The Voting News Daily: Online Voting: All That Glitters Is Not Gold. Does your vote count in Georgia?

“Who agrees online voting is not secure? Pretty much everyone who isn’t trying to make money on it…They dishonor the troops fighting to secure our freedom by failing to adequately secure a precious part of that freedom – their votes – in order to turn a profit.” writes Dan McCrae of Florida Voters in “Online Voting: All That Glitters Is Not Gold”…Jeff Rayno on Georgia’s paperless voting machines: “Did your vote count? Will it ever?”…Will Gov Patrick assign MA votes to states with touch screens and voter suppression?…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

CA: Bill guaranteeing polling stations becomes law
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=17601 The new law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2011, allows election officials to subtract permanent mail-in voters from the precinct’s 1,000-voter cap. As a result, officials can redraw precincts to accurately reflect the number of in-person voters and provide Election Day polling stations for everyone.

GA: Georgia voters report issues at some polling locations
http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia_elections_news/2010/07/20/georgia-voters-report-issues-at-some-polling-locations/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_elections_news
Virginia-Highland precinct opened late. Wrong ballots issued at N. Druid Hills Road.

GA: Georgia voters miffed at software glitch
http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia_elections_news/2010/07/20/georgia-voters-miffed-at-software-glitch/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_elections_news
Fusillo’s name was on the list of voters – only the name didn’t match up with the one on her voter registration card. It matched with the one on her driver’s license.

GA: Rayno: Voters still lack paper trail
http://savannahnow.com/column/2010-07-18/rayno-voters-still-lack-paper-trail
I was at one time fascinated with the prospect of online voting with highly secured networks. But the truth is, we have fabricated one of the most unreliable, untraceable and unaccountable voting methods in the world.

HI: One-third of polling precincts consolidated by state
http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/One-third-of-polling-precincts-consolidated-by/Tlij5ugUtE6Ai_Zxxwy3XA.cspx Ninety-seven out of 335 polling precincts have been eliminated.

IL: County clerk: Election issues being resolved
http://register-news.com/homepage/x854233672/County-clerk-Election-issues-being-resolved
MT. VERNON — After spending a week in court hearing about mistakes made during the Nov. 4, 2008, general election, Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Connie Simmons said some of the issues have been resolved with legislative changes — and others are a matter of education of election judges, workers and the public

MA: Will Gov Patrick assign MA votes to states with touch screens and voter suppression? http://www.ctvoterscount.org/will-gov-patrick-assign-ma-votes-to-states-with-touch-screens-and-voter-suppression/ We are not in principle against a national popular vote, but as a prerequisite we would require sufficient uniform national voting franchise and integrity laws, enforceable and enforced.

NY: Voting-rights case for disabled students settled
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100719/NEWS01/7190319
ALBANY — The U.S. Department of Justice announced an agreement last week to resolve a longstanding lawsuit against the state and its public universities for not providing voter-registration services for students with disabilities.

NY: New Concerns Raised Over Voting Machine Upgrade (video also)
http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/politics/122348/new-concerns-raised-over-voting-machine-upgrade “The language that’s used is unclear. It doesn’t tell the voter that their vote isn’t going to count. That is never expressed or stated in the statement. And the interface itself is just counterintuitive. If you see a green button with a check mark and something that says ‘Cast,’ to most people that means good, that means my vote is going to count,” said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Voting News Daily: CalTech – little support for internet voting. Aspen’s never ending election integrity war

“Having good elections takes public vigilance, but it shouldn’t become a war.” Mike LaBonte, election integrity activist…A CalTech study of Voter Opinions about Election Reform indicates: “Internet voting and voting-by-mail do not receive a great deal of support from American voters.”…$10,440 in South Carolina vs. $0 in Vermont…8 States with Online Voter Registration

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

Editor’s note: Voting News’ is one year old now. Our first edition went out on July 17, 2009.
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AL: New Alabama election system to show statewide results online
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/new_alabama_election_system_to.html
It is expected to offer voting results, turnout information and possibly precinct-by-precinct data, all online and updated regularly through the night after polls close.

CA: June 8 election problems and solutions (Riverside County)
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100718/OPINION01/7170345/June-8-election-problems-and-solutions See charts

CA: County to purchase better election devices (Riverside County)
County supervisors authorize equipment to avoid future election gaffes
http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/49444/ “Sixty-two percent of ballots cast in this election were by mail. That has a whole lot of implications,” Supervisor John Benoit said during a 90-minute hearing on an Executive Office report detailing what went wrong during and after that election.

“It takes seven steps (to process) every single vote-by-mail ballot,” said Benoit, who represents desert communities on the five-member board..

CO: The never-ending war (Aspen Colorado)
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100719/LETTER/100719846/1020&parentprofile=1061
Keys were left hanging from a ballot box in City Hall that collected more than 800 early voting ballots, the public software test did not work out, most of the tallying was performed by a private company using uncertified systems, voters’ ballot data were collected roughly in the order voted without shuffling to preserve anonymity, corrected tally results were announced after the incorrect ones were certified, etc.

CT: Candidates Qualify For Public Financing For Primary
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3364 With a couple of close calls near the deadline, it seems that all the statewide office candidates that wanted to participate in the program have met fundraising criteria.

GA: GALEO sues state over new voter registration procedures
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=230839
“We do not believe Georgia has lived up to its legal obligations to protect and to ensure equitable access to all voters, including minority voters. In addition, we believe these proposed changes demonstrate the need to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in order to protect access to the polls. GALEO intends to work in a bi-partisan fashion to ensure Georgia can look at best-practices policy alternatives to protect voter access,” continued Gonzalez.

FL: Riches, elections and free speech
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article1109206.ece
The problem for candidates who are not independently wealthy is that the game is somewhat rigged. They are held to strict dollar limits from outside contributors while very rich people have a First Amendment right to freely spend their own money.

LA: Ex-police chief sentenced to service
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/98650419.html Maurer admitted that he caused two of his deputies to provide false information on their voter registration forms indicating that they lived in the voting district when they did not, according to a news release from Letten’s New Orleans office.

The Voting News Daily: Hackers invade Colorado SOS site. SC Voting machines ‘buggy…exploitable’

Still trust the internet with your votes? Hackers invade Colorado SOS site-“criminals are altering corporate information through the secretary of state’s website and using the falsified data to obtain credit and loans.”…NY Ballot case now seeks DNA…Paper please: “The citizens of South Carolina deserve better than buggy, unstable and exploitable elections.” says Dr.Duncan A Buell…Hearing Set for North Carolina Ballot Access Case…Is your ballot really secret?…Voter Registration in a Digital Age…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Autauga Co: DA finds no multiple voting occurred
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006413.html
there was only one vote cast by the person who was alleged to have voted several times..

CO: Hackers falsifying data on businesses to obtain loans (SOS website)
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_15527827 “We created a system in Colorado, which is extraordinarily easy to use, one of the cheapest and one of the most electronic in the country,” Buesch er said. “Unfortunately, that opened the doors for the bad guys.”

GA: Kemp Announces Expansion of Driver’s License Bar Code Scanner Pilot Project for General Primary http://www.theweekly.com/news/2010/July/14/bar_code.html
The bar code scanners do not change the check-in process in order to vote in an election. Voters must still complete a voter’s certificate at their polling location. As required by Georgia law, poll workers must also check each voter’s photo identification to ensure that it matches the vote

GA: MALDEF and GALEO join lawsuit in order to defend voting rights act
http://romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/8770584/article-MALDEF-and-GALEO-join-lawsuit-in-order-to-defend-voting-rights-act?instance=home_news_lead_story
Today, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) filed legal papers opposing an attempt by the State of Georgia to implement new voter registration procedures that discriminate against minority voters. Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) represents GALEO in the legal effort…

IL: Election workers questioned in state’s attorney trial
http://register-news.com/local/x961150643/Election-workers-questioned-in-states-attorney-trial

MA: Massachusetts Senate Passes National Popular Vote Bill
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/16/massachusetts-senate-passes-national-popular-vote-bill/ On the evening of July 15, the Massachusetts Senate passed H4156, the National Popular Vote Plan bill for electing the president. The bill had passed the House in June. The bill needs one more procedural vote and then it goes to the Governor’s desk

MA: Winner-take-all bill is OK’d by state Senate
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/16/
winner_take_all_bill_is_okd_by_state_senate/ http://bit.ly/aLB4ey
The state Senate approved a bill last night that would give all 12 of the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, one of three key votes the chamber took during a busy night on Beacon Hill.

MN: MCDONALD ON VOTER FRAUD ALLEGATIONS IN MINNESOTA
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016434.html The answer to Rick’s question “Did Enough Illegal Felons Vote in Minnesota in 2008 to Tip the Balance to Al Franken?” is no. According to a report produced by Minnesota Majority, to date 10 of 2,921,147 ballots were found to be illegally cast in the 2008 Minnesota general election, for a rate of 0.0003%. Even if all of these illegal ballots included recorded votes cast for Sen. Franken, this is insufficient to alter the outcome of a 225 vote margin.

MN: Olmsted County Attorney investigates allegations of voter fraud
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=16&a=461402
“We have to verify locally here and look at our records and see that they did vote and in fact that it is that person and not somebody with a very similar name who was an eligible voter,” Ostrem said.

The Voting News Daily: Cancel the Voting Machines? Lost Voters, Lost Votes. MontCo PA blames voters

In “Cancel the Voting Machines?” The Brian Leher show discusses NY voting machine problems…RivCo CA gets more voting machines, keeps registrar…MontCo PA officials blame voters for lost votes…Huffington Post is running internet vote vendor Scytl’s press release as an editorial. The “piece” touts internet voting as getting rid of hanging chads or any other problem. The piece doesn’t mention Scytl’s involvement in Finland’s failed i-voting experiment in 2008….Lost voters, lost votes? In 2008, an estimated 1.9 million voters did not cast a ballot for one simple and solvable reason: they did not know where to go…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AZ: Computer glitch causes errors in Mesa voter information
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/14/20100714mesa-voter-information-glitch.html
A glitch in a computer program created inaccurate information in voter registration records at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Mesa office in recent weeks.

Yvonne Reed, communications director for the Maricopa County Elections Department, said the problem was traced to a program installed in the Mesa terminals and has been corrected.

CA: REGION: Riverside County to invest in election equipment
SUPERVISORS CONSIDER VOTE COUNTERS FOR EACH POLLING PLACE
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/swcounty/article_f2b4e23b-a22d-5008-85ed-ef17fc0b2ef7.html

CA: Registrar to stay, $650,000 to go
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100714/NEWS0301/7140314/Registrar+
to+stay+++650+000+to+go http://is.gd/dtC4i

CA: District elections blocked by San Mateo supervisors
http://www.examiner.com/x-1891-San-Mateo-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2010m7d13-District-Elections-Blocked-by-San-Mateo-Supervisors …denying county voters the option to vote on a local ballot measure to change the way in which supervisors are elected..

DC: Moten urges Fenty to veto vote-buying bill
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/07/moten_urges_fenty_to_veto_vote.html
…ally of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) is calling on the mayor to veto a D.C. Council bill approved Tuesday that would make it a local crime to pay someone to vote.

FL: Seminole County amps up voting technology
http://www.seminolechronicle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2010/07/14/4c3e22269aac2

GA: St. Marys voters to consider majority elections
Plurality decides races now, but a referendum could change all that.
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2010-07-13/story/st-marys-voters-consider-majority-elections

IL: Illinois Republican Party is Victim of 2009 “Anti-Slating” Law
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/15/illinois-republican-party-is-victim-of-2009-anti-slating-law/

IL: Polling place privacy — a good idea, long overdue
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2010/07/primary.html

IL: State’s attorney election trial begins
http://register-news.com/local/x536262299/States-attorney-election-trial-begins
MT. VERNON — The Jefferson County State’s Attorney election contest trial started on Tuesday, with a parade of witnesses who voted in the Nov. 4, 2008, election being called by former candidate Nicole Villani.

