The Voting News Daily

The Voting News Daily: Perry Co KY vote flipping. Epstein:”What happens when there’s no recount possible?”

Perry Co KY candidates report voting machine probs: voters would push button & wrong name lit up..John Sebes of TrustTheVote.org on flakey voting machines: “North Carolina Voting Machines Lessons Learned,Part Two” (not just NC)…Expert Jeremy Epstein on Virginia’s paperless voting: “What happens when there’s no recount possible?”…Veterans Day & the MOVE Act…Audio reveals Afghan election fraud…Election night probs for 33 Canadian munis using internet voting..Think internet voting is a good idea? See video of V for Vendetta Hacker hits WSU…

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

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AK: Judge Denies Joe Miller’s Request to Halt Write-In Ballot Counting
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/11/judge-denies-joe-millers-request-to-halt-write-in-ballot-counting.html

AK: The Election that Won’t End
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/11/election-wont-end
Alaska officials had anticipated three days of counting
ballots, but now they say they’ll be tallying write-in votes through the end of
next week. Welcome to Alaska elections.

Officials hope to finish counting all the votes cast at
precincts on Election Day by Sunday afternoon. But then they’ll start counting
15,000 early votes, more than 30,000 absentee votes and over 10,000 challenge
ballots. They won’t certify this election until after Thanksgiving.

CA: RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Officials pledge accurate final vote count
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_vote11.46daf35.html

CA: Quan is mayor-elect, Perata considers lawsuit
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail?entry_id=76832

CA: Garcia: Ranked-choice voting an undemocratic nightmare (opinion)
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/columns/ken_garcia/Ranked-choice-voting-an-undemocratic-nightmare-107126493.html

CA: More than a week after the election, San Leandro has a mayor: Stephen Cassidy
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16578745?nclick_check=1

FL: Supervisor of Elections finds box of 500 uncounted absentee ballots*
Discovery could skew School Board, Lake Worth Commission, Riviera Beach marina votes
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-11-10/news/fl-palm-ballots-found-20101110_1_ballots-local-races-results

In a county known for hanging chads, slow recounts and chaotic elections, the marathon recount for the Palm Beach County School Board District 6 seat has started to carve its own place in history.

KY: Candidate says voting machines may have been tampered with* (Shouptronic 1242)
http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/Candidate_says_voting_machines_may_have
_been_tampered_with_107074553.html http://tinyurl.com/25fct95 Perry County. However, on Monday, he says several candidates who lost their races came to his office and told him some voting machines may have been rigged.

“That the light would light up for a different candidate, or they would have to push a button several times for the candidate they wanted to vote for, the light would shine up beside of that,” said David Sandlin, Perry County PVA candidate.

MD: Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint in Maryland robocall case seeks $168 million penalty http://politicalactivitylaw.com/2010/11/11/telephone-consumer-protection-act-complaint-in-maryland-robocall-case-seeks-168-million-penalty/
“The conduct that occurred here was an attempt to suppress voter turnout,”

NC: North Carolina Voting Machines Lessons Learned, Part Two
http://www.trustthevote.org/north-carolina-voting-machines-lessons-learned-part-two
When I say “flakey voting machine” I simply mean that the machine in question is prone to mis-behavior that leaves the voter with low confidence that their votes were recorded correctly.
…
“This is not your typical iPhone running an award-winning iPhone app…but rather a somewhat hastily-assembled system created about 8 years ago to cheaply and quickly get to market to be the first to soak up HAVA funding.”

NC: On Veterans Day, thanking N Carolina State Board of Elections for helping troops vote http://ncvoters.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-veterans-day-thanking-n-carolina_11.html

NY: Suffolk elections workers review ballots
http://riverheadlocal.com/local-news-content/1093-suffolk-elections-workers-review-ballots

The Voting News Daily: Fairfax ‘should junk electronic voting machines’. NY Election night-mare

Miller campaign challenges mis-spelled write in votes for Murkowski in Alaska election…IL Appeals court rejects Barrow’s redo effort of ’09 mayoral election…Philadelphia voter forced to swear on Bible before casting vote…Junk the paperless machines: Computer scientist Jeremy Epstein describes his day as a poll worker in Fairfax,VA. “..one of the touch screen machines was crashing all day…If I had a laptop that crashed three or four times in one day, I’d get a new one.” Touchscreen machines failed to record 800 ballots & some precincts had more votes than voters…

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

AK: Miller Cites ‘Bush v. Gore’ in Arguments‎
http://www.frumforum.com/miller-cites-bush-v-gore-in-arguments
The Miller campaign says that write-in votes for Lisa Murkowski that misspell “Murkowski” should be called “protest votes” and hence disregarded. ..

AK: In early write-in counting news, Miller team challenging about 10% of vote for minor misspellings http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017914.html

AK: State regulation does allow misspelled names on some ballots
http://newsminer.com/pages/full_story/push?blog-entry-State+regulation+does+allow+misspelled+names
+on+some+ballots%20&id=10223786&instance=blogs_editors_desk
http://tinyurl.com/3yatkjr Joe Miller probably chose federal court instead of state court for his lawsuit about the validity of misspelled write-in ballots because of concerns that he would lose in the Alaska Supreme Court.

AK: Ballot counting begins in Alaska Senate races
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111004751.html?hpid=topnews Election officials were set to begin poring over more than 92,500 write-in ballots in the Alaska Senate race on Wednesday.

AR: Election recount yields same results
http://www.bentoncourier.com/content/view/237169/1/

AZ: State, county lawyers warn of chaos in provisional ballot count
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/politics/article_26c3d804-ec89-11df-b211-001cc4c002e0.html She said there were about 84,000 provisional ballots cast. Brennan said, though, nothing on any of the ballots identifies why they were set aside, whether due to being unregistered or some other reason like voter ID at the polls.

CA: ELECTION UPDATE: About 5,000 vote-by-mail ballots remain uncounted in Orinda
http://www.ibabuzz.com/lamorindasun/2010/11/09/election-update-about-5000-vote-by-mail-ballots-remain-uncounted-in-orinda/

CA: County vote still untallied, but vote by mail is out front
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_16571650 (Solano County)
With a few hundred damaged ballots and nearly 4,900 provisional ballots still needing to be counted, the turn-out for last Tuesday’s election now stands at 58.74 percent.

CA: It’s Wednesday … do you know who your next Oakland mayor is?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/inoakland/detail?entry_id=76754

CA: Election Day Gone Wrong (Humboldt State U)
http://www.thejackonline.org/mobile/news/election-day-gone-wrong-1.2399800
But, some students could not vote on election day. Errors ranged from students not knowing where their polling places were to mail-in ballots and registration forms not turned in on time.

CA: Riverside County, CA’s Oft-Failed Registrar Barbara Dunmore Finally Succeeds At Getting Fired http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8189

CO: Eagle County clerk working overtime to hand count ballots in sheriff’s race, disputed House contest http://www.realvail.com/article/251/Eagle-County-clerk-working-overtime-to-hand-count-ballots-in-sheriffs-race-disputed-House-contest Military overseas ballots and ballots with corrected signature discrepancies continue to trickle in to the Eagle County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, with the sheriff’s race between Republican incumbent Joe Hoy and independent challenger James Van Beek unlikely to be decided until late next week.

CT: Courant Editorial: “State Must Review Ballot Blunders” – We agree and disagree
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/hartford-courant-editorial-state-must-review-ballot-blunders/
We note that there are two registrars in Bridgeport, elected to use their two eyes and two brains to represent opposing interests toward voting integrity and access.

The Voting News Daily: Spokane must duplicate 30,000 mail ballots. Some elections still too close to call

More bad ideas for Connecticut elections…Rep Tim Bishop wants hand count of 184,000 Long Island 1st dist ballots after vote swing. 10,000 absentee ballots uncounted…Was Stark CO, OH student’s video report of touchscreen vote-flipping just an isolated incident? Brad Friedman reports…Spokane WA officials busy duplicating 30,000 ballots that were damaged, poorly marked or unreadable…Dust Settles on Election Results, But Not Voting System Troubles..4 electronic voting machines smashed in India election violence…Update On Deadlocked Races…

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

US. Too Close To Call: Update On Deadlocked Races
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/11/too-close-to-ca-2.php

AK: Absentee vote count today
http://www.adn.com/2010/11/08/1543964/absentee-vote-count-today.html
Joe Miller hopes to make a comeback in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race when the Division of Elections today starts counting more than 30,500 absentee ballots.
…
The vast majority of the 83,201 write-ins are expected to be for incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The Division of Elections on Wednesday in Juneau will start the process of opening the write-in ballots to see how many of them actually have Murkowski’s name.

CA: Latest absentee ballot counts still show tight races* (damaged mail ballots)
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Latest-absentee-ballot-counts-still-show-tight/BJ128lqc_0mwN8_1w8373g.cspx
For the 20th congressional district, Andy Vidak is leading Jim Costa with 145 votes, but tens of thousands of ballots still need to be counted in Fresno County.

Here in Kern County, elections employees are now focusing their efforts on duplicating more than 5,000 ballots damaged in the mail.

CA: Some San Luis Obispo County ballots still need tallying
Votes in close SLO and Morro Bay mayoral races among those to be counted this week
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/11/08/1361976/some-san-luis-obispo-county-ballots.html

CA: Riverside County Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore fired after delayed vote counts http://www.mydesert.com/article/20101109/NEWS03/101109036/Registrar-fired-after-delayed-votes

CA: Oakland ranked ballot: Least-hated tops most-liked
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/BA3K1G91HH.DTL
In an election where second- and third-place count, you are far, far better off being the least-hated candidate than the most popular.

CA: COUNTY REGISTRAR VIOLATED AGREEMENT WITH CITIES ON RANKED CHOICE VOTING http://www.sanleandrobytes.com/archives/012441.html
When the Alameda County Registrar of Voters ran the ranked choice algorithm on November 5, 2010, it violated a Memorandum of Understanding it agreed to with the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro.

CA: Confusion about Oakland’s voting system may have affected election results
http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/confusion-about-oakland-s-voting-system-may-have-affected-election-results-6491

CO: Clerks to hand count undervotes in House District 61
http://www.realaspen.com/article/294/Clerks-to-hand-count-undervotes-in-Colorado-House-District-61
Judge James Madden ordered the clerks in the district to count any ballots that the voter wrote unaffiliated incumbent Kathleen Curry’s name on the line for that race regardless of whether the oval or box next to it was marked. Curry currently trails Roger Wilson of Missouri Heights by 495 votes. There are 2,001 undervotes in the race, opening the door for her to theoretically make up the difference
…
Harvie Branscomb, co-chair of the Democrats in Eagle County, maintains Judge Madden’s ruling is unfair because it is limited to a hand count of the undervotes, and not of the entire HD61 election.

CT: Bridgeport Fiasco Proves We Need To Change Our Voting System
http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/featured-news/bridgeport-fiasco-proves-we-need-to-change-our-voting-system-034113 (suggests everything expect print enough ballots)

IL: GOP Poll Watcher Wears U.S. Immigration Agency Hat at Hispanic Polling Place in IL on Election Day http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8186

The Voting News Daily: OH student records Vote flipping on iPhone. Paper vs. Plastic Voting in Houston

California STILL counting absentee ballots..CT,NM, NY having post election audits…Young, Russo file complaint to end electronic voting in Rhode Island…Dan Wallach describes voting experience & struggle to get paper ballot in Houston TX..Parties scramble as recounts loom in several House races..Congrats to Princeton Prof Ed Felton,e-voting expert for appointment as Chief Technologist of the FTC..

