National: Wyden proposes nationwide vote-by-mail | KTVZ

As a new tide of voter disenfranchisement rises across the country, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced a new campaign Thursday to expand an Oregon-style vote-by-mail program nationwide and tear down barriers to voting. “My home state of Oregon has led the nation in making voting more accessible. No one has to take time off work just to exercise his or her constitutional rights,” Wyden said. “My proposition is the rest of our country should follow Oregon’s lead and offer all voters a chance to vote by mail.” Voters across the country have faced unreasonable delays and new obstacles to voting, the senator said. This year alone: some voters in Arizona waited in line for up to 5 hours, New York is investigating why 126,000 voters were purged from voting rolls, Rhode Island slashed the number of polling places by two-thirds and 17 states have added new voting restrictions.

Editorials: Dark Money and an I.R.S. Blindfold | The New York Times

It is plainly illegal for foreigners to contribute to American political campaigns. But reform groups are warning that the ban would be gravely undermined by a little-noticed bill advanced Thursday by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee. It would alter the current tax code provision that, while permitting the identity of donors to 501(c) “social welfare” groups to be kept firmly secret from the public, requires that the donors be privately identified to Internal Revenue Service officials responsible for enforcing the law. Politically oriented groups claiming dubious exemptions as “social welfare” nonprofits have proliferated in recent elections, allowing donors — including publicity-shy campaign backers — to work from the shadows.

Maryland: New voting machines debut with few reported glitches | The Washington Post

Despite fears of a botched debut of Maryland’s new voting machines, state election officials say they received few reports of glitches and voter confusion in Tuesday’s primary. The election marked Maryland’s long-awaited switch to paper ballots tallied by scanner, nearly a decade after lawmakers decided to ditch electronic machines that leave no paper trail. Late last year, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and his administration raised concerns about election officials’ rushing the new machines into service. They relented when the machine vendor, Election Systems and Software, offered to devote additional staff and resources on a successful rollout.

Mississippi: Major updates to election law lost at end of session | WDAM

Many major updates to Mississippi’s election law were lost on the last day of 2016 legislative session when the Mississippi House of Representatives killed House Bill 797. “There’s no reasonable excuse to me,” Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said. “We are disappointed and dismayed in the Mississippi legislature failing to do that. No real excuse for that to me. I’ve asked Governor to put it on his special session when he calls it in June. Bring it back up.” Hattiesburg Rep. Toby Barker said the election code changes were lost because they were in the same bill that would stop lawmakers from spending campaign dollars on personal items. “Out of a 291 page conference report, only 10 of those actually dealt with campaign finance reform, so the rest of it was trying to bring Mississippi up to date with technology, trying to clarify some things to prevent past election mishaps from happening,” Barker said. “So to lose the whole bill at the very end of session was very unfortunate.” Barker worked as a member of Hosemann’s bipartisan election reform committee, which was created in 2014 to help draft the election code changes.

Missouri: Kraus, Republicans confident photo voter ID will pass despite Democrat’s filibuster | The Missouri Times

For the third time this session, Senate Democrats stalled a vote on photo voter ID legislation sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit. The Wednesday night filibuster on HB 1631, authored by Rep. Justin Alferman, stretched to about 1 a.m. early Thursday until the chamber went to an “at rest” period, and the Senate adjourned just an hour later for the day. At a press conference Thursday, Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, voiced his frustration at the Democratic stonewalling, but he remains confident that Republicans will get the bill passed this session despite strong opposition. “The effort of trying to get this done and working with the minority party is there,” he said.

North Carolina: Election law case to get quick review | News & Observer

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a quick review of the recent ruling on North Carolina’s election law overhaul. In an order filed on Thursday, Clerk Patricia S. Connor stated that attorneys should have all their briefs submitted to the appellate court by June 14. Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California-Irvine who has been following the case, said it was possible that under such a schedule a hearing could be held in July and a ruling issued before the November general elections. But most expect any ruling to be challenged up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and what would happen there is unclear.

