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The Elections Office in Fiji is recommending the interim government hold one-day elections in 2014.

The Acting Supervisor for Elections, Soro Toutou has told FijiLive that as part of the voting system, individual voters will go to a designated polling station on polling day.

South Africa: South Africa Independent Electoral Commission ponders e-votes | ITWeb

As the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) gears up for about 20 million South Africans to make their cross next Wednesday, electronic voting could be in the pipeline as the commission is pondering the seemingly futuristic technology.

More than 23 million people are registered to vote in this year’s municipal elections, and the IEC has printed 70.5 million ballot papers, for the first time printing the sheets in colour. Previously, only national election ballots were printed in colour.

The Voting News Daily: Tennessee Senate Dials Back Election Reform, Kansas Senators “Spank” the Secretary of State

TN: Senate Votes To Undo Voter Confidence Act Requirements | Chattanoogan.com

The state Senate voted on Thursday to undo requirements of the Voter Confidence Act passed three years ago. Supporters said the action will ensure that more accurate voting machines would be implemented across the state as the legislature reversed requirements approved three years ago. “The strength of our political system lies in our citizens’ trust that their votes count,” Senator Roy Herron said. “Our current voting machines endanger that trust.” House Bill 386 as approved by the Senate would delete the requirement for more secure voting machines with a verifiable paper trail. The touch-screen voting machine system used in many Tennessee counties has been called by experts as “the least secure voting system” in the country. Numerous incidents of machine hacking and vote flipping by the machines have occurred throughout the country, officials said. In 2008, machines in Decatur County were reported to have changed votes in the presidential race. Full Article

KS: Lawmakers Spank Kobach On Elections Bill – Politics News Story – KCTV Kansas City

Kansas legislators are refusing to move up the starting date for a proof-of-citizenship requirement for people registering to vote for the first time or to give Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office new power to prosecute election fraud cases. The rejection of those proposals Wednesday by a bipartisan majority in the state Senate is a political defeat for the Republican secretary of state, who took office in January. It came after he successfully pushed for a law designed to combat election fraud, one he touted as model legislation for other states. That law requires voters to show photo identification at the polls, starting next year, and says anyone registering for the first time must provide a birth certificate, passport or other proof of citizenship to election officials, starting in 2013, though a Kansas driver’s license will be sufficient for many. Kobach had hoped the proof-of-citizenship rule would take effect next year and that his office would gain the power to file and prosecute election cases in state courts — and didn’t stop pushing even after Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a compromise version of Kobach’s proposed Secure and Fair Elections Act. The vote Wednesday in the Senate was 23-15 against a bill revising the election law enacted earlier this year. Some critics renewed longstanding arguments that election fraud is nowhere near as serious a problem as Kobach says it is, while others resented his efforts to revise a law that had strong bipartisan support. “You don’t unravel the deal after it’s finished,” said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat. “And he needs to learn that.” Kobach didn’t return messages left on his cellphone and his office did not issue a statement. Full Article

Connecticut: Connecticut Senate Approves Election Reform Bill | Courant.com

Responding to last November’s highly publicized Election Day problems in municipalities including Bridgeport, where a shortage of paper ballots contributed to a days-long delay in the declaration of a new governor, the Senate has approved a bill establishing standards to ensure local registrars buy enough ballots. The 34-0 vote Thursday sent the bill to the House for action in coming weeks.

The bill says local voter registrars must certify to the secretary of the state that they have ordered enough ballots for each polling place. They also would need to show that they have considered all relevant factors in determining how many they need. Unless registrars clear their plans with the secretary of the state, they would have to order one ballot for each registered voter.

Kansas: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach won’t end push to get voter ID requirements in place by 2012 | LJWorld.com

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Thursday that he’s not giving up on having a proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters in place ahead of next year’s elections, despite the state Senate’s rejection of the idea.

State law already says that people who are registering to vote for the first time in Kansas will have to provide a birth certificate, passport, or other proof of U.S. citizenship to election officials. The rule was enacted this year at Kobach’s urging but doesn’t take effect until January 2013, a year later than he wanted.

National: Congressman Gregg Harper seeks to eliminate Election Assitance Commission | The Daily Caller

With America facing a debt crisis, legislatures have gone spelunking for areas of government to cut. Mississippi Republican Rep. Gregg Harper has surfaced with a proposal to eliminate what Ronald Reagan once quipped was the nearest thing to eternal life: a government agency.