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

US: Parties dispatch staff, money in battle for last 10 House seats
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/128257-parties-scramble-as-recounts-loom-in-several-house-races

AR: ‘Success’ Looks Rough
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/nov/06/success-looks-rough-20101106/
“Election Commission Chairman Bill Williams said final, unofficial results were compiled at 1:54 a.m. Wednesday and posted on the Benton County web site by 2:30 a.m. Despite the technical difficulties and complaints about paper ballots being unavailable at some polling places, Williams regarded the election a success.”
…
Next election, go out and hire some six-toed sloths to help with the counting.
Sloths would give the election commission extra toes to count on and probably move faster.
Thursday’s report detailed, “ … Internal clock errors, sticky rolls of printer paper and a cutback on paper ballots added up to long lines for some Benton County voters Tuesday …”

AR: HOW WE SEE IT: Vote Count No Disaster, But …*
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/nov/07/how-we-see-it-vote-count-no-disaster-20101107/ Benton County.. Williams told us people are not entitled to paper ballots.

However, there are those who prefer paper because they don’t trust the machines. Those people deserve the peace of mind the paper ballot provides them. There’s no excuse for failing to provide paper ballots. The commission also had problems with the machines because their internal clocks were on standard time, not Daylight Saving Time, which forced officials to bring numerous machines back to the commission offices to be closed and processed. If the clocks caused problems for any other county, we’re not aware; how did it happen here? Lastly, the commission did not have final totals for the night until 2 a.m.

AR: Pettus paying $2,500 for recount
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/nov/07/pettus-paying-2500-recount/?latest
Martin received 10,326 votes to Pettus’ 5,120 votes, but talk of voting problems in Russellville spurred Pettus supporters to donate the money for a Monday recount, he said.

AZ: Hispanic civil rights group seeks to force provisional ballot count
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/politics/article_e712b39a-e960-11df-afa8-001cc4c03286.html …And the reason they didn’t show up on the rolls is that they didn’t get registered because they didn’t provide proof of U.S. citizenship as required by a 2004 voter-approved Arizona law.
On Oct. 26, though, the appellate court declared that requirement invalid. Based on that, MALDEF attorney Nina Perales said those who were wrongfully denied registration should have their votes counted.

CA: 2 California congressional races remain close
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/08/politics/p145541S01.DTL&type=politics

CA: Registrar On Hot Seat Over Smudged Ballot Delay
http://losaltos.patch.com/articles/registrar-on-hot-seat-over-smudged-ballot-delay
As vote counting drags on, Supervisor Liz Kniss calls for an investigation into the response to defective absentee ballots

CA: California Attorney General
http://www.ksro.com/LocalNews/Story.aspx?ID=1308297
It could be weeks before we know who won the race for California Attorney General.
…
Around the state, local elections officials are still counting vote by mail, provisional and other ballots. They have until November 30th to report their final results.

The Voting News Daily: CA has 1 M uncounted mail ballots. AK to hand count write ins. CT gets bad advice

Alaska to hand count 83,000 write-in votes…CA still has est 1-1.4 Million mail ballots to count….Newspaper-Listening to voting vendor, suggests unsafe sophisticated voting system to Connecticut…ES&S apologizes to Alabama probate judges for problems arising when ES&S sent pencils instead of pens to polling places…Georgia’s Tammy Adkins Becomes the New Alvin Greene…Mississippi’s dis-functional elections…Hand recount called in a NY Assembly Seat..Recount sought in Texas 27th CD-can it be done?

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

AL: Marking pens to return for future elections in Etowah County*
http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20101106/NEWS/101109833/1016/NEWS?Title=Marking-pens-to-return-for-future-elections-in-Etowah-County
Voters who didn’t like using pencils to mark their ballots Tuesday will be pleased to know pens will return for the 2012 elections, according to Etowah County Probate Judge Bobby Junkins.

Junkins said Friday that Election Systems and Software, the election supplies vendor, included pencils in supply packets because of a shortage of pens.
…
Junkins said the pencils were not “as sensitive” as the pens and that resulted in more spoiled ballots. Some machines also rejected the pencil-marked ballots and voters had to remark their ballots, which took time.
[some states that have ES&S optical scanners mark ballots with black Bic stick pens which cost under $4.00 a dozen]

AK: Murkowski account to help pay for vote count
http://www.adn.com/2010/11/05/1538424/murkowski-says-colleagues-in-both.html
The legal fight will shift next week to Juneau, where more than 83,000 write-in ballots — most, presumably, for Murkowski — must be counted by hand. The write-in vote total is ahead of Miller’s by 13,439 votes. More than 37,800 absentee, early and questioned ballots remain to be counted as well, beginning Tuesday.

AK: “GOP’S MILLER SAYS SPELLING SHOULD COUNT IN ALASKA VOTE“
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017861.html However, the WSJ article writes that “On Friday, [Division of Elections Director] Ms. Fenumiai pointed to two previous Alaska cases in which ballots were counted for a candidate when voter intent was clear, even if the ballot wasn’t filled out correctly.”

AZ: Changes needed so early voting works properly
http://www.yumasun.com/opinion/early-65251-ballots-election.html
Far too many voters, both here in Yuma County and throughout the state, are not returning their early ballots early, as intended. Instead, they turn them in at the polling places on Election Day.

That is a big problem because they have to be counted separately and it can delay final results for days.

CA: Elections officials: Ballot-counting takes time
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x2086921025/Elections-officials-Ballot-counting-takes-time
As of Friday, 1.9 million ballots remained to be counted in California, including more than 1.4 million vote-by-mail ballots and another 451,056 provisional ballots.

CA: Cooley’s lead in attorney general widens Sunday
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/11/cooleys-lead-in-attorney-general-race-appears-to-widen-sunday.html The lead in the attorney general’s race has see-sawed between the two candidates since election night, and with considerably more than 1 million ballots remaining to count, could easily reverse again.

CA: Registrar: Mail-in ballots counted (Riverside County)
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20101107/NEWS0301/11070347/Registrar-Mail-in-ballots-counted 2,000 damaged, 28,800 provisional ballots remain

Nearly 2,000 ballots that were damaged had to be duplicated and were expected to be counted by early today.

CA: Voters complain about vote-by-mail ballots* (absentee by mail)
http://www.ksby.com/news/voters-complain-about-vote-by-mail-ballots/
One Oceano voter said she showed up to cast her ballot yesterday, only to be told she was registered to vote by mail instead of at the polls.

The Voting News Daily: Widespread Diebold failure in Utah Co UT. Columbia CO NY orders full hand count

Update on Still-Undecided ‘Top-of-Ticket’ Races…They had ballot shortages: Auburn Lake Trails, CA & Ellsworth village,WA insufficient paper ballots created lines & long waits.. MN Recount to start Nov. 29 & end Dec. 14..Columbia County New York began a full hand count of ballots yesterday. Election Commissioner Virginia Martin wants independent check against machine tally…ES&S sofware failures in Sumter SC were blamed on “human error” but no evidence cited. On Tuesday ALL Diebold touch-screen voting machines across Utah County, Utah failed. There were no paper ballots so no voters couldn’t vote until officials got the machines working…

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

AZ: Law broken when voters went unidentified
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/state/law-broken-when-voters-went-unidentified

CA: Lack of ballots, power outage present unique Election Night*
http://auburnjournal.com/detail/164128.html (El Dorado County)
Residents of the Auburn Lake Trails subdivision in Cool weathered hours of waiting and a power outage in order to vote Tuesday night.
…
Liz Hanley, a Gold Country Media employee who lives in the area, said she returned to the polls at 7:45 p.m. to see if the ballots had been delivered, but wasn’t able to vote until 9:15 p.m.

CA: Registrar defends speed of vote tally (Riverside)
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20101105/NEWS0301/11050316/Registrar-defends-speed-of-vote-tally “Would I like to not be in last place? Definitely,” Dunmore told The Desert Sun on Thursday. “But the most important thing to me is that the votes we counted are accurate, and that the integrity of the election is maintained.”

CA: Harmer Sues Over Vote Counting in CA-11
http://calitics.com/diary/12820/harmer-sues-over-vote-counting-in-ca11
Now Harmer has filed a lawsuit against the Contra Costa County election officials claiming the right to challenge the signatures on absentee ballots, even as those voters are not present to respond.

CA: Stolen ballots recovered; update on supervisor, school board races
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=76376
The 75 San Francisco ballots allegedly stolen on Election Day Tuesday by a poll worker in the Excelsior District were recovered across town Thursday in the pond at the Palace of Fine Arts. “They’re very soggy,” said city elections chief John Arntz.
…
Still missing is the memory pack that electronically records the votes. The elections worker suspected of taking off with the ballots and memory pack, Karl Bradfield Nicholas, 50, of San Francisco, faces felony counts of burglary and two election code violations.

CT: Cops Hand-Deliver Bungled Tally
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/foley_lets_just_take_our_time/ Cops drove from Bridgeport to Hartford Friday afternoon to deliver hard-copy results from a vote count that kept getting revised up until the last minute—and that purports to give Dan Malloy the margin of victory to become Connecticut’s first Democratic governor elected since 1986.

CT: Bungled To The End, Tally Goes To Malloy
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/malloy_wins_bridgeport_–_state/
An all-night recount in Bridgeport gave Democrat Dan Malloy a 13.000-vote lead in Bridgeport in the election for governor and 5,000 statewide—enough to give him the job. Yet even after an “official” announcement Friday morning, voting registrars were still making adjustments to the tally.

CT: ‘Found’ Bag Of 335 Ballots Opened, Counted
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/itll_be_officialany_minute_now/

FL: Voting glitches like St. Lucie’s miscount not uncommon, expert says*
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/nov/04/voting-glitches-like-st-lucies-miscount-not-says/

The Voting News Daily: CA,CO mail ballot holdup. CT ballot fiasco. AR, PA voting machine fails. MN recount?

Alameda Cnty CA has 122, 000 ballots to count. Other CA counties still counting mail ballots…Weld, & Arapahoe Cnty CO still processing mail ballots…Bridgeport CT ballot shortage fiasco leaves gov race un-decided…Reduction of polling places in Paulding, GA & Collins TX caused long lines &, long waits for voters…More vote flipping in NC, PA…Sumter SC touchscreens shutdown…MN braces for potential recount, other state’s races undecided…US College students still routinely disenfranchised… Canadians frustrated with slow Internet voting system…

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

Minnesota braces for potential recount, other races undecided
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101104/el_yblog_upshot/minnesota-braces-for-potential-recount-other-races-undecided Below we run through the Senate, gubernatorial and House races that remain undecided…

AR: Computer glitch skews Baxter County election count; tally corrected*
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20101104/NEWS01/11040326
the processing error occurred in data stored on an electronic media or “flash” card as it fed data to a computer that tabulates and displays vote totals on a spreadsheet.