Rhode Island: Common Cause calls for ‘immediate improvements’ to voting in Rhode Island | Providence Journal

Common Cause Rhode Island is calling for immediate improvements to voting in Rhode Island following a primary election in which, according to the advocacy group, “too many eligible voters showed up at the wrong polling place, or waited an unnecessary amount of time to cast their ballot.” “For the vast majority of voters, yesterday went fine,” said John Marion, the executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, on Wednesday afternoon. “But we’re trying to achieve a process where we don’t see any problems and that’s what we are striving for.” On Tuesday, there were problems at some of the polling locations.

Virginia: Massive restoration of felon voting rights challenges registrars | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Hundreds of felons have rushed to register to vote in Richmond and Henrico County since Gov. Terry McAuliffe restored the civil rights of 206,000 last week, but local registrars say the state hasn’t given them the information they need to approve applications. Richmond General Registrar J. Kirk Showalter said she had been able to verify just two of the 102 applications the office had received by Tuesday night, while Henrico Registrar Mark J. Coakley said his office was working through more than 200 online requests and setting aside those it had accepted in case of later questions about an ex-offender’s status. They and other registrars across Virginia say the state wasn’t ready to carry out McAuliffe’s sweeping executive order on Friday that restored voting and other civil rights. “This is the time when government went too fast,” Coakley said. But McAuliffe administration officials said they warned from the beginning that it would take time to update online state databases to show the restoration of rights for so many people. “This is a massive administrative undertaking, but it is the right thing to do,” spokesman Brian Coy said.

Virginia: The felon vote: Will the restoration of felons’ voting rights in Virginia help the Democrats? | The Economist

Virginia’s governor, Terry McAuliffe, has a problem similar to one faced by Barack Obama: a Republican-controlled legislature delights in killing his proposals, especially those popular with Democrats. So Mr McAuliffe is doing as Mr Obama has done: implementing some of them by executive fiat. Mr McAuliffe’s latest is a doozy: a order made on April 22nd that restores the voting and civil rights of an estimated 206,000 non-violent and violent felons who have completed their penalties. Until Mr McAuliffe’s order, which came as a surprise, he had been considering the reinstatement of such rights as all Virginia governors have since the mid-1800s: on a case-by-case basis, making for an achingly slow and sometimes erratic process. Republicans, who have generally opposed making it easier to re-enfranchise felons stripped of their voting rights upon conviction, were quick to complain that by flooding the polls with new voters Mr McAuliffe was simply trying to tip this presidential battleground state to his good friend, Hillary Clinton. But while there is little doubt that Mr McAuliffe’s executive order has become a talking point for both political parties, it is not clear what impact it will have on registration and voting.

Virginia: State Supreme Court takes up legislative privilege case | Daily Press

The Supreme Court of Virginia has accepted a portion of an ongoing redistricting case, saying it will mull what correspondence legislators must release about their work drawing election maps, and what they may keep secret. The question is a key one before a lawsuit that targets nearly a dozen legislative districts over state constitutional concerns can move forward, but the high court’s decision could also set precedent when it comes to the release of legislative documents in court cases. Both sides – redistricting advocates connected to a group called OneVirginia2021 and state senators looking to protect emails under a legislative immunity clause in the Virginia Constitution – asked for the state Supreme Court to hear the matter. The broader case sits in City of Richmond Circuit Court. The high court’s decision, announced in a court order Wednesday, means the matter will skip the state Court of Appeals.

Bulgaria: Uproar in Parliament over election law changes | The Sofia Globe

The eve of the Orthodox Easter long weekend found Bulgaria’s MPs still in their benches in the National Assembly – unless they were in one of a series of unscheduled adjournments – arguing the toss in the latest day of controversy over amendments to the country’s election laws. The arguments on April 28 involved not only the substance of the amendments but also a row about a report submitted in the name of the legal affairs committee – which irked opposition MPs who said that there could be no such report from the committee because it had not met. Among the issues to be resolved on the final day before the scheduled Easter recess involved voting abroad. An earlier version of the amendments, restricting the opening of polling stations to Bulgaria’s embassies and consulates, has caused discontent not only among several political parties but also among Bulgarians living outside the country.

