Colorado Supreme Court denies Peters appeal | Charles Ashby/Grand Junction Sentinel

Peters’ attorneys Wednesday, letting stand a district court ruling that bars her and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley from overseeing this fall’s elections. In a terse order, the court said it would not accept jurisdiction in the matter. The appeal, filed by Peters’ attorney Scott Gessler, tried to argue that neither the Colorado statutes nor existing case law gave District Judge Valerie Robison the authority to approved the replacement of Peters as the county’s designated election official, saying that would be an unprecedented move that could open the door for future secretaries of state to do the same for clerks they don’t like. Robison ruled last week after the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office filed a lawsuit temporarily prohibiting Peters and Knisley from overseeing the election while local, state and federal investigations into allegations the two, and others, breached election security protocols.
Full Article: Colorado Supreme Court denies Peters appeal | Western Colorado | gjsentinel.com

Florida’s 67 election supervisors urge voters to reject election falsehoods, audits | National | Steven Lemongello/Orlando Sentinel

Florida’s 67 county elections supervisors wrote a letter to voters Monday urging them to reject falsehoods about the 2020 election and reaffirming the integrity of the state’s voting system. The plea, issued by the Florida Supervisors of Elections, comes after GOP county committees in Lake and Brevard counties called for an Arizona-style “forensic audit” spurred by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. It was sent days after the supervisors, headed by Marion County election head Wesley Wilcox, issued a statement to Florida’s elected officials and candidates urging them to tamp down the rhetoric. “The strength of our nation rests on the ability that ‘We the People’ have a voice in its governance and are confident in the integrity of our elections,” Monday’s letter states. “In this hour, public trust in our elections is being systematically undermined, to the detriment of all Americans.” The letter says before and after the 2020 presidential election, “the integrity of our democracy has been challenged by misinformation, disinformation and malinformation that sows discord and undermines trust in America’s electoral process.” Full Article: Florida’s 67 election supervisors urge voters to reject election falsehoods, audits | National | union-bulletin.com

Michigan clerk banned from running Nov. 2 election over tabulator concerns | Beth LeBlanc/The Detroit News

The Michigan Bureau of Elections has prohibited a local clerk in Hillsdale County from administering next week's election after the bureau said the clerk failed to comply with state requirements regarding voting equipment in Adams Township. Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott denied the allegations and is exploring her options with outside counsel after the bureau's notice said a violation of the prohibition could result in a misdemeanor. "As a supervisor, I don’t know that she does have the authority given that it's an elected position," Scott, the first-term clerk, said about Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Benson in a Monday statement said Adams Township voters deserve an election administered in accordance with state and federal laws. “I am confident that the Hillsdale County Clerk's Office will administer the election in a manner that ensures that it is legal, transparent and secure," she said. Scott refused to perform preventive maintenance or perform and sign off on public accuracy testing on township voting equipment, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections. She also is alleged to have failed to confirm that she would use certified Hart Intercivic Inc. voting equipment, the township's current vendor, for future elections.

Full Article: Elections bureau bans clerk from running Nov. 2 election over tabulator concerns

Nevada Republican Kirk Hartle, who claimed someone stole his late wife’s ballot, charged with voter fraud | Amy B Wang/The Washington Post

Donald Kirk Hartle looked troubled last November. It was a few days after Election Day and the Las Vegas man was telling a local news station that someone had stolen his late wife’s mail-in ballot and returned it to Clark County election officials, according to Nevada’s online ballot tracker. “That is pretty sickening to me, to be honest with you,” Hartle said in an interview then with KLAS 8 News Now. “It was, uh, disbelief. It just — it made no sense to me.” Hartle noted that his late wife, Rosemarie, had died in 2017, but remained on the voter rolls. The signature on the returned ballot had matched what election officials had on file for Rosemarie, KLAS 8 News Now reported at the time, leaving Hartle to wonder “who took advantage of his grief” and how had they pulled it off? Nearly a year later, there appears to be an answer. On Thursday, the Nevada attorney general’s office announced it had filed two charges of voter fraud against Hartle, alleging that he forged his late wife’s name to vote with her ballot. Both charges — one for voting using the name of another person and another for voting more than once in the same election — are category D felonies that each can carry a prison sentence of up to four years, along with a fine of up to $5,000. “Voter fraud is rare, but when it happens it undercuts trust in our election system and will not be tolerated by my office,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said in a statement. “I want to stress that our office will pursue any credible allegations of voter fraud and will work to bring any offenders to justice.”