Consultants from Election Systems & Software Inc., an election management firm, and technician Tammy Johnson with the Arkansas Department of Information Systems, attending Tuesday night’s election, found a file on the problem flash card apparently from a previous election. The card was used to download the record of voting on an I-Vote machine in the Gassville Community Center polling place.

The glitch caused a portion of the vote from precinct 10-3, including 110 known votes from voter machine taped records, to be displayed as 7,006 votes. The error was spread through the computer grid, creating the appearance of an election with 21,462 votes cast and an erroneous voter turnout of 72.1 percent.

AR: Computer Woes Stall Vote Tallies*(uploading votes,files corrupted,printer probs)
http://www.swtimes.com/news/article_8d0871c6-e81d-11df-9c3a-001cc4c002e0.html
Officials in Sebastian County weren’t able to begin county votes until about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Jerry Huff, county election coordinator. A final report of unofficial results ran shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.
…
(Sebastian County, uses M100 & iVotronic) But when election officials began to input absentee and early voting ballots, the computers failed to calculate them.
With technical support from Election Systems & Software, the county’s election software/hardware vendor, it was determined several files were corrupted when data was installed on the computers in Fort Smith and Greenwood used to count the ballots, Huff said.
The databases then had to be rebuilt and re-installed on the Fort Smith and Greenwood computers.
…
(ES&S iVotronic) Crawford County Clerk Teresa Armer said software issues were also responsible for delaying election results there.
As officials were counting votes Tuesday night, they discovered discrepancies among the voter list, tally sheet and printouts from the personal electronic ballots (PEB) – all of which should match – for some precincts, Armer said.
Armer said the election commission initially intended to pull “flash cards” from the machines in precincts with discrepancies, but when they convened Wednesday morning, they decided to pull and collect the flash card from each of the 110 voting machines in the county.
…
(ES&S iVotronic) Franklin County Clerk Sharon Needham said the vote count there was delayed by printers malfunctioning on a handful of voting machines and a hardware or software problem with the computer used to tabulate vote totals.

The Voting News Daily: Electronic voting, election problems pour in. MN may see another statewide recount

Why didn’t Bridgeport CT order enough ballots?…Hennepin Co MN reporting error showed 880,000 votes cast instead of 470,470..MN Governor’s Race Likely Headed For A Recount…Nassau County (NY) Suing To Get Old Voting Machines Back..Paper vs. Electronic Voting in Today’s Election in Houston…Google Glitch May Have Sent 700000 People to the Wrong Poll..Colbert Goes ‘Inside’ The U.S. E-Voting Problem…Key Post-Election Disputes in the States..

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

Readers – expect more reports to come in this week and next, its not over on election day.

Hotspots: Key Post-Election Disputes in the States
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/11/03/hotspots-key-post-election-disputes-in-the-states/

AL: Election officials make sure every vote is counted despite ballot issues*
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=13429628
Madison County Probate Judge Tommy Ragland says they’ve had reports of bad ballots in eight of 74 precincts today. Ragland says there are several reasons some of the ballots are not being read. One is printing.

Poll workers say some ballots are being cut off on the very bottom of the page, which means voting machines aren’t counting the votes like they should.

AR: Glitch in Gassville delays ballot counting*
http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20101102/UPDATES01/101102028
/1002/NEWS01/Glitch+in+Gassville+delays+ballot+counting http://tinyurl.com/23vraa2
Two precincts in Gassville have not reported in the 2010 election. Officials blame the delay on the voting

AZ: 35,000-plus ballots may still need counting* (absentee ballots)
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_27034224-27c7-520d-8e5d-99fe78296ecd.html Pima County will be waiting until at least late today – and possibly until Saturday – to find out the winners of some closely contested races because more than 35,000 ballots could remain uncounted as of this morning.
…
County Elections Director Brad Nelson said one in four ballots cast Tuesday were early ballots hand-delivered to the polls. Because the Pima County recorder must verify signatures, those votes can’t be counted on Election Day.
The county hopes to have early ballots counted by Friday.

CA: Calif. poll worker arrested for stealing ballots*
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/03/state/n100331D65.DTL&type=newsbayarea
San Francisco police arrested a polling inspector Wednesday on suspicion of stealing up to 75 ballots, a voting roster and other election material in a bizarre Election Day heist.
…
Nicholas was in charge of a polling site in the city’s southern most district when he inexplicably made off Tuesday afternoon with the ballots, a memory pack that records information from the ballots, the voter roster and another poll worker’s cell phone, said John Arntz, San Francisco’s director of elections.

CA: Repeat of slow ballot count raises ire*(49,300 absentee ballots)
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_webpoll.a209aa.html
Elections officials finished counting the ballots cast in person on Tuesday at 11:20 a.m. today. There are still about 49,300 vote-by-mail ballots to count. That will be done by Saturday, officials reported on the registrar’s website.

Also, an additional 28,800 provisional ballots must still be counted.

CA: Watchdog: LA voters told to vote after election*
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_16502648
LOS ANGELES—About two dozen Los Angeles residents received Spanish-language robocalls and mailers instructing them to vote a day after Election Day, a polling watchdog group said Tuesday.
Election Protection said the Hispanic voters in central and southern parts of the city received the reminders telling them to vote on Wednesday, Nov.

The Voting News Daily: Vote flipping in Indiana, Maryland, Penn. 10,000 calls to 866OURVOTE

866-OUR-VOTE received over 10,000 calls today. Top states include California, Georgia &Pennsylvania. Some in today’s news. Would you believe Alabama didn’t have enough pens, so used pencils to mark ballots, causing probs? ..Maryland Diebold touchscreens flip votes from GOP to DEM!..California awaits millions of mail ballots..Various probs with epoll books, paper poll books, power outages, locked up ballots, polling place moves, voting machine shutdowns, vote flipping, missing contests, bi-partisan tricks, voter registration problems.. poll locations…

All this and lots more in today’s very big voting news….

AL: Pencils causing problems for some voters *(voting w/pencil, pens hard to find?)
http://annistonstar.com/view/full_story/10135701/article-Pencils-causing-problems-for-some-voters?instance=top_center_featured
Regular voters in previous Alabama elections may have noticed a change at the polls today, as election workers handed out pencils to complete ballots instead of the familiar black pens.

Calhoun County Probate Judge Alice Martin, the county’s chief election official, said the pencils have caused some problems here and elsewhere in the state. Voters who bear down too hard with the pencils in some cases are leaving an impression on the other side of their ballots, causing the machines that read them to reject the ballots.
…
Representatives of the company that provides election equipment and services to nearly every Alabama county said the change was made because it was becoming increasingly difficult to find enough pens.

AZ: #10720 Nov. 2 2010 / 2:40p.m. ET Tucson, Pima, AZ
http://www.ourvotelive.org/report/10720 darcyelgin Precinct: 82 2010 General Election, Polling place problem: Volunteer reported 4 polling sites within a mile. People who live in the same household are all given different sites to vote and voters seem generally confused about where they are supposed to be.

CA: Glitch Shuts Down Coto de Caza Voting Machines for Two Hours
http://voiceofoc.org/politics/article_60bde12c-e6c5-11df-b0ea-001cc4c03286.
Voters at the Coto de Caza fire station had to use paper ballots early today when glitches shut down all 12 voting machines for about two hours, poll workers said
…
“We had to use paper ballots,” she said…
…
Poll workers said today was the first time all machines at the fire station were knocked out. They blamed a faulty main connection that only took a few minutes to fix once the repairman arrived.

CA: Millions of California vote-by-mail ballots unreturned
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_16499667 The state’s 58 counties had reported receiving just under 3 million absentee ballots as of early afternoon Monday — less than 40 percent of the 7.6 million ballots requested statewide for the general election, according to the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials.

CA: Santa Clara election workers use erasers to clean mail ballots*
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=103841&catid=2
An ink smudge on Santa Clara County ballots caused a mechanical glitch at the county elections office last week, forcing officials to reprocess mail-in ballots and re-inspect ballots being sent to polling precincts for Tuesday’s election.

About one in six of the first 100,000 vote-by-mail ballots processed were incorrectly flagged by an “optical character reader” as ballots containing write-in candidates, county officials said.

The error was the result of the smudge, which was caused by toner used by the company that printed the ballots, elections officials said.

The Voting News Daily: Is internet voting secret & safe? Vote help 866-OUR-VOTE. Where 2 vote – vote411.org

Do you wonder why “If we can bank by ATM, why not vote by the Internet?”~ CTVoter explains… Fox news report: Internet Voting Arrives -But Is It Secret and Safe?…Chuck Tyson, Craven County NCGOP Chair on NC’s touchscreen problems: “I think every vote cast should get to the right party no matter what party they put the vote for,”…”Dead Voters” and the early vote…Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE for help or reporting problems voting…See vote411.org to find your polling place…

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

Please email voting news and reports to us at votingnews (at) earthlink.net

AR: Arkansas Supreme Court Won’t Decide Republican Nominee Eligibility Until After Election http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/11/01/arkansas-supreme-court-wont-decide-republican-nominee-eligibility-until-after-election/ On November 1, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a one-sentence order in Fite v Kilgore, 10-1112. This is the case over the eligibility of the Republican nominee for state house, 83rd district, Tommy Fite

CA: Thousands of Ballots Hold Error on Prop 23*
http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/story/Thousands-of-Ballots-Hold-Error-on-Prop-23/lWjxauZTRkKs5SYH4z_Nrw.cspx Fresno County Elections Chief, Victor Salazar, admitted his office made an error when it sent out tens of thousands of ballots with some incorrect language to describe proposition 23.

The ballot states the measure would suspend laws requiring “major polluters” to report and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CO: Slow voter turnout is perplexing (Larimer County)
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20101101/LOVELAND01/101101001
Doyle said. “I would say if you are going to a vote center, you might plan on being there a while.
We could have some pretty good lines.”

CT: Sign-Up for the November 2010 Post-Election Audits Now!
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/sign-up-for-the-november-2010-post-election-audits-now/
Investment? One Day. Value to Democracy? Priceless

DE: Disabilities Law Program to monitor accessibility of voting site
http://www.doverpost.com/news/election/x1696241354/Disabilities-Law-Program-to-monitor-accessibility-of-voting-sites

FL: Judge says Sarasota vote recount unnecessary
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101029/ARTICLE/10291061/2055/NEWS?Title=Judge-says-Sarasota-vote-recount-unnecessary …a circuit judge declined to order a recount in Bolam’s close race for Charter Review Board in the August 24 primary election. The judge also cleared Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent of wrongdoing in the case.

IN: Indiana BMV expands hours to provide voter IDs
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20101101/NEWS01/11010332 INDIANA — Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles license branches will offer extended hours today and Tuesday to issue state ID cards and driver’s licenses that can be used for identification at polling places.

MI: Americans overseas can cast votes easier, faster
http://www.freep.com/article/20101101/NEWS15/11010347/Americans-overseas-can-cast-votes-easier-faster

MN: Amid voter intimidation, the right information
Here’s the information you need to know about how to vote
http://www.mndaily.com/2010/11/01/amid-voter-intimidation-right-information

MN: Federal District Court in Minnesota rejects request for TRO in Tea Party Garb /”Please ID Me” button lawsuit http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017731.html

MO: New Electronic Machines Will Check-In Voters
http://www.ksmu.org/content/view/7566/66/ (Greene Co)
Struckhoff says a voter can simply type his or her name into these machines, or they can use a bar code found on the back of their Missouri driver’s license to scan in.