During his opening statements on Tuesday, Villani’s attorney, Morris Lane Harvey, claimed there was “such a pervasive practice of irregularities in that precinct from start to finish … that Mt. Vernon 12 precinct in relation to votes cast on election day, should not be counted at all.”

MD: Baltimore County Man Cited For Election Sign
http://www.wbaltv.com/politics/24250565/detail.html
County Says Campaign Poster ‘Too Big’

Stouten got creative and cut the big sign down into four pieces — each under 8 square feet — and put the sign back up.

MI: Tea Party Appears to Qualify for the Michigan Ballot
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/14/tea-party-appears-to-qualify-for-the-michigan-ballot/

MN: Pawlenty: Investigate felon votes in Senate race
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/98472564.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUqEiaDUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

MN: DID ENOUGH ILLEGAL FELONS VOTE IN MINNESOTA IN 2008 TO TIP THE BALANCE TO AL FRANKEN? http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016422.html

MN: Doc, Elvis or Santa: When is a nickname OK on ballot?
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/98470854.html

NC: Local company unveils mobile voting site
http://www.enctoday.com/news/voting-89005-nbsj-mobile-carolina.html

The Voting News Daily: Vote or Vice? Internet voting $1.5 B industry. AZ Election evidence disappears

News reports say that internet voting is a $1.5 Billion industry. You didn’t think it was being promoted for the good of voters, did you? Computer scientists say that internet elections are inherently insecure and ballots are non secret…Evidence Discovered Missing from Allegedly ‘Fixed’ AZ Election..Tulare County CA discovers 2,500 ballots not counted…Letter to editor: “New York’s elections are being Floridized.”…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

Editor note: yesterday we attirbuted the story “Ballot error” to Connecticut, but the state is Vermont instead. We apologize and thank readers for notifying us.

AL: Alabama: editorial warns GOP about crossover voting (or closing the barn door after …) http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006412.html
The Huntsville Times editorializes: Be careful what you ask for. It may not be what you really want.

AL: New election night reporting system to be tested during primary runoff election
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12791803
MONTGOMERY, AL – A new election night reporting system would be tested during the primary runoff election Tuesday. The test program will take place in four counties: Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, and Montgomery.

AZ: EXCLUSIVE: Evidence Discovered Missing from Allegedly ‘Fixed’ AZ Election; MUCH MORE* http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7946
Out of 368 precincts, 112 poll tapes are completely missing. Moreover, 102 of the “yellow sheets” — certified precinct reports, signed by poll workers, detailing corresponding summary information, such as numbers of ballots received, cast and spoiled, as helpful for important auditing functions at the precinct level — are missing as well.
Furthermore, of the poll tape records that are not missing, 50 of them do not match the results as recorded in the final canvas of the election,

CA: Tulare County discovers 2,500 ballots not counted *
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/13/2005111/tulare-county-discovers-2500-ballots.html?storylink=mirelated
Wallis says the problem was discovered during a recount in a supervisor’s race when election officials discovered 395 additional votes compared to the first tally. They soon learned the problem extended across the county.

CA: Election-night error resulted in 10 percent of absentee ballots not being tabulated; no races affected by since-rectified problem, elections officials say
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100712/NEWS01/100712017/1002/Election-night+error+resulted+in+10+percent+of+absentee+ballots+not+being+tabulated++no+races+affected+by+since-rectified+problem++elections+officials+say http://is.gd/dr6gO
(Tulare County)… the vote-by-mail ballots involved were counted but not uploaded to the Election Office ballot-tabulation program.

CA: Assemblywoman asks for recount of state Senate ballots
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100713/NEWS0301/7130311/1006/news01/
Assemblywoman+asks+for+recount+of+state+Senate+ballots http://is.gd/dskIf
(Riverside County) Assemblywoman Mary Salas late Monday asked for a recount in the primary race for state Senate, two days after the results showed she lost by 22 votes.

CA: County supervisors approve election report, keep registrar
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100713/NEWS03/100713015/County-supervisors-approve-election-report-keep-registrar– (Riverside County)
The internal county review discussed today blamed “poor” communication with voters and a reduced budget for most of the problems.

CT: They Can Keep The Money
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/they_can_keep_the_–_for_now/id_27691 (Updated) A federal court panel ruling Tuesday limited the ability of publicly financed candidates to keep up with the spending of millionaires who finance their own campaigns. But two candidates most immediately affected by that ruling—Dan Malloy and Michael Fedele—can keep an extra $2 million they got for the upcoming gubernatorial primaries.

FL: No More Free Postage For Absentee Ballots
http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/07/no-more-free-postage-for-absen.html
Jacksonville taxpayers aren’t footing the bill this year for absentee voters.

The Voting News Daily: Montgomery PA voters thwarted by Sequoia machines. Why CT Finance Ruling matters.

Must read: Old style ballot box facing electronic poll threat. “The most effective fraud is done by changing results after the count is done–how much easier is that going to be to do undetected when there is no paper trail to trip you up?” ~ Silvana Puizana,electoral expert..Richard Winger of Ballot Access News says “2nd Circuit Reverses U.S. District Court, Says Constitution Permits Massive Discrimination Against Minor Parties and Independent Candidates in Public Funding.” The ruling is a ” major campaign finance decision with important national implications.” says Rick Hasen of ElectionLawBlog…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Alabama
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/justice-department-to-monitor-elections-in-alabama-98250769.html
WASHINGTON, July 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor the primary runoff elections on July 13, 2010, in Barbour, Lee and Russell Counties, Ala., to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

CA: ACORN Worker Sues O’Keefe
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7940

CT: Two Courts Rule For And Against Citizens Election Program
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3359 Its a mixed bag, disappointing in my view.
It makes no sense that giving supplemental grants to one candidate limits the free speech of an opponent, or that erecting higher standards for third party candidates serves a vibrant democracy.

CT: 2nd Circuit Reverses U.S. District Court, Says Constitution Permits Massive Discrimination Against Minor Parties and Independent Candidates in Public Funding
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/13/2nd-circuit-reverses-u-s-district-court-says-constitution-permits-massive-discrimination-against-minor-parties-and-independent-candidates-in-public-funding/

CT: SECOND CIRCUIT PANEL ISSUES TWO IMPORTANT DECISIONS ON CONNECTICUT CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016413.html In a major campaign finance decision with important national implications, a Second Circuit panel in Green Party of Connecticut v. Garfield agreed with a federal district court that the “trigger provision” of Connecticut’s campaign finance law (giving additional funding when a participating candidate faces a self-financed opponent or large independent spending against the candidate) is unconstitutional.

CT: Second Circuit Campaign Finance Rulings
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/green_party_of_
connecticut_v_jeffrey_garfield_et_al/ http://is.gd/dr1px
Today, the Second Circuit upheld the majority of Connecticut’s campaign finance reform system – including its groundbreaking public financing program – against a sweeping constitutional challenge.

CT: Connecticut public financing opinion announced
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/07/13/connecticut-public-financing-court-opinion-announced/ Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit overturned the subsidies that Connecticut provides to publicly funded candidates for state office so they can match the campaign spending of their privately funded opponents.

GA: Vaccinations offered at early voting (ouch!)
http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/headlines/98287894.html
“Vote and Vaccination” program offered by the Rockdale County Board of Health.

NY: EDITORIAL: Let’s get voting right in New York ($ for full article)
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial-let-s-get-voting-right-in-new-york-1.2099927
The comfortable era of lever voting machines is likely to end in New York in September. So we’ll have to get used to marking paper ballots and stuffing them into scanners that will read and count our votes – except when they won’t.

OR: A vote by mail glitch
http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2010/07/12/a-vote-by-mail-glitch/
Most people probably won’t encounter this, but it’s worth considering as we think about the long-range future of vote-by-mail, which is probably growing, and of the U.S. Post Service, which has been slowly spiraling downward.

PA: Election Board Response to ERN Study on Vote Discrepancies: “We’re Happy”
http://www.electionreformnetwork.us/node/235

The Voting News Daily: Ohio Vote Center Pilots slash polling places. Ireland e-voting mistake still costs

Didn’t we learn anything from the Garland Co Arkansas fiasco, where polling placesw were cut from 42 to 2? Ohio didn’t: Montgomery, Clinton & Highland counties will drastically cut polling places and use vote centers instead.Montgomery Co. will go from 159 polling places to 4 vote centers. For people who can’t easily get off work, or have transportation issues – voting just got harder. If something goes wrong, more voters and votes are impacted all at once. More on India’s rebellion against electronic voting…Ireland-No end in sight for €50m e-voting saga..

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: So that all can vote
http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/8723426/article-So-that-all-can-vote?instance=home_lead_story According to Talladega County Probate Judge Billy Atkinson, blind voters in every precinct have the option of using an AutoMARK voting machine, which replaced Braille voting machines about four years ago.

“The Braille voting machines weighed around 2,000 pounds each and were difficult to set up,” Atkinson said. “Things moved very slowly, and we had to get AIDB to print..

AL: Cast your vote with a clear conscience
http://blog.al.com/tscarritt/2010/07/cast_your_vote_with_a_clear_co.html
To vote or not to vote: That is the question; Whether ’tis nobler in the runoff to suffer the outrageous choices that other voters might make, or to cross over into the opposing party’s primary and help select its nominee

CA: Disputed Riverside Co. ballots counted
http://www.pe.com/politics/gang/stories/PE_News_Local_votecount11.127bfeeef.html

CA: Election probe findings are ‘stunning’
Report: Not enough ballot counters hired; registrar’s resignation not sought
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100709/NEWS0301/7090323/
006/NEWS01/Election+probe+findings+are+%E2%80%98
stunning+ http://is.gd/dpHIp
The Riverside County registrar’s office hired fewer people to count ballots than in previous elections and had “poor communication” with voters about the results, an internal review of the June 8 election found

Dunmore has also been criticized for not notifying the public sooner that 106,000 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots were not included in the election night tally.

The status of those votes — more than 40 percent of the total cast — was not publicized until after 5 p.m. the next day. It had many candidates believing they were victors before the final tally was determined.

CA: Candidates to receive refund from county over sample ballot glitch
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/news/ci_15474426?source=rss
The Mendocino County Elections Office is giving money back to the June Primary election candidates after errors appeared on the sample ballots mailed to voters, according to Registrar of Voters Sue Ranochak.

CA: How a bill becomes a law in California
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/07/11/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law-in-california/
One newspaper’s take on how many bills become laws in California includes significant lobbyist involvement

CT: Bysiewicz: New Report Shows Connecticut Voter Turnout Increase 7th Highest
in the Nation http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/thereddingpilot/news/localnews/64075-bysiewicz-new-report-shows-connecticut-voter-turnout-increase-7th-highest-in-the-nation-in-2008-.html

FL: Emphasis on absentee ballots adds uncertainty
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/11/1725027/emphasis-on-absentee-ballots-adds.html
The unprecedented growth of mail-in voting lends further suspense to a year already testing many of Florida’s political traditions.

IL: General Assembly passes legislation to create more cohesive party tickets
http://www.examiner.com/x-51155-Chicago-Government-Examiner~y2010m7d11-General-Assembly-passes-legislation-to-create-more-cohesive-party-tickets
…requires candidates of the same party to be nominated together for governor and lieutenant governor during the primary elections.

MI: Court of Appeals expected to hear Barrow election appeal soon
http://is.gd/dpHJF
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers found last December that 51 percent, or 59,135 ballots in last November’s election were “irregular,” according to Barrow’s motion.

The Voting News Daily: Internet voting helps WHO? Groups clever strategy forces India to use paper ballots

Much on internet voting today. Internet security expert Eric Riscorla makes the case “Against internet voting pilots.” Technologist Collin Lynch addresses claims that i-voting is convenient: “It bears mentioning that we have to ask, convenient for whom?” and points out that under-served groups are least likely to have easy access to a PC or internet… Vote by Mail, Save $ Lose Democracy? …DO try this at home? Groups who oppose e-voting in India found a way to force the use of paper ballots: run more candidates than the machines can handle…

All this and more in today’s voting news below….