Harper’s bill would terminate the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which Congress created in 2002 to implement the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The act was passed primarily to distribute funds to update equipment, a job which Harper says is essentially complete. He is not the only one that believes that. Last year, the National Association of Secretaries of State reaffirmed a 2005 resolution requesting that Congress eliminate the EAC since the body had “served its purpose.”

India: AGP blames machine manipulation for defeat | Hindustan Times

Assam’s beleaguered main opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on Friday blamed “manipulation of electronic voting machines (EVM) by the ruling Congress party” for its rout in the assembly elections even as the Congress got a decisive mandate for a third successive term.

“We knew the Congress would do something and they did so by manipulating the EVMs. Otherwise such a result would not have come,” former two-time chief minister and senior AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told reporters.

Bulgaria: Bulgarian Parliament to Discuss Election Code Amendments | Sofia News Agency

The Bulgarian Parliament is expected to discuss Friday the proposed amendments in the country’s Election Code after the Constitutional Court revoked some of the texts in it.

A much discussed texts among the revoked amendments is the permanent residency requirement for local elections, which provided that only Bulgarian citizens, who had lived in the respective city or town for the last 12 months, can vote for mayors and members of municipal councils. It was introduced by the ruling centrist-right GERB in an attempt to counter tampering with election results by transporting voters from one location to another – the so-called “election tourism.”

Taiwan: Central Election Commission says Taiwanese need more time to accept, trust e-voting | The China Post

Taiwanese need more time to accept, trust e-voting: CEC A Central Election Commission (CEC) official yesterday said it will take more time for Taiwanese people to accept and trust digitization before the government decided to ultimately replace the traditional ballot system with an electric-voting one.

“E-voting is technically feasible but the problem lies on whether or not citizens can put their trust in the system,” said Liu I-chou (劉義周), CEC vice chairman yesterday in Taipei City.

New York: New York Must Defend Its Count of Double Votes | Courthouse News Service

Smaller political parties can sue over a New York state law that they say is robbing them of votes because it lets candidates appear on the ballot for multiple parties, a federal judge ruled. Last September, the Conservative Party of New York State and the Working Families Party sued the commissioners of the New York State Board of Elections over its practice of counting votes when a ballot is marked multiple times.

“Fusion voting” lets candidates run on multiple platforms, but if a voter chooses a candidate on a two platforms, only the “first” party gets the vote.

Wisconsin: City of Brookfield Ballot Bags Found “Wide Open” in Waukesha County, Wisconsin | Truthout

Five out of six bags of ballots from first batch to be counted out of the City of Brookfield in Waukesha County, Wisconsin today were discovered “almost wide open” during Day 9 of the statewide Supreme Court election “recount.” The bags were open and unsealed, according to both photographic evidence and an eye-witnesses account from the counting room.

“When the ballot bags were taken out and placed upon the counting table, we were literally stunned,” one of the citizen observers, Mary Magnuson, a Kloppenburg volunteer, told The BRAD BLOG this morning. “5 out of the 6 ballot bags were almost literally wide open, and ballots could be clearly seen.”

Editorials: Our view: Reject plan to require Voter ID | St. Cloud Times

Despite no credible evidence voter fraud exists on more than a minuscule scale, Republican majorities in the House and Senate are pushing for a showdown on Voter ID, first with Gov. Mark Dayton this session and then with Minnesota voters in 2012. Dayton should reject this legislation, and Minnesota voters should do the same in 2012.

We’ve opposed such measures since at least 2006, and we continue to do so simply because if applied, they will discourage — yes, even disenfranchise — many more honest Minnesota voters than the dishonest voters they will supposedly catch. (If they even can catch people; after all, look how effective photo IDs are in stopping minors from mayhem or catching illegal immigrants.)

Rhode Island: Rhode Island Senate passes voter identification bill | Boston.com

Voters would have to show identification at the polls starting next year under a bill passed Thursday by the Rhode Island Senate. A driver’s license, a passport, military ID or a voter identification card are among the forms of identification allowed under the proposal. The bill would require the state to provide free voter identification cards. Those without identification could cast provisional ballots.

The requirements would go into effect for 2012 elections. Until 2014, voters could also use a birth certificate, Social Security card or Medicare card. The Senate voted 27-6 in favor of the legislation Thursday. The bill now moves to the House, where a voter ID bill has already been introduced.

US Virgin Islands: Elections Board creates new committees | Virgin Islands Daily News

The V.I. Joint Board of Elections met Wednesday on St. John and created two new committees to deal with major issues, including legislative changes and the applications for supervisor and deputy supervisor of elections, said Board Chairman Rupert Ross Jr.

