Kentucky: State Republicans question Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate’s ballot signatures | Lexington Herald-Leader

The Republican Party of Kentucky has asked the state’s county clerks to review and verify the signatures that Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate David Patterson filed to get on the ballot. State GOP chairman Steve Robertson told the Herald-Leader on Thursday that Republicans found “clearly fictitious and fabricated names,” citing an example of a signature belonging to a purported voter named “Ben Dover” who listed his address as an obscene phrase. In a letter to county clerks, Robertson asked the clerks to verify the names and addresses of people who signed a petition in favor of Patterson getting on the ballot with Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes and Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.

Mississippi: Judge mulls request to toss out election challenge | WAPT

Mississippi judge said he will carefully consider whether to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a Republican primary victory by Sen. Thad Cochran. Attorneys for challenger Chris McDaniel want all of the election records from 47-counties shipped to Jones County by Friday. Judge Hollis McGehee heard arguments for more than an hour Thursday at the Jones County Courthouse. He said he could rule on dismissal as soon as Friday. Attorneys for state Sen. Chris McDaniel said current state law does not set a timetable for a candidate such as McDaniel to challenge an election loss. However, attorneys for Cochran said the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 1959 that a challenge for a multicounty election should be filed no later than 20 days after election results are certified. Election results were certified July 7 and McDaniel started his challenge nearly a month later with the state Republican Party.

Missouri: Protest turns to voter registration | St. Louis American

If Ferguson residents want a diverse police force that reflects the community, they need to elect someone who makes inclusion a priority, said Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. In Ferguson – where an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer on Aug. 9 – the police department has three black officers and 50 white officers. The town’s population is 67 percent African-American, yet Ferguson has a white mayor and five of the six-member city council members are also white. As the Post-Dispatch illustrated with a startling graphic on the front page of the Sunday paper, Ferguson is typical among county municipalities for its lack of representation of blacks in police and government. Several local leaders are encouraging protesters fighting for justice in the Michael Brown case to keep marching, but also register to vote. The Urban League, NAACP, ministers and politicians have all organized volunteers to educate residents on the voting process and register especially African-American voters. In 2013, only about six percent of the eligible black voters cast their ballot in Ferguson’s municipal election, compared to 17 percent of white voters. “The need for voter registration education and mobility has always been a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement,” McMillan said.

Kansas: Federal appeals court questions Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship rules | The Wichita Eagle

A federal appeals court on Monday expressed skepticism over Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s contention that a federal commission must make voters who register using a federal form provide proof-of-citizenship documents required under state law. Kansas and Arizona are trying to force the federal government to add their requirements to federal voter registration forms mandated by the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the motor voter law. Arguing the case before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Kobach said the Election Assistance Commission is required to add the state-specific instructions to the federal form. But Judge Jerome A. Holmes interrupted: “Oh whoa whoa whoa, there’s a big jump there.” Holmes said when the U.S. Supreme Court decided a similar case from Arizona last year, it said states could “request” that the commission add state-specific requirements to the federal form.

South Dakota: Judge rules against Libertarian in ballot lawsuit | Associated Press

A federal judge ruled Thursday against the South Dakota Libertarian Party in an attempt to add its Public Utilities Commission candidate to the November general election ballot. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol heard arguments and concluded Secretary of State Jason Gant followed state law last week in declaring Ryan Gaddy, of Sioux Falls, ineligible to run for the office because he didn’t change his party affiliation from Republican in time to be nominated at the Libertarian convention. “It seems to the court Secretary Gant had no alternative other than to deny the application,” Piersol said. He also deemed constitutional a state law requiring candidates to be members of the party that nominates them.

Virginia: Fairfax officials say some people may have crossed Va.-Md. line to vote twice in 2012 | The Washington Post

Tens of thousands of voters were registered to cast ballots in both Virginia and Maryland during the 2012 presidential election — and more than 150 appear to have voted twice, an advocacy group claims. Seventeen of those alleged instances were in Fairfax County, where election officials found the evidence so compelling that they have turned the information over to law enforcement. The situation sparked a strong reaction among some political leaders in Virginia, coming in the midst of a heated national debate over whether voter fraud is rampant or mere rhetoric.

