Kansas: Want to vote in this state? You have to have a passport or dig up a birth certificate. | The Washington Post

Ralph Ortiz served in the Air Force for 13 years. He was stationed on bases in the Middle East and in Kansas, where he decided to live after leaving the military. He registered to vote more than a year ago. But Ortiz was stunned to find out recently that his name was purged from the Kansas voting rolls because of a requirement he did not know about: He had to prove he was a U.S. citizen. Ortiz had gone to the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles to renew his license, and he registered to vote at the same time. Ortiz did not have documents that prove his citizenship, and no one asked him for any. Last fall, he received a letter saying his voter registration was “in suspense” because he had not shown proof of citizenship documents, a state requirement to register in Kansas. His name is off the rolls. “I was shocked,” said Ortiz, a 35-year-old father of four who was born in New York. “I defended my country for 13 years. I own a home here in Kansas. I pay taxes in Kansas. I register my vehicles in Kansas. I’m a veteran who’s registered with the VA. There were many different avenues for them to figure out that I was a U.S. citizen. It was insulting.”

Mississippi: Elected officials use campaign funds for private gain | Clarion-Ledger

State Sen. Dean Kirby leases a vehicle, pays for auto insurance and gasoline, and buys Braves season tickets with money from his campaign account. He spends thousands a year on a campaign credit card, despite having no opponents for re-election for most of his 25 years in office. He says much of this spending is to cover expenses from serving as a lawmaker. But he also receives thousands of dollars a year from taxpayers for expenses. He received $19,440 last year to cover travel, food and other costs beyond the $23,575 considered salary for the part-time legislative job. Kirby lives in Pearl, just a short distance from the Capitol in Jackson. A Clarion-Ledger investigation shows that for many Mississippi politicians, campaign funds have become personal expense accounts or a second income — potentially tax free. The spending is largely paid for by lobbyists and special interests doing business with state government. They otherwise would not be allowed to lavish cash, gifts or a second income on politicians.

Nevada: Caucus problems: Cards not counted, computer issues | Reno Gazette-Journal

Democratic caucus-goers in Northern Nevada are reporting a wide range of problems from long lines and cards not being counted to being turned away and too few paper ballots. Michael and Diana Jones were turned away from participating this morning in the caucus in Gardnerville despite being registered Democratic voters in Douglas County. This is because they registered as “confidential voters,” meaning their names are not available as a public record to the Democratic Party, which runs the caucuses. Michael Jones said he talked to multiple volunteers and Democratic Party staff who were unfamiliar with the issue until he was finally turned away. “I was told I had to reregister (not confidential),” he said. “The whole point is not to put up with the 30, 40, 50 robocalls and three pounds of campaign literature in the mailbox.” He said his wife spoke with someone in line who was a confidential voter but planned to reregister so he could participate.

New Hampshire: Bill would allow jailed felons to vote | Associated Press

Convicted felons behind bars in New Hampshire could get the right to vote under a proposal that is heading for a full vote by the House. If passed, the measure would put the state in the ranks of Vermont and Maine — the only two states where felons never lose their right to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But the bill, sponsored by four Democrats, faces an uphill battle after being deemed unworkable by the House Elections Law Committee on Thursday. The Department of Corrections took no position on the bill, but spokesman Jeff Lyons raised concerns about the impact on nearly 100 New Hampshire inmates incarcerated out of state and whether it would burden corrections staff. Currently, convicted felons in the Granite State are eligible to vote once released.

North Carolina: Legislators complete voting map redraw; congressional primaries pushed back | Associated Press

Legislators met a Friday deadline to complete a court-ordered rewrite of North Carolina’s illegally gerrymandered congressional voting map, all the while looking ahead to further legal challenges. One legal decision quickly went against the Republican lawmakers, who still defend the previous boundaries as fair and legal. The U.S. Supreme Court late Friday refused the state’s request to keep using district lines from the 2012 and 2014 elections while the lower-court order is appealed. The denial means the state is on track to hold congressional primaries June 7 under the new map. Had the Supreme Court sided with the state, the congressional primary would have remained March 15 as previously scheduled. The state House gave final approval to the new map dividing the state’s 13 U.S. House seats after federal judges earlier this month declared the old map was illegally gerrymandered by race. Challengers had complained that legislative Republicans drew the previous congressional lines to pack black voters in two districts, leaving the rest more white and more favorable to the GOP.