Editor note: we apologize for delivery problems with yesterday’s voting news. In the event of delivery failure, please check our site at http://votingnews.blogspot.com Thank you!

AL: McAliley: Berry to be prosecuted
http://www.troymessenger.com/news/2010/jul/08/mcaliley-berry-be-prosecuted/
…Berry was removed from office in October 2009 when a Pike County Circuit Court ruling deemed she won the November 2008 illegally.

CA: Court-ordered vote count begins
http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=15048
RIVERSIDE – A 24-hour around-the-clock effort has been mounted to count the 12,500 late vote-by-mail ballots that were quarantined after the June 8th election.

Mrs. Dunmore says she’s will work closer with the Postal Service to circumvent ballot delivery problems in future elections.

Meantime, county supervisors will consider buying more equipment to speed up future ballot counts
CA: RivPE: Revamp of vote count urged
http://inlandpolitics.com/blog/2010/07/09/rivpe-revamp-of-vote-count-urged/ A probe released Thursday into Riverside County’s June 8 primary calls for $650,000 in additional equipment to speed future vote counting and better communication between elections officials and the public.

Supervisors ordered the examination June 15 amid revelations that 12,563 mail-in ballots missed the legal deadline due to a mix-up with the U.S. Postal Service and criticism that Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore took too long to count the more than 240,000 votes cast in the election.

Still, formal procedures for handling mail on Election Day are needed, the report concluded. Dunmore already is working on a written agreement with the Postal Service, according to the report.

CO: Computer Glitch Causing Online Voter Registration Errors
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24190432/detail.html Voters Who Have Updated Driver’s License Information Since April, May Find Error Message Online

CT: What Do YOU [still] Want?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3337
I said voters want five things and what Connecticut could do about them in the short run (three steps over two years). The two years have past and little has changed:

CT: Unaffiliated voters need to register with a party to vote in primaries
http://www.thehour.com/story/488673

GA: Voting Rights Watchdogs Cite Ethics Issues, Call on Handel to Withdraw
http://bludgeonandskewer.blogspot.com/2010/07/karen-did-what.html
ATLANTA, GA – Leaders from two of Georgia’s largest voting rights watchdog groups personally appealed today for former Secretary of State (SOS) Karen Handel to withdraw her gubernatorial bid on grounds of unethical conduct during her tenure as Secretary of State.

GA: Minority Groups Join Voting Fight
http://www.gpb.org/news/2010/07/08/minority-groups-join-voting-fight
“The State implemented this matching data base system and we found out that it was having an adverse impact on language and racial minorities,”

NC: The latest on the Citizens United response law in North Carolina
http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/07/09/the-latest-on-the-citizens-united-response-law-in-north-carolina/

The Voting News Daily: Florida must fix voting system flaws. NY 1 Person No Vote? SC must ditch e-voting

Florida Voters urge Secretary of State to address threats to next month’s elections: 14-17 Counties have defective firmware chip that causes errors in results reports. 16 Counties have problem causing optical scan machines to freeze or shut down…New York -One Person, No Vote?…Time for South Carolina to adopt paper ballots says Eleanor Hare, Assoc Prof , Computer Science at Clemson U: “As long as we use these unverifiable voting machines, we can neither confirm nor invalidate unexpected election results with certainty.” ..Possible boycott of India EVMs…

All this and more in todays’ voting news below…

CO: Denver rolls out ballot-tracking program for mail-in primary votes
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_15444918

CO: Colorado’s 2010 primary election voting-service centers
http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15445006
The Aug. 10 primary will be a mail-in ballot election, but there are 13 voting-service centers, where voters can drop off their ballots and the disabled can vote on touch-screen machines

CT: Secretary of State Has No Business Doing This
http://blog.ctnews.com/kantrowitz/2010/07/07/secretary-of-state-has-no-business-doing-this/ Urging people to join only 2 of the many parties in Connecticut, just because those 2 are the only ones having primaries, is just, in my humble opinion, wrong, wrong wrong for an official elected to uphold the integrity of elections for all parties and participants.

FL: Florida Voters Urge Secretary of State to Address Serious Threats to Next Month’s Elections http://www.floridavoters.org/downloads/FVF%20to%20SoS%20Threats%
20to%20FL%20Elections%20-%202010-07-07.pdf http://is.gd/dkIbw
Voting System Defects, Lax Cyber Security and Administrative Procedures & Inadequate County Funding Threaten to Undermine Upcoming Florida Elections

FL: Judge throws out Legislature’s redistricting amendment
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/07/judge-throws-out-legislatures-redistricting-amendment.html A Leon County circuit judge today struck from the ballot Amendment 7, the Legislature’s redistricting amendment aimed at undermining the Fair Districts proposals to create standards in drawing legislative and congressional lines.

FL: Legislature’s redistricting amendment declared misleading
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/07/legislatures-redistricting-amendment-tossed.html The Legislature’s decision to counter the Fair Districts Florida redistricting amendment with its own was declared misleading by Judge James Shelfer, who tossed it off the ballot. His ruling is sure to be appealed.

Shelfer said it took him three days to understand the meaning of Amendment 7 and that he couldn’t foresee how an average voter would grasp its description during a few minutes in the voting booth.

FL: Where’s my absentee ballot? Floridians can find out online
Voters can also check their registration status, polling location
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/state/os-track-absentee-ballot-20100707,0,5561499.story

FL: Military voters to get earlier ballots this year
http://www.bradenton.com/2010/07/07/2414273/military-to-get-earlier-ballots.html
MANATEE — Deployed military and overseas voters should be among the earliest voters in Florida primary election history starting Friday when absentee ballots are expected to be distributed.

GA: Paulding voters face changes
http://neighbornewspapers.com/detail/161253.html When the polls open on Election Day, July 20, there will be a few changes for Paulding voters.

Deidre Holden, supervisor of the Election and Registrations Department, said the changes include moving 53,000 of the 78,996 registered voters into new precincts, as approved by the United States Department of Justice.

The changes to the precincts were triggered by the reduction from 28 to 14

NY: More Voices for a Better Overvote Procedure in New York
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/more_voices_for_a_
better_overvote_procedure_in_new_york/ http://is.gd/dkIfO A panel of leading computer scientists wrote to the Boards of Elections yesterday to emphasize that “[t]he most obvious solution to this problem is to set the voting machines to reject overvoted ballots… Because no software would be modified, testing of the change can be expected to be simple, straightforward and efficient, and to take no more than a day.”

The Voting News Daily: Fix New York voting machines flaw. Tanner: Why Voter ID won’t fly in Texas

ACLU Intervenes In Georgia Voting Rights Act Challenge…The Progressive Network wants audit of South Carolina election results…New York’s new voting machines could disenfranchise thousands if not fixed. “What’s striking about this problem is that it is easily avoidable. Election jurisdictions are able to control whether the machine ‘warns’ voters, or not.” ~ James Hicks, EVIC…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

CA: L.A. Registrar Issues Report on My Recent E-Vote failure, Appears Tonight on Malloy http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7932

CA: ‘Human Error’, ‘Design Weakness’, ‘System Limitations’ Blamed for Failures I Encountered (Again) This Year on L.A. County’s E-Voting System
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7931
Registrar issues 5-page report, offering explanations for the no-less-than-6 different problems that occurred when I attempted to cast my ballot on the ES&S voting system last month..

CA: Salas-Vargas count dispute continues
http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/all-in-favor-politics/2010/jul/06/salas-vargas-count-dispute-continues/ Only 12 votes separates leader Juan Vargas from Mary Salas in the 40th state Senate District Democratic primary election — the one that was supposed to be over on election day, June 8.

Now it looks like the results will be in limbo at least until Friday, when a Riverside County judge has set a hearing to consider whether 12,500 uncounted ballots can legally be counted.

GA: ACLU Intervenes In Georgia Voting Rights Act Challenge
http://www.aclu.org/voting-rights/aclu-intervenes-georgia-voting-rights-act-challenge
“The many U.S. citizen minority voters in Georgia who were incorrectly flagged as non-citizens under the state’s voter-verification procedures can attest to the fact that discrimination in voting continues and the need for Section 5 remains,” said Laughlin McDonald of the ACLU Voting Rights Project.

IL: Quinn signs legislation on early voting; controversy continues
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2010-07-06/quinn-signs-legislation-early-voting-controversy-continues.h
Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a controversial bill aimed at increasing voting on Illinois’ public university campuses this fall, but that won’t end the controversy

NC: Supreme Court decision affecting N.C. elections law
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/triangle/627804/supreme-court-decision-affecting-n-c–elections-law A bill is being built in a Senate judicial committee which would bring state law in line with this ruling. The bill is working to make sure disclosures on the ads are as informative as possible.

NY: Make sure every vote is counted
http://www.lohud.com/article/20100707/OPINION/7070304/Make-sure-every-vote-is-counted
“Numerous sources, including the state board, the voting machine vendor and independent computer scientists, have confirmed to us that requiring the machines to return overvote ballots requires only ‘checking a box’ in the setup file for these systems,” said Lawrence Norden, senior counsel at the Brennan Center. He added, “It will not cause delay to do the right thing.”

The glitch should be remedied before the machines are put into statewide use.

NY: Does not compute: Board of Elections needs to fix glitch in new voting machines
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/07/06/2010-07-06_does_not_compute.html
A dangerous glitch in New York’s new electronic voting machines could disqualify thousands of ballots this fall.

This is idiotic. The clunky old lever voting machines New Yorkers have used for decades make it physically impossible to choose two candidates for a single office. As it should be.

NY: BoE Says It Cannot Afford To Pay For Primary And General Elections
Budget battle set against backdrop of executive director stalemate
http://www.cityhallnews.com/newyork/article-1366-boe-says-it-cannot-afford-to-pay-for-primary-and-general-elections.html

The Voting News Daily: Unsafe at any cost – Internet voting. Illinois special election a $30M travesty?

Political Barriers to Military Voting…Unsafe at any cost – Internet voting..New York Leveling the playing field for mail-in voting?..Keeping Tax-Subsidized Corporate Money out of Politics…Illinois Special Election A $30 million travesty?..FOI to Riverside County over vote count mess…Illinois special election for Burris seat would cost $30 Million to have winner serve a 4 week term…Internet voting challenged in Gujarat India…

All this and more in today’s voting news below

Running a correction today, see article on Harrisonburg Virginia…

CA: Riverside County vote-count mess leads to records requests
http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_Local_D_polnote05.22bbe73.html
Former Palm Springs Police Chief Gary Jeandron, who unsuccessfully challenged Supervisor John Benoit, filed a two-page request.

He is seeking a host of communications between the registrar’s office, the Board and Supervisors and county CEO Bill Luna and other documents relating to the disputed vote-by-mail ballots.

CA: UC Red Team report shows how e-voting machines and ballot counting machines can easily be rigged
http://www.resistnet.com/group/californiapatriots/forum/topics/uc-red-team-report-shows-how?xg_source=activity So, the newer 400-C/WinETP based Sequoia systems that were used this time, also had the above vulnerability, by exploiting which the outcome from scanned votes can be changed. Also, only 9 of the 47 defects that were found by the Red Team have been rectified in the latest Sequoia version.

CA: Ballot count finally complete: Runoff elections to be held for four local races
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_15427295?nclick_check=1
Humboldt County.

IL: A $30 million travesty
Remember why this is happening.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-election-20100706,0,2890623.story We hope it doesn’t come to this, but it’s possible the state’s Democratic kingmakers didn’t just saddle us with embarrassingly ineffectual U.S. Sen. Roland Burris — they saddled us with a $30 million special election to pick a senator to replace Burris for maybe four weeks

IL: Seating a Presumptive Winner
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/07/06/seating-a-presumptive-winner/
However, another problem raised by opponents of the special election needs to be addressed, the short period of time in which the Senator would serve. In determining the length of that time, people are using the final canvass of votes as the determinant for when the new Senator would take office.