Full Article: Nevada Republican Kirk Hartle, who claimed someone stole his late wife’s ballot, charged with voter fraud - The Washington Post

Pennsylvania’s election audit on hold amid lawsuit | Christen Smith/The Center Square

Pennsylvania’s election audit remains on hold this week as Senate Republicans defend their subpoena for voter records that Democrats contested in Commonwealth Court as unconstitutional. “Our filing on Friday is scheduled as part of an expedited review petition to the court that is designed to resolve the court case as quickly as possible,” said Sen. Cris Dush, R-Wellsboro, of the audit on Thursday. Dush leads the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee charged with handling the controversial probe. In its Sept. 15 subpoena, the committee asked for personal identifying information – including names, birth dates, addresses and partial social security numbers – for up to 9 million registered voters. Dush said the information will help auditors verify the identity of each and every resident who voted in the 2020 general election and 2021 primary election. Five days later, Democrats filed a legal challenge in Commonwealth Court against what they called a constitutional overreach that jeopardizes the safety of voters’ personal information. Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running to succeed Gov. Tom Wolf in 2022, joined in the challenge the following week. Full Article: Pennsylvania’s election audit on hold amid lawsuit

Texas GOP leader pays illegal voting ‘bounty’ to Democrat in Pennsylvania | Associated Press

The conservative Texas Republican leader who pledged bounties to those who prove fraud at the polls has paid a liberal Democratic poll watcher who reported illegal voting by a Pennsylvania Republican. Tipster Eric Frank deposited a $25,000 check from Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s campaign this week, and Patrick may be on the hook for more bounties, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. Frank reported Ralph Thurman, a 72-year-old registered Republican, after seeing him vote twice on Election Day, once for himself and once for his son, who was a registered Democrat. Frank told The News that he would have reported anyone he saw voting illegally, regardless of party. Having come from a family of Democratic operatives, however, he said he sees the irony of the situation. “It’s my belief that they were trying to get cases of Democrats doing voter fraud. And that just wasn’t the case,” Frank said. “This kind of blew up in their face.”

Full Article: Texas GOP leader pays illegal voting 'bounty' to Democrat

Editorial: No proof? No problem. The right wing is trying to dismantle Utah’s top-in-the-U. S. election system | Robert Gehrke/Salt Lake Tribune

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Rep. Steve Christiansen’s conspiracy peddling presentation to his fellow legislators Wednesday was that he did the entire thing as a space alien. Of course, I can’t PROVE he’s an extraterrestrial from outer space. But a lot of questions have been raised and some people believe so. I can’t really prove how many people believe it. There’s this poll, but you can’t see it, and it is true that this particular pollster’s reputation is abysmal. That is the standard of proof that Christiansen relies on when making his unfounded claims that Utah’s election was rife with fraud and needs a full forensic audit. “I believe there was fraud in the 2020 election. I can’t prove it, which is why we need to have an audit,” he said Wednesday. Christiansen’s tales are beyond fiction. They’re beyond fantasies. They are outright lies.

Full Article: No proof? No problem. The right wing is trying to dismantle Utah’s top-in-the-U. S. election system, Robert Gehrke writes

Virginia Democrats sue USPS over delayed delivery of election-related material | Kiely Westhoff and Veronica Stracqualursi/CNN

The Virginia Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the US Postal Service Friday, alleging local branches failed to deliver and process election-related material ahead of its high-stakes gubernatorial race, a claim the government agency has rebutted. The Virginia Democrats said delays "threatening to disenfranchise thousands of Virginia voters" to election-related mail across Albemarle County, which includes the city of Charlottesville, James City County, which is adjacent to Williamsburg, and the area of Portsmouth near Norfolk, are "particularly egregious," according to the lawsuit. Friday's lawsuit was filed less than two weeks before the closely watched governor's race between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin. Democrats are hoping to hold onto the governor's mansion and maintain control of the state legislature, while Youngkin seeks to be Virginia's first Republican to win a statewide election since 2009. USPS told CNN it is not aware of any delays in the delivery and processing of election-related material across Virginia.