MS: Questions About Fairness For Hinds County Elections (video available)
http://www2.wjtv.com/jtv/news/local/article/questions_about_
fairness_for_hinds_county_elections/212722/ http://tinyurl.com/37kozn6
Commissioner complains about lack of training
Questions about whether someone could tamper with voting machines

NC: Judge orders that voters be warned about voting machine issues
http://www.newbernsj.com/news/machines-91889-voting-warned.html
…Judge Malcolm Howard also required in his temporary order that records from the iVotronic Voting Machines be preserved..

The Voting News Daily: NC Judge rules for GOP on touchscreen voting. E-vote probs not conspiracy theory

Federal Judge Rules in Favor of NC GOP in Touch-Screen Vote Flipping Complaint. NCGOP atty Tom Farr: “What I heard in the argument today was, the problem with the touchscreen voting machines are the fault of the voters, not the State Board and we have to preserve the integrity of the State Board and its reputation. And that’s more important than making sure that voters had their ballots counted accurately, and that’s what I thought was outrageous,” ..Will N.Mexico voter reg database crash on election day?…..Video “Vote on Paper” ‘its not a conspiracy theory, its just plain science.’…Voting Probs? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE…

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

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AK: Suit filed in federal court over election write-in list
A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of four Alaska voters over the state’s providing a list of write-in candidates to voters.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/10/30/1403087/federal-suit-filed-over-write.html
The lawsuit alleges that in providing lists, the state has changed its rules for holding elections and did so without receiving the required approval of the U.S. Department of Justice.

MD: State ordered to extend overseas ballot deadline
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2010/10/state_ordered_to_extend_overse.html
Judge Roger Titus issued an order Friday extending the deadline from Nov. 12 to Nov. 22.

NC: Judge rules in favor of GOP over touchscreen voting (must see video interview )
http://triangle.news14.com/content/632096/state-gop-sues-election-board-over-voting-machines/ RALEIGH—Saturday afternoon a federal judge ruled in favor of the state Republican party over the lawsuit filed in complaint of touchscreen voting machines.

NC: Secret donor money floods 4 N.C. races
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/30/769911/conservative-money-floods-4-nc.html

NM: Glitch disrupts early voting* (statewide voter reg database overloaded)
http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-news/ci_16452761
SANTA FE – County elections officials complained Wednesday of problems with New Mexico’s voter registration computer system, saying it has disrupted early voting at some locations across the state and continues to delay the preparation of voter turnout reports.

County clerks worry that they’ll have trouble preparing voter sign-in rosters for Tuesday’s general election if the secretary of state’s office doesn’t resolve the computer problems.

“The slowdowns have been creating a problem every day,” said Curry County Clerk Coni Jo Lyman. “It’s been absolutely a nightmare.”

NY: Election workers brace for glitches with optical-scan voting machines
http://www.lohud.com/article/20101031/NEWS02/10310414/Election-workers-brace-for-glitches-with-optical-scan-voting-machines After a shaky trial run in the primaries, the state’s new optical-scan voting machines will get a full workout in Tuesday’s general elections (comprehensive article w/previous coverage & how to vote)

NY: Quirk in N.Y.’s new voting system may hurt third parties
http://www.lohud.com/article/20101031/NEWS05/10310400/-1/NEWSFRONT/Quirk-in-N.Y.-s-new-voting-system-may-hurt-third-parties

PA: Committee of 70 pushes city to extend absentee ballot deadline because of voting problems http://citypaper.net/blogs/clog/2010/10/30/committee-of-70-pushes-city-to-extend-ballot-deadline-because-of-voting-problems/ Philiadelphia… several local voters have gotten their absentee ballots mailed back to them, instead of sent to the Board of Elections.

The Voting News Daily: HAVA scary Halloween. In DC internet voting test, hackers were the GOOD guys

In D.C.’s Web voting test, the hackers were the good guys…HAVA Scary Halloween: Ten years older and deeper in debt, yet far from credible elections..”Ballot boxing: The problem with electronic voting machines” interview w/natl experts..THE UNDEAD UNDEAD VOTER CLAIM…Overdone “undervote” warning in 67 Illinois cnties using Diebold scanners..N. Carolina voting machines hearing today. Court docs are fascinating..iVotronic expert offers insights on “Vote-Flipping”…Google tools to help you vote…Voting probs? See 866-OUR-VOTE..

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

Readers – want to help with the news? Email news (with link) to votingnews (at) earthlink.net Thanks!

AK: Alaska Supreme Court Issues Revised Order, Now Says Regulation Against Showing List of Write-in Candidates to Voters is Unlawful
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/10/30/alaska-supreme-court-issues-revised-opinion-now-says-regulation-against-showing-list-of-write-in-candidates-to-voters-is-unlawful/ On October 29, the Alaska Supreme Court issued a revised order in State of Alaska v Alaska Democratic Party and Alaska Republican Party, S-14054.

AZ: Threat of voter suppression rears ugly head in Arizona
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/102810_voter_suppression_op
What sets us apart is the fact that they’ve been instigated by the very man who is charged with maintaining law and order at… you guessed it…the polls. Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently sent out an email entitled “6 Days to STOP Illegals from Stealing the Election!” ..

CA: Absentee ballot misprint discovered*
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101030/A_NEWS/10300323
STOCKTON – A couple living in the Morada area found a misprint in an absentee ballot, a mistake elections officials say is a rare occurrence among the tens of thousands of mail-in ballots sent out in San Joaquin County in the lead-up to Election Day.

CO: Larimer County Clerk works to fix election glitch* (wrong ballot)
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20101029/UPDATES01/101029013/1002/
NEWS01/Larimer+County+Clerk+works+to+fix+election+glitch http://tinyurl.com/2c82shx
the 52 registered voters in the complex at 321 E. Troutman Parkway should be able to vote for the House District 52 race, but got ballots that listed House District 53,

CT: HAVA Scary Halloween: Ten years older and deeper in debt, yet far from credible elections http://www.ctvoterscount.org/hava-scary-halloween-ten-years-older-and-deeper-in-debt-yet-far-from-credible-elections/ Two years ago we posted a Halloween preview: eTRICK or reTREAT? Nightmare of Elections Future. Lets look at where we are this year, and then we will calibrate (not celebrate) how far we have come.

DC: In D.C.’s Web voting test, the hackers were the good guys (xposted in Internet Voting Watch) http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/10/in_dcs_web_voting_test_the_hac.html Even companies such as Google, with vast resources and expertise, have been unable to protect themselves from remote penetration attacks from China. There is no reason to believe that states and localities can do better.

IL: COUNTY CLERK: UNDERVOTED BALLOTS WILL KICK OUT*
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=469&NewsID=989164&CategoryID=7026&on=1
Bacon County…Sixty seven counties in the state use the Accuvote OS system. Since the state law mandates ballots kick out if a voter does not vote for a Constitutional State officer presents Bean with a bigger problem.

With the Accuvote system with GEMS the ballot will kick back if the voter fails to vote for any issue or candidate field.
…
During the Absentee and Early voting period in the office a majority of the ballots kicked back.
…
If they are happy with what they have voted for, all they do is ask the election judge to override the system

MN: Volunteer to Observe Minnesota’s Post-Election Audit!

The Voting News Daily: NC GOP sues over touch-screen problems. Beware bogus online ballots in CT, NH

USA Today: A Decade After Florida Fiasco,Voting Remains a Hodgepodge…Paperless e-voting a concern this election..Nearly 1 in 4 voters in Tuesday’s elections will use e-voting systems with no paper records..Voters in Connecticut & New Hampshire beware of bogus online ballots…N.Carolina’s GOP Party filed suit in fed court over touch-screen vote flipping…Internet voting ‘an electronic disaster’ in Stratford, Canada..If you have problems voting, call or tweet 866-OUR-VOTE…

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

CA: Ten Great Online Resources for California Voters
http://kimalex.blogspot.com/2010/10/ten-great-online-resources-for.html

CA: Fresno County ballots use wrong language for Prop. 23
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/10/prop-23-campaign-some-absentee.html
Hundreds of thousands of ballots printed in Fresno County use an incorrect ballot label to describe a statewide proposition to suspend the state’s greenhouse gas emissions law, election officials confirmed today.

CA: Investigators probe possible voter fraud; victim contacted again*
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/10/absentee-voting-even-when-he-doesnt-want-to.html BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A voter who says she was talked out of her mail-in ballot says she was contacted again. Meanwhile, investigators are probing the case of possible voter fraud.

The victim said teenagers came to her home on Tuesday, saying their “boss” sent them to pick up ballots.

CA: City May Experiment with an all Vote-By-Mail Election to Increase Voter Turnout
http://laist.com/2010/10/29/city_may_experiment_with_an_all_vot.php

CT: Warning: NO Internet Voting In CT – A Scam or just misleading calls to voters?
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/warning-no-internet-voting-in-ct-scam-or-just-misleading-calls-to-voters/ “People have been stopping into the office to express concern over telephone calls that they’ve received in which they are directd [sic] to a web site where they believe they’re being told they can vote online,” Weber told Patch.

GA: Debate over Georgia’s paperless e-voting process continues
http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia_elections_news/2010/10/29/debate-over-georgias-paperless-e-voting-process-continues/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_elections_news

IL: Top Official Says DOJ Prepared To Sue States Over MOVE Act Even After Election Day, Takes Aim At IL GOP
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10/28/top-official-says-doj-prepared-sue-states-over-move-act-even-after-election-day-takes-aim

IL: Some overseas, military absentee voters get extension to return ballots
http://gcn.com/articles/2010/11/01/overseas-voting.aspx

KS: Kobach, Biggs spar over voter registration records
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/oct/28/kobach-biggs-spar-over-voter-registration-records/
Kansas election officials cast doubt Thursday on Republican Kris Kobach’s claim to have evidence of possible voter fraud,

MD: Federal District Court in Maryland rules that rights of military voters to have their votes counted trumps Nov 12 ballot receipt deadline
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017675.html

MN: Anti-Voter Fraud Group Sues Over ‘I.D. Me’ Button Ban
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/anti-voter_fraud_group_sues_over_button_ban.php

NC: NC GOP sues election board over voting machines
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/NC-GOP-sues-election-board-over-voting-machines-106308978.html Republican Party officials say they have heard problems in a number of counties. They are demanding that election officials provide notice to all voters about problems, preserve all data and track all complaints.

NC GOP Files Suit Over ‘Widespread’ Touch-screen Failures, Votes Flipping to Dems
GOP attorney: ES&S iVotronic ‘systems should have been banned’
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8158 Officials: Just ‘isolated’ probs, ‘no different than every election’…[UPDATE 10/29/10, 12:22pm PT: The North Carolina Republican Party has now filed suit against the State Board of Elections “alleging that touch-screen machines are thwarting efforts by voters to cast Republican ballots,” according to AP’s brief coverage now here…]

NC: Craven County GOP Wants Answers
http://www.witn.com/stateregional/headlines/Craven_County_GOP_
Wants_Answers_106192848.html http://tinyurl.com/37v9m6n The Craven County Republican Party continues to express concern over touch-screen voting machines and the action taken against two poll workers who spoke to WITN.

