Michigan: Senate panel debates changes to presidential election system, Electoral College votes | MLive

Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature is again debating prospective election law changes that could benefit a second-place finisher in the state, which has gone Democratic since 1992. The Senate Elections and Government Reform Committee on Thursday took testimony on proposals that would divide Michigan’s Electoral College votes, but chairman Dave Robertson, R-Grand Blanc, told reporters that he does not expect any changes for the 2016 election cycle. “The perception has been that clearly there must be a desire on the part of Republicans… to move away from winner-take-all and others saying ‘no, no we shouldn’t,'” Robertson said. “I can assure you there is no uniformity of opinion on the Republican side.”

Canada: Online voting gets tepid thumbs up at UBCM | Oak Bay News

B.C. municipal leaders voted by a slim margin Wednesday to urge the province to enable online voting in time for the 2018 local elections. The resolution from Osoyoos was passed by 51 per cent of delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in an electronic vote after it had initially been declared defeated in a show of hands. … Saanich Coun. Vic Derman warned there’s no way to guarantee an online voter is casting their ballot in privacy, without someone else directing or manipulating them, possibly buying their vote. “It does affect one’s privacy of vote that should take place behind a screen at a ballot box,” said Lorne Lewis, a Sunshine Coast Regional District director. He said it’s wrong “to put people in a situation where they can be badgered about their vote.” The close vote suggests the issue is having increasing trouble gaining traction.

Malaysia: Election Commission chief gives e-voting the thumbs down | The Star

Malaysia may be one of the leaders among nations that embraced the digital revolution but it is likely to say a resounding “no” to electronic voting or e-voting. Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (pic) said it was better for the country to stick to the conventional method of voters having to physically cast paper ballots at polling stations nationwide. He said the system used in Malaysia had been time tested and there was no reason for the country to follow in the steps of nations that had introduced e-voting. “There is no concrete evidence as yet to suggest that e-voting is a fool-proof system and cannot be manipulated. “The current system is still the best. There is no need for us to go e-voting because it is not only unnecessary but highly risky in terms of security,” he told The Star.

Myanmar: UN expects ‘disruptions’ during Myanmar election | Bangkok Post

The United Nations has issued a directive to its staff restricting travel to Burma during the election period, citing possible disruptions. The Democratic Voice of Burma has received a copy of a letter circulated by the New York-based UN Department of Safety and Security dated Sept 22, 2015. It states: “Myanmar [Burma] will hold general elections on 8 November 2015 with an official campaign running from 8 September till 6 November 2015. There are high expectations in the country that the elections will be carried out peacefully; however electoral-related disruptions are expected around the Polling Day until the final results are announced on 22 November 2015. The Designated Official, in consultation with the Security Management Team, has recommended that temporary travel restrictions should be in place for non-critical, external visits to Myanmar between 6- 24 November 2015.

New Zealand: Councils peel away from online voting trial | ZDNet

Three local and district councils have opted out of a broad trial of online voting in New Zealand, citing concern over security and costs. Marlborough District Council this week joined Dunedin City Council and Christchurch city Council in voting down the proposed trial, while New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, has already been deemed to large to take part. Last year, a working party nixed plans for a broad roll-out of online voting and instead recommended trials of the “relatively untested” technology be conducted in the 2016 local body elections. Thirteen councils, including the ones that are now backing out, expressed initial support for taking part in the trail. However, South Island councils in particular appear to be expressing increased concern about the proposal. Christchurch rejected the trial after a phalanx of IT security experts fronted council with overseas examples of online voting system failures.

Philippines: Poll panel seeks out overseas voters, but shuns internet voting | Gulf News

The Philippine government is aiming for a higher voter turnout among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), but it has shunned internet and mobile phone voting in the 2016 presidential polls. The situation is likely to result in low participation among the one million registered overseas voters who represent 10 per cent of the country’s 10 million OFWs worldwide. “There is no explicit law that allows internet voting in 2016,” said Arthur Lim, head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office for overseas voting. The use of the internet and mobile phones is “being explored for future elections,” Lim said. He did not give details of what process was being carried out to make this modern approach a reality.