North Carolina: Poll worker training highlights voter ID, many Election Day tasks | Winston-Salem Journal

Poll worker training for the March primary kicked off last week in Forsyth County, and for seasoned precinct officials, most of the information is familiar. But one element is new for everyone: voter ID. By the end of the month, more than 300 precinct officials will have attended the class, which covers everything from voting machine setup and voter check-in to provisional ballots and photo identification requirements. The class is mandatory for chief judges and judges, the precinct officials who run the polling places on Election Day. In about two and a half hours, Forsyth elections office employees hit the highlights from the State Board of Elections’ voting site guide and the county’s poll worker manual, which contains about 100 pages of instructions and forms.

Utah: State considering next-generation voting methods | The Salt Lake Tribune

Lawmakers are starting the process to replace voting machines statewide that are near the end of their expected lives, and the next generation of voting could be a bit different. Instead of the current electronic touch-screen machines — which cost $30 million to buy statewide — the state is looking perhaps at using off-the-shelf scanners and programs that could count hand-marked ballots (which fit in nicely with by-mail voting). Or it might end up buying off-the-shelf tablets to allow electronic voting and printing of paper records. Or it may allow both, or something different — but likely not anything like the current expensive machines, said Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem. He says the methods being considered would be much cheaper, and cost an estimated $9.5 to $16 million.

Australia: Malcolm Turnbull moves to overhaul Senate voting system before election | The Guardian

Malcolm Turnbull is moving quickly to overhaul the Senate voting system before this year’s election, declaring the end of secretive preference deals that have allowed backroom operators to “game” the system. The prime minister said the legislation – introduced to the parliament on Monday with the backing of the Greens and the independent senator Nick Xenophon – would empower voters to decide how their preferences flowed in upper house elections. The bill has been referred to the joint standing committee on electoral matters with a reporting deadline of 2 March, paving the way for a debate and decision in the Senate before parliament rises for the pre-budget break.

Macedonia: EU, US Advise Postponing Macedonia Elections | Balkan Insight

Macedonia is not ready for fair elections on April 24, the EU and US said on Sunday, advising a postponement of the pre-term polls that are intended to end the country’s political crisis. US ambassador Jess Baily outlined the joint assessment in a letter delivered to the Macedonian interim Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev on Sunday evening, mentioning June 5 as a possible alternative election date. The letter says that although some progress has been made, “at this stage the necessary conditions for organizing credible elections on April 24 are not in place.” The joint assessment points out concerns regarding a credible clean-up of the electoral roll, including field checks, a still non-existent agreement on media reforms that would allow objective and unbiased reporting, as well as insufficient measures to separate state and political party activities. “We are also concerned at initial reports of pressure and intimidation of voters and others,” the letter says.

Niger: Counting Begins in Niger’s Presidential Election | VoA News

Counting has begun in Niger’s presidential and legislative elections after the polls closed Sunday. The results are not expected until sometime next week. Mahamadou Issoufou is running for a second five-year term with a promise to crush Islamist militants and develop one of the poorest countries in the world. “I hope that these elections proceed calmly and peacefully,” he had said. “In any case, there will only be one winner, and that is Niger.”

Tanzania: Preparations for Zanzibar Re-Elections in Full Swing | allAfrica.com

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) Director, Mr Salum Kassim Ali, has said preparations for the upcoming re-run elections on March 20 are on top gear. Mr Ali said here that they were prepared to make sure that the polls would be free and fair and past irregularities would not recur. “We have been moving on well and doing everything possible to ensure that the elections are free and fair. All the mistakes which led to the nullification of the October 2015 polls will be avoided,” he insisted.

Uganda: U.S. criticizes Uganda election, says concerned about Besigye’s arrest | Reuters

The United States has criticized the handling of Uganda’s disputed presidential election and raised concerns about the house arrest of an opposition leader who failed to end President Yoweri Museveni’s 30-year rule. Museveni, one of Africa’s longest serving leaders and a U.S. ally, was declared winner on Saturday but opponents rejected the outcome of the election. European Union and Commonwealth observers have also criticized the handling of Thursday’s poll. Main opposition candidate Kizza Besigye was arrested three times this week and alleges the police have put him under house arrest and blocked his electronic communication. Besigye has described the election as a sham and another challenger, Amama Mbabazi, said the poll was “fundamentally flawed

Uganda: Security Forces Use Strong-Arm Tactics Amid Presidential Vote | The New York Times

