Armenia: Armenian Election Law Again Amended | azatutyun.am

The National Assembly on Tuesday approved in the second reading a set of legal amendments which its pro-government majority says will facilitate the proper conduct of the next Armenian elections.

Armenia’s leading opposition groups dismiss the amendments as insignificant, however. They have also denounced the parliament majority for rejecting virtually all major proposals made by them.

The latest changes in the Electoral Code stem from sweeping political reforms that have been promised by the Armenian authorities to the Council of Europe. The Strasbourg-based organization’s Venice Commission, which monitors legal reforms in Council of Europe member states, has made a largely positive assessment of them.

India: Bar association polls: status quo ordered on Indian Electronic Voting Machines | The Hindu

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Election Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association to maintain status quo in respect of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the May 11 election of office-bearers for 2011-12.

… It is thus imperative that the EVMs used in the election of SCBA be sealed and kept intact, they said and sought a direction that the sealing of EVMs be held in their presence.

Malaysia: Aggressive voter registration by political parties in Malaysia | My Sinchew

Political parties have been aggressively registering new voters nationwide with some 115,989 already signed up as of March. Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the registration was done by 5,686 Voter Assistant Registrars.

“Their appointment was to facilitate voter registration regardless of time and place. We monitor the registration monthly,” he told Bernama here today. Aziz said EC had registered 21,042 voters including 15,726 new ones while the other 5,316 applied for change of voting centres.

New Zealand: Electoral Commission begins $5m education campaign in New Zealand | 3 News

The Electoral Commission has begun a six month campaign to prepare voters for the second big question they’ll be asked at the general election in November. For 15 years we’ve been used to just two ticks, but this election there’ll be two more – whether the voter wants to keep MMP and if not, which voting system they’d prefer.

Voters will be asked whether they want to keep the current system or switch to one of four alternatives, which means voters should understand how five different voting systems work.

Turks and Caicos Islands: Constitution might change dual citizenship election rule for Turks and Caicos Islanders | fptci.com

A little noticed change proposed for the 2006 Constitution would make Turks and Caicos Islanders holding dual citizenship eligible for election to the House of Assembly if they renounce their citizenship in another country before nomination.

Section 47(1) of the 2006 Constitution — which is currently suspended — states, “No person shall be qualified to be a member of the House of Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to any foreign power or state.”

Bermuda: One Bermuda Alliance calls for fixed term elections | Bermuda Politics

One Bermuda Alliance Chairman Michael Fahy yesterday called for fixed term elections as speculation grows over when Premier Paula Cox will send people to the polls. The OBA has pledged in its platform to introduce fixed term elections as part of a proposal to improve democracy meaning a general election would take place on a set date instead of one the Premier selects.

After Ms Cox put the Progressive Labour Party in election mode last week, Mr Fahy told The Royal Gazette: “In the event of an election being called the OBA will be prepared to contest all constituencies.

Guyana: Elections still some time away as Guyana’s voters list not updated | Stabroek News

PNCR Leader Robert Corbin says his party has “some time” to prepare for an election, since neither national nor local government elections can be held unless the voters’ register is updated.

Asked during a press conference on Friday about the perceived lethargy within the party concerning the holding of local government elections, Corbin said his party was not being “lethargic” but rather “pragmatic”. He said that information from the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) indicated that the voters’ register list had to be updated.

Belarus: Sannikov’s Statements are Groundless says Belarus Election Commission Head Yermoshina | Telegraf.by

Head of Belarus’s Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina sees no legal grounds for the second round of presidential elections, while the statement of imprisoned former candidate Andrei Sannikov are baseless, as she believes. “Applications on recognizing the elections null and void shall be submitted within three days after the polling day,” she pointed out.

“But if to assume that Mr. Sannikov was in “places not so remote” at that time and was unable to apply, then such a statement was filed by one of the candidates – Mr. Kastusiou. This application was considered at the CEC meeting summing up the elections results. It was recognized groundless and consequently rejected. Mr Sannikov provides no additional facts and is unable to. Therefore, all Sannikov’s statements are a desire to draw the attention of the international community to the situation, as well as to push a criminal case in the political sphere,” said Lidia Yermoshina, reports “European Radio for Belarus.”

China: Grassroot elections show path best suited for Chinese democracy | GlobalTimes

Authorities in South China’s Guangdong Province recently reported 12 typical cases of voter fraud in local village elections since 2008. Candidates tried to rig the elections by buying votes, tampering ballots and even grabbing ballot boxes to prevent people from voting.

Differing from Western practice, China’s democratic experiment has adopted a bottom-up path. Village elections, first launched in 1987, have prevailed nationwide since the early 1990s.

Some liberal scholars simply describe China’s democratization as copying the Western model, and fail to observe the specific conditions of the nation. Just like other countries undergoing social transformation, China has seen its own problems in its experiments with democratization.

