The National Election Commission (NEC) Sunday approved the composition of the sub-election committees across the UAE.
The formation of the committees was made in coordination with the courts of Their Highnesses the Members of the Supreme Council and the Rulers of the Emirates. The setting up of the Emirates Committees is one of the basic stages of the election of half of the 40-member Federal National Council (FNC).
Laws requiring that voters produce a photo ID were signed into law in Texas and Wisconsin this week – and vetoed in Minnesota. John Tanner, former chief of the voting section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, has an interesting perspective on how the Texas bill might fare in the inevitable court challenges…
Governor Rick Perry of Texas today signed into law “voter ID” legislation which requires polling places within the state to verify the identity of potential voters with a photo identification card. Voter ID laws are designed primarily to address voter fraud and prevent ineligible citizens, or non-citizens, such as criminal aliens, from participating in elections. Twelve states, including Texas, now have voter ID laws which require photo identification. Seventeen additional states have similar laws which require a form of identification, but not a photo.
A state appeals court reinstated five felony charges Friday against former Secretary of State Nancy Worley for a second time. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 4-0 ruling that said prosecutors presented enough evidence for the charges to stand against the former Democratic officeholder. The decision means Worley’s four-year legal battle is far…
It has started again. Proponents of voter ID requirements are preparing another push, confident that the law is on their side. In fact, they are backing into a buzz saw.
On the surface, the pro-ID group has reason to be complacent. It won in the Supreme Court in Indiana, which had the most restrictive ID requirement in the nation, and also in Georgia. Those states, however, are a world away from Texas.
Florida: Without DOJ sign-off, Florida elections chief balks at voting law | MiamiHerald.com Until the Justice Department gives a green light, the elections officials in five [Florida] counties won’t begin implementing an election law that critics say violates the Voting Rights Act protecting minorities. The elections supervisor in Rick Scott’s home county refuses to recognize…
Until the Justice Department gives a green light, the elections officials in five [Florida] counties won’t begin implementing an election law that critics say violates the Voting Rights Act protecting minorities.
The elections supervisor in Rick Scott’s home county refuses to recognize a new law the governor signed out of concerns that the U.S. Department of Justice hasn’t decided whether it violates a law protecting minority voters.
For those of you who have been following the recount saga in Wisconsin, here is a bit of news, and a reflection on that.
So, the news from a couple of days ago (I’m just catching up) is that the process of re-counting is complete, but the resolution of that close election may not be. The re-counting did not change which candidate is leading, and apparently expanded the margin slightly.
Trailing candidate Joanne Kloppenburg explains her motivation for the recount in a newspaper letter to the editor, building on the old but true assertion that, “One may be entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.”
A [Bangladesh Nationalist Party] BNP policymaker has said they will not take part in elections if the government introduces e-voting, as it will be ‘a tool of vote rigging’.
“We won’t accept e-voting and take part in elections. Elections must be held under the existing voting system,” Moudud Ahmed said at a human chain programme at the South Plaza of the parliament building on Saturday morning.
Vancouver voters can expect to line up the old-fashioned way this November, after the provincial government, citing “a number of serious risks,” nixed a plan to allow online voting in upcoming municipal elections.
“There are potential benefits to Internet voting namely convenience to voters, and accessibility for voters with disabilities or limited mobility,” James said in the letter. But online voting technology cannot guard against hackers, service disruptions or vote buying and selling, James said.
As well, B.C.’s chief information officer is still developing a way to confirm a voter’s identity and then make their vote anonymous. “[The voting process] is unlike online banking where the user’s identity is maintained throughout the transaction,” James said in his letter.
Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that will require voters to produce a photo identification card (Wisconsin issued driver’s license, passport, military ID, or student ID with certain details) at the polls. Poll workers will begin to ask voters for identification on January 1, 2012, but it will not be required by law until the spring elections of 2012.
The primary rationale for the law, according to Republican proponents, is to combat voter fraud. Democrats, however, feel that the law is a political move to limit the vote of their biggest constituents.