Washington: Yakima may appeal voting rights ruling | Yakima Herald Republic

The Yakima City Council may yet appeal a federal court ruling that the city’s current election system violates the federal Voting Rights Act, but not for now. The council met in executive session for an hour Thursday morning with attorneys to discuss the city’s options. The city can either appeal the ruling, offer its own plan for a new elections system, or work with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit, to attempt a compromise plan. After the closed-door meeting, which is allowed under state law to discuss legal action, Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley announced before gaveling the meeting to a close that the city would comply with the judge’s order. Cawley’s phrasing brought a stunned reaction from the small audience in attendance, who took it to mean the city would not appeal. Cawley later clarified that the city is still leaving its options open. “We’re not giving up any of our rights,” Cawley said after the meeting. “We’re going to comply with the judge’s order.”

Wisconsin: State covers touch-screen voting machine costs | The Journal Times

The state will reimburse Racine County municipalities about $42,000 for costs related to touch-screen voting machines. The Racine County Board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the reimbursement in its meeting Tuesday. The money will extend maintenance agreements on the machines by three years and four months, County Clerk Wendy Christensen said. The county will apply for the reimbursement and then distribute the money to each of the 17 municipalities, Christensen said.

Editorials: Afghanistan’s disputed election: It takes two | The Economist

It seems everyone wants the Afghan presidential election to be over and done with. Except, maybe, for the two contenders. In the latest attempt to derail an audit of the votes, which was set in motion six weeks ago, Abdullah Abdullah (pictured above) declared on August 27th that he was leaving the process—less than a week before the next president is supposed to be inaugurated. Mr Abdullah, who claims his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, rigged more than 1m votes, has accused auditors of keeping fraudulent ballots in the tally. Faulting the United Nations for not taking his concerns seriously, he said the criteria for invalidating votes are not thorough enough to weed out all the fraud. Wednesday morning, August 27th, no observers from his team were to be found at the headquarters of the Independent Election Commission when the day’s audit began. Consequently, Mr Ghani also withdrew his observers.

Canada: Guelph case sees Election Canada pledge to make polling station accessible | The Record

Elections Canada will make sure all polling stations in the next federal election are barrier free after reaching a settlement with a Guelph man who filed a human rights complaint. The complaint was settled through mediation and will ensure all polling stations have either a power assisted door or someone there to help anyone with accessibility issues enter the polling station. “This will be a great step forward for all persons with disabilities in Canada,” said Matt Wozenilek of Guelph. Wozenilek, who is confined to a wheelchair due to a rare neurological disease, took Elections Canada to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal after he went to cast his ballot in the 2011 federal election and found there was no automatic door opener or anyone to help him get into the polling station. A passerby eventually helped him into the polling station. Wozenilek felt this is a violation of his human rights and an act of discrimination.

Philippines: Comelec: No discrepancy between official tally, decrypted ballots in precinct recount | GMA

There was no discrepancy between the official tally transmitted by the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine and the votes in the decrypted ballots for defeated 2013 senatorial candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva in one precinct in Nueva Ecija, according to the initial examination of the Commission on Elections. It took the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Election at least four hours to decrypt or download the images of the ballots cast in clustered precinct 19 in Barangay Concepcion, Gapan, Nueva Ecija, then check, print, and count the votes for Villanueva. The committee did not touch the ballots from clustered precincts 29 and 30, as their supposed discrepancies were small, unlike in precinct 19.

United Kingdom: Scottish independence: Referendum votes ‘for sale’ on eBay | BBC

Police have launched an investigation after a number of people apparently tried to sell their votes in the independence referendum online. Votes for the 18 September ballot were listed on internet auction site eBay, which has since removed the items. The Electoral Commission said both the selling and buying of votes was illegal. One online listing offered buyers a “unique piece of British history”. The Glasgow-based vendor wrote that he was selling his vote – with a starting price of 99p – because he did not “give a flying monkeys [sic] about any of this”. He went on: “This is my very own unique piece of British History!

Maryland: Testimony ends in federal online ballot tool case | The Washington Post

A judge said Tuesday that he expects to rule “very quickly” on a lawsuit seeking to force Maryland officials to implement an online ballot-marking tool for the blind, a case that could impact other states that don’t use the tool. Lawyers for the National Federation of the Blind are hoping to have the tool in place in time for November’s elections. Their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, contends that the state is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for not using the technology, which they say would safeguard blind voters’ privacy. During three days of testimony that wrapped up Tuesday, Maryland Assistant Attorney General Dan Friedman argued that officials should not be forced to use something that has not been certified by the Maryland State Board of Elections. And another advocacy group for the blind, the Maryland chapter of the American Council of the Blind, said they think the tool could be vulnerable to hackers.