National: From Carter To California: Automatic Registration Is The New Endgame For Elections | Huffington Post

President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977 with the conviction that it should be easier for citizens to register to vote. To accomplish that goal, he wrote to Democratic secretaries of state that year urging them to support legislation that would allow voters to register on Election Day. “The continuing decline in American voter participation is a serious problem which calls for the attention of all of us in public life,” Carter wrote. Advisers to Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale had concluded that Election Day registration, which they called “universal registration,” would boost low turnout rates. They cited laws passed in Minnesota and Wisconsin after the 1972 election that allowed citizens to register at the polls, which placed both states in the top five for highest turnout in 1976. But tucked away in their correspondence about the election reform proposals was an acknowledgment that the United States’ neighbor to the north had made it even easier for citizens to vote, by registering them automatically with government data.

Florida: Redistricting hearing focuses on dispute over Miami districts | Miami Herald

The latest chapter in Florida’s redistricting saga played out Thursday in a Leon County courtroom as two Miami congressional districts emerged as the heart of the differences over which of seven maps should be the one chosen by the court. Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis must decide which map, or pieces of maps, he will recommend to the Florida Supreme Court by the Oct. 17 deadline. The court invalidated the map drawn by the Legislature in 2012 because it violated the constitutional ban on protecting incumbents and political parties. After the Legislature reached a stalemate in a special session, the high court ordered Lewis to choose from proposals from the House, Senate and the group of voters who successfully challenged the original map.

North Carolina: Voter ID lawsuit can proceed in state court, judge rules | News & Observer

A Wake County judge has refused a request from state lawmakers to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Voter ID requirement. Judge Mike Morgan issued his ruling on Wednesday, almost four weeks after a hearing on the matter. Lawmakers amended the state’s Voter ID requirement this legislative session on the eve of a trial in federal court. Attorneys for state lawmakers and the governor contended at the August hearing in state court that the legislative amendment to the requirement – offering voters without an approved ID the option of using a provisional ballot – made the lawsuit moot. Attorneys for the challengers disagreed and Morgan found in their favor. In the lawsuit before Morgan, the League of Women Voters, Randolph Institute and several voters argue that lawmakers overstepped the bounds of the state constitution in 2013 when they added the ID requirement as part of an elections law overhaul.

Pennsylvania: Democratic lawmakers advance voting-reform bills | The Philadelphia Tribune

A bloc of state Representatives — Scott Conklin, Tina Davis and Brian Sims — have introduced bills that would automate voter registration, form an independent redistricting commission and allow in–person absentee ballot voting. Conklin and Sims have partnered on a bill that would automatically register eligible individuals when that person obtains a Pennsylvania driver’s license; Davis and Sims introduced a bill that acts on the precedent set in Arizona, which ended gerrymandering there. “Any serious discussion about reforming government begins with redistricting and establishing a fairer system for drawing our state’s voting maps,” said Davis, D–Bucks. “The independent commission that our measure would create would put voters — and not political advantage — at the forefront when electoral districts are revised.

Virginia: State pushes to dismiss voter ID suit | Daily Press

Private attorneys defending the state against a lawsuit that targets Virginia’s voter ID laws and long election-day waiting times have asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. In filings this week they argued that the plaintiffs, including the Democratic Party of Virginia, don’t have standing to file the case, and that some arguments against the state amount to “speculative hypothetical.” The suit – one of several in swing states that target voting procedures ahead of the 2016 presidential elections – describes Virginia’s 2013 photo ID law and other state regulations as race-based efforts to curtail voting. Attorneys with Perkins Coie, which has brought challenges in other states as well as two separate redistricting suits here in Virginia, filed the case in June.

New Zealand: E-voting no silver bullet for low turnout | Andy Asquith/NZ Herald News

Much has been made of the proposal to use local body elections to trial e-voting in 2016. Just this week, Dunedin City Council became the latest local authority to vote not to participate in the experiment. Its withdrawal has reduced the original pool of 13 councils interested in the trial to just eight. The small remaining number has raised questions over the financial viability of the experiment, with calls for the Department of Internal Affairs to finance the project, rather than the local councils themselves. The decision by Dunedin Council to withdraw was based around three main themes – cost (put at $165,000 on top of the price of running a ‘standard’ postal vote election), security and access. Whatever online solution is used, there are remaining fears that security cannot be guaranteed. Indeed, the recent scandal involving Ashley Madison highlights such risks and, internationally, there are a number of countries where e-voting has been banned because of such fears.