We believe Wisconsin’s new voter ID law is overly burdensome on voters and that the state is simply unequipped to administer this law and ensure legal voters will not be disenfranchised or subject to a poll tax. We continue to confer with legal counsel about what potential legal challenges can be made against Gov. Scott Walker’s voter suppression bill.
The bill originally was based on Indiana’s voter ID bill. According to the U.S. Supreme Court case upholding Indiana’s bill, the lower court found that “99 percent of Indiana’s voting age population already possesses the necessary photo identification to vote under the requirements.” The Supreme Court concluded that Indiana’s law was constitutional, specifically because so few Indianans were without the state-issued photo identification.
Election officials across Wisconsin are bracing for a difficult transition as the state rushes into place new rules for voting signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker Wednesday — including a controversial measure requiring voters to use photo identification.
Passage of the law, which has been discussed by Republicans for more than a decade, means those charged with enforcing it have less than two months to develop and implement the training needed to handle polls in the coming recall elections.
“This will be a huge undertaking, to get everything and everybody ready,” said Diane Hermann-Brown, Sun Prairie city clerk and president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association. “We still have questions about how this will work.”
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer is “very disappointed” that Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed Voter ID legislation. “I really thought the governor would sign,” said Kiffmeyer, adding that a campaign finance reporting provision was added to the bill that Dayton favors. Signing the bill was a way for the governor to appear less extreme, said Kiffmeyer, who carried the…
After six years of fierce partisan battling, the legislative war over voter ID in Texas is officially over. Gov. Rick Perry signed the voter ID bill into law this morning. The legislation requires voters to present one of five acceptable forms of photo ID—a drivers license, military ID, passport, concealed handgun license or a special voter ID card provided free of charge by the state. Gov. Perry designated voter ID as an “emergency item” early in the session, giving it particular priority as lawmakers rushed it through the legislative process.
… The bill signed today enacts a voter ID law more stringent than its counterparts in other states. Unlike Indiana’s law—which the bill was largely based on—Texas’ voter ID law doesn’t recognize student IDs as acceptable forms of voter identification and it gives people with a missing an ID only six days to produce one in order for their vote to count.
Santa Clara County election officials sent more than 7,500 mail ballots to the wrong addresses during last June’s election, unwittingly canceling votes cast by some South Bay residents even as those living out of state received ballots.
A report released Friday from the county’s civil grand jury concludes the Registrar of Voters does not follow the proper procedures to avoid errors when mailing out ballots to people who have recently moved.
With a packed ballot, two weeks of early voting and several runoffs, Tampa officials were bracing for a hefty price tag from the recent citywide elections. As it turns out, those costs won’t be as much as expected.
Figures from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office indicate the March 1 election cost $747,748, including expenses for early voting and the runoff elections. That’s about $250,000 lower than the original estimates for the election, which Elections spokesman Travis Abercrombie attributed to keeping the staffing costs under control.
MPs want the electronic voting system put in place in readiness for the 2012 general election. Several MPs yesterday supported a motion by Karachuonyo MP James Rege for the government to facilitate the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to develop an electronic system for collection, collation, transmission and tallying of electronic data.
Cabinet minister Otieno Kajwang rooted for the passage and adoption of Rege’s motion which he said will help weed out electoral malpractices. He said an electronic voting system will facilitate the release of instant results after an election.
The special election Saturday for the Ilocos Sur congressional seat vacated by Ronald Singson was peaceful despite reports of rampant vote-buying, the head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting said.
Henrietta de Villa, PPCRV chair, said that the election watchdog’s local volunteers reported many incidents of vote-buying and barangay officials entering poll precincts while voters were casting their votes in Ilocos Sur’s first congressional district.
The district administration has geared up to launch the voter ID registration drive ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections to be held next year. Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) and NGOs will also be roped in to raise awareness among voters about the importance of the voter ID cards.
The drive will start from June 6 and residents can register themselves at the nearest election booth. District magistrate, Deepak Aggarwal stated that people can approach the nearest booth with the essential documents so that the Election Commission directives are fulfilled.