NC: On the ballot (constitutional amendment)
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/05/563109/on-the-ballot.html
The amendment – hard to believe it’s necessary, but there it is – would prohibit felons from serving as sheriffs.

NY: New York: Leveling the playing field for mail-in voting?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3334 There has been quite a stir in New York about the setup of their new optical scan voting systems. It may disenfranchise voters by not adequately warning them about overvotes.

OH: Board Of Elections Benefits From Voting Equipment Lawsuit
http://www.northcentralohio.com/newsboard/single.asp?Story=41924
The board on Tuesday found out it and 44 other boards of elections in Ohio will receive some goods and services from the settlement.

OH: Absentee voting helps military
http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/8389812/article-Absentee-voting-helps-military-?instance=homefirstleft “If you meet the qualifications to register to vote in Tennessee, but have not registered prior to requesting an absentee ballot and you fall into one of the above categories (military and residing out-of-country), your application for absentee ballot will be treated as an application for temporary registration.

VA: City Mopping Up Poll Mess* (Subscription required)
June 15 Confusion Triggers Response By Electoral Board
http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_details.php?AID=48573&CHID=1

The Voting News Daily: DC Internet vote risks update. The reality of cyber threats. Bingo $ and ballots

Nearly 3 million overseas & military voters may cast ballots over the Internet in Nov. using e-mail or fax. Why worry? Eric Riscorla’s update on DC’s internet voting pilot finds more risks: “So while electronic ballot distribution is more secure than electronic ballot return, there still seem to be a number of potential attacks that would be more difficult to mount en masse with conventional paper-based ballot delivery.” Cyber crime is the also one of the fastest growing and most lucrative aspects of illegal use of the Internet…Election analyst GVL NARASIMHA RAO of India makes “The Case Against Electronic Voting”…Meanwhile Bangladesh thinks e-voting will prevent poll rigging…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…


*Correction update see Harrisonburg -state of PA/should be VA

AL: Gambling antes up $4.1 million in Alabama primary
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/07/gambling_antes_up_41_million_i.html
Gambling interests spent at least $4.1 million to back candidates in the June 1 primary, a Birmingham News analysis of campaign finance disclosures shows.
Gambling sources sent cash through 104 political action committees during the 2010 election cycle, disclosures show.

AL: Alabama: bingo and voting rights linked
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006409.html
State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said the raid of Greenetrack and removal of bingo machines unilaterally nullifies the vote of Greene County residents who approved a constitutional amendment authorizing bingo. …

CA: Scanning Completed, Results Match Well (ballots viewable online)
http://democracycounts.blogspot.com/2010/07/scanning-completed-results-match-well.html Humboldt County Election Transparency Project

CA: DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT FROM NEW CORPORATE POWERS, EXPERTS WARN IN SAN DIEGO PANEL
U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow unlimited corporate spending on elections heightens concerns http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/3705
Among the most disturbing evidence was presented by Steven Freeman, founder of Election Integrity, senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of the book Was the 2004 Election Stolen? Freeman has documented compelling evidence and statistical data to indicate that electronic voting machines can—and have—been rigged in American elections—and that San Diego’s voting machines are far from secure.

CO: Our rights of self-governance denied
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100703/LETTER/100709950/1020&parentprofile=1061
30% of the ballots were unsecured in an unattended City Hall ballot box with the keys dangling from it…Software changes were secretly made just hours before the polls opened. The software, in testing for the first time only 15 hours before the election, calculated the “winner” to be the candidate garnering the fewest votes! Early voting began 13 days before the earliest possible legal date. Before ballots were even printed, some voters voted on photocopies of mock ups. Neither Councilman Torre nor Johnson received the minimum 50%+1 of votes cast in order to be seated.

MI: NEW LAWSUIT SAYS MICHIGAN’S $500 INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION LIMITS TO LEGISLATORS UNCONSTITUTIONALLY LOW
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016345.html

MO: County might try digital voter rolls at polls (Boone County)
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jul/04/county-might-try-digital-voter-rolls-at-polls/

ND: Ballot measure for ND redistricting approved
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8c88167c-85ec-11df-9a2a-001cc4c03286.html BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A proposal to put an independent commission in charge of drawing North Dakota’s new legislative district boundaries is ready for petition signatures.

NY: New Voting Machines Spur Concerns About Confusion and Fraud*
http://dnainfo.com/20100629//new-voting-machines-spur-concerns-about-confusion-fraud
That’s where the green button issue comes in. If a voter accidentally “over-votes” — meaning to mark more than one candidate for a particular office — the new machines give voters the option to press green to cast their vote, or red to get their ballot back.

The Voting News Daily: Risks of DC Internet Voting Pilot for military voters. Letter to Holder: ban DREs

DC’s Internet Voting Pilot for overseas and military voters: “In essence, every attack people have proposed on DREs is suddenly an attack on this system as well. Some of these attacks may be detectable but in general one can’t recover from them. And the available evidence suggests that users are pretty oblivious to even fairly blatant attacks…”~ Eric Rescorla, a recognized expert in Internet Security and Distributed Systems…Protect Our Elections attorney, Kevin Zeese, sent a letter to AG Holder To Ban DRE Voting Machines…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Legislator to appeal Democrats’ decision to deny runoff in District 69 *
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100702/NEWS02/7020323/1009
Thomas and his attorney ex pressed concerns about the number of absentee ballots and about one precinct in which voters were supposed to receive different ballots depending on their district, according to Sabel, but 302 people in one precinct did not receive the ballot that should have included District 69.

CA: Judge delays RivCo election results
http://www.pe.com/politics/miller/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webvote.495b4cc.html
“If voters are going to have faith in the system, their votes must be counted,” said James Harrison, a San Leandro-based attorney representing the voters and county Democratic Party.

CA: Grand jury: Vote-by-mail would save San Joaquin County big bucks
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=84722&catid=2

CA: Bill seeks to redefine vote-by-mail deadline
http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=14919
RIVERSIDE – Assemblyman Bruce Nestande wants to correct the ‘wrong’ over the 12,500 vote-by-mail ballots that were not counted in the June 8th election.

Nestande has submitted a bill that would require future ballots postmarked on Election Day to be tabulated before the final election results are certified.

CO: Voters will get primary election ballots in the mail
http://www.northfortynews.com/News/20100720_PrimaryElection_ballots.htm
Political parties across Colorado on Aug. 10 will pick their candidates for the fall general election. Voters must be affiliated with a party to vote in the primary election.
Voting will be by mail-in ballot in Larimer County

CT: Bysiewicz registers new citizens to vote
http://www.norwalkplus.com/nwk/information/nwsnwk/publish/News_1/Bysiewicz-registers-new-citizens-to-vote_np_9014.shtml Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today marked America’s Independence Day by helping preside over a naturalization ceremony for 23 new United States citizens at Middletown’s City Hall

IL: Special Senate Election a Possibility
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/07/01/special-senate-election-a-possibility/
If Judge Grady, at the U.S. District Court, tries to take the authority for this process away from the legislature, the legislature should wrest it back and save taxpayers the money of the special election and not imperil the November election, especially the votes of those overseas.

MD: Justice Department probes election*
Crisfield voting procedures also under examination by ACLU, city attorney
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100702/NEWS01/7020303/1002/Justice-Department-probes-election CRISFIELD — The U.S. Justice Department is expected to begin its own investigation into the recent Crisfield election following allegations that improper and illegal voting procedures may have been used.

Jeon said city elections officials turned away a number of potential voters without giving them provisional ballots.

ME: City voters to decide: elected mayor and ranked-choice voting
http://www.pressherald.com/news/city-voters-to-decide-elected-mayor-and-ranked-choice-voting_2010-07-02.html The Charter Commission decides to send both proposals to Portland residents on the November ballot.

MI: Sec. of State candidate Ruth Johnson stirs fears of non-citizen voting
Elections officials say problem is non-existent
http://michiganmessenger.com/39119/sec-of-state-candidate-ruth-johnson-stirs-fears-of-non-citizen-voting

The Voting News Daily: Voter roll flaws impact 1 in 10 voters. Voters sue to count 12,563 RivCo ballots

Study of Los Angeles County CA and Florida voter rolls finds 10%+ of voters records had flaws that could prevent voters from casting a ballot..Butler County OH may settle suit w/Premiere over failure that caused 200 votes to go uncounted…Final judgement -ES&S must sell some assets…The USACM Releases Issue Brief on Military and Overseas Internet Voting…Meanwhile more Canadian voters will trust their ballots to their personal computers, the WWW, & an internet vendor. What could possibly go wrong?…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

CA: Lawsuit filed over 12,563 misplaced ballots in RivCo election
http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-06-30/news/lawsuit-filed-over-12563-misplaced-ballots-in-rivco-election The Riverside County Democratic Central Committee and three residents are asking the Superior Court to prohibit certification

CA: REGION: Voters sue to compel count of ballots left at post office
Riverside County welcomes challenge; Lawmaker aims to prevent repeat of election snafu http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/swcounty/article_0a147c84-d8b5-5a39-af9e-89c4bfa48405.html

CA: OB Voter Registration – Right to Vote for Ex-Convicts and the Homeless
http://obrag.org/?p=21804 “You should see these guys…before I talk with them they’re walking like this…” Mike slumps his shoulders and shuffles his feet. “But, once they know they are legally allowed vote and they’ve registered with me, they walk like this…” now he shows me the walk transformed, chest puffed out and chin high. Mike sums this up with a smile and a tap to my arm “Registering makes them feel GOOD about themselves.”

DC: D.C. Councilwoman questions election preparation
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/dc-councilwoman-questions-election-preparation-97609519.html Starting with the Sept. 14 primary, people can register to vote at the polls on election day. But Cheh appeared unconvinced that the board was ready to handle potential instances of vote-buying and voter fraud

ME: Our View: Charter commission should split decisions
An elected mayor and a new vote-counting method should be considered on their own.
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/charter-commision-should-split-decisions_2010-06-30.html

NC: State Senate OKs absentee ballot bill
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/07/01/1010638?sac=Home
The state Senate voted Wednesday for legislation intended to ensure that soldiers stationed away from North Carolina correctly receive absentee ballots

OH: Butler County may settle voting machine lawsuit
http://www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-news/butler-county-may-settle-voting-machine-lawsuit-791811.html Company in settlement discussions with county over 2008 election night glitch. The county is still in closed-door mediation with Premier Elections Solutions, a former Diebold Inc. subsidiary, over technical problems including a March 2008 election night glitch that almost caused more than 200 votes to go uncounted.

PA: City officials hear testimony of alleged election fraud
http://whyy.org/cms/news/government-politics/2010/06/30/city-officials-hear-testimony-of-alleged-election-fraud/40951 There’s still no certified winner in a disputed legislative race in North Philadelphia. City election officials held a hearing yesterday on charges of Election Day bullying and vote fraud in the May 18 Democratic primary

Internet Voting

USACM Releases Issue Brief on Military and Overseas Internet Voting
http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?m=20100629
USACM recommends that any internet voting be done in such a way that there is an independent record that can be used in the event of an audit or recount. Currently this means a dedicated kiosk system that also produces a paper record.
[The ACM U.S. Public Policy Council (USACM) serves as the focal point for ACM’s interaction with U.S. government organizations, the computing community, and the U.S.

The Voting News Daily: EAC issues advisory on ES&S system. Voter Registration boom in Arizona, Ohio

The Elections Assistance Commission – EAC issues advisory on ES&S Unity & DS200 opscan freeze/shutdowns… Lawsuit in LA County CA.: 37th Dist primary candidate Lee Davis said that her name was omitted from ballots in 300 precincts…Voter Registration in Arizona Explodes…Voter Registration at Ohio Public Assistance Agencies Skyrocket… Editors note: Like voting news? Please tell your friends. For your convenience we are on the internet ttp://votingnews.blogspot.com/ on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VotingNews and Twitter http://twitter.com/VotingNews

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AZ: Arizona judge tosses secret ballot measure
http://www.azdailysun.com/news/state-and-regional/article_57f64a1f-665c-5743-8846-45cea015b223.html The referendum would have asked voters whether to require secret ballots for public elections and for workers voting whether to organize as part of a labor union.
The judge ruled that the two provisions are not “sufficiently or logically related to one another.”