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s security forces used strong-arm tactics in the middle of an election Friday, arresting the main opposition candidate, beating protesters and firing tear gas and stun grenades at them in the capital. The United States, which gives financial support to Uganda and helps train its military, was among those condemning the brutal actions. It occurred as voting from Thursday’s election continued in two main districts Friday because ballots and other election materials had not arrived on election day. Early returns Friday put Museveni ahead of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, but votes remained to be cast and counted in Besigye strongholds in this East African nation. With results from about 47 percent of polling stations across the country counted, Museveni had about 63 percent of the vote and Besigye had about 33 percent, the election commission said late Friday. Final results are expected on Saturday.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for February 15-21 2016

uganda_260A group of voting rights activists filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order after the executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) told elections officials in three states that they could require residents to provide documented proof of U.S. citizenship when using federal forms to register to vote. Pam Fessler observed that so far, support for automatic voter registration — now being considered in about two dozen states — has pretty much broken down along party lines. Rick Hasen considered the impact of Justice Scalia’s death on the 2016 election. A federal judge decided against effectively suspending Alabama’s voter ID law. , while a judge in Kansas ruled that a Wichita State University statistician won’t get access to paper tapes from voting machines to search for fraud or mistakes. The US Supreme Court declined to stay a lower court ruling that has forced North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature to redraw its congressional electoral maps on the grounds that the original maps amounted to racial gerrymandering. Former Central African Republic prime minister Faustin-Archange Touadera has won a presidential run-off and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni won a fifth term, extending his three-decade rule in a vote rejected as fraudulent by an opposition leader under house arrest and criticised by the international community.

National: Activists Ask Judge to Block States From Requiring Proof of US Citizenship to Vote | CNS

A group of voting rights activists is up in arms after the executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) told elections officials in three states that they could require residents to provide documented proof of U.S. citizenship when using federal forms to register to vote. On Wednesday, the coalition filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order blocking the changes in Alabama, Georgia and Kansas. “Voters have been using the Federal Form to register without having to comply with a documentary proof of citizenship requirement for over two decades, but the Executive Director’s sudden unilateral changes to the Federal Form – implemented without public notice – ratchet up the requirements for registering to vote at the last-minute, mere weeks before primary elections and a presidential caucus in the affected states,” according to the complaint. “Imposing such eleventh-hour restrictions on voting risks voter and election official confusion and is contrary to the public interest,” it argued.

National: Automatic Registration Is The Latest Chapter In Fight Over Voting Rights | NPR

President Obama backed a bill in Illinois last week that would automatically register people to vote when they apply for a driver’s license or state ID. “That will protect the fundamental right of everybody,” he said. “Democrats, Republicans, independents, seniors, folks with disabilities, the men and women of our military — it would make sure that it was easier for them to vote and have their vote counted.” But so far, support for automatic voter registration — now being considered in about two dozen states — has pretty much broken down along party lines. Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, generally think it’s a great way to expand the electorate. But Republicans are far more wary. Some say they’re worried it could expose voter rolls to mistakes and fraud. And there’s a philosophical divide, too. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, says it’s important that citizens take the initiative when it comes to registering.

Voting Blogs: Justice Scalia’s Death and Implications for the 2016 Election, the Supreme Court and the Nation | Election Law Blog

Justice Antonin Scalia has died in Texas at the age of 79. Let me begin with condolences to his family, friends, and former clerks who were fiercely loyal to him (and he to them). Whatever you thought of Justice Scalia’s politics and jurisprudence, he was an American patriot, who believed in the greatness of the United States and in the strength of American courts to protect the Constitution’s values as he has seen them. He also wrote the most entertaining and interesting opinions of any Justice on the Court. I was just in the early stages of a project to evaluate Justice Scalia’s legacy, and I will have much to say later on about Justice Scalia’s impact on the judiciary where his views on constitutional originalism and new textualist statutory interpretation have have played a key role in the development of American jurisprudence and argumentation in the federal courts. But let’s begin here with the implications for the Court’s current term, its impact on the 2016 election, and on the Nation as a whole.

Alabama: Judge will not block Alabama voter ID law | Associated Press

A federal judge Wednesday deciding against effectively suspending Alabama’s law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler refused a preliminary injunction request to allow alternate means of identification for voters in the upcoming 2016 elections. Currently, a person without photo identification can vote if two poll workers sign affidavits saying they recognize and “positively identify” the voter. Greater Birmingham Ministries and the NAACP asked Coogler to expand that provision so people can vote if they provide certain identification documents without photos or information to identify themselves to poll workers.