Full Article: Virginia Democrats sue USPS over delayed delivery of election-related material - CNNPolitics

Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman will be named to Biden administration election-security post | Jim Brunner/The Seattle Times

Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman is expected to be named to a key election-security position in the Biden administration, according to a report by CNN. Wyman, a Republican, is set to be appointed to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to protect elections from foreign and domestic interference, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources. Wyman’s office did not immediately dispute the CNN report. “The Office of the Secretary of State cannot confirm the information included in the CNN article,” Wyman spokesperson Kylee Zabel said in an email. Wyman didn’t respond to interview requests, and Zabel said she would not be available on Monday. Potential appointees in presidential administrations are often told not to talk until their role is formally announced. If she does take the new position, Wyman would be charged with leading DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CNN reported, saying the appointment would not be official until White House paperwork is completed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The reported appointment would put Wyman, a nationally regarded expert on mail-in balloting and security, in a position working with elections officials across the U.S. at a time when many of her fellow Republicans have followed former President Donald Trump in fanning baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Full Article: Report: Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman will be named to Biden administration election-security post | The Seattle Times

Wisconsin auditors find voting machines work properly, say election officials should adopt formal rules on drop boxes | Patrick Marley Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Legislative auditors released a report Friday that contended the state Elections Commission should adopt formal rules if it wants to continue to allow cities to have ballot drop boxes — a move that would clear the way for lawmakers to try to bar their use.  The report by the Legislative Audit Bureau was not meant to assess the outcome of the 2020 election, but it noted that none of the machines it reviewed counted votes incorrectly. One of the Republican lawmakers who oversees audits for the Legislature said the review showed the 2020 election was "largely safe and secure" but also revealed the need for changes to the state’s voting systems. The bureau released its findings and recommendations without first allowing the state Elections Commission to review its analysis and respond, which has been the bureau's practice for years. The report is one of two that have been ordered by Republican lawmakers. The other is being conducted on behalf of Assembly Republicans by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who claimed without evidence last year that the election was stolen.

Full Article: Wisconsin election audit finds voting machines worked properly

National: Supply Chain Issues, Poll Worker Shortages Worry States Ahead of Elections | Andrea Noble/Route Fifty

Poll worker shortages and supply chain issues are among the problems state and local elections officials are contending with as they prepare for the upcoming Nov. 2 elections. Ohio recruited and trained a record number of poll workers ahead of last year’s presidential election, despite concern that the coronavirus pandemic had made it harder to find people for the job. But recruiting enough people to staff voting sites across the state has proven more difficult this year. Ohio is short about 17,000 workers from its 42,000-person goal, according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose. “As this year’s important November election approaches, we’re still a long way away from ensuring a full complement of poll workers to staff our thousands of polling locations across the state,” LaRose said in a public service announcement released this month to drum up support. “If you volunteered to serve as a poll worker last year or have ever wondered what it’s like to serve your community and perform an important patriotic duty in a time of need, Ohio voters need you.” Ohio took several steps last year to increase recruitment, including implementation of a rule change that allows attorneys to earn continuing education credits by working the polls. The state also created an online poll tracker that shows the number of vacancies in each county that need to be staffed. Poll worker recruitment has also been a challenge in states, including New Jersey. To help, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order boosting poll worker pay from $200 to $300 on Election Day. Lawmakers approved $400-a-day payments for poll workers to staff the primary election earlier this year.

Source: Supply Chain Issues, Poll Worker Shortages Worry States Ahead of Elections – Route Fifty

National: Plan to let troops cast ballots over the internet draws opposition from security experts | Leo Shane III/Air Force Times

A group of election security experts is urging lawmakers to drop plans in the annual defense authorization bill which would allow online ballot casting for troops serving overseas, saying the security concerns outweigh the potential benefits. “There are solutions to improve military and overseas voting without expanding dangerously insecure voting technology,” the group wrote in a letter to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. “We believe that servicemembers deserve the highest standard of safe and verifiable voting. For the foreseeable future, internet voting cannot meet that standard, and places military voters’ votes — and the trustworthiness of elections themselves — at risk.” The effort, which includes groups like Protect Democracy and the U.S. Vote Foundation as well as 27 former state election officials and academics, comes as the Senate is preparing to complete its draft of the massic defense policy bill in the next few weeks.