AZ: Voter Registration in Arizona Explodes
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/elections/voter-registration-up-6-29-2010
PHOENIX – Voter registration in Arizona has grown by 27,000 in less than six weeks, according to the Secretary of State’s Office — and every political party has gained ground

CA: 37th District primary candidate Lee Davis sues, alleging election fraud
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15403935 In the lawsuit, Davis says that Democratic voters in 300 precincts were given ballots that omitted her name and that of another perennial candidate, Peter Mathews. In one other precinct, candidate Terrance Ponchak’s name also wasn’t included on the ballot, Davis alleges.

The lawsuit alleges other incidents of fraud as well, particularly against senior and disabled voters.

CO: Electoral privacy and petition-signers’ ID
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2010/06/29/electoral-privacy-and-petition-signers%E2%80%99-id/
Should we take the next logical step and abolish the secret ballot, as all of these reporting requirements have made it an obsolete and misleading charade?

DC: Washington, DC Awards Hart InterCivic Electronic Poll Book Contract
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/electronic-poll-book-contract,1366662.html

IN: Indiana justices uphold voter ID law
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100630/NEWS/100630007/-1/LIVING0101/Indiana-justices-uphold-voter-ID-law

MN: Watchdog Groups Says Convicted Felons Are Voting Illegally
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1631131.shtml?cat=1

NC: North Carolina Paper Dropped Research 2000 After 2006 Dispute
http://mediamatters.org/strupp/201006300046 Research 2000, the polling outfit that has come under scrutiny this week after Daily Kos accused it of fraud, had a previous dispute in 2006 with North Carolina’s largest newspaper.

NY: More controversy regarding NY’s voting machines (podcast)
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/1/0/
1668703/WAMC.New.York.News/More.controversy.regarding.NY’s.voting.machines
http://is.gd/daAU5 NEW YORK CITY, NY (WAMC) – The controversy continues over New York’s attempts to meet mandates set under the Help America Vote Act. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Greg Fry has more on the latest lawsuit filed against the New York State Board of Elections…
NY: NAACP Says NY’s Computerized Voting Will Disenfranchise Black and Latinos
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/30/28493.htm
Even the election officials who approved the programming have acknowledged that the new machines’ overvote messages are baffling

But the state has refused to use “built-in protections against overvotes that are made available by the machines’ manufacturers and used by many jurisdictions outside of New York,” the plaintiffs say.

NY: Concerns raised in North Salem over ballot in school bond vote
http://northernwestchester.lohudblogs.com/2010/06/29/concerns-raised-in-north-salem-over-ballot-in-school-bond-vote/ …it was hard to find on the ballot and the voting machine didn’t match the sample ballot has vowed to continue pressing his point.

NY: Syracuse Post-Standard calls for end to prison-based gerrymandering
http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/2010/06/30/syracuse-editoria/

The Voting News Daily: US Burgers, Ballots, Bogus Polls. Diebold-ing Brazil. Mexico’s Bullets and ballots

San Joaquin Co California may adopt 100% vote by mail, meanwhile 12,500 mail ballots in Riverside co, in limbo. Assemblyman Brian Nestande introduced AB 2642 to address mail-ballot problems…Indiana online voter reg starts July 1…New York voting machines need simple fix to save 1000s of votes…Supreme Court Reaffirms Ban on Soft Money…Burgers & ballots & election transparency as mainstream issue…Brazil buys Diebold voting machines…In Mexico,”intimidation and corruption will likely lead to the courts ultimately ruling on the results of up to half of the races”…Protect the Internet, but How?

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

CA: Bill would allow outstanding election ballots to be counted (AB 2642)
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100629/NEWS0301/100629026/Bill-would-allow-outstanding-election-ballots-to-be-counted– Bill would allow outstanding election ballots to be counted

CA: Hearings for important election bills are scheduled as follows:
http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=669
California – Convenience Voting bill, S 970; Voter Registration Drive bill, A 2101 & Election Day Registration bill, A 1531

CA: Report: Replace polling places with mail-in ballots
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100629/A_NEWS/100629833/-1/NEWSMAP STOCKTON — Ditching polling places in favor of mail-in ballots would save San Joaquin County $500,000 a year, according to a grand jury report released Monday.

CT: Merrill, Garcia discuss contributions, increasing participation, and DeRosa’s exclusion from debate http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3319

IN: Indiana will begin online voter registration July 1
http://www.wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=12727182

ME: Portland Charter Commission to take up two key issues Thursday
Commissioners could propose ranked-choice voting and veto power for the city’s mayor.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/changes-to-citys-charter-must-be-proposed-thursday-_2010-06-29.html

NC: Bladen commissioner cleared of voter fraud allegations
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/06/28/1009889?sac=Home
Blanks acknowledged that she asked poll workers at the second site if she could vote, but she told investigators she was trying to test the computer system’s ability to prevent such fraud.

NJ: Passaic County Elections Chief Battles Union Over Firing of Four Workers
http://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/passaic_politics/
97366864_Election_chief_to_challenge_rehirings.html http://is.gd/d9lwC
Freytes has appealed arbitrator Robert T. Simmelkjaer’s May 14 finding that her decision to fire the four voting machine technicians was “motivated by anti-union animus,” and not simply a cost-cutting move as she maintains.

NY: New York’s New Voting System Procedure Could Cost Tens of Thousands of Lost Votes And Disproportionately Impact Communities of Color
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/06/28-19
Brennan Center, Hazel Dukes, and Others Call for Simple Fix this Monday at City Hall

NY: Ballot Squabble Becomes A Federal Case »
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/06/ballot-squabble-becomes-a-fede.html
The voter disenfranchisement suit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court today against the New York State Board of Elections basically boils down to voters being asked to play a game of “Red Light/Green Light” — where the rules make no sense.

PA: Hearings for important election bills are scheduled as follows:
http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=669
Felon Voting Rights bill, H 1072 is scheduled to be heard on the House floor today. This bill provides released prisoners with voter registration materials

SC: Associated Press Sees No, Hears No, Speaks No E-Voting System Fraud Nor Failure
100% unverifiable e-voting ‘not the droid you’re looking for’..
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7918

SC: SC bill on voter ID and early voting could die
http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/06/29/1560302/sc-bill-on-voter-id-and-early.html

SC: SLED and the 5th Circuit solicitor’s office to investigate Alvin Greene’s finances http://www.examiner.com/x-46109-Augusta-Religion–Politics-Examiner~y2010m6d29-SLED-and-the-5th-Circuit-solicitors-office-to-investigate-Alvin-Greenes-finances

WI: Forum on the Wisconsin redistricting process
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fairelectionswisconsin/message/2389

The Voting News Daily: Suit- NY voting machine flaw risks 1,000s of votes. SC editorials FOR paper ballots

Donna Brazil : “How can we put men on the moon and export democracy abroad, yet still be incapable of administering elections at home with indisputable integrity as to their outcomes? ..It’s time to address this threat to our democracy.”…Lawsuit over New York’s new ballot machines – flawed overvote warning may disenfranchise 1,000s of voters…TX Gov. Ex-Aide Accused of Vote-Diversion Scheme…Think internet or email voting is a good idea? CIA: Cyber Warfare Could ‘Paralyze’ U.S…Think we can secure voting machines just like ATMs? Reports say “ATM security flaws a jackpot for hackers”…Latest Verified Voting Newsletter is online now…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AZ: Election boss: Postpone to allow absentee voting
http://www.navajotimes.com/news/2010/0610/062410absentees.php
The Navajo Nation primary election may be moved from Aug. 3 to Aug. 24 or the 31st to allow absentee voters, particularly those overseas, enough time to get their ballots and return them by mail.

CA: San Bernardino County certifies June 8 results (June 25, 2010)
http://blogs.pe.com/politics/2010/06/san-bernardino-county-certifie.html
San Bernardino County has certified the results of the June 8 election.

Riverside County has finished counting all of the ballots that were in its possession on Election Day.

But the county has not certified the results until officials decide the fate of about 12,500 vote-by-mail ballots found at the post office the day after the election.

CA: 15th Senate District runoff estimated to carry $600,000 pricetag
http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_15383885?source=rss
That’s what it will likely cost the county to conduct the Aug. 17 runoff election to decide, once and for all, who will represent the 15th state Senate District in Sacramento, according to county Registrar of Voters Linda Tulett.

CO: Colorado State Court Says Secretary of State Can’t Invalidate Signatures Based on Which Candidate Submitted Petition First
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/06/25/colorado-state-court-says-secretary-of-state-cant-invalidate-signatures-based-on-which-candidate-submitted-petition-first/
On June 25, a Colorado State District Court put Jennifer Coken on the Democratic primary ballot for State House, 4th district. Her petition had been invalidated because the Secretary of State had ruled that she didn’t have enough valid signatures.

GA: Former Dodge Sheriff Sentenced to Prison in Vote-Buying Scandal
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=81119&catid=175
Douglas admitted to conspiracy to commit election fraud when he was elected in 2004, and Gibson pleaded guilty to buying votes.

HI: Publicly funded elections starting in Hawaii despite potential legal questions
http://www.startribune.com/nation/97204354.html

MI: Lawsuit over voter-purge ends; Michigan to stop programs
http://www.freep.com/article/20100626/NEWS06/6260356/
1001/News/Lawsuit-over-voter-purge-ends-
Michigan-to-stop-programs http://is.gd/d8cBq …”Voter removal procedures like those at issue in this lawsuit, which allow eligible and registered voters to be suddenly stricken from the rolls without notice, are bad for democracy,”

MS: AG: New Albany Man Admits Perjury In Voter Fraud Case
http://www.wapt.com/news/24071819/detail.html

NC: Is There A Better Way Than Primary Runoff For NC?
http://news.mync.com/site/news/story/53103/is-there-a-better-way-than-primary-runoff-for-nc/

NC: Is there a better way than primary runoff for NC?
http://www.reflector.com/state-news/there-better-way-primary-runoff-nc-39696

NE: ES&S cust suppt job HS diploma required
http://omaha.careerlink.com/9/9/3/2/po/000771f.htm

NY: New NY case citing violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/news/articles.php?ID=7407

NY: New Ballot Machines Are Flawed, Suit Says *
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/nyregion/28vote.html
Electronic voting machines being deployed for the first time this year across New York City and the rest of the state contain a flaw that could lead to thousands of votes being thrown out, according to a lawsuit that advocacy groups will file Monday.

The Voting News Daily: The Game of Electoral Fraud. Michigan ends voter purges. Riverside ballot limbo

The ACLU defends the Voting Rights Act in Alabama…Riverside Co CA delays certification of election results..Judge pleads not guilty of Monroe Co KY vote buying scheme…Michigan Agrees To Stop Unlawful Voter-Purge Programs…Mail ballot fraud charged in Passaic Co NJ…For Clean Campaigns: DISCLOSE and Amend…Magaloni,“The Game of Electoral Fraud and the Ousting of Authoritarian Rule”..Kenya launches online registration program for inmates…Was Oprah online voting contest rigged?

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Black residents file challenges to Shelby County voting rights suit
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/06/black_residents_file_challenge.html
On Tuesday the ACLU, on behalf of three black Montevallo voters, including City Councilman Willie Goldsmith; a white voter from Sterrett; and the Alabama branch of the NAACP, asked a judge for permission to intervene in the case.

Last week, six black Shelby County residents, backed by the national NAACP office, filed a motion to intervene in the case to defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act.