Kansas: Judge: Wichita State statistician can’t have tapes to audit voting machines | The Wichita Eagle

A Sedgwick County judge has ruled that a Wichita State University statistician won’t get access to paper tapes from voting machines to search for fraud or mistakes. Judge Tim Lahey denied a motion by Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman to dismiss the case brought by statistician Beth Clarkson. But that was a hollow victory for Clarkson. Her point in filing the lawsuit was to gain access to the tapes to check the accuracy of the voting machines, searching for an answer to statistical anomalies she has found in election results. The paper tapes at issue are printed by the voting machines as each voter casts a ballot. The voter can view the tape through a plastic window in the machine to verify their choices before hitting a button that records their votes. Clarkson sued last year seeking access to the tapes under the Kansas Open Records Act. Representing herself without a lawyer, she lost.

North Carolina: Supreme Court Won’t Intervene in North Carolina Election Fight | The New York Times

The United States Supreme Court declined late Friday to stay a lower court ruling that has forced North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature to redraw its congressional electoral maps on the grounds that the original maps amounted to racial gerrymandering. As a result, the state must now follow a contingency plan, also devised by Republican lawmakers, that tries to comply with the lower court’s ruling by making significant changes to the boundaries of the some of the state’s 13 congressional districts. The changes take effect less than one month before the originally scheduled March 15 primary, which has forced the legislature to set up a second election dedicated exclusively to the congressional primaries, which will now take place June 7. The contingency plan was approved by the state legislature on Friday, hours before the Supreme Court announced that it had rejected North Carolina Republicans’ application for a stay. But the approval of the contingency plan came over the strenuous objection of Democrats, who claimed that the new congressional maps were hyperpartisan — giving Republicans 10 safe districts to the Democrats’ three — and still failed to protect black voters’ interests.

Central African Republic: Ex-Prime Minister Touadera wins Central African Republic presidential vote | Reuters

Former Central African Republic prime minister Faustin-Archange Touadera has won a presidential run-off, the electoral commission said on Saturday, in what was widely seen as a step toward reconciliation after years of violent turmoil. Crowds sang and danced into the night in the streets of the capital Bangui, where many people have been killed during three years of inter-communal strife. “It’s the central African people who have won tonight,” said Max Farafei, a 32-year-old motorcycle taxi driver. “Now we all need to rally behind (Touadera) to rebuild the country.” Touadera, 58, a former mathematics professor who campaigned against corruption, won 62.71 percent of votes cast in the Feb. 14 election, according to initial results announced by National Elections Authority (ANE) president Marie-Madeleine Nkouet.

Uganda: Museveni wins fifth term, opposition brands vote a ‘fraud’ | AFP

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni won a fifth term on Saturday, extending his three-decade rule in a vote rejected as fraudulent by an opposition leader under house arrest and criticised by the international community. The veteran 71-year-old won 60 percent of the vote in the sometimes chaotic elections, far ahead of the 35 percent garnered by detained opposition chief Kizza Besigye, whose house was surrounded by dozens of armed police in riot gear. Large numbers of police and troops have been deployed on the streets of the capital Kampala, which appeared calm immediately after the widely expected victory for Museveni was declared. Besigye slammed the results as a fraud, saying in a message to the international community: “Should you ratify the results of these sham elections, at least have the courage to admit that you do not care about democracy or human rights in Africa.”

National: Why Voting Restrictions Have Yet to Lower Turnout | Pacific Standard

As John Oliver discussed on his HBO program Sunday, many states have passed laws in recent years making it more difficult to cast a ballot. Yet there is no sign that actual voter participation has decreased. University of Michigan political scientists Nicholas Valentino and Fabian Neunerhave come up with a psychological explanation for this disconnect. They argue that news of such laws—which are widely seen as attempts by Republican legislatures to reduce voting of predominantly Democrat poorer voters—infuriates people on the political left, making them more likely to go to the polls.

Alaska: Mallott rejects Democrats’ primary change | Associated Press

Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott on Wednesday declined a request by Alaska Democrats to allow candidates not affiliated with a political party to run in the Democratic primary. State law requires a candidate seeking a party’s nomination to be a registered voter of that party. State party chair Casey Steinau has said that Democrats believe the law is unconstitutional and unenforceable based on research done by attorneys for the party. But Mallott, in a letter to Steinau, said it’s up to a court to decide whether a law is ultimately constitutional. The state intends to follow the law as it stands, said Mallott, who oversees elections in the state and said he consulted with Alaska’s Department of Law.