Malawi: Malawi tripartite polls in 2014; opposition accuses government of violating law | The Maravi Post

Malawi will for the first time since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1994 hold tripartite elections in 2014, a decision the country’s opposition said was a violation of the constitution. The government announcement follows the cancellation of Local Government Elections that were scheduled to be held this year.

“This means voters will be voting for the president, Members of Parliament and Councillors at the same time,” Local Government and Rural Development Minister Anna Kachikho said Monday.  “Very soon I will be launching a guide, code of ethics and conditions of service related to local government structures.”

Oregon: Why Return of Voted Ballots Should Not be Permitted via Email | Voting Matters Blog

Email voting?  Why not, one might ask?!  A lot of folks use the false analogy of  online banking to argue that email voting should be allowed for the convenience and accessibility of voters.  Not a moment of thought is given to the security risks involved.  So I’ve done a brief Fact Sheet summarizing the major arguments against returning voted ballots via email.  I’m OK with distribution of blank ballots via email but not the return of voted ballots by the same method.

Oregon, like many other states, considering authorizing email return of ballots — the bill is HB 3074 and this post is directed toward that proposed law, but could effectively be applied to a host of other states which are considering similar legislation (or perhaps need to review already adopted laws in light of these arguments).

Latvia: Election commission slates July 23 as date for Saeima referendum | Latvians Online

A national referendum on dissolution of the Latvian parliament is set July 23, the Central Election Commission in Rīga has announced. The date was approved May 30 after President Valdis Zatlers on May 28 used his constitutional power to initiate dismissal of the Saeima—the first time any Latvian head of state has done so.

In a nationally broadcast speech, the president reacted to the May 26 failure by the Saeima to back the prosecutor general’s request to allow a search of residences controlled by oligarch and MP Ainārs Šlesers. Zatlers said the decision revealed a split between the legislative and judicial branches of Latvia’s government.

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Expats Demand Having Own Public Councils | Sofia News Agency

Bulgarians, residing abroad, sent a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, insisting on having their support in organizing a vote for Public Councils in October. The vote is to be held simultaneously with the presidential and local elections in Bulgaria in the fall.

The authors remind that as early as 2000, the Law for Bulgarians Living outside Republic of Bulgaria has been passed, providing for the establishment of a National Council of Bulgarians Abroad, which is to have nine members, five of whom from the diaspora. The same law provides for creating consulting bodies of Bulgarian communities abroad at Bulgarian diplomatic representations in the respective country.

Maryland: Takoma Park explores online absentee voting | Gazette.net

Takoma Park may offer absentee voters the option to vote online in this falls city council and mayoral election.

The city Board of Elections is working with Scantegrity, a research group that ran the citys 2009 elections, to develop a system in which absentee voters could vote online. The city will still be conducting traditional voting at polling places, regardless of whether an online absentee system is implemented, City Clerk Jessie Carpenter said.

Wisconsin: Numerous Challenges Could Push Back Date of Wisconsin Recall Election | Fox Point-Bayside, WI Patch

Challenges filed by state Sen. Alberta Darling and three other senators against the recall petitions filed against them could push back the date of the recall elections, the state Government Accountability Board said Friday.

The board had tentatively set the date for all recall elections for July 12. However, that date was set before the four incumbents – Darling, and Democrats Jim Holperin, Robert Wirch and Dave Hansen  – raised “numerous factual and legal issues” regarding the petitions, the board said.

National: Republican States Push Revisions to Voting Laws | NYTimes.com

Less than 18 months before the next presidential election, Republican-controlled statehouses around the country are rewriting voting laws to require photo identification at the polls, reduce the number of days of early voting or tighten registration rules.

Republican legislators say the new rules, which have advanced in 13 states in the past two months, offer a practical way to weed out fraudulent votes and preserve the integrity of the ballot box. Democrats say the changes have little to do with fraud prevention and more to do with placing obstacles in the way of possible Democratic voters, including young people and minorities.

Editorials: Ben Chipman: Bill to end same-day voter registration in Maine could take away right to vote for thousands of people | Portland Daily Sun

For the last forty years, Maine has allowed people to register to vote on Election Day and cast a ballot if they have proof of residency and some form of identification. A bill making its way through the Maine Legislature this session, L.D. 1376, would prohibit same-day voter registration and eliminate voting rights we have had since 1972.

It is hard enough to get people to vote now. Why would anyone propose making voting more difficult? Some have said that processing new registrations on Election Day is too much of a burden for city and town clerks and that allowing people to register and vote the same day opens up the potential for fraud.

Philippines: Bill seeks to get biometric data of all Filipino voters | FutureGov

The Philippine government is seeking to institutionalize the use of biometrics in voter registration to clean the voter record in preparation for the midterm elections in 2013. House Bill 3469 which requires all voters to have their biometrics data — photographs, fingerprints and signature — taken by an election officer and prohibits those without biometric data from voting has now hurdled Third Reading at the House of Representatives.