The Voting News Daily: E-Voting ‘a hopelessly dangerous concept’. NC GOP threatens suit over vote flipping

New database on state recount & audit laws…Verified Voting new map of voting tech in US…IL Dems botch absentee early voting push..NC GOP threatens suit over touch-screen voting machines..NY voter cross fingers…SC voting machines not reliable says Computer Science Prof Dr. Duncan Buell …NM & VA voter reg. databases bogged down…9 voting machines unattended overnight in NW Lehi,UT polls… Faith Based Voting -In many of Tuesday’s closest races, states will use those same old, suspect voting machines…

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

AK: Alaska high court: Voters may see write-in list
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hURJWIiDP9prW4WyDT0bOpiGKELg?docId=b09ddf3b88da4ea5a4a621b8e94db93b

CO: Boulder County: ‘Human error’ caused ballot language mix-up*
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_16445244
Issue 2B, Boulder’s proposed utility tax measure, was correctly titled on the electronic ballot but contained the language for Boulder County’s open space tax measure, known as County Issue 1B.

“It appears someone cut and pasted the wrong ballot content under the title,” Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall told the Camera this afternoon.
…
Three hundred and twelve voters used the faulty electronic ballots before the error was discovered Tuesday, which prompted election officials to halt all voting on the county’s 12 electronic voting machines.

IL: Illinois Democrats botch absentee early voting push*
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/10/illinois-democrats-botch-absentee-early-voting-push.html
Illinois Democratic Party workers started mailing applications for absentee ballots to registered voters late last week, leaving precious few days for them to be mailed back to election authorities in time to get a ballot. And many of the applications contained the wrong birthdates for the registered voters they were mailed to, leaving some of those who got them wondering if it was a scam.

NC: GOP threatens suit over touch-screen voting machines
http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/8528102/
Fetzer said he wants warnings posted at the polls to alert voters of the potential problem. He also wants poll workers to retain daily printouts of vote totals to compare later with the tabulations provided by the touch-screen machines and to retain records of all complaints about the machines.

NC: N.C. GOP leader: Touchscreen voting machines have flaw that aids Dems*
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/28/766257/nc-republican-party-chair-touchscreen.html
The chairman of the N.C. Republican Party alleged Thursday that a programming flaw with touchscreen voting machines used for early voting in 36 counties is causing votes intended for GOP candidates to be counted for Democrats.

Tom Fetzer, the Republican chairman, said that if the State Board of Elections does not enact a list of demands intended to remedy the problem by the end of today, the party’s lawyers will be in federal court Friday morning seeking a statewide injunction.

NC: Election Workers Fired After Speaking To WITN*
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Craven_Co_Election_Workers_Fired_
After_Speaking_To_WITN_106132669.html http://tinyurl.com/32h7cn5
Two Craven County election workers say they were fired today, hours after speaking with WITN News about problems with touch screen voting machines.

Matthew Thomas and Maria Vincent claim they reported straight party voting problems at their early-voting site, but those problems were never addressed.

NC: Voters Question State Official About Possible Machine ‘Glitch’*
http://www.wcti12.com/news/25545198/detail.html
Craven GOP Chair Chuck Tyson told the crowd that a voter phoned him to describe a machine flip-flopping his votes at a Vanceboro voting location during Wednesday’s lunch hour.

The Voting News Daily: E-Voting, E-Nightmare. 3rd NC County has vote flipping. Canada internet vote fiasco

See it on iTunes: Dan Rather’s “Digital Democracy in Doubt”…TX vote flip video is on internet again..3rd NC county reports vote flipping…VerifiedVoting on Vote Flipping & Touch Screen Calibration…NH voters beware internet voting scam…S Carolina voting system needs overhaul..Report vote probs by cell phone 866-OUR-VOTE..Still Time for Overseas Voters to get ballot…Serious system failures in Canadian muni internet voting…Ahmedabad India Congress leaders sue to stop internet voting…

All this and more in today’s voting news.

AK: Write-in lists ruled a violation of election law
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/blogs/political-animal/7294-write-in-lists-ruled-a-violation-of-election-law In a ruling sure to disappoint supporters of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a temporary restraining order was issued against poll workers providing voters with the names of write-in candidates.

AR: Ballot Problems For Some Voters In St. Francis County, AR*
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-saint-francis-county-races-story,0,5413549.story
Races For District 51 House Seat & Forrest City Council Position Impacted
Alex Coleman
In Saint Francis County, Arkansas, early voting is underway, but some voters ran into a problem trying to cast their ballots for a city council position in Forrest City, AR.
…
Patton said, “I don’t know every detail, but I do know there was a problem with a position of the candidates on the ballots that one of the candidates had drawn and was supposed to be in a different position and the ballot wasn’t printed that way.”

The Saint Francis County Election Commission found problems with some of its ballots.
The race for Arkansas State House of Representatives between Democrat Marshall Wright and Republican Anna Grizzle was also affected.
…
The ballot problem will mean the election commission chairman, Frederick Freeman, will likely total out voting machines and maybe restart the early voting process.

AZ: Restrictive Voter Registration Law Struck Down In Arizona
http://networkedblogs.com/9GsmI
By a 2-1 vote (the majority included retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), the court struck down Arizona’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement for all new voter registrants because it is superseded by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993

CA: Voter fraud warning: Don’t give ballot to door-to-door solicitor* (dirty trick)
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/105890433.html
If someone comes to your door asking for a mail-in ballot, don’t give it to them. That’s the warning from Kern County Elections officials.

CO: Boulder voters given wrong ballot language on tax question* (ballot info wrong)
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_16440973
Electronic voting machines that should have shown early voters in Boulder the text of the proposed utility tax ballot measure instead showed the text for the county open space measure. Those voters’ yes and no votes were then recorded for the utility tax.

Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall said election workers discovered the problem around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday when a voter noticed the discrepancy.

Electronic voting was immediately discontinued for the day, and a new ballot program was uploaded to new voting

CO: Election glitch sends ballots with wrong state house district to Fort Collins senior complex* (ballot missing contest)
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20101027/UPDATES01/101027020/Election+glitch+sends+b allots+with+wrong+state+house+district+to+Fort+Collins+senior+complex
http://tinyurl.com/268pueg Mary Willhite wanted to vote for her friend Bob Morain in House District 52. But when she got her ballot in the mail, it listed the House District 53 race.

The Voting News Daily: NV touchscreens flip votes. Internet voting security debate grows. Ontario i-vote probs

Security debate grows over Internet voting: “Nobody knows how to conduct an election that is immune to the kinds of attacks we in the security community know how to do..We can’t have our election systems exposed to cyberattacks.” ~ David Jefferson, computer scientist @ Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab. & VerifiedVoting.org chair…Vote flipping in Clark Co Nevada from GOP to DEM…Ontario Internet voting crashes…Scotland ditches computer voting…

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

Note from the editor: Does the Voting News help you? You can help keep the Voting News going by making a tax deductible donation either online or by check. If by check note “for voting news”. See this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn

AK: “In Alaska Senate Race, Front-Runner Isnt’ on Ballot”
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017583.html

AK Admits to BRAD BLOG State Has Never Before Supplied Precincts With Write-In Candidate Names http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8151

AZ: Response to voter fraud claims
http://www.kyma.com/slp.php?idN=4242&cat=Local%20News
AZ Secretary of State’s Office says accusations are incorrect

CA: Corrected Ballots Mailed to Danville and Alamo Voters* (contest left off ballot)
http://danville.patch.com/articles/corrected-ballots-mailed-to-danville-and-alamo-voters With just one week before Election Day, corrected ballots will show up in the mailboxes of Danville and Alamo homes—the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District was left off the ballots.

CO: Ballot copying under way in Routt County* (coding error on ballots)
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/oct/26/ballot-copying-under-way-routt-county/
Four-person teams of sworn-in, paid election judges continued Monday the arduous work of hand-copying scores of ballots — filling in rectangles, one quadruple-checked vote at a time — after a coding error announced last week. The error was caused by a single, inadvertent keystroke and rendered unreadable all 5,773 ballots mailed to Routt County voters before Oct. 19.

CO: Election is for citizens, not government
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20101026/LETTER/101029851/1020&
ParentProfile=1061 http://tinyurl.com/2af5o94
Regardless of such punitive backlash, we should not allow our government to block election transparency and verifiability. Elections belong to us, not the government. The government ought not obtain nor withhold “secrets” about our elections

GA: Military, overseas votes get speedier
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/elections/georgia-elections/2010-10-25/military-overseas-votes-get-speedier Members of the military and Georgians living abroad can expect a quicker turnaround on their absentee ballots and greater likelihood their votes will arrive in time to be counted.

IL: New law costing McLean Co., election commission
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/education/article_3f4d5152-e0b3-11df-a47d-001cc4c03286.html The law, effective until March 2, requires election authorities to offer grace period registration and early voting at all public universities
…
While the clerk’s share of the cost of the ISU site program was about $4,500, Milton offset much of it by closing two off-site locations in Chenoa and Downs. That brought the net impact down to about $1,900.

MD: Errors mar most Worcester sample ballots*
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20101026/OPI01/10260346
SNOW HILL — Voters opening sample ballots mailed to them by Worcester election officials may have done double-takes. The instructional ballots showed inaccurate candidate listings for County Commissioner and Board of Education elections in six out of seven districts.

NC: Minor problems, large turnout of voters in Havelock *(paper jams, data transm, more on vote flip prob w/straight-ticket voting using ES&S iVotronic w/VVPAT)
http://www.enctoday.com/news/election-7675-havelock-havelock-national.html
Bare said that the button for straight tickets is so close together that it is relatively easy to hit one when the intent is to hit another.

The Voting News Daily: Touchscreen vote flips ‘a known class of problems..’ New Dan Rather e-vote report

‘Dan Rather Reports’ new investigative report on E-Voting Tues Oct. 26th @ 8pm…Tech-Savvy College Students wanted as Poll Workers..Early voting by itself depresses the vote?…Texas E-Voting Suit Reveals Frailties of the Ballot Box..CNN asks Does Your Vote Count?.. Vote flipping: “This is a known class of problems with touch screen voting machines.” ~ Alex Halderman, computer scientist @ U. of Michigan…

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

Find us on internet at http://votingnews.blogspot.com

CA: Bowen defends cautious approach to elections technology*
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/25/3128929/bowen-defends-cautious-approach.html
Bowen also warns against jumping headfirst into online or mobile voter registration without certainty that signatures sent electronically could be verified against handwritten signatures on initiative petitions or vote-by-mail ballots.

CO: Daily News endorsements: Do away with IRV
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/columnist/143275

DC: Adrian Fenty Volunteers Are Handing Out Rubber Stamps to Facilitate Write-in Votes http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/10/25/adrian-fenty-volunteers-are-handing-out-rubber-stamps-to-facilitate-write-in-votes/

FL: Sarasota Democratic chair calls early vote glitch ‘voter suppression’ (Sarasota)
http://floridaindependent.com/11485/sarasota-democratic-chair-calls-early-vote-glitch-voter-suppression …Ferrandino can’t say how many at the rally actually attempted to vote, but says that “mysteriously, the computers went down right when the voters went in.”

