Arizona: No special spot on voter registration form for Libertarians | Daily Sun

State lawmakers are free to provide special spots on voter registration forms to Democrats and Republicans that are not offered to other political parties, a federal judge has ruled. Judge Cindy Jorgenson acknowledged that the 2011 law does mean that those who want to register as Libertarians — or, for that matter, any minor party — have an additional hurdle. That’s because the registration forms have three spaces: Republican, Democrat and “other.” And that last option requires an individual to write out the name of the desired party. But Jorgenson rejected claims by an attorney for the Libertarian Party that the law amounts to illegal and unacceptable discrimination. She said the state has a legitimate interest in keeping the registration form simple.

Arkansas: Voter ID bill awaits action by governor | The Cabin

When manning the polls in Arkansas during an election, a poll worker is required to ask a voter for his or her identification. Legally, the voter is not required to present such documentation to the worker, but a bill sitting on the governor’s desk could change that. Senate Bill 2 — also known as the Voter ID Bill — has gone through the Arkansas Legislature and is awaiting action by the governor. If made into law, the bill would require voters “to provide proof of identity when voting and to provide for the issuance of a voter identification card.” Gov. Mike Beebe is likely to take action on the bill Monday, according to a staff member in the governor’s communication office.

California: Popularity of vote-by-mail adds extra complication to counting votes accurately | California Forward

Are absentee ballots the new hanging chads? More than 4 million presidential votes were lost in the 2000 election which was notoriously plagued by the hanging chads fiasco. Although voting technology has since vastly improved, the steady rise in absentee voting may undermine any gains in accuracy. Why is this important in California? Because last year’s presidential election was the first statewide general election in which a majority of Californians, 51 percent or 6.8 million to be exact, voted absentee. By comparison, less than 3 percent of California ballots cast in the 1962 general election were submitted by mail.

Montana: Group wants to stop bill to end same day voter registration | KTVQ

A public interest research group is calling on Montanans to let the Legislature know it shouldn’t approve a bill seeking to eliminate same-day voter registration. House Bill 30 was introduced by Republican Representative Ted Washburn of Bozeman in response to those huge lines that developed at the polls last November with a sudden push of unregistered voters. Those people were in line by the 8 p.m. closing time, but it took several more hours to process the lines with people needing “same day” voter registration.

New Hampshire: Repeal of voter ID law rejected in New Hampshire House | SeacoastOnline.com

The New Hampshire House rejected a proposal Thursday to repeal the state’s voter identification law, instead passing legislation that would prevent tighter regulations from taking effect until the attorney general’s office completes an inquiry into the last election. Rep. Timothy Horrigan, D-Durham, argued for repeal, saying the voter ID law is “an excessive solution to a virtually nonexistent problem.” Horrigan said no evidence of voter fraud exists in the state. But Rep. Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, countered that voter fraud in New Hampshire has never been found because no one has looked for it. Jasper said a number of “suspicious” cases from 2012 could prove to be fraud. He added that even if fraud isn’t widespread it could tip the scales in tight elections.

North Carolina: Voter ID debate may affect college students | Technician

The North Carolina General Assembly’s agenda for the current session shows the controversial voter identification legislation requiring voters to show photo identification at the poll is still making waves in the legislature. Supporters of voter ID legislation hope to prevent fraudulent voting at the polls and instill confidence in our democratic system. Interest groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Democracy N.C. and other national organizations oppose laws that would require voters to show photo identification.  The NAACP compares the voter ID laws to the times of civil rights movements in the 1960s. Reverend William Barber, president of the NAACP, has stated that requiring a voter to show ID is comparable to a poll tax in early 20th century because of the cost to obtain licenses.