According to the author of the bill, 2nd district Tarlac Representative Susan Yap, the move will “cure the perennial problem of multiple registrants and flying voters” since every registrant is assigned a unique key of identification.

Editorials: Jon Ralston: If only Heller had done his job as secretary of state, we wouldn’t have mess to replace him as U.S. representative | Reno Gazette-Journal

If only Secretary of State Dean Heller had written regulations for a House special election, we wouldn’t have such controversy over filling U.S. Sen. Dean Heller’s seat.

But the Republican did not, as a 2003 law instructed, write any rules, so now we have chaos, thanks to a Carson City judge’s stunning decision last week that overturned the guidelines proposed by Heller’s Democratic successor, Ross Miller. And reading through the 97-page transcript of Judge Todd Russell’s decision reveals a jurist who seemed immediately predisposed to the GOP argument that party central committees should nominate and hostile to the Democratic Party claim that it should be, as Miller calls it, a “ballot royale.”

Arizona: Group Determined to Get More Signatures to Arizona Senate President Recall Pearce | myFoxPhoenix.com

Tuesday marks the deadline for one group looking to force a recall election of state Sen. President Russell Pearce. The group needs thousands of valid signatures from Mesa residents in order to move the recall effort forward.

Organizers with the Citizens for a Better Arizona believe they not only have enough signatures, they’re going for a kind of end zone spike symbolic victory as well.

California: Dean Logan and Michael Alvarez: Needed – a 21st century voter registration system for California | San Francisco Chronicle

The world looks to California for 21st century innovation, especially for the application of technology that makes life less costly and more efficient.

Californians are well into the 21st century, working in the cloud, using smart phones and tablet computers, and getting their entertainment on-demand by satellite. But when it comes to voter registration, California seems to be stuck in the 18th century. State law won’t allow eligible citizens in our state to register online until at least 2015 — and maybe much later.

Spain: Spain’s election commission says weekend protests illegal | AFP

Spain’s electoral commission declared late Thursday that protests set for this weekend by thousands of people angry over the economic crisis are illegal.

The Central Electoral Commission (JEC) said protests planned for Saturday and for Sunday, the day when regional and municipal polls are scheduled, “go beyond the constitutionally guaranteed right to demonstrate.”

Tunisia: Electoral Commission Wants Vote Delay | ThirdAge

Tunisia’s electoral commission announced Thursday it wants the first national election since the toppling of the country’s longtime strongman delayed for three months.

According to CBS News, the commission wants to hold the vote for a constituent assembly on Oct. 16 instead of in July to allow organizers more time.

Pakistan: Election Commission impasse: Pakistan Government to introduce 20th amendment | The Express Tribune

The government announced on Sunday that it would introduce the 20th amendment to the constitution, in a bid to pre-empt a likely Supreme Court decision to disqualify 26 lawmakers for having been elected through by-elections that were held without a fully constituted Election Commission of Pakistan.

The move is likely to trigger fresh concerns about the priorities of the government at a time when the country is facing severe security and economic challenges. The Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition is bleeding political capital even as the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz is actively campaigning against what it describes as the government’s failures.

Zimbabwe: How Zanu-PF plans to steal the Zimbabwe elections | Politicsweb

Despite clear and binding international agreements to the contrary, evidence now available shows that President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF is again planning to steal the next elections with the help of a grossly rigged electoral register.

After the 2008 elections, in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change won a parliamentary majority but in which the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was forced to withdraw from the ensuing presidential election due to the overwhelming level of government-orchestrated violence, Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) stitched together a deal, the Global Political Agreement, which saw Mugabe remain as President with Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and a commitment to a new constitution with free and fair elections.

 

Malaysia: Solid proof to declare Sarawak polls null and void | Free Malaysia Today

A political activist said he has visual and documented evidence to prove that rampant vote-buying in the recent Sarawak polls was a well-oiled plot from the very top. BK Ong, who was deported from Kuching last Tuesday, claimed he has the evidence which revealed cheques and vouchers to voters were issued from the Chief Minister’s Office.

“The evidence is strong enough to declare Sarawak polls null and void,” said Ong, a coordinator of the Malaysian Election Observers Network (MEO-Net).
Ong claimed that BN candidates were the main culprits in buying votes with monetary payments to secure ‘default’ victories.

Vietnam: Impressive Election Day in Vietnam | VOVNEWS.VN

Last weekend Vietnam held general elections for its National Assembly (NA) and all levels of People’s Councils. Such elections are held every five years but this year’s elections were particularly significant because it was the first time the NA and People’s Councils were elected simultaneously.

… Electronic voting has not yet appeared in Vietnam and the ballots are still counted by hand, similar to the way I voted in the small town where I lived in the USA. While this method may take longer to count and ostensibly have greater potential for human error, it does avoid fiascos like the infamous “dangling chads” of the US 2000 presidential elections.