FL: Machine glitch delays early voting after Meek rally (Sarasota)
http://floridaindependent.com/11442/machine-glitch-delays-early-voting-after-kendrick-meek-rally Dent says the library lost “connectivity” with her office, meaning poll workers couldn’t look up voters’ information to provide them with their correct precinct ballots…Dent says, adding that as far as she knows, “everybody was able to vote” by 4:50 p.m., 40 minutes after the original failure.

IL: Green Party to discuss botched ballots at Monday event
www.detnews.com/article/20101024/POLITICS02/10240320/1409/METRO08
Detroit – The Green Party plans to take advantage Monday of a mistake that left off the November ballot two of its candidates for Wayne County Commission.
…
The county notified local and state officials of the error and new ballots are to be printed and mailed to every absentee voter in the 5th and 6th districts, including those who already mailed in their completed ballots. If a new ballot isn’t returned, clerks will count the first ballot, said West, who wasn’t certain how much the new printing and mailing will cost.

IL: Cook County Clerk: Voter Fraud Fears ‘Totally Blown Out Of Whack’
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/cook_county_clerk_voter_
fraud_fears_totally_blown.php http://tinyurl.com/33p4ybm

IL: Illinois GOP seeks to block DOJ consent decree
http://electionlawcenter.com/2010/10/22/illinois-gop-seeks-to-block-doj-consent-decree.aspx?ref=rss They want more than a one day extension of the deadline in Illinois.

IN: Randolph County to be reimbursed for first electronic voting machines
http://www.winchesternewsgazette.com/articles/2010/10/25/news/doc4c
c5a4bd584e4826819484.txt http://tinyurl.com/3y7fyse
Randolph is one of four Indiana counties to purchase electronic voting machines from Voting Technologies International (VTI) which closed its doors in 2007, leaving its customers without software updates or technical guidance.(Also Boone, Cass & Parke)

MA: Report faults voter registration system
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1273025804/Report-faults-voter-registration-system More than 2 million eligible voters will stay home next Tuesday, with some skipping the election because voter registration is inconvenient and outdated, according to a MassVOTE report disputed by the state’s top elections official

NC: Voting Machine Demonstration For Skeptical Voters
http://www.wcti12.com/news/25508020/detail.html
Republican Party Chairman Chuck Tyson says he would like to see the county go back to paper ballots for early voting. Democrat Party Chairman Rachel Parnell believes the problems have been solved and sees no problem with the machines.

The Voting News Daily: Touchscreens in 2 NC Counties flip votes from GOP to DEM. 866-OUR-VOTE

Chuck Tyson, chair of Craven Cnty NC GOP about touchscreen machines: “They never work, they’re late reporting, they screw up, they ain’t worth a damn and we ought to go back to paper ballots,” ….Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to get help & report problems…Security Fears Mount as E-Voting Comes of Age: “I think these systems can be compromised,” says Pam Smith, Pres of Verified Voting. “It might not happen this year, it might be in a close presidential election.” Voters in Philippines told not to use crayons on ballots..

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

Note from the editor: Does the Voting News help you? The Voting News is a labor of love, but takes a lot of time to compile each day. You can help keep the Voting News keep going by making a tax deductible donation either online or by check. See this link: http://tinyurl.com/donate-vn If you are unable to donate, please help by sharing Voting News with a friend. Thanks!

AZ: Rumors about voter fraud by Raul Grijalva? FALSE!
http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2010/10/24/rumors-about-voter-fraud-by-raul-grijalva-false/
The County Recorder’s office has to verify every voter first of all, and if the person is not a real person, then they don’t get their voter ID. They found 65% are not valid, and those people don’t get to vote, and thus no fraud has been committed.

A more accurate question would be is “is voter REGISTRATION fraud taking place.”

CT: Post-Election Audit Report: Incremental Improvement – New Integrity Concern
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/aug-10-post-election-audit-report-incremental-improvement-new-integrity-concern/ Citizen observation and analysis shows some improvements along with a newly uncovered problem with the random selection process…We conclude that August post-election audits still do not inspire confidence..

IL: You Can Still Register to Vote in Illinois Through Tuesday, October 26
http://www.enewspf.com/index.php/latest-news/latest-local/19433-you-can-still-register-to-vote-in-illinois

NC: Problems at the ballot box
http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/today-91666-ballot-box.html
The voting result in Craven County will now forever be in doubt because of this.

NC: [UPDATED] Touch-Screens in Two NC Counties Flip Straight-Party Votes Repeatedly from GOP to Dem http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8143
County GOP Chair: The ES&S machines ‘ain’t worth a damn, we ought to go back to paper ballots’. One voter says: ‘I pressed confirm and screen went totally black’..

NC: Voter reports problem with ballot machine*
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/10/23/5087612.htm Sun Journal — A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended

Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked. He cleared the screen and tried again with the same result, he said.
Then he asked for and received help from election staff.

“They pushed it twice and the same thing happened,” Laughinghouse said. “That was four times in a row. The fifth time they pushed it and the Republicans came up and I voted.”
…
Tyson reported other problems as well, including long lines waiting for just two voting machines in Havelock, and machines reporting 250 ballots cast where 400 voters had signed in to vote.

The Voting News Daily: Touchscreens flip votes in N.Carolina, Texas. NY City flubs ballot instructions

Voting absentee by mail? Check postage!..Riverside CO CA starts 24 hour work days processing absentee ballots for Nov 2 election…Touchscreen voting flipping in Craven County NC, also in Dallas and Collin County TX..New York City’s Nov 2 ballots instructions may disenfranchise voters…Beware hinky vote by mail applications sent out in NY …Open Source Non profit group Trust the Vote comments on the DC internet voting hack in “D.C. Reality Check – The Opportunities and Challenges of Transparency”..

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

AK: Democrats threaten to sue state over write-in lists
http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-2010elect-democrat-write-in-lawsuit-threat-102110,0,1747796.story ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Democratic Party says it may go to court if the state Division of Elections continues to provide the names of write-in candidates to voters at polling places.

CA: RivCo Registrar of Voters office to start 24-hour operations on Friday
http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-10-21/news/rivco-registrar-of-voters-office-to-start-24-hour-operations-on-friday Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore has predicted about half of the votes cast will be done by mail.

Beginning tomorrow, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters’ Office will go into 24-hour mode to start processing absentee ballots cast in the Nov. 2 general election.

CA: Misinformation from Registrar Could Disenfranchise Voters in San Diego
http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=1010 Until this week, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters wrongfully denied the federal voter registration form that thousands of San Diegans completed after downloading it from the California Secretary of State Web site, including CityBeat reporter and voter hopeful, Dave Maass, who contacted Project Vote director of advocacy, Estelle Rogers, after his voter application was rejected, twice.

CA: Ballot mishap*
http://www.martinezgazette.com/news/story/i1586/2010/10/21/ballot-mishap
Two Martinez voters residing on Augustine Drive alerted the Contra Costa County Elections Division this week that they received their permanent vote-by-mail ballots as usual. However, the ballots listed Walnut Creek races instead of Martinez.

CO: Larimer County clerk reveals ballot processing center’s inner workings
http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?id=29875

CO: Mail-in ballots will be delivered despite postage confusion
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20101022/NEWS03/10220345
When Larimer County voters take their ballots to the post office for mailing, they’ll be charged 44 cents. Or 61 cents.
…
“We took our ballot package and went to the Old Town Post Office, and it was 61 cents. When we went to Boardwalk, it was 44 cents,” said Doyle, who expressed frustration about the situation.

FL: Hanging Chads II: Is Palm Beach Worthy of Suspicion or Just Incompetent?
Glitch-plagued county last in state to report returned absentee ballots
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/hanging-chads-ii-palm-beach-stalls-absentee-ballots …The reports show Bucher’s office has accounted for just 14.55 percent of the domestic absentee ballots and only 10.48 percent of the military/overseas and non-Florida ballots.

That compares to a statewide average of 33.56 percent and 29.21 percent.

GA: State of Georgia Successfully Increasing Voting Opportunities for Military and Overseas Voters http://www.theweekly.com/news/2010/October/21/Overseas_Voters.html

IL: Justice Department agreement with Illinois officials extends time to count military ballots http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/10/justice_department_agreement_w.html

IL: Oddities With Illinois Elections
http://illinois.statehousenewsonline.com/4357/oddities-with-illinois-elections/
SPRINGFIELD – Hidden within the seriousness of the election time period are some unique tidbits for Illinois voters to ruminate over.

MN: 5 charged in Clay County with felony voter fraud say they didn’t know they couldn’t vote http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/295798/

The Voting News Daily: Internet Voting – A Real Possibility? iPhone App for reporting voter fraud

Where’s My Ballot? There’s Still Time for Overseas Voters in 2010…Report Voter Fraud: There’s an App for that…Comprehensive Map of US Voting Equipment Released…Routt County Colorado must copy mailed ballots after error..There’s an iPhone app to report voter fraud, how about one to report voting machine failures or voter disenfranchisement?…Internet Voting — A Real Possibility? Podcast with Jeremy Epstein, Senior Computer Scientist…

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

AZ: U.S. District Court in Arizona Grants Injunctive Relief, Lets Voter Wear a Tea Party T-Shirt http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/10/21/u-s-district-court-in-arizona-grants-injunctive-relief-lets-voter-wear-a-tea-party-t-shirt/

CO: Ballots Disqualified After Voting System Glitch*
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/25464786/detail.html
Thousands Affected During Early Voting In Routt County
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — An encryption error resulted in thousands of ballots in Routt County to be null and void during the early voting period for November’s general election.
Kay Weinland, Routt County Clerk and Recorder, said her department has fixed the problem but as a result, 5,772 ballots that were mailed out to voters are no longer good.
“We have 3 ECM keys, which are the encryption code keys,” she said. “We broke one of them. While we were working on fixing that, we then discovered the other two had basically been corrupted.”

Weinland said that the voting system itself was not damaged, and there wasn’t a problem with the ballots mailed out. However the computer glitch caused the Clerk and Recorder office to lose its voting database.
The problem was spotted in the middle of last week.

The office worked on remedying the problem before coming to the conclusion that the early ballots were no longer good.
“Because we had to re-create the database,” Weinland said. “The system will not recognize the ballots we initially scanned.”

CO: Routt County must copy mailed ballots after error*
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/oct/20/error-causes-security-issue-mail-ballots/?breaking Steamboat Springs — A coding error in the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s Office means the 5,773 ballots mailed to voters before Tuesday will not be recognized by election databases and will have to be replicated by election judges who will work in teams of four under video camera surveillance.
…
The 5,773 ballots mailed to all voters who had requested mail-in ballots no longer will be recognized by the election database.

Every completed ballot already mailed back to the county — about 500, Weinland said — will be counted for the election. But they will be copied onto a new ballot first.

CO: Marks appeals court ruling in Aspen election suit
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20101021/NEWS/101029964/1077&ParentProfile=1058
DENVER — Local elections activist Marilyn Marks sent her lawsuit against the city of Aspen over its refusal to release ballot images from the May 2009 election to the Colorado Court of Appeals, just short of Tuesday night’s deadline.