Spain: A guide to Catalonia’s most important election ever | The Guardian

Catalonia heads to the polls on Sunday to elect the 135 members who will sit in the region’s 11th parliament. Billed as a plebiscite on independence, the vote will be the most important Catalan election since its parliament was first elected in 1980. Before the previous election (in 2012), the Catalan parliament adopted a resolution asserting “the right of the people of Catalonia to be able to freely and democratically determine their collective future through a referendum”. In the elections that followed later that year, the mostly pro-referendum parties – Convergence and Union (CiU), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Initiative for Catalonia Greens-United and Alternative Left (ICV-EUiA) and the the Popular Unity Candidature (CUP) – won the most votes and seats.

Editorials: John Roberts Dismantled the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the Civil-Rights Movement | Theodore M. Shaw/The Nation

ne of the martyrs of the civil-rights movement, Vernon Dahmer, lies in a cemetery in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. A voting-rights activist and president of the local NAACP chapter, Dahmer was killed when his home was firebombed by Klansmen five months after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law. Dahmer’s tombstone bears his famous words: “If you don’t vote, you don’t count.” Like every step along the path to racial justice, including the recent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s state Capitol, the VRA was bought and paid for with blood. Those who fought for it, like Dahmer, understood that it meant a new beginning for democracy, not an end of the need for vigilance.

Connecticut: Merrill Announces Voter Registration Partnership With AAA | CT News Junkie

With the Nov. 3 municipal elections approaching, Connecticut residents have new options when it comes to registering to vote: their local AAA offices. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill this week launched a partnership with AAA in which 14 AAA branch offices are offering voter registration services. To register to vote, eligible residents can fill out a voter registration card at their local AAA branch. The cards then will be shipped to the state Department of Motor Vehicles for processing, or voters can choose to mail the cards directly to their registrar of voters, according to Merrill.

Maryland: GOP-led Montgomery County election board shifts early-voting sites | The Washington Post

The Republican majority on the Montgomery County Board of Elections, led by an appointee of Gov. Larry Hogan (R), voted Monday to shift two heavily used early-voting sites to less populous locations, prompting Democratic charges­ of voter suppression. The board voted 3 to 2 to move early voting from the Marilyn Praisner Community Center in Burtonsville, which serves high-poverty East County communities along U.S. 29, to the Longwood Community Recreation Center in Brookeville, 13 miles to the northwest.

Michigan: Partisan redistricting at ‘heart’ of voter frustration, says Michigan group exploring alternatives | MLive

Partisan redistricting is at “the heart of so much frustration the public is feeling toward their elected leaders,” according to the Michigan League of Women Voters, which is hosting a series of town halls across the state to discuss alternatives. “Think about this for a minute. In Michigan, every 10 years, we allow politicians of whichever party is in power to draw their own districts to the advantage of their political party and their own re-election,” said League vice president Sue Smith. “This means we’re allowing politicians to pick their voters, rather than allowing voters to pick their representatives.”

New Mexico: Dianna Duran wants more time to mount defense; AG’s Office says request misguided | Albuquerque Journal

Secretary of State Dianna Duran is asking for an extension to mount her defense against corruption charges, arguing in a court motion filed this week that more time is needed to further review whether Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office violated New Mexico grand jury laws and Duran’s right to privacy in its investigation. Among other allegations raised in the motion filed in District Court in Santa Fe, Duran’s attorney claimed the Attorney General’s Office appears to have accessed information about Duran’s personal banking accounts without having a court order or subpoena.

North Carolina: Senate proposes detailed plan for combined March primary | News & Observer

As North Carolina lawmakers look to move up the presidential and statewide primary elections to March 15, everything election-related must move up with it, including the candidate filing period. The state Senate proposed a plan Wednesday to hold the filing period from Dec. 1 through Dec. 21. Sen. Bob Rucho, a Mecklenburg County Republican, said there will be as much or more time for candidates to file with the board of elections and for the board to send out absentee ballots. He proposed the plan during a Senate Rules Committee meeting, saying they would not take a vote yet but wanted input from committee members to include in the final conference report.