Texas: Driver surcharge program may have doomed voter ID law | Dallas Morning News

Was the Texas voter ID law undone by the troubled Texas Driver Responsibility Program? Although no study has ever been done on the link between the two, experts have speculated that the driving surcharge program — which has caused 1.3 million drivers to lose their licenses — made it much more difficult for Texas to defend its 2011 law requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. In August, a federal appeals court refused to uphold the voter ID law in part because so many Texans lacked a driver’s license or state photo ID. Minorities made up a large percentage of them.

Virginia: Fairfax elections report doesn’t answer whether GOP hoped to discourage voting | The Washington Post

The most provocative question raised by the severe poll delays in parts of Fairfax County on Election Day in November was whether the problems resulted from a nefarious plot by the Republican-controlled elections apparatus to discourage voting in Virginia’s largest Democratic county. So it’s frustrating that that concern was precisely the one left unclarified in Tuesday’s bipartisan commission report on how to ensure that such waits don’t happen again. As I reported the week after the Nov. 6 election, there were signs that Republican-appointed elections overseers had been suspiciously slow to approve the appointment of precinct polling officials nominated by the Democrats. A shortage of such officials proved to be a major cause — though not the only one — of the voting delays. At some precincts, people didn’t finish voting until 10 p.m., or three hours after the polls were scheduled to close.

Egypt: Supreme Administrative Court postpones appeal against elections suspension | Daily News Egypt

The Supreme Administrative Court’s appeals district postponed on Sunday the government’s appeal of an Administrative Judiciary Court ruling suspending elections to 7 April. The Judiciary Court had ruled to suspend the upcoming House of Representatives elections and referred the parliamentary election law to the Supreme Constitutional Court earlier in March. The court suspected the election law was unconstitutional and referred it to the Constitutional Court for review, meaning that elections for the lower house of parliament, initially scheduled to start on 22 April, would be postponed until the Supreme Constitutional Court deems the electoral law constitutional.

Liberia: Election Commission Nomination Sparks Opposition Protest | VoA News

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has nominated Counselor Jerome Kokoya as the next chairman of the country’s Elections Commission. But, the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) said Kokoya’ s nomination should be withdrawn because he is a member of the ruling Unity Party. CDC national chairman George Solo said his party will not participate in this year’s bi-election in Grand Bassa County if Sirleaf does not rescind the nomination of Kokoya. However, Kokoya said, while he once contested for a legislative seat on the ruling party’s ticket, it would not affect his role as election commission chairman. He said he’s legally qualified to be chairman.

Pakistan: Election Commission appoints caretaker Prime Minister | The Hindu

Mir Hazar Khan Khosa, an 84-year-old retired judge, will be Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister till a new National Assembly is elected by mid-May. His name was finalised on Sunday morning by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the political class failed to arrive on a consensus over caretaker premiership. The announcement was made around noon by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim after the matter was put to vote. Mr. Khosa’s candidature was suggested by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and its allies. And, he was voted in four-to-one by the five-member ECP.

Zimbabwe: British government to demand EU election observation role | Zimbabwe Mail

The British government will demand EU observation role in the coming Zimbabwe election during the re-engagement talks scheduled to begin in London tomorrow reports in a communiqué leaked to the Press reveals. By their nature, communiques are brief reports or outlines of deliberations undertaken and cannot be prepared before such deliberations. Although the Zimbabwe re-engagement team comprising of Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa; Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma, and Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga left for London yesterday, a full draft communiqué dated 26 March 2013 had already been prepared detailing Britain’s position and the perceived contributions from the re-engagement team. The 10-point communiqué is titled “Friends of Zimbabwe, 2013 Draft Communiqué”.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly March 18-24 2013

A cyberattack on absentee voting in Miami Dade County offers a glimpse of vulnerabilities posed by the use of the internet in elections. The Supreme Court hears arguments in another voting rights case. Verified Voting President Pamela Smith considered security issues around internet voting and safer options for easing the burdens faced by military and overseas voters as lawmakers in Kentucky consider the wisdom of allowing the electronic submission of voted ballots. The widespread use of electronic pollbooks also presents security concerns. The Oregon Secretary of State’s proposal for universal voter registration meets with opposition in the state legislature. The Fairfax County Election Commission recommended a transition to a paper ballot voting system and a report from the state-run Governance and Problem Analysis Center claims that last year’s elections were rigged in favor of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