CO: Fight for election transparency
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/letter-editor/143182
Secretary of State Buescher, the current Democratic SoS candidate, and the state’s top election official, has recently issued opinions to attempt prevent such public and press efforts, proclaiming, as Aspen city officials do, that our region’s voted ballots are “secrets” to be known only by local government officials and hand-picked Republican and Democrat election judges.

The Voting News Daily: “Halderman’s Hackers”: How safe, online voting? Vote by mail – 1 in 5 ballots ‘lost’

“Halderman’s Hackers”: How Safe is Online Voting?..Consider the hidden costs to voting by mail. A study of 2008 election shows a “lost rate” of 20% for vote by mail ballots…Small Improvements & New Problem in Connecticut Post-Election Audits..Travis County officials OK change to paper ballot after 2012..WA State Under Fire for Emailed Overseas Ballots..Afghanistan rules 1.3m parliamentary votes invalid..Security of India’s electronic voting machines is questioned..

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

Like voting news? We’re on the net at http://votingnews.blogspot.com

CA: Ranked-choice voting may delay results
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16380203?nclick_check=1
Macdonald said his office will release regular vote tally numbers starting late Tuesday night in all races, like it always does, but will not run the first ranked-choice voting algorithm until Friday — when most of the votes should be in and counted…

CO: Judge won’t reinstate 6,000 purged voters(voters would get provisional ballot)
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16382570 When a new voter registers in Colorado, the secretary of state mails a nonforwardable notice of disposition that the voter’s registration has been received. If the notice comes back undeliverable in the mail, then clerks deem the voter’s registration inactive within 20 days.
…
James Finberg, an attorney representing voting and labor groups, said voters are harmed because sometimes the voter cards are returned through no fault of their own.

CO: IRV: Thanks, but no thanks (LTE)
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/letter-editor/143158

CT: Coalition Finds Small Improvements and New Problem in
Connecticut Post-Election Audits
http://ctelectionaudit.org/aug-10-election-observation-report-incremental-improvement-new-integrity-issue/ Citizen observation and analysis shows some improvements along with a newly uncovered problem with the random selection process

NC: Voters, candidates continue talk of voting problems*
http://www.wwaytv3.com/voters_candidates_continue_talk_voting_problems/10/2010
Some New Hanover County voters have complained about voting machines not registering their votes correctly. One voter, who did not want to go on camera, told us he raised his hand for help, but it never came.

NC: Editorial: One seat, three votes
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/10/20/article/one_seat_three_votes
In better circumstances, the special election for a seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals wouldn’t be happening. Bad timing and an unwise provision in the state constitution put it on the ballot.

NM: New Mexico Pay to Play: Ending the Corruption? (passed House but not Senate)
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/10/20/new-mexico-pay-to-play-ending-the-corruption/
The text of NM House Bill 118 widely prohibits lobbyists and government contractors from donating to a political candidate or any political committee. It also prohibits “seekers of targeted subsidies” from political donations.

NY: Missing deadline for military mail, election boards hope for the best
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-county/article224177.ece
“New York State should have an earlier primary. We don’t have a heck of a lot of time between certifying our primary elections to the state Board of Elections, given the variables of contested primaries and vote recounts,”

TX: Travis County Commissioners OK change to paper ballot after 2012
http://impactnews.com/northwest-austin/256-recent-news/10224-travis-county-commissioners-ok-change-to-paper-ballot-after-2012
Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told the court she believes the system is secure, but said the county is looking to purchase a paper ballot system as soon as possible.

TX: All eyes on Houston, Pt. 2: Lawsuits, fraud & huge ballot challenge elections
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-houston/all-eyes-on-houston-pt-2-lawsuits-fraud-huge-ballot-challenge-elections

TX: DOJ Probes TX Voter Intimidation Complaints During Tea Party Anti-Voter Fraud Drive (video)*
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/the_texas_democratic_party_expanded.php

The Voting News Daily: Can Internet Voting withstand public test? Can S. Carolina ‘count on machines?’

DC allowed a public test of their internet voting system and shut it down after computer scientists took over the system. Other states that allow email or internet balloting for overseas voters should see if their systems can withstand a public test too..Sarasota FL’s controversial Election Sup Kathy Dent may not run again…India e-voting researcher Hari Prasad is 1 of the winners of 2010 EFF Pioneer award…Afghanistan tosses out thousands of votes..866-OUR-VOTE wants volunteers…

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

*Editor’s correction. I mis-spelled Illinois Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate’s name in Sunday’s voting news. Unfortunately I can’t blame the voting vendor. The correct spelling is Rich WhitNey, not Whitley.

AL: Official: 71 voters received ‘bad’ ballots
http://www.sandmountainreporter.com/news/local/article_f7864c5e-daf7-11df-bd53-001cc4c03286.html Mistakes on absentee ballots may cause citizens to cast the wrong vote…On Oct. 9, a letter was sent to the 71 voters explaining the mistake along with a new, corrected ballot. Those voters are asked to fill out the entire “good” ballot and return both the “bad” and the “good” ballots.

AR: Voting Machines Cause Problems In Benton County*
http://www.4029tv.com/news/25435089/detail.html
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Those who vote early will likely come across electronic voting machines, but those machines were the source a major problem that could have seriously affected the election schedule in Benton County.
They all need a device called a PEB, or a personal electronic ballot in order to work correctly. They’re used to test voting machines before Election Day to make sure there aren’t any errors with their programming.
But just a few days ago, Benton County officials realized those PEBs hadn’t come in the mail yet, and they might not be ready for early voting, which started on Monday.

CA: Fresno Co. candidate levels voting rights charges
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/18/2123218/sterling-levels-voting-rights.html
Fresno County cuts polling sites in half
..
The county is reducing the number of precincts from 405 in June to 205 next month because of budget cuts,

CO: Black-box issue sheds light
http://www.aspentimes.com/ARTICLE/20101016/LETTER/101019869/

CT: Vote With a Click?
Candidates for Secretary of the State say they want to make voting easier, perhaps online. http://westport.patch.com/articles/vote-with-a-click-2
“Because elections must be free of the possibility of fraud, every method of voting must have a “paper trail”, where, even if initially tabulated by a computer, there is still an actual paper ballot to examine if there is a question of fraud,” Farrell said in the Patch Voter Guide.

DC: Flaws in D.C.’s online voting system should serve as a warning to all states*
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/18/AR2010101804529.html
Verified Voting, a nonprofit that works to ensure reliable elections, called the District’s experiment “a visceral demonstration of just how serious the threats really are.” (cross posted in Internet Voting Watch)

FL: Elections supervisor Kathy Dent may not run again
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101018/COLUMNIST/10181032/2055/NEWS?Title=Elections-supervisor-Kathy-Dent-may-not-run-again#
Dent has had a challenging fall. She was criticized for allegedly influencing a county charter review board candidate to not seek a recount in an August primary that was decided by just 151 votes. The candidate, Kathy Bolam, has since sued Dent.

Then weeks later Dent drew the ire of Democrats and some Republican candidates for unexpectedly moving up the day to send out absentee ballots to voters with little notice to candidates.

The Voting News Daily: ‘Whiteygate” and blackbox voting. New Hanover NC vote flipping ‘no conspiracy’

Chicago official blames vendor Dominion for misspelling Rich Whitney’s name as “Rich Whitey” on IL gubernatorial ballot. Whitley asks: “Why is something as vital to our society as the integrity of the vote being left to a private, for-profit contractor?”..New Hanover NC BoE Chief says ‘no conspiracy’ causing touchscreens to flip votes. Yet voters were disenfranchised. This would not happen with paper ballots, optically scanned…MORE vote buying in KY…Lawsuit against EVMs in India..Peru to adopt electronic voting…

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

Like voting news? Visit us on the net at http://votingnews.blogspot.com
and be sure to tell your friends.

CO: We need your help!
http://coloradovotergroup.blogspot.com/2010/10/we-need-your-help.html The Colorado Attorney General’s office has issued an opinion (October 15th email below) that, if left unchallenged, would essentially shut down independent oversight of elections.

FL: Broward man forms 340 PACs, 40 political parties — and is running for governor
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-10-04/news/fl-josue-larose-election-20101004_1_political-parties-republican-ken-pruitt-josue-larose

Guam: Major election changes needed (argues FOR electronic voting)
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20101017/OPINION02/10170318/1014/OPINION/Major-election-changes-needed Electronic voting machines prevent party crossovers and voting for more than 15 senators, because the machines will not permit the voter to do so. Blind voters, who could vote using an audio feature, no longer can vote alone and require someone to assist them in marking their ballots.

IL: ‘Whiteygate” Reveals Serious Problems With Black-Box Voting Machines
Statement by Rich Whitney, Green Party Candidate for Governor
http://www.whitneyforgov.org/%E2%80%98whiteygate%E2%80%9D-reveals-serious-problems-with-black-box-voting-machines
On October 12, we learned from an early voter in Chicago that there was a problem with the early voting machines. He cast his ballot for me, Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for Governor. My name was spelled correctly on the first screen, but when it went to the “review screen,” my name appeared as “Rich Whitey,” with the letter “n” missing. At the review screen, any voter who was confused or troubled by the thought of voting for “Rich Whitey,” then had an option to change his/her vote.
…
Mr. Neal attributed the error to a Toronto-based private contractor known as Dominion Voting, probably the largest single provider of electronic voting machines in the nation.

IL: Correction: Illinois Ballot Mistake story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101507013.html
CHICAGO — In a story Oct. 15 about a mistake in Chicago’s electronic voting machines, The Associated Press erroneously reported the way a gubernatorial candidate’s name appears on a ballot review touch-screen. The screen lists the candidate as “R. Whitey,” not “Rich Whitey” as the AP reported

IL: Batavia Cares coordinator upset over ballot mishap*
http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2010/10/15/75351233/index.xml
The fact that 21 counties in Illinois – including Kane – missed the deadline to mail out military and overseas ballots bothers the leader of a Batavia organization that offers support to U.S. military members.
…
Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said Thursday that the ballots were mailed two days late because of a snag that occurred when county board member John Fahy, R-West Dundee, withdrew from the ballot.

Cunningham said if the office had sent out the ballots on time, he would have had to re-mail them later at an additional cost, and said the re-mailing would have gone out Sept.

The Voting News Daily: N Carolina Touchscreens flip votes. Will internet voting cause election debacle?

Chicago’s voting machines mis-spelled Green Pty candidate’s name as ‘Rich Whitey’. The election board is reprogramming 4,200 machines…Stunned voters watched touchscreens flip their votes in New Hanover CO NC..Vote PA needs your help in fight for paper ballots….”Overseas and military voters have unprecedented options for requesting, receiving and casting their ballots in 2010.” says Pres of Overseas Vote Foundation…Is it possible commit election fraud even without being in a voting booth? (Yes)…Will Online Voting Turn Into an Election Day Debacle?…

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

CA: “Am I registered to vote?” Find out from your county. Oct. 18 is the voter registration deadline! http://kimalex.blogspot.com/2010/10/am-i-registered-to-vote-find-out-from.html

CA: Fraudulent voter registration switches rise in Sacramento*
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/15/3105831/fraudulent-voter-registration.html
Throughout the county, voters who signed petitions on the street – pledging their support to some cause – have had their party affiliation switched with fraudulent voter registration filings.