Illinois: Chicago court to hear case to knock Ted Cruz off ballot | USA Today

A judge will hear arguments on Friday from an Illinois voter alleging that Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is not a “natural-born citizen” and should be disqualified for the party’s nomination. Lawrence Joyce, an Illinois voter who has objected to Cruz’s placement on the Illinois primary ballot next month, will have his case heard in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago. Joyce’s previous objection, made to the state’s Board of Elections, was dismissed on February 1. He appealed the decision and was granted a hearing for Friday before Judge Maureen Ward Kirby. Joyce challenges Cruz’s right to be president in the wake of questions put forth by GOP rival Donald Trump about being born in Canada. Cruz maintains he is a natural-born citizen since his mother is American-born.

Indiana: Cruz, Rubio presidential candidacies face citizenship challenges in Indiana | Indianapolis Star

Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are facing challenges alleging they don’t qualify for the Indiana primary ballot because they aren’t “natural born citizens.” The Indiana Election Commission is scheduled to take up those challenges Friday, along with the question of whether U.S. Senate candidate Todd Young submitted enough signatures to qualify for the May 3 primary ballot. Most legal scholars agree that Cruz and Rubio meet the U.S. Constitution’s eligibility requirement. Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father, while Rubio was born in Florida to Cuban immigrants.

Kansas: ACLU lawsuit over voter ID law requiring citizenship proof | Reuters

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Kansas officials on Thursday over what it calls illegal demands for additional proof of citizenship for people trying to register to vote when they renewed or applied for drivers’ licenses. In a suit filed in federal court, the ACLU claimed that more than 35,000 potential voters were blocked over two years from voting because of the additional hurdle – or nearly 14 percent of all new registrants. The Kansas law requiring documents like a birth certificate or U.S. passport for voter registration, which took effect Jan. 1, 2013, is one of numerous voter ID laws passed by Republican-led state legislatures in recent years. The ACLU alleges that Kansas goes beyond what is required by federal law.

Maine: New accessible voting system will accommodate voters with disabilities | The Portland Press Herald

The state will debut new voting devices during the June primaries that will make it easier for voters with disabilities to cast secret ballot. The ExpressVote system has a video display screen and built-in ballot printer. It’s both audio and visual, allowing a voter to make selections by touching the screen or using a controller that has different-shaped colored buttons with Braille labels. Before this new device was chosen by the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions, towns used a phone line that allows voters with disabilities to listen to an audio ballot and select the choices by pressing a button. A few hundred voters used those devices, according to Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state. She hopes the ExpressVote system will attract many more potential voters. “I think it’s more intuitive,” she said. “I don’t think it takes as much instruction as the one we had.”

New York: Board of Elections receives flurry of ‘natural-born’ objections to Rubio, Cruz | Times Union

The state Board of Elections has received three objections contesting the “natural-born” citizenship of presidential candidates and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and/or Marco Rubio submitted in hopes of knocking them off the April 19 Republican primary ballot. Cruz was born in Canada, though his mother was a U.S. citizen (his father was at the time a Cuban citizen); Cruz finally shed his Canadian dual citizenship in 2014. Rubio was born in Miami, though neither of his parents were at the time naturalized U.S. citizens. Gregory-John Fischer of Suffolk County, who objected to Cruz, noted in his one-page complaint that “the willful 2014 Canadian citizenship of Ted Cruz highlights his conflicted dual-citizenship (and possibly mixed loyalties)” that underscores what Fischer sees as the intent of the framers of the Article 2 of the Constitution.

North Carolina: House sets congressional primary on June 7; Senate OKs new map | News & Observer

The drama around the state’s congressional districts got a confusing new chapter Thursday with a proposed reshuffling of the state’s primary elections. The state House voted not to proceed with the congressional primary March 15 and instead hold it June 7, effectively hitting the restart button on those campaigns. All other issues on the ballot – including races for governor and a statewide $2 billion bond issue – still would be decided March 15. But in a major change, the House proposal also said no runoff elections would be held in March or June. Currently, if no candidate gets 40 percent of the vote, a second primary is held. But if this change is enacted, the final winner would be the top vote-getter in the initial vote this year, no matter how many candidates compete.