Full Article: Plan to let troops cast ballots over the internet draws opposition from security experts

National: Senate Democrats ask for details on threats against election workers | Jordain Carney/The Hill

Senate Democrats are pushing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for details on threats against election workers and any related probes. Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and 19 other Democratic senators sent a letter to the Justice Department on Monday asking for updates from the Election Threats Task Force, which the DOJ formed earlier this year to combat threats against election workers.  "We must ensure that election workers are able to do their jobs free from threats, intimidation, or other improper influence. While Congress must pass stronger protections for election workers ... we also urge the Justice Department to take additional action under existing law," the senators wrote in the letter, which was obtained exclusively by The Hill ahead of its release. "It is for this reason that we respectfully request an update on the actions that the Department’s Task Force has taken so far and on its plans to facilitate the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of threats against election officials and election workers," they added. The Democratic senators are asking for details on the number of threats against election workers, volunteers or their family members and how many completed or ongoing investigations those threats have spawned.

Full Article: Senate Democrats ask for details on threats against election workers | TheHill

National: Advocates worry democracy is eroding on Biden’s watch | shley Parker, Tyler Pager and Amy Gardner/The Washington Post

Voting rights advocates meet once every week or two with White House officials via video conference, and in almost every session, an advocate speaks up to say that President Biden must do more, that American democracy is under threat and the president is not meeting the challenge. At one such meeting earlier this year, a Biden aide responded that Democrats would simply have to “out-organize” the other side, according to multiple advocates familiar with the exchange who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting. The comment infuriated advocates, who believe they are watching former president Donald Trump actively and perhaps permanently undermine faith in U.S. elections. “There’s been a lot of anger and frustration with that line from the White House, which was communicated as a response to advocates wanting the White House to do more,” said Aaron Scherb, legislative director of Common Cause, a longtime pro-democracy group. Scherb conceded that the White House’s urgency has significantly amped up in recent days, as voting rights legislation comes up for debate on Capitol Hill, and White House officials denied the activists’ account of the meeting. But the ongoing frustration is widespread among activists and many Democrats who fear Biden is missing the urgency of the moment. In the nine months since Biden took office, GOP officials throughout the country have baselessly challenged the 2020 results, conducting elaborate and clumsy audits. States have restricted voting, often in ways activists say will hurt disadvantaged communities, and have changed their procedures to allow political influence over future elections.

Full Article: Advocates worry democracy is eroding on Biden's watch - The Washington Post

National: Biden: Fight for voting rights ‘far from over,’ a day after third bill fails in the Senate | Rebecca Morin/USA Today

“At the end of the day, if we don’t make this happen, it’s going to rest at the feet of not only the president but members of the Senate,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in an interview with USA TODAY. “Democrats need to stand up and protect our democracy, and anything less is a failure.” Senate Republicans this week blocked advancement and debate of the Freedom to Vote Act , which would have created federal rules to protect mail-in voting, expand early voting, ensure same-day voting registration and make Election Day a federal holiday. The bill failed by a 49-51 vote.It was the third time this year Republicans voted unanimously to block voting-rights legislation. “They’re afraid to even just debate the bills in the U.S. Senate, as they did again yesterday, even on a bill that includes provisions as they’ve traditionally supported,” Biden said Thursday. “It’s unfair. It’s unconscionable. It’s un-American.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said this week that Democrats will have to determine an “alternative path forward” after the defeat of the latest legislation, but did not offer any details as to what the path could be.

Full Article: Biden highlights voting rights during Martin Luther King ceremony

National: DOJ: ‘Lionizing’ Jan. 6 rioters fueling future political violence | Kyle Cheney/Politico

The Justice Department said Monday that people “lionizing” the Jan. 6 rioters are heightening the risk of future political violence. “Indeed, the risk of future violence is fueled by a segment of the population that seems intent on lionizing the January 6 rioters and treating them as political prisoners, heroes, or martyrs instead of what they are: criminals,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Roman wrote in a court filing, “many of whom committed extremely serious crimes of violence, and all of whom attacked the democratic values which all of us should share.” The statement came as part of a 28-page argument supporting the pretrial detention of Cody Mattice, a defendant charged with ripping down metal barricades and assaulting police during the attack on the Capitol. It’s an indirect broadside at Republicans who have sought to whitewash the violence committed by supporters of former President Donald Trump during the assault on the Capitol. Trump himself has argued alternately that his supporters were “hugging and kissing” police — rather than committing the approximately 1,000 assaults prosecutors say occurred — and has baselessly claimed that left-wing agitators caused the violence.