AL: Is runoff voting same as primary?
Democrats, Republicans have different rules for July 13 election
http://enewscourier.com/local/x1703936998/Is-runoff-voting-same-as-primary

AL: Absentee ballot requests trickle in
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100625/NEWS/100629805/1291?Title=Absentee-ballot-requests-trickle-in “If you vote by mail, you are required to have two witnesses and some form of valid identification,”

CA: Riverside County delays certification of election results
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-riverside-county-ballots-20100625,0,3380414.story
Some 12,500 mail-in ballots arrived a day after the June 8 primary because they had been forwarded from one post office to another. Activists want them counted.

CA: New election snafu intensifies scrutiny on Riverside County Registrar of Voters after primary http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/48916/
Riverside County supervisors are considering legal action to prevent 12,500 ballots found after the voting deadline in the June 8 primary from being thrown out.

Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore was prepared to certify the county’s election returns Wednesday, but Executive Officer Bill Luna directed her to delay certification after confirming with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen that there was no legal requirement for the process to go forward now.

CO: Judge assures Curry’s write-in status
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/141196
A federal judge has ruled against state Rep. Kathleen Curry in a lawsuit that sought to overturn a Colorado law requiring a candidate to register as an independent 17 months before an election to be able to make the ballot

CT: Hartford Courant Editoral Board interviews SOTS primary candidates
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3292

DC: Some Ward 8 Dems want FBI to oversee mayoral election
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2010/06/some_ward_8_

dems_want_fbi_to_o.html http://is.gd/d49Bk Some Democrats in Ward 8 are trying to get the FBI to oversee the D.C. mayoral election because they fear Adrian M. Fenty (D) and his ally, Ron Moten, will pay people to vote in the September primary.

Moten, the co-founder of Peaceoholics, strongly denies the allegation.

DC: Make sure you can still vote in D.C.!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/debonis/2010/06/make_
sure_you_can_still_vote_i.html http://is.gd/d49EB
This month, the city Board of Elections and Ethics moved to expunge 93,773 persons from the voter rolls, and to make sure you’re not one of them, open up this 21-megabyte PDF file and see if your name appears

FL: Florida Candidate, Kept off Ballot Because Filing Fee Check was Short One Cent, Won’t Sue http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/06/25/florida-candidate-kept-off-ballot-because-filing-fee-check-was-short-one-cent-wont-sue/

The Voting News Daily: Why can’t I vote at my ATM? South Carolina’s ‘discredited’ voting machines

Connecticut makes a good MOVE, the act to help overseas military vote…NY Senate passes law making voter suppression punishable as a misdemeanor…Texas Co Commissioner pleads in absentee ballot fraud case…The DISCLOSE Act, a major campaign finance reform passes congress…Doe v Reed settled, U.S. Supreme Court Says, Usually, States are Free to Release Names and Addresses of Petition Signers for Public Viewing…Why can’t I vote at my ATM? Hansard Society Debate…US Post Office has special mailing envelope for military Absentee ballots..

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: DA concludes no vote fraud in Autauga County
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100623/NEWS01/6230347/DA-concludes-no-vote-fraud-in-Autauga-County

CA: Grand jury calls for 100% mail-in voting
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_15364954
Better proof-reading, replacing polls with mail-in ballots countywide and more use of the county website are among the 2010 grand jury’s recommendations for the Mendocino County Registrar of Voters Office.

CA: Final election results certified *
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/article_4c70d8f6-7ef0-11df-8b34-001cc4c002e0.html
The Napa County Election Division certified results Wednesday for the June 8 primary election, officially launching Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon into a November runoff against challenger Jeff Parady for the Upvalley District 3 seat

Tuteur said the elections office discovered during the certification process that 1,100 ballots from polling places in and around the city of Napa were counted twice in the last unofficial report released on election night.

CA: Electronic voting machine whistleblower now running for Congress in California
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2010/06/electronic-voting-machine-whistleblower-now-running-congress-california

CT: Connecticut makes a good MOVE
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3286
…the Connecticut Legislature passed a bill (p. 47) to provide faster absentee ballots and more convenient procedures for military and overseas voters, in compliance with the Federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.

Along with Secretary Bysiewicz, we applaud the Legislature’s prudent choice to avoid risky Internet, fax, and email voting schemes.

CT: Secretary Bysiewicz praises enactment of measure to improve military voting
http://www.shorelineplus.com/shplus/information/news/politics/Secretary-Bysiewicz-praises-enactment-of-measure-to-improve-military-voting891789178917.shtml

Guam: Separate party ballots suggested
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20100624/NEWS01/6240309/Separate-party-ballots-suggested A Republican gubernatorial team has proposed that separate ballots be used for each political party in the upcoming primary election to prevent the continual problem of crossover voting.

MD: Maryland: State elections board dissolved Independent party
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=106538

MO: Trust-us elections (corrected link)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/article_0ef48e72-be15-5678-a727-af6d1b028631.html
However, since the purchase of direct-record touch-screen voting machines (called DREs)
in 2006, these efforts at making elections transparent — and election results thereby believable — have been nullified.

NC: Missing key delayed Senate runoff returns in Craven
http://www.enctoday.com/news/missing-88485-nbsj-key-craven.html
The card containing electronic results could have been driven to the main elections office in New Bern, but “we don’t leave marked ballots,” Burridge said.
[they protected the ballots]

NC: Marshall wins Democratic Senate runoff, voter turnout ‘miserable’ in Gaston
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/style-48459-0in-marshall.html (optical scan)
An electric overload temporarily shut off a voting machine in Mount Holly, but Tuesday’s subterranean turnout meant no voters had to wait until the power was restored to see their ballots counted.

The Tuckaseegee Community Center, which is the polling place for the Mount Holly No. 1 precinct, dimmed Tuesday morning. No one was voting during the brief blackout, and poll workers turned off unnecessary lights and unplugged electronics to conserve power, said Pinion.

The Voting News Daily: Audit-Maryland Elections Board ‘sloppy’. Show Me State’s ‘Trust Us Elections’

Linda Lamone has been Maryland’s election chief since 1997. With 13 years of Lamone’s leadership, a state audit has found so many flaws in the elections board’s oversight of local boards & financial management that Lamone will have to file quarterly progress reports with an auditor. The audit report cites “deficiencies”, “lax oversight”, “sloppy” internal controls, ” flaws in monitoring voter registration databases”,”short $2 million.” …Missouri, the “show me” state has “Trust-us elections”…DOJ Urged to Preserve S.C. Election Records…Georgia sues feds over voter ID, challenges voting rights act…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: ACLU Moves To Intervene In Alabama Voting Rights Act Challenge
http://www.aclu.org/voting-rights/aclu-moves-intervene-alabama-voting-rights-act-challenge
Section 5 requires certain jurisdictions like Shelby County that have a history of racial discrimination in voting to obtain advance approval from the federal government before changing their election laws.

CA: Uncounted ballots in legal limbo
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_supes23.1ebac92.html
Riverside County will delay certifying results of the June 8 primary to see if possible legal action will resolve the fate of 12,500 mail-in vote

CA: RivCo supervisors may take up legal action to review election ballots
http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-06-22/news/rivco-may-take-up-legal-action-to-review-election-ballots The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is considering legal action to prevent 12,500 ballots found after the voting deadline in the June 8 primary from being thrown out.

GA: Another challenge to Section 5 (of Voting Rights Act)
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016259.html
The complaint seeks judicial preclearance of its voter verification process under Section 5 and, in the alternative, asserts that Section 5 is unconstitutional.

GA: Georgia sues feds over voter ID
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/062310/new_660035693.shtml

MD: Audit finds problems with elections board
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics
/2010/06/legislative_audit_finds_proble.html http://is.gd/d1fpn The state Office of Legislative Audits has again found “deficiencies” in the state elections board’s oversight of local boards and in its financial management, the agency said in a report released Tuesday morning.

MD: Audit report of State Elections Board
http://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Fiscal%20Compliance/SBE10.pdf

MD: Audit finds lax oversight by State Board of Elections *
Felons remain on voting rolls despite requirement for local agency removal
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-elections-audit-20100622,0,834777.story
Of the 14 findings in the audit, six — including flaws in monitoring voter registration databases, local boards and cash receipts — appeared on the agency’s previous audit report three years ago and were not corrected. Legislative auditor Bruce A. Myers said that’s one uncorrected problem over the limit…

The report said the state board did not have an audit performed on maintenance and security of the centralized statewide voter registration system, which is maintained by a contractor. Auditors said the elections board was “essentially relying on the contractor’s assertion that this critical database is secure and properly functioning.”

MD: Audit finds serious flaws at Maryland elections board
http://www.marylandreporter.com/page55042.aspx “SBE had $5.1 million they were supposed to pay but they only had money in their budget to cover $3.1 million.” Myers said. “So they are short $2 million,” representing both budget and financial reporting problems at the election board. He described the board’s internal controls as “sloppy.”

MD: Linda Lamone elections chief since 1997
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_8145/is_20040807/ai_n51378001

MO: Trust-us elections
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/article_0ef48e72-be15-5678-a727-af6d1b028631.html

http://is.gd/d1zJ6
…However, since the purchase of direct-record touch-screen voting machines (called DREs) in 2006, these efforts at making elections transparent — and election results thereby believable — have been nullified.

The Voting News Daily: No tangible record of the vote – DC overseas troops to email voted ‘ballots’

How do you recount electronic ballots? A Boone Co Kentucky Commissioner wants to a recount on the paperless E-Slate machines. To do this “recount”, the vendor would have to be involved and would charge $1,200 a day for each technician…House Action on Disclose Act (Campaign Finance) Bill Likely Thursday…Vendor Consolidation Continues: Dominion Acquires Sequoia..Are runoffs necessary?…Trading secret ballot for pin number? How do you do a recount or audit it: DC setting up email balloting system for with overseas troops votes…NSW Australia internet voting for disabled. Internet voting & email balloting remain insecure and non secret..

All this and more in today’s news below…

AL: Secretary of state: Not surprised by recount results
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=12685115
no change in results

CA: D.A. opens probe into claims of voter fraud in Montebello’s 2009 City Council election http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_15340009
The Public Integrity Division opened the case after receiving a complaint that alleged hundreds of people voted illegally, said Deputy District Attorney Dave Demerjian, the head of the division.

The complaint alleged people who don’t live in Montebello voted in the contentious November election. The big issue of the campaign was an exclusive, 15-year trash-hauling contract the city gave Athens Services.

CA: Allen lead narrows in 7th Assembly primary (mail ballots still being counted)
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100621/ARTICLES/100629900/1033?p=2&tc=pg
Votes are still being counted in Sonoma and Napa counties, which both tilted heavily for Allen on Election Day.

Napa election officials had about 13,000 ballots left to certify, a record number of mail-in ballots delivered to the polls…

IN: Online voter registration arrives July 1
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/article_c22488ed-314d-50e8-9209-1569d104209d.html Any Hoosier with a valid driver’s license or state identification card will be able to register or update an existing registration online at www.indianavoters.com starting July 1, according to Jim Gavin, communications director for Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita.

KY: Flaig seeks election records
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/C2/20100621/NEWS/6210363/-1/recorder/Flaig-seeks-election-records Attorneys for Boone County Commissioner Cathy Flaig want a judge to order the release or allow them to inspect certain records pertaining to voting machines and other materials.

Votes from the eSlate voting machines, which are primarily intended for use by voters with disabilities, haven’t been examined as part of the recount.

In order to recount the eSlate machines, Harp would need to be called. The company would charge $1,200 a day for each technician, according to Schrand’s June 4 order.

MA: Mass. Lawmakers Try To Offset Campaign Finance Change
http://www.wbur.org/2010/06/21/mass-campaign-finance

MD: ACLU, minority voters, challenge Crisfield election procedures
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100621/NEWS01/100621032/ACLU-minority-voters-challenge-Crisfield-election-procedures CRISFIELD — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland has requested an investigation into procedures during last week’s municipal election in this Somerset County town, citing alleged irregularities that include unlawful identification requirements of some voters, especially blacks.

