President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Monday extended his rule over Kazakhstan into a third decade with a crushing 95 percent victory in elections that observers said fell well short of democratic standards. The Central Election Commission said the first official results showed the incumbent had won 95.5 percent of the vote on mass turnout of 89.9…
St. Louis County commissioners will weigh in on the national battle of voter identification cards today when they consider a resolution opposing a proposed state law requiring photo voter ID cards. Legislation has advanced in St. Paul this session that would require anyone voting in Minnesota to have a special voter ID card if they…
A few dozen of the Lowcountry’s elected officials appear concerned enough about South Carolina’s voting machines to urge the legislature to look into them. Frank Heindel, a Charleston businessman, has spent months investigating the machines’ performance, and outlined his findings Monday to the board of the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments. Board members agreed to prepare…
Egypt’s ambassador to India Khaled el Bakly met chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi recently, seeking assistance in conducting elections after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. Parliamentary elections will be held in Egypt in September, followed by presidential polls in November. During the meeting with Quraishi, Bakly wanted to know about various aspects of election management…
Republican state lawmakers say they have removed the photo requirement from a bill that would make voters show ID in order to cast a ballot. The latest draft eliminates language that would require a photo ID. Instead, individuals would now be allowed to use a county-issued voter registration card or documents such as a utility bill…
A bill designed by Secretary of State Scott Gessler and sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, to ensure the integrity of the Colorado voting system is being called a means to reduce voter participation by voters’ rights advocates. Gessler said his bill fixes what he sees as a serious problem of ineligible voters on the voter…
Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz issued a statement Friday criticizing Iowa Senate Democrats for killing his proposal to require all Iowa voters to show a photo identification card before they vote in an effort to prevent fraud. “It is unfortunate that Senate Democrats have decided to kill a common-sense bill,” said Schultz, a Republican…
The Harrison County Commission has approved an eleventh-hour purchase of 80 new electronic voting machines. County Clerk Susan Thomas has been waiting patiently since the end of January for Commission to approve the purchase of new AutoMARK voting machines. Harrison County has been using the iVotronic machines for about five years. The state’s contract with…
AK: Report recommends changes to state election laws – Juneau Empire Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is recommending dozens of changes to state election law following last year’s disputed write-in election battle for a U.S. Senate seat. None of the changes to election law or regulations would have changed the outcome, Treadwell said, and many conform…
Carrie Phillips knows well the toughest challenge of adapting to election consolidation. “Learning the new laws and finding who’s responsible for doing what,” said Phillips, Kootenai County Elections supervisor. Now that Kootenai County Elections is charged with running all local elections under new state law, it means a larger workload, Phillips said. The county has…
The House Republican Leadership has introduced a bill that the Leon County Supervisor of Elections calls a travesty. Proposed House Bill 1355 passed through a subcommittee Friday morning. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho says proposed House Bill 1355 destroys the election process as it currently exists in Florida and he went to legislators…
Over the objections of county elections supervisors and public-interest groups, a bill that would make numerous changes to Florida’s elections law cleared a House subcommittee on Friday. The Government Operations Subcommittee voted up the bill on Friday by a party-line tally of 9-4. Its sponsor, state Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said the changes will get…
Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell is recommending dozens of changes to state election law following last year’s disputed write-in election battle for a U.S. Senate seat. None of the changes to election law or regulations would have changed the outcome, Treadwell said, and many conform Alaska election law to existing court rulings that guided the outcome…
It has been nothing short of astonishing that, within a few weeks, the brave people of Tunisia and Egypt toppled corrupt dictators who ruled for decades. One of the protesters’ key demands was for democratic elections — the right to choose a government that is responsive to the people’s needs. That is also what protesters in…
IA: Iowa voter ID plan stymied – Omaha.com A proposal to require Iowa voters to produce identification at polling places appears unlikely to become law this year. House File 95 went to the Senate State Government Committee after being passed by the House in January. Because it failed to win the panel’s approval by Friday’s…
