursday morning.

Requiring photo ID to vote sparked outrage from voting rights groups, unions, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Democratic Party and others.

Editorials: Whose voter fraud? | Toledo Blade

The General Assembly is considering several bills that, in the name of combating voter fraud, would promote vote suppression. Ohioans shouldn’t be fooled.

The legislation, promoted by the Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, would require Ohioans to show government-issued photo identification at the polls before they could exercise their right to vote. It also would prohibit counties from mailing unsolicited absentee-ballot applications to voters. Both provisions are solutions in search of problems, designed to limit the vote instead of keeping it honest.

The House approved its version of voter-ID legislation with scant public comment. The Senate was on track to do so yesterday, but separated that issue from other election changes. Sponsors argue that the identification mandate will prevent voters from trying to cast multiple ballots in the same election, but there is no evidence that has been a problem in Ohio.

New Jersey: Voting machine fears hit home in Cumberland County | NJ.com

It’s been a while since concerns about the reliability of voting machines made news. It was a hot topic in the early 2000s, as worries over flimsy punchcard ballots (Remember the hanging chads?) gave way to concern about the reliability of electronic voting machines.

Electronic voting machines are the standard these days, but the lingering questions about reliability bubbled back to the surface locally this week with questions over a recent contest in Fairfield.

The race for Democratic executive committee featured Cindy and Ernie Zirkle against Vivian and Mark Henry. The Zirkles lost, according to the official tally, with Cindy getting 10 votes and Ernie a mere 9. Oddly, 28 Fairfield residents have signed affidavits declaring that they cast votes for the Zirkles.

The Sequoia AVC Advantage Direct-Recording Electronic Voting Machine was not operating properly, according to a petition filed by the Zirkles’ attorney.

Maine: LePage signs bill banning same-day voter registration, but critics vow to fight | Bangor Daily News

Gov. Paul LePage has signed a controversial bill that bans voters from registering on an election day, but critics who say the law disenfranchises voters have vowed to challenge that change through the citizens’ referendum process.

The governor signed LD 1376 on Tuesday, along with several other bills that have come across his desk in recent weeks, but did not offer any comments, LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said.

The bill, an Act To Preserve the Integrity of the Voter Registration and Election Process, was sponsored by House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, and endorsed by Secretary of State Charlie Summers, In addition to eliminating same-day voter registration, the legislation bans absentee voting two days before Election Day.

Maine: Bill signed ending same-day voter sign-up | The Kennebec Journal

Gov. Paul LePage signed a bill Tuesday to repeal Maine’s 38-year-old law allowing same-day voter registration. Before the end of the day, a coalition led by the League of Women Voters of Maine filed paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office to launch a people’s veto campaign.

“We feel that we want to preserve voting rights in Maine,” said Barbara McDade, president of the league. “For 38 years, people have been able to register to vote on the day that they vote. This puts up a barrier to people and so we want to repeal that.”

Joining McDade was Bob Talbot, representing the Maine Civil Liberties Union and the Maine NAACP, and Evert Fowle III of the MCLU.

Florida: House Democrats ask Justice Department to reject new Florida elections law | Post on Politics

House Democratic leaders Tuesday asked the U.S. Justice Department to deny Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s request for approval of the state’s new elections law, which the Legislature’s ruling Republicans said is aimed at blunting the threat of voter fraud but which Democrats say is intended to discourage poor and minority voters from going to the polls.

Reps. Ron Saunders of Key West and Perry Thurston of Plantation cited the legislation’s (CS/HB 1355) shortening of the number of days available for early voting, penalties that could be imposed on voter registration groups, and new restrictions on changing voter registration at the polls as grounds for the Justice Department to reject the state’s request for needed preclearance in five counties under the federal Voting Rights Act.

The ACLU of Florida, the national ACLU, and Project Vote, a Washington, D.C., voters’ rights organization, sued earlier this mont in Miami federal court to stop statewide implementation of the law until Justice Department approval is obtained for the five counties.

North Carolina: Perdue vows to veto North Carolina voter ID legislation | Statesville Record

Controversial bills that passed both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly will require voters to present very specific forms of photo identification before being permitted to vote.

The House of Representatives bill –– whose 32 sponsors or co-sponsors include Iredell County representatives Mitchell Setzer and Darrell McCormick –– passed in that chamber by a 62-51 vote. The senate’s version of the legislation, which was sponsored by 30 of the 31 Republicans in that chamber (including all three who represent Iredell), was ratified along a party-line vote.

Democrats, including North Carolina Party Chairman David Parker, have lambasted GOP leaders for the move and compared it to the Jim Crow-era poll taxes that disenfranchised southern black voters for most of the 20th century.

Pennsylvania: Voter ID bill nears Pennsylvania House vote, after Republicans defeat string of Democratic amendments | Daily Journal

A Republican proposal to make Pennsylvania voters produce government-issued photo identification at the polls moved a step from a final vote Tuesday in the state House with the defeat of a succession of proposed Democratic amendments.

Majority Republicans used sheer numbers and parliamentary maneuvers to turn aside proposed exemptions for victims of domestic violence or people with mental and physical disabilities, to have voting information printed in Spanish, or to provide additional information to voters about the change in law.

It was the second straight day the House’s floor action was dominated by the voter ID bill, promoted by its supporters as a way to help ensure the integrity of the voting process in the state.

Arizona: Arizona Voter ID Law Challenged In Court | Huffington Post

Federal judges engaged in a lively debate with lawyers Tuesday over Arizona’s effort to require people to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

Federal voter registration law allows people to submit a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury. But Arizona’s law – approved by voters in 2004 as part of a ballot measure – seeks further documentation, such as a driver’s license.

An 11-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lobbed questions at Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, representatives of minority groups that have challenged the Arizona law and a Department of Justice lawyer from Washington, D.C.

Editorials: In voter fraud case, officials err on the side of secrecy | NMPolitics.net

My efforts to obtain the evidence behind Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s claim that she has found instances of foreign nationals illegally voting have been shot down again, this time by the Taxation and Revenue Department.

Two months ago I asserted that Secretary of State Dianna Duran failed the open government test because she put a number of hurdles – some of them illegal – in front of my efforts to obtain the “evidence” she claims to have found of foreign nationals illegally voting in elections.

Since then, I tried a backdoor route to obtain some of the information, filing a public records request with the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) for e-mail correspondence between its Motor Vehicle Division and Duran’s office, and all documents attached to those e-mails.

Indiana: Suit calls for special election: Clarksville clerk-treasurer lost May race by 26 votes | Individual.com

A hearing in Clark County’s Circuit Court on Wednesday alleged that the county’s electronic voting machines were inoperable in Clarksville during the May 3 primary election.

As a result Clarksville Clerk-Treasurer Gary Hall is asking that Clarksville have a special election to determine the winner of May’s Democratic clerk-treasurer primary. “We’ve asked for a new election on that particular race,” said Jack Vissing, Hall’s attorney.

Hall lost the Clarksville clerk-treasurer primary race to Bob Leuthart by 26 votes. Leuthart received 880 votes compared to Hall’s 854 votes.