Serbia: Election outcome hinges on handful of voided votes | Europe Online

Serbian election authorities on Thursday annulled the votes cast at a handful of polling stations amid allegations of irregularity, in a move that could significantly impact parliamentary elections held last weekend. The vote will be repeated in at least 15 polling stations, affecting around 18,000 of the 6.7 million registered voters. The election commission was also reviewing dozens of other complaints and recounting ballots from as many as 100 polling stations. Although the voided votes make up a tiny fraction of national total, they may be vital to two parties that stand to be eliminated if they do not pass Serbia‘s 5-per-cent threshold. The election authority‘s decision also means the final result can only be announced after the vote is repeated.

Singapore: Online voting not feasible for overseas Singaporeans: Chan Chun Sing | The Online Citizen

On 6 April in Parliament, it was decided that online voting for Singaporeans living abroad using the SingPass portal still remained unfeasible due to concerns over authenticity of votes and the privacy of voters. This decision comes in response to queries from Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NMP) Dennis Tan with regard to whether online voting will be implemented for overseas Singaporeans. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said in Parliament that while a system of online voting was considered by the Elections Department, the traditional tried and tested voting method still had the upper hand. Using paper ballots at polling stations still stayed the “simplest and most transparent method of voting that can ensure the integrity and secrecy of our voting process,” according to Mr Chan.

Venezuela: Was the 2013 Venezuelan Election Rigged? | Pacific Standard

In the popular imagination, election fraud usually takes a few forms: stuffed or disappearing ballot boxes, hijacked electronic voting machines, voter intimidation. The latter of those four tactics is somewhat harder to detect. After all, it’s not the ballot being tampered with, but rather the voter who cast that ballot. Fortunately, researchers have now figured out a way to detect “voter rigging,” as the authors of a new paper call it. Unfortunately, their method has turned up more or less exactly what you’d expect—fraud in Russia several times over the past decade, as well as in Venezuela, where voter rigging likely swayed the outcome of the 2013 race to replace Hugo Chavez. “Many elections around the world end in controversies related to alleged frauds; even in mature democracies, such as the U.S. and Canada, where voter suppression scandals have made the headlines,” write Raúl Jiménez, Manuel Hidalgo, and Peter Klimek.

Editorials: The Retreat From Voting Rights | William Barber II/The New York Times

On Monday, Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, N.C., upheld legislation passed in 2013 that imposed far-reaching restrictions on voting across this state, including strict voter-identification requirements. Judge Schroeder justified his decision by claiming that robust turnout in 2014 proved that the law did not suppress the black vote. But in reality, his ruling defended the worst attack on voting rights since the 19th century. That attack began almost immediately after a 2013 Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, which weakened Section 5 of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Section 5 required federal pre-approval of changes to voting laws in places with a history of discrimination, including parts of North Carolina. Within hours of that ruling, lawmakers in Raleigh filed H.B. 589, proposing some of the toughest voting rules in the country. Referring to Shelby, one sponsor expressed his relief that curtailing voting protections could move forward now that the “headache” of the Voting Rights Act had been removed. The Legislature passed the bill, and it was signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican.

Editorials: Restoring voting rights to felons is political. It’s also right. | The Star Ledger

There are 5.8 million Americans who will be barred from voting this year, because their home states deny felons that fundamental right. Lately, there have been efforts to reduce that absurd statistic. In Maryland, the legislature restored voting rights for felons who served their prison sentences by overturning their governor’s veto. And last Friday, by executive order, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe restored suffrage for more than 200,000 people – a good start toward reinstating full citizenship to 47 percent of the American prison population serving time for non-violent drug offenses. Call it a liberating blast of fresh democracy – even though three states (Florida, Kentucky and Iowa) still bar felons from voting for life. Maine and Vermont occupy the other extreme, allowing felons to vote even as they serve their time. And many states, like New Jersey, restore suffrage only after felons have served their full sentences – including prison time, parole and probation.