100+ Diebold voting machines, known for how easily they can be hacked, available now on EBay | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times You really can get anything on EBay, even electronic voting machines proved to be easy to corrupt for purposes of voting fraud. Brad Friedman of the Brad Blog first noticed…
You really can get anything on EBay, even electronic voting machines proved to be easy to corrupt for purposes of voting fraud. Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog first noticed that “more than 10” AccuVote-TS voting machines, built by Diebold, were being sold on the online auction site for the buy-it-now price of $1,200 (plus…
One advantage to having a high-profile recount in two straight elections: Minnesota’s voting systems have been scrutinized more than most. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who presided over both the 2008 Senate and 2010 governor recounts, testified Thursday about the state’s voting system at a congressional hearing on improving elections. Ritchie was one of…
Senator Rory Respicio has introduced an election reform bill that would permit electronic voting using machine that are capable of producing “voter verified paper ballots” [VVPB]. Following the 2006 election Senator Respicio was the sponsor of a Bill banned electronic voting which eventually became Public Law 128-31. In a release, Respicio explained he drafted that Bill…
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today praised the Connecticut General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections committee for unanimously endorsing Senate Bill 942 “An Act Concerning the Integrity of Elections.” Secretary Merrill proposed the bill in February to strengthen the integrity of Connecticut’s elections by requiring more communication and accountability between local Registrars of Voters,…
It’s hard for overseas servicemen and -women to vote back home in Alabama, but bills in the House and Senate will change that, the sponsor of a Senate bill said. The Senate by a 30-1 margin on Thursday approved a bill by Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, to create a 13-member Alabama Electronic Overseas Voting AdvisoryCommittee.…
EAC Certifies ES&S Unity 3.2.1.0 Voting System The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has certified the Unity 3.2.1.0 voting system by Election Systems and Software (ES&S) to the 2002 Voting System Standards. It is the fifth voting system to achieve federal certification under EAC’s Voting System Testing and Certification Program. The Unity 3.2.1.0 comprises two precinct-based optical scanners—the…
The Election Commission Secretariat estimates that Tk 1,200 crore will be required to hold the next parliamentary elections under electronic voting system. EC Secretary Muhammad Sadiq yesterday said this at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presiding over the meeting said the government will introduce…
Online voting for last weekend’s NSW election was far more popular than expected. But embracing the convenient joys of this new technology introduces new risks to this core process of democracy. As iTnews reported, the NSW Electoral Commission expected around 10,000 people to use their new iVote system. The actual number was more than 47,000,…
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has certified the Unity 3.2.1.0 voting system by Election Systems and Software (ES&S) to the 2002 Voting System Standards. It is the fifth voting system to achieve federal certification under EAC’s Voting System Testing and Certification Program. The Unity 3.2.1.0 comprises two precinct-based optical scanners—the M100 and the DS200—and…
As Republican governors and legislators across the country push forward with ambitious and sometimes controversial budget-cutting agendas, the GOP in many states is also quietly encouraging another controversial measure: Voter ID. The Associated Press reported this weekend that Republicans are moving forward with such measures – which can require people to show identification or swear…
In a case that has drawn strong criticism from Republican conservatives, the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has found no evidence that politics played a role when department attorneys dismissed three defendants from a voting rights lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party. OPR, which investigates allegations of attorney misconduct, concluded that the government…
A Kanawha County commissioner is upset with the prospect of the state awarding a no-bid contract for maintenance of electronic voting machines. But the Kanawha County clerk believes the maintenance contract, if approved by Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s office, would be a good deal for taxpayers. Commission President Kent Carper believes the state giving…
The entire electoral leadership of Montgomery County met Tuesday with state investigators to discuss voting irregularities that took place nearly five months ago. State officials are trying to determine whether any laws were broken when normal voting procedures broke down in the Nov. 2 election. As expected, investigators interviewed election officials Tuesday at the County…
West Virginia election officials are negotiating a maintenance contract for the state’s electronic voting machines. In 2005, under the direction of Secretary of State Betty Ireland, election officials entered a single-source contract with Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software to provide touch-screen and optical-scan voting machines. The deal gave ES&S a virtual monopoly on voting…