Full Article: DOJ: ‘Lionizing' Jan. 6 rioters fueling future political violence - POLITICO

Editorial: John Eastman’s legal theory created for Trump is still alive. The Jan. 6 committee should kill it. | Greg Sargent/The Washington Post

As the Jan. 6 select committee kicks into high gear, one big thing it will examine is the role played by Mike Pence in the final days of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his presidential reelection loss and remain in power illegitimately. As vice president, Pence ultimately rebuffed Trump’s pressure on him to halt the congressional count of electors and declare Trump winner. Whether he did so after seriously entertaining this scheme, and what other bad actors pressured him to execute it, are things we need to learn about. But we also need to do something else: We must kill off the dangerous legal theory that Trump and his co-conspirators hatched to justify that scheme, so it never rises again. Some new reporting on Pence’s role, combined with a new analysis of that legal theory, should give us the hook for this. It’s important, because there are new signs this legal theory remains alive, though in staggering zombie form. The theory is the one in the now-notorious Trump coup memo. Lawyer John Eastman outlined a scheme for Pence to ignore federal law and refuse to count President-elect Joe Biden’s electors, making Trump winner. Eastman discussed the theory with Trump and Pence a couple days before Jan. 6. Pence was unpersuaded. A new book by reporter David M. Drucker adds more detail to Pence’s handling of Trump’s pressure. As Drucker reports, Pence’s top advisers — counsel Greg Jacob and chief of staff Marc Short — deeply researched the theory and decided Pence should disavow it, which he did on Jan. 6.

Full Article: Opinion | John Eastman’s legal theory created for Trump is still alive. The Jan. 6 committee should kill it. - The Washington Post

Arizona: Trump now claims voter fraud in Pima County; officials say he’s wrong | Sam Kmack/Arizona Daily Star

Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Friday claiming there was voter fraud in Pima County’s 2020 election, which county officials have denied. The claim follows the nearly year-long audit in Maricopa County that found President Joe Biden had won by slightly more votes than previously thought. Trump and Arizona Republicans had said for months that the taxpayer-funded audit would flip the election results in favor of Trump. Trump’s new statement points to an influx of mail-in votes that gained the lead for Biden in Pima County, which Trump asserts were fraudulent. He’s made similar claims about other states and counties since last November. Friday’s note also claims that “publicly available data” shows two Pima voting precincts had a ballot return rate greater than 100%, and says that a new election should be called or Trump should be declared the winner in Arizona’s 2020 election. County officials have outright denied the claims of voter fraud. They point out that both Republicans and Democrats were involved in counting Pima County’s ballots multiple times and the results were certified by officials representing both parties in the state.
Full Article: Trump now claims voter fraud in Pima County; officials say he's wrong | Local news | tucson.com

Colorado: Trumpist county clerk barred after leak of voting-system passwords to QAnon | Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica

A Colorado judge on Wednesday barred Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from supervising elections due to the leak of voting-system BIOS passwords to QAnon conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Mesa County registered elector Heidi Jeanne Hess had petitioned the court for a ruling that Peters and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley are unable to perform the functions of the Designated Election Official for the November 2021 election. The "court determines that the petitioners have met the burden of showing that Peters and Knisley have committed a breach and neglect of duty and other wrongful acts," Mesa County District Court Judge Valerie Robison wrote in Wednesday's ruling. "As such, Peters and Knisley are unable or unwilling to appropriately perform the duties of the Mesa County Designated Election Official. The court further determines substantial compliance with the provisions of the code require an injunction prohibiting Peters and Knisley from performing the duties of the Designated Election Official." In August, Watkins released photos of information on Dominion's Election Management Systems (EMS) voting machines, including an installation manual and "BIOS passwords for a small collection of computers, including EMS server and client systems," as we reported at the time. While Watkins, a former 8chan administrator, was trying to prove that Dominion can remotely administer the machines, the documents actually showed "a generic set of server hardware, with explicit instructions to keep it off the Internet and lock down its remote management functions." Peters, who promoted Trump's conspiracy theory that voting machines were manipulated to help Joe Biden win the 2020 election, "'holed up' in a safe house provided by pillow salesman and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell" when the FBI began investigating her, according to an August 19 Vice News article. Her location was described as a "mystery" for a while, but she appeared at an event in Grand Junction, Colorado, last month. Full Article: Trumpist county clerk barred after leak of voting-system passwords to QAnon | Ars Technica