Arizona: Judge tosses lawsuit challenging presidential primary results | Arizona Republic

After two days of testimony, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed to invalidate the March Arizona presidential preference election. The suit was filed against Secretary of State Michele Reagan and every Arizona county by attorney Michael Kielsky on behalf of a Tucson man named John Brakey, who says his occupation is “election integrity activist.” In their pleadings, they alleged that voter-registration requests were mishandled and the number of polling places in Maricopa County was improperly cut. Hearings Monday and Tuesday were to determine if there was legal cause to go forward with trial. The state and the counties countered that the complaint was neither timely nor adequately prepared. And they questioned whether election law applied to presidential preference elections. Judge David Gass took the matter under advisement but allowed the evidentiary hearing to go forward.

Iowa: Voting rights restoration form for felons simplified | Associated Press

The application form that convicted felons in Iowa must complete to seek restoration of their voting rights in Iowa has been made simpler, Gov. Terry Branstad said Wednesday, but voting rights advocates argue the process is still one of the most burdensome in the country. The streamlined, one-page form reduces the number of questions an applicant must answer from 29 to 13, Branstad said, which makes the process more efficient and convenient. “When individuals commit felonies, it is important that they demonstrate that they have fully satisfied their sentences and have paid their court-imposed financial obligations and be current on restitution if it’s required before receiving their voting rights back,” Branstad said in a statement.

Hawaii: Voting reforms mulled | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Two bills aimed at making it easier to vote will head into conference committee today at the state Legislature. The legislation would allow residents to automatically register to vote when applying or renewing a driver’s license and would start a vote-by-mail program. The House and Senate each passed versions of the bills. Lawmakers will be tasked with working out the differences. The registration measure, House Bill 401, would give residents the option of registering to vote or updating their voter information while taking care of their license. Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-Kona, is a co-sponsor. HB 1653 in its latest form would require the state Office of Elections to start a vote-by-mail program incrementally. Mail ballots currently are limited to absentee voters.

Minnesota: Dayton advocates voting rights for released felons | Duluth News Tribune

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton would like formerly imprisoned felons to be able to vote in Minnesota, he said Wednesday. “We should let people who have served their sentences, paid their debt to society, be given their chance to restore their active participation in our … democratic process,” the Democratic-Farmer-Labor governor said. With his comments, Dayton waded into a debate that has roiled the state and nation. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Senate approved a measure to allow felons to vote after they served their sentences. Last week, Virginia’s governor used his executive power to restore voting rights to felons who are on supervised release in that state. Other states have also grappled with laws that limit felons ability to vote evening after they have served their prison sentences.

Missouri: Democrats launch filibuster as voter ID brought up again in Senate | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Missouri Senate Democrats launched another talk-a-thon Wednesday night in the Missouri Senate in a bid to stop a proposal that would require voters to show photo ID at the polls. The measure advanced in the House early in the legislative session but has been stalled in the Senate. The Republican majority has brought the bill up on the floor in recent weeks, but it paused debate each time as it became clear the two sides wouldn’t reach an agreement. On Wednesday, about 7 p.m., state Sen. Joe Keaveny of St. Louis, the minority floor leader, said Democrats and Republicans were feeling each other out.

New York: State may expand online voter registration | The Journal News

New York may see an expansion of online voter registration after Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ruled Tuesday that the practice is legal. The opinion came in response to questions from Suffolk County officials asking if state law permits the county to implement an online voter registration system. Currently, the state Department of Motor Vehicles offers online voter registration for New Yorkers that uses an electronic signature, but not elsewhere. Schneiderman said his opinion of county online voter registration is a “new era of truly online voter registration,” and he encouraged county elections boards to develop online registration systems.

North Carolina: Rights groups appeal ruling upholding voter ID law | Reuters

Civil rights groups and churches opposed to sweeping changes to North Carolina’s election rules said on Tuesday they would ask an appeals court for a reversal after a federal judge upheld provisions they argue will suppress minority votes at the polls in November. The ruling late on Monday was highly anticipated in a presidential election year in a state that had close results for the White House in 2008 and 2012, and it received praise from the voting law’s Republican backers. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in Winston-Salem said the state could require voters to show approved photo identification at the polls, one of a number of provisions in the law that challengers have said targets groups of people who typically support Democratic candidates.