ME: Ranked-choice voting raises new issues
http://www.pressherald.com/news/ranked-choice-voting-raises-new-issues_2010-06-22.html PORTLAND – The city’s Charter Commission supports a new system known as ranked-choice voting, or instant runoff voting, to ensure that Portland’s mayor is elected only with a majority of the popular vote.

There’s just one problem: the math.

MI: Overseas Vote Foundation Michigan Voter: It’s Time to Get Ready for Your Congressional Primaryhttp://p0.vresp.com/HGHtxz

The Voting News Daily: SC invisible ballots. Canadian E-vote firm buys Sequoia. ‘What IS my ballot, really?’

Invisible ballots – Voting Without A Net In South Carolina -Alvin Greene’s Controversial Senate Primary Upset Can’t Be Checked Against Records That Don’t Exist…On Heels of Diebold/Premier Purchase, Canadian E-Voting Firm Dominion Also Acquires Sequoia, Lies About Chavez-Ties in Announcement…A boost for Nassau’s fight to keep lever voting machines…Texas vote fraud problem centers on absentee ballots…In “Dude, What Is My Ballot, Really?” John Sebes compares traditional voting to internet based voting…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Picture 100 lawyers talking recount
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4231506
MONTGOMERY — In the curious world of politics, last week’s Republican gubernatorial primary vote recount brought high drama to Tim James and Dr. Robert Bentley supporters.

To the political party chairmen, the issue underscored weaknesses in state law.

To other party observers, fuzzy or essentially absent state law on primary recounts brought out other thoughts

CA: Riverside County Registrar Barbara Dunmore rebuts critics on tally delay
Dunmore: Volume of ballots that require hand tally growing, but her budget is not
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100620/NEWS0301/6200301/Registrar-rebuts-critics-on-tally-delay …The registrar’s office waited until about 5 p.m. the day after the June 8 primary to announce some 106,000 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots, representing about 44 percent of the vote, had yet to be counted.

Riverside County has six optical scanners, capable of counting 400 cards a minute, compared to 12 such scanners in neighboring San Bernardino County.

GA: New technology speeds up Lee County’s early voting
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/headlines/96772319.html?ref=319
Equipment purchased by the Lee Elections office simplifies paperwork required during the voting process. Carlton Fletcher, metro editor

KY: Two recounts, two different routes
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/nkypolitics/2010/06/19/two-recounts-two-different-routes/
The recounts conducted following the May 18 primaries in Boone and Campbell counties demonstrate a lack of consistency in the way the procedures may be conducted

NC: Counties spend significant sums on runoff elections
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/charlotte/627319/counties-spend-significant-sums-on-runoff-elections “One of the several things that the General Assembly is looking at is combining polling places,” Bartlett said.

NY: A boost for Nassau’s fight to keep lever voting machines
http://www.newsday.com/columnists/rick-brand/a-boost-for-nassau-s-fight-to-keep-lever-voting-machines-1.2037844
(also at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/electionreform/message/13665 )
New York’s old reliable lever voting machines, which lately seemed beyond life support, gasped new life last week.

That wheeze came in an arcane federal court ruling which, on the surface, dealt with jurisdictional issues, but it left the door ajar for Nassau County’s lawsuit to keep using 2,000 lever workhorses, employed without taint for a century.

SC: Voting Without A Net In South Carolina
Alvin Greene’s Controversial Senate Primary Upset Can’t Be Checked Against Records That Don’t Exist http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/rulesofthegame.php
…”There is no state more representative of the need for a verifiable standard for nationwide systems than South Carolina,” said Sean Flaherty, a policy analyst for the California-based advocacy group Verified Voting.

The brand of voting machine that South Carolina voters use — the ES&S iVotronic touch-screen machine — has proved particularly controversial. Election law blogger Brad Friedman has reported numerous instances of ES&S machines allegedly causing votes to disappear, to flip to the wrong candidate and to produce electronic results that didn’t match with paper trails.

SC: Mystery Candidate in S.C

The Voting News Daily: The Color of Money in elections. Alabama election computer accessed impropery?

The Color of Money – “If the best predictor about which candidate will prevail at the ballot box is which one has the biggest stash of cash, then American democracy has strayed far from its egalitarian ideal…The time has come to move toward public campaign financing at the Federal level, also, so as to prevent future amazement that a candidate like Alvin Greene had a chance to win because there was a more level playing field.” ~ VotingMatters…Alabama Officials Investigate Possible Improper Access, Tampering Into ES&S Voting System…Replacing Okla.’s 18-year-old voting machines eyed…Don’t blame the machines in SC?…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Alabama Officials Investigate Possible Improper Access, Tampering Into ES&S Voting System http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7904
More disturbing news for voters who are forced to rely on the historically dreadful ES&S electronic voting system, this time in Alabama

AL: Officials investigate possible voter fraud in Autauga County (election fraud, not voter impersonation)
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20100619/
NEWS01/6190334/Officials+investigate+possible+voter+
fraud+in+Autauga+County http://is.gd/cWXUU PRATTVILLE — District Attorney Randall Houston is investigating possible voting improprieties in Autauga County after someone allegedly gained improper access to the circuit clerk’s computer.

The computer that records absentee information sits beside Moncrief’s desk in his courthouse office. Access is double-password protected, and Moncrief said he hasn’t given his passwords to anyone. When the problem regarding the security of the system came to light about mid-week, he said that he changed both of his passwords.

CA: Elections looking a little old-fashioned (some counties switch to central counting votes) http://www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_5fde8c48-7b68-11df-9458-001cc4c002e0.html When registered voters in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties cast their ballots in the June 8 statewide primary election, they may have noticed a change.

The paper ballots were trucked from polling places across each county to the main elections center, where they were then fed into dozens of voting machines.

FL: Florida Republican Removed from Primary Ballot Because his Filing Fee Check was One Cent Too Low http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/06/19/florida-republican-removed-from-primary-ballot-because-his-filing-fee-check-was-one-cent-too-low/

GA: GALEO launches voter registration campaign
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=230201
ATLANTA – The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) has launched “a massive non-partisan voter mobilization campaign” to register 100,000 new voters in time for the General Election in November

KY: Judge-exec. says he will not resign
Regular meeting focuses on county’s business
http://glasgowdailytimes.com/local/x657336690/Judge-exec-says-he-will-not-resign
TOMPKINSVILLE — It was business as usual in Monroe Fiscal Court on Thursday in the first meeting after 10 residents, including the county judge, were indicted on vote-buying charges

Graves and his co-defendants, Wanda Moore and Gary Bartley, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green on June 23 for arraignment. The summons to appear in court for the fourth co-defendant in this case, Ronald Muse, was returned by the U.S. Marshal’s service and had not been served by June 14, according to federal court records. Each defendant has been charged with varying counts of voter fraud and conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

In another criminal case, six additional Monroe County residents were indicted on varied counts of voter fraud and conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

The Voting News Daily: South Carolina’s frail election system. VV best practices for overseas vote. India elections – PC or MAC?

VV Comments on Best Practices for Voting Systems Supporting Military and Overseas Voters…Bid to overturn South Carolina election is over. “The issues we raised about the lack of election integrity in South Carolina are real, and they are not going away unless people act. I assure you that I will continue to speak out about our frail and vulnerable election system in the months to come.”~ Judge Vic Rawl….They are still counting votes in California..Loopholes Grow in Bill to Offset Ruling on Campaigns..Mac or PC? Microsoft bids to run Gujarat India munis internet elections in Oct 2010…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Concerns Are Brewing About The Recount Between Tim James And Robert Bentley
http://www.whnt.com/news/politics/whnt-recount-james-bentley-061510,0,6730857.story
(recount is by machine)

CA: Want to know if your vote was counted? Check website
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100618/NEWS0301/6180305/1006/
 news01/Want+to+know+if+your+vote+was+counted?+Check+website
http://is.gd/cUMwD  Worried voters can check if their ballot was counted in the June 8 primary election at a county website. Voters can visit www.sos.ca.gov/ elections/ballot-status t

CA: UPDATE: Ballots still being counted in supervisor race for second place (10,000)
http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/266509-update-ballots-still-being-counted-in-supervisor-race-for-second-place  (Clara County)
It is estimated 10,000 ballots remain, 7,000 of which are provisional and the remaining are vote-by-mail that were dropped off at precincts June 8. Vote-by-mail ballots are scanned to verify the voter’s signature while provisional ballots require more thorough and stringent study

CA: 13,000 ballots still uncounted
http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/local/doc4c
 198419e95d9535799674.txt http://is.gd/cUMyb
The Napa County elections office is still counting about 13,600 ballots — or 42 percent of the votes cast in last Tuesday’s election — and is not expected to release official results until June 24…

“The large number of vote-by-mail ballots delivered after Friday, June 4, represents a greater percentage than usual,” Tuteur said, adding Napa County’s last-minute swell in votes is consistent with voting trends across the state.

CA: Tulare County absentee ballots done, but more votes to count
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100617/NEWS01/6170314

CA: Deluge of late absentee ballots, mail changes blamed for vote counting delay
http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/48736/  (Riverside County)

CA: Few Yoloans make use of early voting
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_15250070
…mail-in voting is well on its way to becoming the leading way of voicing one’s political opinion, with more than 40 percent of Yolo voters taking advantage of the system.

CT: Bysiewicz hears problems disabled face when voting
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bysiewicz-hears-problems-disabled-face-when-voting-527813.php

CT: SOTS Candidates Forum, Hartford Public Library
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3268

HI: Tax Dollars Paid For Djou’s Robo-Calls
Voter Offended By Telephone Survey
http://www.kitv.com/news/23928538/detail.html
Hawaii’s newest congressman, Republican Rep. Charles Djou, was elected in a special election after campaigning for restraint in spending government money. Now he has offended some voters, by using taxpayer money for automated telephone calls that some say sound like campaigning.

MN: PHOTO ID RAISES COSTS AND BURDENS TO SOLVE A VOTING PROBLEM MINNESOTA DOESN’T HAVE
http://www.ceimn.org/Minnesota_elections_photo_ID_voting_Pioneer_Press

NJ: 11,000 voters left spots blank on Trenton City Council ballot
http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/06/17/news/doc4c1af305e6d3f571075720.txt
“In order to ensure their person is elected, they may just bullet vote,” Sollami Covello said. “It is definitely a strategic way of voting if you want to ensure someone is elected in that top three. It happens in every election where you have more than one candidate.”

Verified Voting Blog: Best Practices for Voting Systems Supporting Military and Overseas Voters

Given the current focus on UOCAVA implementation, the NIST draft Information System Security Best Practices for UOCAVA-Supporting Systems (referred to here as the Draft) is a timely and important document. A summary of security standards and guidelines “deemed most applicable for jurisdictions using IT systems to support UOCAVA voting” is indeed necessary at a time when many states are moving forward with Internet based voting, too often with insufficient thought to the security implications of casting votes online. The Draft acknowledges the urgency of proper security:

“…security compromise could carry severe consequences for the integrity of the election, or the confidentiality of sensitive voter information. Failure to adequately address threats to these systems could prevent voters from casting ballots, expose individuals to identity fraud, or even compromise the results of an election.” [1. Draft NISTIR 7682, Executive Summary, page 1]

Unfortunately, the Draft falls short of providing the comprehensive analysis of security practices implied by the title. While the limitations and scope of topics are clearly laid out, the remaining gaps, particularly those related to online return of voted ballots, are too large and too important to ignore. Even with disclaimers, the Draft may encourage many in the target audience, the election officials and IT staff implementing UOCAVA voting [2. Draft NISTIR 7682, Executive Summary, page 2 – “The guidance in this publication will assist election officials in collaborating with system designers and administrators to define roles and establish processes that ensure the ongoing secure operation of the systems.”], to believe that the controls outlined in the Draft are adequate to address all types of online voting, including return of voted ballots via Email.