Editorials: The Other Big Voting Rights Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court | Juan Cartagena/Huffington Post

On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Arizona’s incessant drive to suppress its Latino population can make it impossible for newly naturalized citizens to register to vote by mail. The case is Arizona v. The Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. and it represents Arizona’s attempt to thwart the will of Congress when it established national norms for voter registration in federal elections with the National Voter Registration Act of 1995. The NVRA established for the first time in history a government obligation to register voters by requiring agency-based registration. While simplified to its common name, the Motor Voter law because it includes motor vehicle agencies, the NVRA is unique in that it also requires the government to affirmatively register low-income voters who apply for traditional welfare, food stamp and Medicaid benefits. In New York the state law implementing the NVRA also includes unemployment insurance agencies, for example. Finally, it completely changed the landscape on street voter registration by requiring all states to accept mail-in voter registration forms for federal elections, which in turn, was applied to registration for all elections. This also was a significant reform in states that previously required street registration campaigns to be attended by official state registrars, and on limited hours.

Editorials: Should We Reform the Electoral College? | Cato Institute

Let’s start with the basics: In presidential races, each state has electoral votes equal to the number of its House representatives plus two for its senators. Currently, there are 435 House members and 100 senators, plus three votes for Washington, D.C. (thanks to the 23rd Amendment), for a total of 538. The candidate who garners a majority — 270 or more — wins, even if he loses the popular vote. That’s what happened in the 2000 Bush versus Gore election, which sparked the effort to switch to popular voting for presidential elections. Ordinarily, that switch would require a constitutional amendment; but a group of activists came up with a scheme — the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) — that could work without a constitutional amendment. Article II of the Constitution gives states broad authority to decide how their electoral votes are selected and divided among the candidates. In 48 states, the candidate who gets the most votes wins all of the state’s electoral votes. But the Constitution doesn’t require that rule. Maine and Nebraska have implemented district- by-district voting. One electoral vote goes to the winner in each congressional district, and the remaining two electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide popular vote.

Voting Blogs: Early voting legislation biggest response to November lines so far | electionlineWeekly

Following the November election, just about every politician from the president on down vowed to do something about the lines some voters faced during the 2012 general election cycle. Now, with most Legislatures back at work — some have even completed their work for 2013 — altering, or allowing, early voting seems to be the most popular way legislators have chosen to tackle the problems of lines. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures 32 states and the District of Columbia allow voters to cast a ballot in person in advance of an election and Oregon and Washington offer all vote-by-mail thus making early voting a moot point. Of the remaining 16 states that did not offer early voting at the time of the November 2012 general election legislatures in more than half of those states are considering legislation that would allow voters to cast an early ballot. Bipartisan efforts to advance early voting have begun making their way through several statehouses.

Arizona: Latino youths protest Arizona election reform | NECN.com

A proposed overhaul of Arizona’s early voting laws has been blasted by Latino youth who say the Republican-backed effort would suppress minority turnout just as more Hispanics are registering to vote. Students on spring break are expected to lobby lawmakers at the Arizona Legislature Thursday in opposition to two measures that would limit who gets to vote early and how mail ballots are returned to local election officials. Hispanics leaders, including Arizona Democratic lawmakers, said the election bills are aimed at silencing voters who tend to vote for Democrats. Republicans currently control Arizona’s state government. “We are not going away,” said Daria Ovide, a Phoenix-based voting activist. “We are going to be voting no matter what and we are going to remember who was helpful and who was not helpful.”