Michigan Republicans Replace Officials Who Certify Vote Totals | Matt Shuham/TPM

Like lots of other rank-and-file Republicans, Robert Boyd has his doubts about the integrity of the last election, particularly in his home state of Michigan — and particularly in Detroit’s TCF Center, where the city’s votes were counted last year despite a concerted effort from local Republicans to disrupt the counting process. “People saw ballots come in the back door, so, you know, there were cameras in there that people weren’t aware of, that were there,” Boyd told TPM over the phone Tuesday. “They had a bunch hiding under the table. It was not a very pleasant thing to see.” But there’s a big difference between Boyd and others who may share his view: The 73-year-old Rockwood, Michigan resident is the newest member of the four-person Wayne County Board of Canvassers, the body responsible for certifying vote totals for Detroit and the surrounding area. He’s one of several new members of such boards around the state, chosen by local Republican leaders, who are replacing incumbents who voted to certify the last election under immense, nationwide pressure from their party. The Detroit News first reported on the wave of replacements last week, including incumbents who wanted to be renominated but weren’t.

Full Article: Michigan Republicans Replace Officials Who Certify Vote Totals

Ohio: Stark County elections workers have tested 1,400 new Dominion voting machines | Robert WangThe Canton Repository

Staffers at the Stark County Board of Elections have completed testing on the final batch of new touchscreen Dominion Voting Systems machines that will be used on Election Day on Nov. 2. Full-time and seasonal election workers did what is referred to as logic and accuracy testing, required by the state. They ensure the machines work, their batteries are charged, the touchscreen functions and the machines count votes accurately, said Travis Secrest, one of the board’s two administrative assistants. Logic and accuracy testing “is where from start to finish, our staff will go through every Election Day component to make sure that the machine is functioning correctly. That it is receiving the votes correctly. That it is tabulating correctly,” he said. Board staff tested a total of 1,408 Dominion machines. Stark County is using eight machines for in-person early voting at the Board office on Regent Avenue NE in Canton. The rest will be used on Nov. 2. And the board will have 42 backup machines. Secrest said it takes about 15 minutes for one staffer to test a machine.

Full Article: Stark elections workers have tested 1,400 new Dominion voting machines

Pennsylvania court allows lawsuit to decertify Northampton County voting machines to move forward | Peter Hall/The Morning Call

A Pennsylvania judge ruled a lawsuit to block the use of electronic voting machines used in Northampton County and elsewhere can move forward. Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin P. Brobson on Monday rejected arguments by the state’s top election official that election security advocates and more than a dozen Pennsylvania voters lacked standing and had failed to make valid claims about the ExpressVote XL voting machines used in Northampton and Philadelphia counties. The National Election Defense Coalition and Citizens for Better Elections filed a petition in January 2020 seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the state to decertify the ExpressVote XL electronic voting system for the primary and general election. It cited information from voters about security concerns and trouble using the machines and a “no confidence” vote by the Northampton County elections board, and said there is “no way to restore voters’ trust in the machines.” Attorney Ron Fein, who represents the petitioners, said his clients look forward to reviewing documents and interviewing potential witnesses in the case. “The court rejected every one of the secretary of state’s arguments,” Fein said. “The plaintiffs look forward to conducting discovery, examining the ExpressVote XL machine and presenting evidence it never should have been certified at trial.” A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State said it had no comment on the decision. Brobson, who authored the opinion for the three-judge panel, is the Republican candidate for a seat on the state Supreme Court this November.

Full Article: Northampton County voting machine lawsuit can move forward - The Morning Call

At Rhode Island cybersecurity summit, elections officials confront ‘elephant in the room’ | Mark Reynolds/The Providence Journal

Local elections officials were reminded of a new and different challenge facing the country’s election systems on Wednesday at Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea’s virtual summit on cybersecurity. The reminder came from James Ludes. The director of Salve Regina University’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy talked about former President Donald Trump’s rejection of the 2020 presidential election results. This was on the back end of Ludes’ extensive presentation on Russia-based efforts to undermine the U.S. election system. “I think we have to talk about the elephant in the room,” Ludes said to 150 elections officials and information-technology professionals. Trump’s allegations of election fraud and cheating have “intertwined with and reinforced” narratives advanced by foreigners to the point that it’s “difficult to determine who the first mover is,” Ludes said. He told the crowd he is terrified by an alignment between narratives propagated by foreigners and those amplified by “domestic sources.” “Sincerely, it terrifies me,” he said. “The former president of the United States continues to push a big lie in rallies across the country and in statements that America’s election was corrupt and that he was cheated out of victory in 2020. We have to have confidence in our electoral outcomes. It’s one of the reasons the work that you do is frankly sacred.”