The Voting News Daily: SC primary results stand. Electronic voting the Cheat Box. NJ perfect election storm

South Carolina: Manning-churian Candidate? Alvin Greene nomination stands..Groups want Riverside officials to count the 12,563 absentee ballots that missed deadline…New Jersey faces a perfect storm – because they STILL haven’t enacted their 2005 paper ballot law…Electronic voting, aka “the cheat box” has been rejected by Netherlands, Ireland, German, Italy…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: 935 paper ballots cast in GOP gubernatorial primary missing *
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/935_paper_ballots_cast_in_gop.html
Davis said Wednesday that the inspector in Precinct 78, which is at Independent Methodist, turned in documentation from the primary election — tapes with vote totals and the cartridges inside the electronic voting machines — but did not include the paper ballots.

“Everything he understood that he was supposed to turn in, he turned in,” Davis said. “There is no indication of any kind of fraud or anything of any improper nature.”

Davis said that county election officials don’t know what happened to the ballots. He said that he has not talked to the inspector.

Davis said that the recount also turned up a problem at Precinct 55, which is in Hillcrest Baptist Church. That precinct showed an overvote of 112 , probably because one of machines broke down, Davis said.

When the polls were closed, the votes from that broken machine were fed into another machine. The cartridge from the broken machine was still counted during the primary, Davis said. Republican Party officials caught the overvote during the recount, he said.

AR: Stone County sheriff dead heat UPDATE *
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2010/06/14/stone-county-sheriff-dead-heat
The Stone County Election Commission met again Monday in a nearly-packed courtroom to discuss the continuing confusion about how to proceed after the recent Democratic runoff election ended in a tie. In the runoff, both candidates, Sheriff Todd Hudspeth and challenger Lance Bonds, received 1,383 votes. An initial recount declared Hudspeth the winner by 5 votes, but after the discovery of ballots that were not included in the runoff the total was corrected to reflect another tie.

CA: Protests planned because of uncounted RivCo election ballots
http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_
Local_D_vote17.266b36b.html http://is.gd/cTtsF
Activists, union and community officials in Riverside County said Wednesday they’ll fight to have electioneers count 12,563 ballots left at a post office and deemed ineligible.

CA: Registrar of Voters Defends Recent Election Problems
http://www.kpsplocal2.com/news/local/story/Registrar-of-Voters-Defends-Recent-Election/66RRFrsrSEuMxPv8hQ35kQ.cspx

CA: County Clerk/Registrar of Voters (CC/ROV) Memorandum #10180
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ccrov/pdf/2010/june/10180jh.pdf
The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) has brought to the Secretary
of State’s attention that some counties in California have been using the
incorrect fax number to send in their military address lookups to the FVAP.

ME: Charter group rethinks proposals (Portland)
http://www.pressherald.com/news/charter-group-rethinks-proposals_2010-06-17.html

ME: Recount set in Maine Senate primary
http://www.wgme.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.me/300bf7ed-www.wgme.com.shtml
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine election officials have ordered a recount of ballots in the state Senate District 1 Republican primary.

NM: State To Probe Ballot Box Opening
http://www.riograndesun.com/articles/2010/06/16/news/
doc4c19255c057c7066861030.txt http://is.gd/cTtqG
The Secretary of State’s Office plans to investigate whether Rio Arriba County Clerk Moises Morales broke the law earlier this month when he opened sealed ballot boxes with only his own staff in the room.

Verified Voting Blog: Voting results in New Jersey should not be mysterious

Last week in South Carolina, an unknown, unemployed veteran (recently indicted on felony obscenity charges) who did not even campaign, beat a well-financed political veteran in the Democratic Senate primary election. Even the White House called the results “mysterious.” Allegations have been made that South Carolina’s touch-screen computerized voting machines were hacked. It’s a possibility. Study after study has shown that computerized voting systems, like all computers, can be programmed to do what you want them to do — including steal votes. The hacking allegation is speculative. The truth is that we don’t know whether anyone tampered with the voting machines in South Carolina. And that is the problem. Why is this relevant to New Jersey voters? The answer is simple: It can happen here, too. We know that the 11,000 Sequoia Advantage DRE computerized voting machines used in all but three counties in New Jersey can be hacked. Princeton University computer science department chairman Andrew Appel and an international team of computer security experts spent the summer of 2008 examining the Sequoia DREs. They produced a comprehensive report documenting the many ways in which they are vulnerable.

The Voting News Daily: The scramble to save SC election data. Paper, Please! GAO clears ACORN

Verified Voting Calls for Recountable, Auditable Voting Systems Following South Carolina Primary…SC Progressive Network scrambles to preserve voting machine records..Lawmaker: Don’t blame Greene…From the “making things worse” dept: Riverside County CA Sup’s odd “solution” to county’s problem in processing absentee ballots on time? Bring back touchscreen voting machines…Reports of absentee mail ballot fraud in New Jersey and Texas…The irony of the DISCLOSE Act…

All this and more in today’s voting news below…

AL: Bentley disputing primary recount methods
http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/news/2010/jun/15/bentley-disputing-primary-recount-methods/ “Any discrepancies between the total number of votes cast in the recount and cast on election night need to be fully explained and understood and must not include hand counted undervotes or it will be impossible to have any confidence in the accuracy of the recount,” Sanders added.

CA: Delayed vote results prompts probe (touchscreens to speed up absentee count?)
http://www.pe.com/politics/gang/stories/PE_News_Local_D_vote16.2263e3e.html
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Delay in vote count leads to inquiry into last week’s election.
But Supervisor Bob Buster said state lawmakers should be pressuring Secretary of State Debra Bowen for the renewed use of touch-screen voting machines. The electronic machines generally are quicker at tallying results.

MI: Editorial: Election errors in Allegan County are unacceptable
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/editorial_election_problems_in.html But local election officials failed to deliver a reliable result. This is the second close election in Allegan in the last two years where a fair recount could not occur because basic protocols were neglected.

NJ: Informant aided vote-fraud case against Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small, report says http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/article_5fcff138-78f7-11df-9dc5-001cc4c03286.html
Edward Colon Jr., assigned by the campaign to collect messenger absentee ballots from the city’s Hispanic community, recorded telephone conversations and secretly videotaped discussions with the councilman and other campaign workers, the report says.

NY: Worries About E-Voting Persist As Primary Looms
http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4059/worries-about-e-voting-persist-as-primary-looms Twenty counties have raised concerns about the shift from lever machines to electronic voting devices, which the state is belatedly supposed to make for the upcoming statewide primary.

In New York City, however, the major concern is that changing the machines properly is going to be too expensive for the Board of Elections to afford amid budget cuts.

NY: Hispanic apparent winner in unusual NY election
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuYztkfrDc_f76DaA40jU-IXWS9AD9GC6DQO0 PORT CHESTER, N.Y. — An unusual election in a New York City suburb, in which voters could cast six ballots for one candidate, apparently resulted Wednesday in the first Hispanic elected to the village Board of Trustees.

OH: Former elections board director cleared of wrong doing
http://putnamsentinel.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=7187
“Once again, I am a victim of a reckless accusation,” said Price on June 14. “Once again, the investigation was conducted and once again, I was totally exonerated. How much should one person have to put up with? This is getting ridiculous.

SC: Verified Voting On the South Carolina Primary
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2010/06/15/638 Whether specific reports of irregularities in this election are confirmed, the most important fact about South Carolina’s voting system is that most ballots cannot be effectively audited or recounted. Serious concerns about the integrity of the primary (and of other elections conducted using the same technology) are inevitable, and legitimate.

Verified Voting Blog: On the South Carolina Primary – A call for recountable, auditable voting systems

Last week’s surprising outcome in a party primary in South Carolina for United States Senate was accompanied by anecdotal reports of voting problems on election day, and many questions about the accuracy of the vote count. Whether specific reports of irregularities in this election are confirmed, the most important fact about South Carolina’s voting system is that most ballots cannot be effectively audited or recounted. Serious concerns about the integrity of the primary (and of other elections conducted using the same technology) are inevitable, and legitimate. South Carolina uses paperless touch-screen electronic voting machines for all but absentee voting, which is done using paper ballots. Thus for the vast majority of votes, voters cannot check to be sure their votes were recorded as intended, and election officials cannot conduct legitimate recounts or audits to prove that the machines were counting the votes correctly. When there is no reliable hard-copy record of the voters’ intent to fall back on, election officials, candidates and the public are at the mercy of the counting software, which may or may not function correctly.   Absent a “do-over” election using a system that can be recounted or audited, there is simply no way to know if the outcome was correct. In our 2008 joint report report “Is America Ready to Vote,” Common Cause, Verified Voting, and the Brennan Center for Justice rated South Carolina inadequate for failing to offer the basics of a verified election: an auditable system, and manual audits of the system to check electronic counts.

The Voting News Daily: SC: Greene voters blues.1000s of CA mail ballots dont count. HAVAs real scandal

A Greene voter admits: “I had just never heard of either of these guys and it never occurred to me that anything like this could happen or my vote and that…our votes would contribute to South Carolina being the butt of a joke again..”..Thousands of California mail ballots too late: Riverside Co.-20,000, Sacramento- 2,053, El Dorado -750, Yolo- 408, Napa- 125, LA – 653…Iowa mispent $575K of HAVA funds.”But the real scandal was the money that was ‘properly’ spent on touchscreen voting machines that have since been scrapped.” says Jerry Depew, IowaVoters..”..the rush to adopt paperless, non-auditable electronic voting machines has subverted trust in the process and outcome of elections.” ~Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Network World

All this and more in todays voting news below…

Editor’s Note: Voting News Voting is now on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VotingNews and Twitter at http://twitter.com/VotingNews

AL: Recount, runoff cause controversy
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20100614/NEWS/100619921/1017/NEWS
MONTGOMERY — A recount of the June 1 Republican gubernatorial primary will begin in Etowah County and in other counties today but the recount and a July 13 GOP runoff are mired in controversy by the parties involved.

James’ campaign spokesman Brett Hall said the campaign is sending checks to all 67 counties to cover the expense of a recount, estimated to be about $200,000.

CA: Thousands of mailed ballots too late to be counted in California *
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/15/2822821/thousands-of-vote-by-mail-ballots.html
(Late by county breakdown)

CA: Verifying vote-by-mail ballots is vital but time-consuming
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100615/OPINION02/6140335/Verifying-vote-by-mail-ballots-is-vital-but-time-consuming As of Friday, more than 50 of the state’s 58 county elections offices had more than 1 million ballots combined still to verify

CA: More mail-in votes counted, election results largely unchanged
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15296026?nclick_check=1
Santa Cruz. At least 11,000 ballots still need to be counted, County Clerk Gail Pellerin reported Monday. The county has until July 6 to report official results, and elections officials don’t expect to update the tally until closer to that deadline.

CA: Miscommunication with post office cited for 12,500 late ballots *
http://www.pe.com/politics/gang/stories/PE_News_Local_D
_ballots15.246469b.html http://is.gd/cQNzh
A miscommunication between Riverside County and the U.S. Postal Service may have led to as many as 12,500 ballots arriving too late to be legally counted, officials said Monday.

CA: In our opinion – Bring back the polls
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_15300744 If anyone needed any more proof that mail-in balloting is not needed or wanted in Mendocino County, check the numbers.
Some 10,559 voters who no longer have a polling place to go to actually took their mail-in ballots and dropped them at a polling place on Election Day.
That’s over half (55.5 percent) of the mail-in ballots used in this election

CA: Stanislaus County clerk reviews ballots
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/14/2822933/stanislaus-county-clerk-reviews.html
It’s also reviewing about 1,900 provisional, military, damaged and absentee ballots. It’s unlikely that the tallies will sway any races

CA: Count continues
http://www.record-bee.com/ci_15298009
LAKE COUNTY — The registrar of voters said there’s no “funny business” going on and it’s normal to have unprocessed votes after Election Day, in this case 3,766 votes, including provisional ballots.

The Registrar of Voters Office is continuing to count 3,081 vote-by-mail ballots turned in at the polls and office or received in the mail on Election Day or the day before, Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said.