Indiana: White blames lawyer for his voter fraud conviction | SFGate

Former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White said in court documents Thursday that his attorney didn’t mount any defense to protect him from the conviction that forced him from office. The assertion is among several in a petition filed in Hamilton County asking a judge to toss out White’s convictions on voter fraud and other counts. White said the defense strategy used by his attorney — former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi — was “deficient and unreasonable.” Brizzi did not call any witnesses at White’s February 2012 trial and immediately rested the defense after the prosecution wrapped up its case. White was sentenced last year to one year of home detention and remains free on bail. The document says Brizzi’s defense was riddled with errors and that the former prosecutor was “ignorant of the law.”

Kentucky: Quarles appointed to committee on military voting bill, says lawmakers have not yet met | News-Graphic.com

A measure which would change the way military service personnel receive absentee ballots and cast their votes remains in limbo, a Scott County lawmaker said Wednesday. Among the high-profile proposals before Kentucky legislators during this year’s General Assembly was a bill backed by Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes, which would facilitate electronic ballot requests and submissions. Differing versions of the bill passed both the House and Senate, and a conference committee made up of members of each chamber has been picked to hammer out a compromise. … The chambers are at odds over whether or not service personnel can return ballots electronically or must still mail in hard copies. The Senate struck the provision for electronic voting from its bill due to concerns over cyber security. Senate President Larry Stivers, R-Manchester, stressed those concerns while presenting the bill for a vote earlier in the session. “If my bank account is hacked, I can see that,” he told fellow lawmakers. “If a ballot is tampered with, who would ever know?”

Maryland: Republican legislators struggle against same-day voter registration | MarylandReporter.com

Facing the prospect of same-day registration for early voters, Republican delegates battled Wednesday to pass amendments intended to safeguard elections from fraud. Since the beginning of session in January, every effort to improve access to voting has been met with a counter-initiative to cut down on voter fraud. Republicans feel that voter fraud is a widespread problem across the state and that most efforts to expand voting access further weaken the integrity of the vote. “Same-day registration may be convenient for some, but it also opens the door for potential misuse in my opinion,” said Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell, who unsuccessfully sought to tack two different amendments onto the bill, HB 224.

New Hampshire: House freezes voter ID law, rejects repeal | NewsTimes

The New Hampshire House rejected a proposal Thursday to repeal the state’s voter identification law, instead passing legislation that would prevent tighter regulations from taking effect until the attorney general’s office completes an inquiry into the last election. Rep. Timothy Horrigan, D-Durham, argued for repeal, saying the voter ID law is “an excessive solution to a virtually nonexistent problem.” Horrigan said no evidence of voter fraud exists in the state. But Rep. Shawn Jasper, R-Hudson, countered that voter fraud in New Hampshire has never been found because no one has looked for it. Jasper said a number of “suspicious” cases from 2012 could prove to be fraud. He added that even if fraud isn’t widespread it could tip the scales in tight elections.

Ohio: Changes to Ohio’s election laws head to governor | The Marietta Times

With a presidential election behind them, Ohio lawmakers passed several bills Wednesday to make changes to the battleground state’s election laws. One measure was more contentious than the other: It would restrict the time groups have to collect the extra signatures needed to make sure their ballot questions get before voters. Under the proposal, groups couldn’t gather additional signatures until the secretary of state notifies them whether their initial petitions have fallen short. Current law already allows groups 10 days to file any added signatures once they get notification from the state’s elections chief. But campaigns typically continue to collect signatures after they submit their initial petitions to maximize their time to get additional names. That time has varied, depending on how long it takes election officials to certify that the initial signatures are from valid Ohio voters.

South Carolina: Grooms concedes, but recount set in GOP House race | Rock Hill Herald

Former Gov. Mark Sanford will likely face former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic in a GOP runoff for an open congressional seat, after state Sen. Larry Grooms conceded second place Wednesday to Bostic. Grooms conceded in the crowded GOP primary in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District even though a recount of the votes, required by state law, will be held later this week. In unofficial returns Tuesday, Bostic edged out Grooms for second place by 493 votes. Sanford was the top vote-getter among Republicans. “The margin is too big to recover from, but state law will still govern the mandatory recount,” Grooms said Wednesday. “It’s highly, highly unlikely that any errors could overturn a 400-vote margin.”