Texas: Fifteen GOP states back Texas voter ID law in legal brief | San Antonio Express-News

Fifteen Republican-controlled states are wading into the contentious court fight over Texas’ voter ID law, arguing in a legal brief that similar laws around the country have already been upheld by the courts. A three-judge panel at the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that Texas’ law requiring voters to show picture identification at the polls violated parts of the federal Voting Rights Act. However, the court’s full bench has agreed to reconsider the case at a May 24 hearing. Ahead of oral arguments next month, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is leading a coalition of GOP states supporting Texas’ controversial measure. In a recent court filing with, Zoeller’s office argues that a ruling against Texas’ measure could create “uncertainty for States attempting to enforce or enact voter ID laws.” “This, in turn, would leave State voter ID laws in a constant state of flux,” Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher writes in an amicus brief.

Editorials: Voting Rights Lose in North Carolina | The New York Times

Late Monday, a federal district judge upheld one of the most regressive and restrictive voting laws in the country — a 2013 North Carolina law that eliminated same-day voter registration and preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds; cut back on early voting by a week; barred counting votes cast outside voters’ home precincts; and required voters to show identification at the polls. State lawmakers said these changes were necessary to reduce fraud and inefficiency in elections — though there is no evidence of voter fraud to combat or inefficiency to cure. The Justice Department, the American Civil Liberties Union, the N.A.A.C.P. and the Advancement Project, among others, sued on the grounds that the law illegally discriminates against minority voters.

Virginia: McAuliffe rejects GOP leaders’ call for special session on voting rights for felons | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Gov. Terry McAuliffe rejected Republican leaders’ call Tuesday for a special legislative session on the governor’s order restoring voting rights for 206,000 felons, saying the legislature has “no specific role” in the matter. The back-and-forth escalated a constitutional clash that could ultimately land in court as Republicans continue to seek ways to mount a legal challenge to Friday’s sweeping executive action. In a letter to the governor, House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, said McAuliffe, a Democrat, had shown a “flagrant disregard” for the Virginia Constitution. They also called on the governor to release a list of names of all people whose voting and civil rights were restored by Friday’s order, including details about their crimes.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board Director Calls Walker’s Comments On Voter ID Law ‘Disingenuous’ | Wisconsin Public Radio

The director of the Government Accountability Board called Gov. Scott Walker’s recent comments about funding a voter ID public education campaign “disingenuous” on Wednesday. In a 4-2 decision, the board voted Tuesday to ask for money from the state Legislature to fund a statewide campaign to educate voters on what forms of ID are acceptable at the polls. Walker addressed the funding request on Tuesday, saying that the high turnout during the April 5 primary demonstrates the funding is unnecessary. Moreover, the governor said the state has already spent too much money defending the law in court.

Virginia: Why Virginia Disenfranchised Felons | The Atlantic

Last Friday, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe restored voting rights to more than 200,000 people with previous felony convictions. It’s a momentous stroke in both scope and effect; with an eye towards the 2016 races, The New York Times estimated its electoral impact as “small but potentially decisive.” But the significance of McAuliffe’s efforts goes far beyond a single election. It instead marks an exorcism for one of Jim Crow’s last vestiges in Virginia’s state charter—and a reminder of how many of its legal aftereffects still linger today. Many of Jim Crow’s most pernicious aspects were swept away in a Second Reconstruction of sorts during the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. But those efforts had little effect on the criminal-justice system and its role in enforcing white supremacy, both in the South and beyond it. Disenfranchising people with criminal convictions was one of many vote-suppressing tools deployed in the state’s 1902 constitution, which was explicitly drafted and ratified to destroy black political power in the Old Dominion.

Wisconsin: Elections board to ask lawmakers for funds to publicize voter ID | Journal Times

The state elections board will ask lawmakers for $250,000 to publicize Wisconsin’s new voter ID requirement in the lead-up to the November election. The co-chairman of the Legislature’s budget panel, Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said Tuesday that he expects it to “seriously consider” the request. Providing “$250,000, to assure every vote is counted, I don’t think is a problem,” Nygren told the Wisconsin State Journal. The Government Accountability Board approved the request on a 4-2 vote at its regular meeting Tuesday. Judges Harold Froehlich and Timothy Vocke were the dissenting votes.