Mississippi: Will McDaniel give up? | Clarion-Ledger

Chris McDaniel is taking the long holiday weekend to mull whether he’ll accept defeat from the June 24 GOP U.S. Senate primary, or continue his appeal to the state’s high court. “He wasn’t really ready to even accept (dismissal) was a possibility,” McDaniel attorney Mitch Tyner said Friday after a special circuit court dismissed his lawsuit challenging his primary runoff loss. “… This is a very costly litigation and so he wants to take the weekend to decide.” Attorneys for incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran said it’s time for McDaniel, a state senator from Ellisville, to give up. “This has been an ordeal for Sen. Cochran, for his staff, for the circuit clerks, for all the people whose votes have been challenged,” said Cochran attorney Mark Garriga. “… We hope this is the end. Not the beginning of the end, but the end. We urge Sen. McDaniel and his counsel to make that so.” A campaign spokesman said McDaniel will announce his decision at a press conference Tuesday. Judge Hollis McGehee on Friday approved Cochran’s motion to dismiss McDaniel’s lawsuit.

Wisconsin: Scott Walker, J.B. Van Hollen again ask court to reinstate voter ID | Journal Sentinel

Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen are asking a federal court to reinstate Wisconsin’s voter ID law, but they have not finalized a plan to comply with a different court’s decision requiring the state to provide IDs to people who don’t have birth certificates. The state Supreme Court last month upheld the voter ID law, but the requirement to show photo ID at the polls remains blocked because a federal judge has found it violates the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution. A new court filing suggests the voter ID law is unlikely to be put in place for the Nov. 4 election, when the GOP governor faces Democrat Mary Burke. She opposes the voter ID law. State officials say they need to know soon whether the law will be in effect so they can retrain poll workers and send out absentee ballots with the proper information. But the federal appeals court has said it won’t rule on reinstating the voter ID law until at least Sept. 12 — around the time absentee ballots will be mailed out. “I just can’t imagine that this could be implemented by the November election without creating a huge mess,” said Daniel Tokaji, an election law professor at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. “I think it would be imprudent to put it mildly to try to implement this law pursuant to an order issued after Sept. 12. I think that’s just asking for trouble.”

National: Ballot initiatives become pricey playgrounds of parties and corporations | The Washington Post

In a midterm election season when control of the United States Senate hangs in the balance, Democrats are increasingly turning to ballot measures to get otherwise reluctant voters to the polls. Big Business is, too: Some of the most expensive races in the country this year will be ballot measures written by, and for, major corporations. Some the hardest-fought ballot battles of 2014 won’t involve candidates at all. They’ll be questions that come with big implications for corporate bottom lines — or promise big benefits to political strategists, especially Democrats, looking to drive turnout for other races. For the first time in history, spending on the approximately 125 ballot questions facing voters in 41 states is likely to top $1 billion in campaign spending this year — and perhaps much more: Oil and gas companies in Alaska spent more than $170 for every vote they won in a successful campaign to reject higher taxes earlier this month.

Editorials: People hate politics. So why is nobody talking about campaign finance reform? | Jaime Fuller/The Washington Post

After more than a year of campaigning, New Hampshire Senate candidate Jim Rubens (R) has decided on his closing message: the “disconnect between voters in New Hampshire and politicians in Washington, D.C.” He was campaigning in Groveton, a small town of about 1,000 near the Canadian border, when he walked into a diner (as all candidates in New Hampshire inevitably do). “The entire room erupted,” the former state senator said. “People were ready to vent their frustrations. I’ve been involved with politics in this state for 20 years, and I’ve never felt the dissatisfaction more than I do now.” His anecdotal evidence is backed up by empirical data; when Gallup asked Americans what the top problem facing the nation was, many of the top answers have been variations on grumbling about the state of government today.

Arizona: Software ‘glitch’ confounds election | The Sierra Vista Herald

The interim county elections director and two independent monitors of the elections office believe they may have narrowed down where things went wrong during Tuesday’s Primary Election, which resulted in erroneous data being added to the Secretary of State’s election results. After the polls close, data is transferred electronically via modem from the ballot counting machines to the elections office. That data is then received and tabulated by an Election Systems & Software program, placed on a thumb drive, transferred from the thumb drive to a server, which then sends the data on to the state. “Somehow, when the information on the server went to the state elections system, that number got corrupted,” said Jim Vlahovich, interim director of the Cochise County Elections Office. … Elections office staff first noticed that something may be wrong on Tuesday night, when the print out of the results reported an abnormally high voter turnout of 62 percent. Then, this morning, calls to the elections office prompted further inspection, resulting in the discovery that the server used to transfer the voting data to the state had crashed.