Full Article: Trump’s rejection of 2020 election raised at RI cybersecurity summit

Texas Governor’s pick for top election post worked with Trump to fight 2020 results | James Barragan and Patrick Svitek/The Texas Tribune

Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed John Scott — a Fort Worth attorney who briefly represented former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania — as Texas' new secretary of state. As secretary of state, Scott would oversee election administration in Texas — a task complicated in recent years by baseless claims of election fraud from Republicans in the highest levels of government, fueled by Trump. The former president has filed a flurry of lawsuits nationwide and called for audits in Texas and elsewhere to review the results of the 2020 presidential elections. Trump’s own attorney general, Bill Barr, said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud nationwide, and in Texas, an official with the secretary of state’s office said the 2020 election was “smooth and secure.” On Nov. 13, Scott signed on as counsel to a lawsuit filed by Trump attempting to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election. A few days later, on the eve of a key hearing in the case, Scott filed a motion to withdraw as an attorney for the plaintiffs. Scott's motion also asked to withdraw Bryan Hughes, a Texas state senator from Mineola who works for Scott's law firm, as an attorney for the case. Scott's law firm was the second in the span of a few days to withdraw from the case. Hughes said Trump's campaign reached out to Scott "because he's a stellar lawyer." “It’s not surprising," he said.

  Full Article: John Scott appointed Texas secretary of state by Gov. Greg Abbott | The Texas Tribune

Utah legislators attack vote by mail, want statewide audit and return to paper ballots | Mark Shenefelt/Standard-Examiner

Two legislators are leading an effort to virtually eliminate vote by mail and mandate an independent audit of the 2020 Utah election, while state and county officials are pushing back and instead proposing tweaks to the existing system. Republican Reps. Steve Christiansen of West Jordan and Phil Lyman of Blanding outlined for the Legislature’s Judiciary Interim Committee on Wednesday their proposal for a return to paper ballots; independent election audits on an ongoing basis; photo ID required at the polls; and no private funds allowed for “registration or other election activities.” Christiansen referred to questions about election integrity being raised in a few counties but gave no specifics. But he said citizen concerns are evidence that the state should fund an independent audit of last year’s election, similar to the audit of Arizona’s results conducted after President Joe Biden’s narrow win there last November. “We should allow mail-in ballots only for those traveling or immobilized,” Christiansen said, and voting machines should be scrapped and all ballots be counted at the precinct level. “There are enough concerns with those machines that we need to get back to the way we used to do it,” he said. Lyman, who received a pardon from then-President Donald Trump last year for his conviction in a federal lands protest, said the legislation also would bar “outside sources funding election integrity” programs. “That’s a huge red flag,” he said.

Full Article: Legislators attack vote by mail, want statewide audit and return to paper ballots | News, Sports, Jobs – Standard-Examiner

Wisconsin Attorney General seeks to block subpoenas Gableman issued to state elections officials | Molly Beck and Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Attorney General Josh Kaul is seeking to block subpoenas former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman issued to state elections officials as part of Assembly Republicans’ review of the 2020 presidential election. Kaul is asking a Dane County judge to declare that the subpoenas are unenforceable under the state and U.S. constitutions and Wisconsin state law. He also wants the judge to issue an order barring Gableman from enforcing the subpoenas or penalizing those who do not comply. Kaul argued the subpoenas are improper because Gableman wants to interview Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe privately, rather than in public in front of a legislative committee. “The Special Counsel and his staff, however, have been charged with assisting the Committee, but they are not themselves a house of the Legislature or a legislative committee. The Subpoenas also command the witnesses to appear not in the state capitol or any other location in which a legislative committee would ordinarily meet, but rather in a non-public office ‘at 200 South Executive Drive, Suite 101, Brookfield, WI 53005,'” Kaul wrote.

Full Article: Josh Kaul seeks to block subpoenas in Gableman election review

Wisconsin GOP review of 2020 election beset by blunders from former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman | By Elise Viebeck/The Washington Post