But no report came out of the Election Reform Committee, which a number of people are watching and awaiting action on issues that played out in the last election cycle, Ross said.

Ohio: Ohio Bill would aid military in voting | vindy.com

State Rep. Mike Dovilla was serving in Iraq four years ago when he attempted to obtain an absentee ballot to vote in that year’s municipal elections. The Cleveland-area Republican said he submitted the paperwork to the board of elections but later was told he didn’t include all of the required information.

“Through no fault of my own, and despite a proactive effort to obtain a ballot, I was disenfranchised in that year in the municipal elections,” Dovilla said. “Since that time, I’ve vowed that if I were ever in a position to be able to address this public- policy challenge and prevent it from happening to others in the military service, I would do so.”

Maryland: Glenarden absentee ballot complaints spur hearing in Maryland | Gazette.net

A Ward 3 candidate denies allegations that she offered to drop off and pick up absentee ballots for Glenarden residents and a hearing has been scheduled for next week to investigate election complaints which, if verified, could change the results of the mayoral race and land the candidate in trouble with state law.

The meeting will be held 5 p.m. May 18 before the city’s Board of Elections Chairwoman Geraldine Langford to discuss issues such as a note on Ward 3 candidate Judy Diggs’ website that states residents can do “early voting” from April 8 to April 29. The city never established an early voting date separate from the May 2 election day.

North Carolina: North Carolina House panel moves to cut early voting | WRAL.com

On a party-line vote, the House Elections committee voted today to shorten the early voting period from 18 days to 11 days. Early or “one-stop” voting has become increasingly popular over the past few years. A recent study by Catawba College professor Dr. Michael Bitzer found that 60% of the ballots cast in NC’s 2008 general election were cast before Election Day, up from 30% in 2004.

Bitzer also found Democrats were more likely to use early voting than Republicans. The NC Free Enterprise Foundation has a nice writeup here. “We’re not trying to do away with early voting in any way,” H658 sponsor Bert Jones, U-Rockingham, told the committee. “The question is, how many election days should we have in North Carolina?”

North Carolina: Cut to early voting advances in North Carolina House | JournalNow.com

North Carolina residents would have one week less to cast ballots before state and local elections in legislation narrowly approved by a House committee on Wednesday. Supporters said the proposal would save money, but opponents argue it would discourage citizens — particularly Democrats — from voting.The House Elections Committee voted 16-14 to delay the start of early voting from the third Thursday before an election to the second Thursday, curbing what’s been a popular method for casting ballots begun with the 2000 elections.

Rep. Bert Jones, the only unaffiliated member of the legislature and a primary bill sponsor, said the bill would save nearly $2,000 per one-stop voting site statewide and save more money for candidates who now must campaign to get people to the polls for up to 18 days. The bill would reduce that maximum to 11 days. He presented a chart showing relatively light turnout during the first current week of early voting since the 2008 primary.

Kansas: Kansas Senate rejects attempt to toughen voter ID bill; Schodorf says she feels guilty about ever voting for it | Wichita Eagle

A cantankerous debate to move up by a year a requirement for new voters to provide proof of citizenship failed Wednesday on the Senate floor, with one senator saying she was embarrassed for Secretary of State Kris Kobach and another admitting she felt guilty for ever voting for the state’s voter ID bill.

Legislators defeated a last-minute maneuver to concur with the House on a substitute for Senate Bill 129 15-23. That means people registering to vote won’t have to provide a birth certificate, passport or other citizenship proof until 2013. It also means that Kobach won’t get the authority he sought to independently prosecute allegations of voter fraud.

Indiana: Indiana recount panel to appeal Secretary of State Charlie White’s voter fraud ruling | The Indianapolis Star

The Indiana Recount Commission says it will appeal a judge’s ruling ordering it to reconsider whether Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was a valid candidate for the office to which he was elected.

The commission did not lay out its case in the notice of appeal it filed in Marion Circuit Court, and officials at the commission and attorney general’s office, which represents it in court, declined to discuss the substance of the appeal until it is filed. There is currently no timetable for the filing, said Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

Florida: Senator Nelson blasts Florida state election reform | The News Herald

If Gov. Rick Scott signs recently passed election reform into law, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson says he will lobby for a federal investigation of the new rules. The sweeping changes to the state’s election code have raised skepticism from supervisors of elections and nonpartisan voter groups worried that the reduced number of early voting days, stringent new rules on third-party voter registration drives and new change-of-address requirements will disenfranchise voters by making the process less accessible. Supporters of the bill contend the measures are necessary to crack down on voter fraud.