Guam: Plebiscite appeal heard: 9th Circuit judges take on political status vote | Pacific Daily News

The Office of the Attorney General yesterday defended Guam’s Decolonization Registry against claims that it discriminates along racial lines. A panel of three judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit yesterday heard arguments in that case and two other cases during a special hearing at the U.S. District Court of Guam in Hagåtña. It was the first time since 2002 that a panel of judges from the appellate court heard arguments here. The court has jurisdiction over federal courts in nine states, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. Among the cases judges heard yesterday was Davis v. Guam, which challenges the constitutionality of the Guam Decolonization Registry.

Illinois: Christie Slams Effort To Boost Voter Turnout For 2014 Election As Democratic ‘Trick’ | International Business Times

During a campaign stop in Illinois on Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie decried efforts to simplify voter registration. He suggested that the higher voter turnout produced by such efforts is harmful to Republican candidates, and that Illinois’ new same-day voter registration statute is a Democratic “trick.” Referring to Illinois joining other states — including many Republican-led ones — in passing a same-day voter registration law, Christie said: “Same-day registration all of a sudden this year comes to Illinois. Shocking. It’s shocking. I’m sure it was all based on public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year, when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get.” … Christie, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, denounced the effort to boost voter turnout as an underhanded Democratic tactic. (The Illinois State Board of Elections is composed equally of Democrats and Republicans, according to the Chicago Tribune.) Referring to the same-day voter initiative, Christie said Quinn “will try every trick in the book,”  according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Christie said the program is designed to be a major “obstacle” for the GOP’s gubernatorial candidates. In fact, most of the 11 states with same-day registration laws currently have Republican governors.

Indiana: The revenge of ex-Secretary of State Charlie White? | Indianapolis Star

Disgraced politician Charlie White is seeking to reinvent himself — as a tell-all political blogger. His target: His Republican colleagues, among others. The former Indiana Secretary of State recently launched The Indy Sentinel, a new website about “pols and media who are fair & those who live to serve the elites in both parties to the public’s detriment,” according to his Twitter account. White, who was convicted of theft and voter fraud in 2012, said he plans to ramp up the website in the coming weeks — as soon as he finishes a reply brief for one of his ongoing legal cases. Right now, the site has just two articles, including one about campaign donations to Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann and the state’s Stellar Communities grant program.

Iowa: Defense challenges statute in voter fraud case | WCF Courier

The attorney representing five people who allegedly voted despite having felony convictions is asking the court to throw out the cases. The five — Ricco Cooper, Robert Earl Anthony, Harold Redd Jr., Rosa Wilder and Glen Tank — are charged with election misconduct for allegedly voting in the 2012 general election without having their voting rights restored. On Monday, the five watched in Black Hawk County District Court as a judge set deadlines for the legal challenges.

Massachusetts: Ballot Questions: Not Quite A Craps Shoot | WGBH

After years of fierce debate, the battle over whether to build casinos in Massachusetts is finally being taken to the people. Barbara Anderson is the executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, a group that has pushed to get a number of initiatives on the ballot over the years. “We go in to vote, and we have to think about is ‘is this a good idea or is this a bad idea? Legislators, they have to think about all kinds of stuff when they’re voting. How does the leadership want me to vote, how can I trade this vote with somebody else’s vote, am I raising money on this issue and what side does the money want me to vote on,” Anderson said. The power to collectively make state law is not something all American voters have. Half the states in the union allow it. Half don’t. Remarkably, here in New England, the bastion of direct democracy, Maine is the only other state where it happens. “At least the voters have a voice. In other states there’s nothing they can do about anything except elect leaders who promise they will deal with these issues.”

Mississippi: Hosemann: Cochran on ballot unless court says otherwise | Clarion Ledger

Incumbent Thad Cochran is on the November ballot as the GOP U.S. Senate candidate unless a court orders otherwise, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said, and voting will start in September. The Board of Election Commissioners – Hosemann, Gov. Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood – approved a ballot for Nov. 4 with no discussion of Chris McDaniel’s lawsuit challenging his primary loss to Cochran. The ballot includes Democrat Travis Childers, Reform Party Shawn O’Hara and Republican Cochran for Senate. A subordinate filled in for Hood at Tuesday’s meeting. McDaniel’s lawyers last week asked for an injunction preventing Hosemann from sending out general election ballots until McDaniel’s challenge is decided. The judge declined.