The glaring errors became clear soon after a former Wisconsin judge issued subpoenas earlier this month in a Republican review of the state’s 2020 presidential election. Some of the requests referred to the wrong city. At least one was sent to an official who doesn’t oversee elections. A Latin phrase included in the demands for records and testimony was misspelled. Michael Gableman, the former judge leading the review, admitted days later that he does not have “a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work.” He then backed off some of his subpoena demands before reversing course again, telling a local radio host that officials would still be required to testify. The latest round of reversals and blunders is intensifying calls to end the probe, one of several recent efforts around the country to revisit Joe Biden’s win in states where former president Donald Trump and his supporters have leveled baseless accusations of voter fraud. Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) this week called the subpoenas unlawful and “dramatically overbroad,” and he urged Republicans to “shut this fake investigation down.” Voting rights advocates, election policy experts and some state and local officials, meanwhile, accuse Gableman of incompetence and say his review — which could cost taxpayers $680,000 or more — will decrease public trust in Wisconsin elections. “It’s terrible for democracy in the state,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway (D) said in an interview. “It’s corrosive. It undermines confidence in our elections, and it’s deeply insulting to our municipal clerks and poll workers. … The thing that should give everybody some confidence is the fact that our elections are not being run by people like attorney Gableman.”

Full Article: Wisconsin GOP review of 2020 election beset by blunders from former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman - The Washington Post

National: Democrats Plan Another Bid to Break G.O.P. Voting Rights Filibuster | Carl Hulse/The New York Times

Senate Democrats will try again next week to advance a voting rights measure, Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, announced on Thursday, though Republicans are expected to maintain their filibuster against the legislation backed by all Democrats. In a letter laying out the coming agenda for the Senate, Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said he would schedule a vote for next Wednesday to open debate on voting rights legislation that he and fellow Democrats say is needed to offset new restrictions being imposed by Republican-controlled state legislatures around the nation. “We cannot allow conservative-controlled states to double down on their regressive and subversive voting bills,” Mr. Schumer said in the letter. “The Freedom to Vote Act is the legislation that will right the ship of our democracy and establish common sense national standards to give fair access to our democracy to all Americans.” His decision intensifies pressure on Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, who had initially been his party’s lone holdout on a sweeping voting rights measure passed by the House. Mr. Manchin helped draft a compromise version that he said he hoped could draw bipartisan backing, and sought time to win over Republicans to support it, but there is little evidence that any G.O.P. senators have embraced the alternative. In the 50-50 Senate, it would take 10 Republicans joining every Democrat to muster the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster of any voting rights bill and allow it to be considered.

Full Article: Democrats Plan Another Bid to Break G.O.P. Voting Rights Filibuster - The New York Times

Arizona audit review shows Cyber Ninjas didn’t count 312K ballots, double counted 23K | Robert Anglen/The Arizona Republic

The hand count in Maricopa County was off by hundreds of thousands of ballots, according to a review of newly released Arizona audit records. Election analysts say Cyber Ninjas' count was off by about 312,000 and it also double counted almost 23,000 ballots in its months-long review of 2020 election results. The numbers represent the latest challenge to the Arizona Senate's audit, which was led by Cyber Ninjas, involved more than a thousand volunteers and cost millions of dollars. A 695-page report, produced by former Arizona GOP chair and audit spokesperson Randy Pullen, was supposed to provide a snapshot of all the counts of the 2.1 million ballots cast in the county's general election. The Arizona Senate released the report late Friday after The Arizona Republic filed a request under the state's Public Records Law. But Cyber Ninjas didn't tally as many as 167,000 Maricopa County ballots, according to analysts who reviewed the report for The Republic. The hand-count numbers in the report reflect a 15% error rate when compared with a separate machine count of ballots authorized by the Arizona Senate, they said. Full Article: Arizona audit review shows Cyber Ninjas didn't count 312K ballots

Texas: Trump won Hood County in a landslide. His supporters still hounded the elections administrator until she resigned. | Jeremy Schwartz/The Texas Tribune and Pro Publica

An elections administrator in North Texas submitted her resignation Friday, following a monthslong effort by residents and officials loyal to former President Donald Trump to force her out of office. Michele Carew, who had overseen scores of elections during her 14-year career, had found herself transformed into the public face of an electoral system that many in the heavily Republican Hood County had come to mistrust, which ProPublica and The Texas Tribune covered earlier this month. Her critics sought to abolish her position and give her duties to an elected county clerk who has used social media to promote baseless allegations of widespread election fraud. Carew, who was hired to run elections in Hood County two-and-a-half months before the contested presidential race, said in an interview that she worried that the forces that tried to drive her out will spread to other counties in the state. “When I started out, election administrators were appreciated and highly respected,” she said. “Now we are made out to be the bad guys.” Critics accused Carew of harboring a secret liberal agenda and of violating a decades-old elections law, despite assurances from the Texas secretary of state that she was complying with Texas election rules.

Full Article: Hood County elections administrator resigns after push from Trump loyalists | The Texas Tribune