The bill was signed by legislative officers and delivered to Scott on May 6 for his signature. Lane Wright, a spokesman in the governor’s office, said the bill is not a priority for Scott, who is intensely focused on job creation, and the governor has not decided if he will sign the measure into law.

Editorials: Editorial: Mixed Member Proportional system deserves to survive referendum | NZ Herald News

The result of a British referendum on its electoral system shows how remarkable it was that New Zealand adopted MMP – and how much referendums are influenced by the mood of the moment. British voters have chosen to retain first past the post by 68 per cent to 32 per cent for a proposal called the Alternative Vote.

The result is devastating for electoral reform in Britain, burying the subject for another generation in the view of most commentators, and immediately devastating for Britain’s third party, the Liberal Democrats. The referendum was their main purpose in joining a coalition with the Conservatives.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Assembly approves voter ID, sends bill to Senate | JSOnline

The Assembly late Wednesday approved requiring people to show photo ID at the polls, putting the measure on a fast track to becoming law. The Senate is expected to sign off on the plan Tuesday. The move comes when drivers are about to have to present more documentation to get their licenses and wait longer to get them.

The Assembly passed the bill 60-35 amid shouts from a small group of protesters in the viewing gallery. “Welcome to Wisconsin, Jim Crow!” one of them shouted. The Republican-run Assembly quickly adjourned as the protesters chanted “Shame!” and were led out of the gallery by police officers.

Macedonia: Macedonian diaspora readies to vote in June elections | SETimes.com

The government will enable Macedonia’s diaspora to exercise the right to vote in the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 5th without having to be physically present in the country.

Three new electoral units were added to the existing six — covering North and Latin America; Europe; and Australia, New Zealand and Asia proper — and three parliamentarians representing the diaspora will be added to the existing 120.

National: U.S. Supreme Court Advances one Election Law Case that has Long been Stalled | Ballot Access News

On May 11, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that it has placed Dallas County v Texas Democratic Party, 10-755, on its May 26 conference. The conference will probably decide whether to hear the case.

The issue is whether Dallas County’s new rules concerning its vote-counting machines should have been submitted to the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department. The Texas Democratic Party doesn’t like the Dallas County vote-counting machines, because the machines have a tendency to trick some voters into voting just for a single candidate, even though the voter believes he or she has activated the straight-ticket device and has voted for all partisan office.

Connecticut: Merrill selects precincts for Connecticut audit | ConnecticutPlus.com

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today joined Connecticut voting rights advocates for a public drawing to randomly select three precincts that will have election results audited following the May 2, 2011 municipal elections that took place in 14 Connecticut communities. The three precincts selected are West Side Middle School District 2 and William Seely School district 4 in Groton and the Stonington Fire House in Stonington. Two alternate precincts were also chosen to be ready to audit results if necessary: Center School district 3 in Woodbridge and Griswold Town Hall in Griswold.

“On May 2nd voters went to the polls across Connecticut to choose public servants to fill very important roles in local government,” said Secretary Merrill. “No matter how big or small the election, our audit law exists to hold our election process accountable and reassure the public to have continued confidence that all votes were recorded accurately.”

India: The Hindu : States / Tamil Nadu : Each reading on EVMs will be videographed: CEO

Praveen Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer addressing a press conference in Chennai on Wednesday. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan Each reading on electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the 91 counting centres will be captured on video and votes polled entered both manually and using computers, to avoid discrepancies in the counting of votes for the 234 assembly constituencies on May 13, said Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar on Wednesday.

After All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Jayalalithaa wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner on the need to allow counting agents to monitor data entries in Form 20, the CEO, at a press conference, said that data entry operators were directly being monitored by the returning officers as they usually sat near them in counting halls. Even if they were sitting across the hall, the tally of votes would have to match the data entered manually and using computers.

Wisconsin: Waukesha County Gets May 26 Recount Extension | Menomonee Falls, WI Patch

Waukesha County will have until May 26 to finish its hand recount of the state Supreme Court race that sharply divided the state’s electorate, a judge has ruled.

Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess agreed this morning to extend today’s deadline for completion of the historic recount of the race between incumbent Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg.

The Voting News Daily: Waukesha gets an extension, The cost of Voter ID proposals