South Carolina: Senators stall proof of citizenship requirement to vote | The State

A bill that would require people to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote was delayed Wednesday in the Senate. Three groups opposed the bill, but a ticking clock and the U.S. Supreme Court were more responsible for the hold up. The Supreme Court heard arguments this week on a similar law in Arizona, and Sen. Chip Campsen, a Charleston Republican who sponsored the S.C. bill, said he would prefer to wait on the high court’s decision before moving ahead. He also continued the bill’s consideration because the subcommittee ran out of time before finishing its discussion.

West Virginia: Secretary of State prepares for voter ID bill push | Charleston Daily Mail

After 35 days of the legislative session, there’s been more talk in the West Virginia House of Delegates on guns and pepperoni rolls than voter identification laws. With several bills before both legislative chambers, though, that could change at any minute, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said. “The way I look at it is, in the beginning, even before the session started, I read in the paper and I was asked questions when folks were saying that this was going to be their priority bill,” Tennant said Wednesday. “When this was something to add burdens, to add more restrictions, more burdens to voters, that was going to be their priority.”

Egypt: Election limbo keeps Egypt’s IMF loan on ice | Gulf Times

Once parliamentary elections are out of the way, Egypt stands a chance of securing an International Monetary Fund loan to help address its currency and budget crisis; the problem is that no one knows when that will be. With face-to-face contact between Egypt and the IMF re-established this week after a two-month gap, both sides are pushing for urgent action, but with strikingly different emphases. President Mohamed Mursi’s government wants a full $4.8bn loan, as agreed in principle last November, but based on a gentler reform programme than originally planned, “in light of preserving growth rates, employment and protecting the poor”. By contrast, the IMF’s top official for the region, Masood Ahmed, spoke only of “possible financial support” after he met the government and central bank in Cairo on Sunday.

Pakistan: Election Commission says e-voting not feasible now for overseas Pakistanis | Dawn.com

The Election Commission of Pakistan and the government appeared to be poles apart in the Supreme Court on Tuesday on the issue of extending the facility of electronic voting to Pakistanis living abroad. While the court wishes to see the facility extended to overseas Pakistanis to enable them to cast their votes in the coming elections, the ECP insists that the electronic voting is not a feasible option at the moment. Although the Ministry of Information Technology says the task is achievable with the help of sophisticated software, it agrees that it is not feasible in the coming elections. During the hearing of a case relating to the grant of voting rights to Pakistanis living abroad, Director General of Elections Sher Afgan said a meeting held in the ECP on Monday had concluded that in the absence of a proper legislation the facility could not be extended at the moment. But he added that a team had been set up under him to develop a mechanism and procedures.

Paraguay: UNASUR Mission Begins Observation on Paraguayan Elections | Prensa Latina

A UNASUR technical mission that will observe the Paraguayan general elections to be held in April, is now employed in the verification of electoral rules and the organization of the elections. The mission of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will continue this work until Monday, as announced by the general coordinator of the delegation, Alejandro Tullio, who is Argentina’s national election director.

Venezuela: Police fire tear gas during clash ahead of vote | Reuters

Police fired tear gas in downtown Caracas on Thursday as anti-government student protesters clashed with supporters of late President Hugo Chavez in an increasingly volatile atmosphere ahead of next month’s election. Several hundred students were marching to the election board’s headquarters to demand a clean vote when they were blocked by government supporters who hurled stones, bottles and eggs at them, a Reuters witness said. Some of the students threw stones back, other witnesses said. “We were holding a peaceful march. … All we want is democracy,” said law student Eduardo Vargas, 19, whose eye was injured in the incident. “We’re all Venezuelans. We just want a fair vote.”