Canada: British Columbia to pursue Internet voting at municipal elections | Vancouver Sun

B.C.’s municipal politicians were so hotly divided about whether to allow Internet voting for the 2018 local elections that they had to hold an electronic vote to tally the results. In the end, it was a squeaker, with 51.1 per cent of delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention voting in favour of the resolution and 48.9 per cent against. The resolution calls on the UBCM to request the B.C. government to “initiate analysis and legislative changes” to encourage more voters — especially the elderly, disabled, snowbirds and those working in camp — to participate in the democratic process.

Myanmar: Final Candidate List Released, Dozens Disqualified | VoA News

Myanmar has released its final list of candidates for the upcoming general election, with more than 6,000 people running for positions in the national parliament and regional legislatures. However, at least 75 independent or opposition party candidates have been disqualified, many because of the citizenship status of their parents. Among them are about 15 of 18 candidates from the Democracy and Human Rights Party, a Muslim majority party whose candidates tried to run in the Rakhine state constituencies.

Philippines: No Internet voting in 2016 – Comelec | ABS-CBN

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ruled out the possibility of conducting Internet voting for the 2016 presidential elections. “Personally, I favor Internet voting, but unfortunately, our laws at present do not allow it,” Comelec commissioner Arthur Lim said Wednesday. According to Lim, there are two pending bills in Congress on Internet voting. However, current preparations for the 2016 polls are already focused on the automation of the elections.

Florida: Political operative charged in Miami-Dade elections case | Miami Herald

A political operative surrendered to face criminal charges Tuesday after prosecutors said he manipulated elections for community councils in Southwest Miami-Dade. David Alberto Carcache, 34, was charged with falsifying records, aiding and abetting an elections-code violation and false swearing. According to prosecutors, the unregistered lobbyist Carcache arranged for three candidates to run for community councils in Kendall and West Kendall, even though they did not live in the neighborhoods and were not eligible to run. He is alleged to have prepared bogus qualifying documents and maintained control over the candidates’ email accounts. He also submitted fraudulent campaign financial records, prosecutors said.

National: Alex Halderman Strengthens Democracy Using Software | Popular Science

In 2010, the District of Columbia decided to test its online absentee voter system. So officials held a mock election and challenged the public to do their best to hack it. It was an invitation that Alex Halderman, a computer-security expert at the University of Michigan, couldn’t resist. “It’s not every day that you’re invited to hack into government computers without going to jail,” he says. In less than 48 hours, Halderman and his students gained complete control of the system and rigged it to play the Michigan fight song each time a vote was cast. The students were ecstatic, but Halderman, who has a long history of exposing cybersecurity weaknesses, takes a more sober view. “This is the foundation of democracy we’re talking about,” he says.

Editorials: How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics | Ari Berman/The Nation

n July 1976, while appearing with civil-rights icon John Lewis, Jimmy Carter proposed automatically registering to vote every eligible American once they turned 18, which he said would “transform, in a beneficial way, the politics of our country.” Carter’s ambitious plan never became law, but 39 years later, states like Oregon and California are embracing automatic voter registration as a bold new voting reform, potentially adding millions of new voters to the rolls. It’s a trend that warrants more attention, especially as the country celebrates National Voter Registration Day today. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and National Voter Registration Act of 1993 enfranchised millions of new voters. After passage of the VRA, for example, the number of black registered voters in the South increased from 31 percent to 73 percent. Despite these landmark laws, 51 million Americans—1 in 4 eligible voters—are still not registered to vote. “Among eligible voters, some 30 percent of African Americans, 40 percent of Hispanics, 45 percent of Asian Americans, and 41 percent of young adults (age 18-24), were not registered to vote in the historic 2008 election,” according to Demos.

Editorials: Making voting rights automatic | The Boston Globe

This Year could serve as a turning point for the strengthening of voting rights in the modern era. And it’s not only because 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which is in need of protection more than ever as some of its key provisions have come under attack. One piece of good news is that Governor Jerry Brown of California is poised to sign into law a measure that automatically registers all eligible residents to vote when they obtain their driver’s licenses. Earlier this year, Oregon became the first state to enact an automatic voter registration law, and New Jersey’s legislature recently passed a similar bill, which now awaits Governor Chris Christie’s signature. This policy has the potential to drive civic participation to higher levels. Other states should follow their lead.