Canada: Vancouver voters will not be casting ballots online in November | The Province Internet voting won’t be a part of the political process in this November’s civic election in Vancouver, The Province has learned. The mayor’s office was notified earlier this week. … [R]isks include: the vulnerability of Internet voting to service disruptions or…
Internet voting won’t be a part of the political process in this November’s civic election in Vancouver, The Province has learned. The mayor’s office was notified earlier this week.
… [R]isks include: the vulnerability of Internet voting to service disruptions or hacker attacks; authentication of voter identity without jeopardizing anonymity of the vote; and protecting voters from intimidation or coercion when they are exercising their franchise away from the transparent environment of a physical voting place,” said the letter acquired by The Province.
Democratic Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have required voters to provide photo identification to cast votes. Dayton cited a lack of broad bi-partisan support for the bill and its potential as a $23 million unfunded mandate on local governments in part for his veto. The Republican-led Legislature had sent the bill to him on Monday.
… Dayton said he did not believe voter fraud to be a significant problem in Minnesota and that the reason most often cited for requiring photo identification, felons voting, would not be resolved by the bill.
“We have the highest voter turnout year after year and under intense, bipartisan scrutiny, the recent statewide recounts have highlighted how reliable the results are,” Dayton said in a letter notifying the Senate of his veto.
In many of the articles I’ve read regarding the Voter ID legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker yesterday I’ve seen a variation of the following statement from officials who support the legislation. This version of the statement comes from Oneida County Clerk Mary Bartlet:
“”You have to show an ID to buy liquor, you have to show an ID to use a credit card so why not?” “
This simply isn’t true. You do not “have to show an ID to use a credit card.” There is no law in the State of Wisconsin that makes that a requirement. There is no federal law that makes that a requirement.
Twitter and Facebook users face $20,000 fines if they use their accounts to campaign for their favourite party or leader on election day. Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden said material posted on social media websites was covered by strict rules which prohibit electioneering on election days.
“People should be aware that if they tweeted on election day to influence how somebody votes they will be breaching the [Electoral] Act and the [Electoral] Commission will take action.”
The House of Representatives gave final legislative approval Wednesday to a bill that would establish standards to ensure that local voting officials buy enough paper ballots, a response to last November’s Election Day problems in municipalities like Bridgeport, where a ballot shortage helped delay the declaration of a new governor.
The 117-26 vote — with only Republicans voting against it after expressing concerns about interference with local voting officials — came 12 days after the Senate’s 34-0 approval of the bill. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who intends to sign it.
League of Women Voters of South Carolina President Barbara Zia strongly denounced passage of the “voter photo identification” bill in the state General Assembly and calls on Governor Haley to veto this legislation.
The legislation requires eligible citizens to present specific government-issued photo identification in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This is an expensive new government program that will create barriers to voting for thousands of citizens in an effort to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist.
Voters could be prompted to show photo identification at the polls under a proposal that the Missouri General Assembly passed earlier this month.
The legislature passed two measures in May that would prompt Missourians to show government-issued photo identification at the polls. The first is a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to enact the requirement. That amendment requires voter approval. The second piece of legislation is a statutory change that would put the photo identification requirement into effect.
Ohio’s Republican-led House recently passed a set of voting regulations that overhaul the state’s elections system. The proposed changes in House Bill 194 include allowing voters to change their address online, requiring people casting provisional ballot to provide additional forms of identity, eliminating the requirement that poll workers direct voters in the wrong precinct to the correct one and prohibiting elections boards from mailing absentee ballots to voters.
Among the controversial changes are new limits on early voting, which Democrats say amount to voter suppression. Republicans say the state needs more uniform voting regulations and less costly ways to manage elections.
Texas joined South Carolina and Wisconsin in passing a bill to curb vote fraud by demanding photo identification before letting someone cast a ballot. Republican Governor Rick Perry plans to sign the measure tomorrow, according to an e-mailed statement today. The second most-populous state joins six others including Florida and Indiana that demand a photo ID from voters at the polls.
Opponents plan to challenge the measure in court, said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. The Austin-based nonprofit group, which advocates on behalf of minorities, says the law is unconstitutional and aimed at making it harder for Latinos to vote. Republicans who dominate the Legislature say it will survive judicial review.