Editorials: End of straight-ticket voting in North Carolina tinged with racial, age bias | Bob Hall/News Observer

Tucked deep inside North Carolina’s election revision law that has stirred great passion is a provision that barely gets noticed. It’s not part of any lawsuit, but it eliminates a method of voting that affects more people than nearly any other part of the new law. This change also illustrates how lawmakers can manipulate rules to harm one group of voters but wind up harming a large number of their own supporters, too. In 2012, a solid majority – 56 percent – of North Carolina voters marked one box on their ballots to indicate their choices in more than a dozen races, from governor to county commissioner. It’s called straight-ticket voting, and in 2012 it involved 1.4 million ballots for Democratic candidates and 1.1 million for Republicans. In an ideal world, our schools, TV stations and other media would teach people about civics and citizenship, the importance of voting, the candidates and offices on the ballot, and how to determine who’s a goat, not just a donkey or elephant. Instead, voting is discounted, and contests are covered like a horse race – who’s ahead in the polls and who’s got the most money behind him.

US Virgin Islands: St. Thomas Elections Board finally officially certifies primary results | Virgin Islands Daily News

Uncertain of the legality of the board’s initial “certification” last week of the St. Thomas-St. John District primary election, the board certified the election again during a meeting Monday. Still, one board member, several candidates and several members of the public, at least, are questioning whether the election was legitimate – despite two rounds of certification. “Anything after the deadline makes it illegal,” said board member Wilma Marsh-Monsanto, the single board member present to abstain from voting to approve the official certification of the election on Monday. Board Chairman Arturo Watlington Jr., Vice-chairman Harry Daniel, Secretary Claudette Georges, member Lydia Hendricks and member Larry Boschulte were also present and voted to certify the election. The board initially convened in a special meeting Monday to ratify the original certification actions taken by the board, in which Daniel, Georges and Boschulte voted to certify the election a week ago, along with member Alecia Wells, who attended the meeting via teleconference and cast her vote via an electronic signature sent over a fax machine.

Virginia: State reviewing alleged voter fraud in Fairfax | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Attorney General’s Office is reviewing evidence of alleged voter fraud in Fairfax County, where the Virginia Voters Alliance has identified 17 individuals who voted in both Fairfax County and various localities in Maryland during the 2012 General Election. “This office takes all allegations seriously even though incidents of voter fraud are statistically very rare,” Michael Kelly, spokesman for Attorney General Mark R. Herring, said in an email Tuesday. “We will review any evidence and, if further investigation is warranted, will work within our statutory authority with local or federal partners.” The Fairfax County Electoral Board has also referred the allegation to the Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney and the federal Department of Justice for further investigation.

Editorials: How to fix Yakima’s racially polarized elections | The Seattle Times

Last week’s federal court ruling ordering Yakima to discard at-large citywide elections in favor of a more representative process prescribes a needed fix, but leaves much of the rest of the state underrepresented at the local government level. The vast majority of Washington cities use at-large voting systems. That’s democracy, but not the most representative democracy. Subtly, and sometimes intentionally, at-large elections leave distinct geographic communities completely unrepresented. It’s why Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Afghanistan: Election audit will go on without candidates’ observers | Los Angeles Times

The full audit of the about 8 million votes cast in the second round of Afghanistan’s presidential election will continue “without the direct physical engagement” of the two candidates’ observers, the United Nations said Wednesday. The announcement came hours after Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who led April’s first-round vote but reportedly was losing in the initial count from the second round, ordered his team to stay away from the audit. Abdullah’s camp charged in a statement that the review was “built in a one-sided manner” favoring his rival, Ashraf Ghani. Muslim Saadat, a spokesman for the Abdullah team, said there remained “a few points to find solutions to” in the audit process, but that talks between the Abdullah and Ghani camps were ongoing. Nicholas Haysom, deputy special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for Afghanistan, announced that the audit would go on without observers from both camps. Haysom said one of the concerns raised by the Abdullah team would be given “serious consideration.” Neither he nor Saadat would elaborate on the unresolved issues. So far, ballots in 72 boxes have invalidated and another 697 boxes have been sent for recount.

Afghanistan: Presidential candidates pull out of audit | Associated Press

Afghanistan’s troubled presidential election was rocked by more turmoil on Wednesday as both candidates vying to succeed Hamed Karzai pulled their observers out of a ballot audit meant to determine the winner of a June runoff. First, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, pulled his monitors from the audit to protest the process that his team claims is fraught with fraud. Then, the United Nations, which is helping supervise the U.S.-brokered audit, asked the other candidate, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, to also pull out his observers in the interest of fairness. The U.N. team said the audit then proceeded without both candidates’ teams. It was not immediately clear if the pullout meant the two candidates would reject the audit results — and thereby also the final result of the election. That could have dangerous repercussions in a country still struggling to overcome ethnic and religious divides and battling a resurgent Taliban insurgency.