CA: Ranked Choice Voting: How does it work? (Alameda County)
http://www.oaklandseen.com/2010/10/14/ranked-choice-voting-how-does-it-work/

CA: Lick Those Stamps, Alameda County Voters
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Lick-Those-Stamps-Alameda-Co-Voters–104899984.html An estimated 78 cents in postage is needed to return the multiple ballot cards from local, state and federal races and measures, according to the county’s registrar of voters.

CA: Election Day help is a click away
http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_16340135
Election officials remind voters that Monday is the final day to register to vote in the general election. Download a registration form online at www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform , print and sign it. Voters may also contact their county election offices.
Voters who are not enrolled in the permanent vote-by-mail program have until Oct. 26 to request a vote-by-mail ballot. Obtain a form at your county election office or go to www.sos.ca.gov/elections/vote-by-mail/pdf/fill-in-vote-by-mail-app-instruct.pdf

CT: Connecticut follows MOVE Act, avoids flaws – Others follow the money
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/connecticut-follows-move-act-avoids-flaws-others-follow-the-money/ . But there is big money and momentum behind efforts in other states to exploit flaws in the act.
…
Hopefully, Internet Voting Will be banned before it costs an election. The recent Washington D.C. public test clearly demonstrated that the years of warnings by computer scientists, security experts, and advocates were fully justified

CT: Connecticut Election Commission Finds ‘Insufficient Evidence’ in Ann Coulter Voter Fraud Case But Ignored Key Evidence, Erred in Investigation
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8124 State Elections Enforcement Commission determines it ‘cannot make full and fair determination’, but failed to look at documented facts and even Coulter’s own admissions…

FL: Absentee ballots had wrong addresses* (Seminole County)
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/101410absentee-ballots-had-wrong-addresses In a batch of 300 or so, Ertel found six with wrong addresses, due to a computer glitch in Tallahassee.

“To make sure those six didn’t go out to the wrong locations, we stopped the entire process, so we could make sure all the ballots would go to the right address,” says Ertel. “What we have found is that all the supervisors of elections throughout the state have done pretty much the same thing.”

FL: Computer glitch in Tallahassee could delay distribution of some
absentee ballots *
http://www.theorbitgroup.com/12749/computer-glitch-in-tallahassee-could-delay-distribution-of-some-absentee-ballots/ TALLAHASSEE — If you changed your mailing address recently and just requested an absentee ballot, there’s a small chance you might not get it quickly because of a glitch in the state’s voter database.

The Voting News Daily: Internet voting a national security question. Unredacted AVC Edge report

Computer scientist Dan Wallach News8 Austin TV: “Texas Supreme Court to weigh in on e-voting”…..Computer Scientists, Election Integrity Advocates Question Feasibility of “Digital Democracy”:”If I’m going to steal an election, I probably won’t mess with these little pilots…”I’m going to wait until there’s this groundswell for Internet voting.” ~ Dr. Barbara Simons….Court permits release of unredacted report on AVC Advantage..

All this and more in todays voting news below…

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CO: Commissioners defend polling places
http://www.gazette.com/articles/places-106246-polling-monday.html
El Paso County officials on Tuesday defended their designation of polling places for the August primary and November general election, following Monday’s criticism from a coalition of First Amendment rights advocates who object to the number of local churches being used.

DC: DC Passes National Popular Vote Law
http://nonprofitvote.blogspot.com/2010/10/dc-passes-national-popular-vote-law.html

FL: Glitch in state database delays mailing of absentee ballots
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/oct/13/glitch-in-state-database-delays-mailing-of/
People who recently requested absentee ballots for the general election may have to wait an extra day or two before they can fill in their votes.

More than 1,000 absentee ballots requested by Treasure Coast residents were put on hold because of a glitch that shut down the state’s voter database Monday and early Tuesday.

IL: Kirk Campaign Voter Integrity Drive Targets Key Black Districts
http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2010/10/12/kirk-campaign-voter-integrity-drive-targets-key-black-districts/

KY: More Ky. Counties Switching to Digital Scan Voting
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/More_Ky_Counties_Switching_to_
Digital_Scan_Voting_104844059.html http://tinyurl.com/2bwdeo9 The Nov. 2 general election will mark the first time voters in 45 Kentucky counties use a new digital scan voting system

LA: Simmons calls for recount of election results for School Board
http://www.beauregarddailynews.net/topstories/x710522369/Simmons-calls-for-recount-of-election-results-for-School-Board

MD: Maryland Pioneers Faster Way to Vote Absentee
Ballots now as close as your computer
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/MD-Pioneers-Easter-Faster-Way-to-Vote-Absentee–104580499.html Maryland is becoming the first state in the nation to make absentee ballots available online.

NC: Instant runoff to be used for first time this election
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/631364/instant-runoff-to-be-used-for-first-time-this-election (With video) “It is instant for the voters, but it is not instant for the election officials that have to count it,” says Bartlett.

This sounds confusing, and Bartlett admits it might be. Political analysts say they are watching to see how it works.

NC: More on Instant Runoff Voting
http://www.news-record.com/blog/54431/entry/100902
I quoted Greensboro attorney Marshall Hurley: “I call myself an election lawyer and I had to struggle grasping it and explaining it to other people.”

NJ: New Jersey Court Releases Unredacted Voting Machine Analysis, Finds No Trade Secrets Threatened http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6787

NM: Herrera’s troubles give GOP rare shot at office2010 ELECTION: Secretary of state job held by Democrats for 80 years http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/2010-election-Herrera-s-troubles-give-GOP-rare-shot-at-office Since early this year, incumbent Mary Herrera has faced a growing number of complaints — from her own staff as well as some county clerks across New Mexico — and has had to endure a barrage of bad publicity, including reports of possible criminal investigations.

NM: Overseas ballots will get four-day extension
http://newmexicoindependent.com/65031/overseas-ballots-will-get-four-day-extension
Ballots sent to uniformed New Mexicans and other state residents living overseas will get an extra four days to reach New Mexico to be counted.

NV: Nevada Secretary of State Acted Swiftly in Overseas Ballot SNAFU *
http://www.nationalreview.com/battle10/249518/nevada-secretary-state-acted-swiftly-overseas-ballot-snafu-elizabeth-crum

The Voting News Daily: Internet Voting, totally owned. TX Court hears evoting lawsuit

New: radio interview with Dr. David Jefferson, Livermore Natl Laboratories, computer scientist and cyber security expert and VerifiedVoting.org’s Internet Voting expert with NEW UNREPORTED BOMBSHELLS on breath-taking D.C. Internet Vote Hack. Iranian, Chinese Computers tried to hack D.C. Board of Elections…NY BOE survey finds thousands of voters have ‘major issues’ with new machines…Paper Trail for E-Voting Machines Goes Before TX Supreme Court…

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

Find voting news on the internet at http://votingnews.blogspot.com

CA: Candidates exploit ranked-choice endorsements
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/11/BA2M1FQEAC.DTL

CA: Voters again having trouble sealing absentee ballot envelopes
http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/politicsanyone/62032
Voters are, again, improperly sealing their absentee ballot envelopes and it’s causing problems at the Kern County elections division, Chief Deputy Registrar Karen Rhea said.

FL: Wrong Absentee Ballots Sent To Voters*
http://www.wftv.com/countybycounty/25361496/detail.html
SANFORD, Fla. — The Seminole County Supervisor of Elections admitted Monday that his office made a mistake, sending the wrong absentee ballots to an entire district of Sanford voters.
“It’s only 89 voters, but for those 89 voters it’s, you know, it’s the most important ballot they’re going to get for this year, so we need to make sure that they get it right,” said Michael Ertel, the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections.

Guam: GEC prepares for day in federal court
http://www.kuam.com/Global/story.asp?S=13305521 The agency as we reported violated federal law when it didn’t send absentee ballots to uniformed and overseas voters 45 days prior to the election. As a result the U.S. Department of Justice took GEC to court.

IL: Email No Panacea for Our Military
http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2010/10/12/email-no-panacea-for-our-military/
For military voters, we emailed 42 ballots and just a single one has been returned. A rate of 2.4%. On the other hand, we have mailed 204 ballots, and already 33 have been returned. A rate of 16.2%.

Now other factors certainly enter into this. Many of these military ballots are sent within the country. The final determination of the effectiveness of this method will be decided two weeks after the election when we do our final canvass.

IN: Early Voting Begins, But Not Without Glitches* (video available)
http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=206425
A line of voters had to wait several minutes for machines to get up and running.
County Clerk Susan Kirk says the system must have lost connection over the weekend, but a computer tech was fixing the problem.

IN: 2 special prosecutors chosen in Charlie White investigation
http://www.indystar.com/article/20101011/NEWS05/10110389/2-special-prosecutors-chosen-in-Charlie-White-investigation?odyssey=tabtopnewstextIndyStar.com
White, a Republican, used his ex-wife’s address to vote in the May 4 primary election. Initially, he said his actions were a mistake and didn’t warrant a criminal investigation. He’s maintained his actions were legal.
…
White already has left his seat on the Fishers Town Council as a result of the residence change that led to questions about the legality of his actions.

MO: Royster Claims New Proof Of Voter Fraud
John Joseph Rizzo Bested Will Royster In House Race By 1 Vote
http://www.kmbc.com/news/25359417/detail.html

NC: New online absentee voting ballots ease process for local troops
http://www.jdnews.com/articles/voting-83379-absentee-online.html

ND: Spirit Lake takes Benson County polling dispute to court
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/178891/

The Voting News Daily: Dangers of Internet Voting Confirmed. Foreign $ in US Elections?

Verified Voting’s Pres.interviewed by Fox D.C. about DC Internet Voting Pilot. In spite of experts saying otherwise, DC’s BoE still thinks they can make internet voting secure. Really? Then Google & DoD may wish to hire DC officials to teach them how. The video testimony is up on YouTube, making it easier to share on Facebook & blogs…Early voting centers at colleges teach students…Big Spending by Outside Groups, but No Disclosure..Pakistan pilot program for electronic voting…

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

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CA: Voting by mail can result in unintended consequences
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/columns/oped_contributors/Voting-by-mail-can-result-in-unintended-consequences-104551994.html Early voting has changed the arc of campaign planning and lowered the value of late campaign developments.

CA: Solano County’s mail-in ballots could be delayed
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_16296563 Delays at the postal distribution center in Sacramento are holding up the delivery of some vote-by-mail ballots to voters in northern and eastern Solano County, elections officials said Friday.
…
People registered to vote by mail who have not received their ballots by Wednesday should contact the Registrar of Voters Office at 784-6675.

CO: INSIDE THE BLACK BOX …..YOU VOTE … BUT “WE” COUNT …
OH, BY THE WAY “WE” DOES NOT INCLUDE YOU…
http://authenticallywired.com/2010/10/09/nside-the-black-box/

CO: Weld clerk to post deputies at vote centers
Some worry about voter intimidation
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20101009/NEWS/101009690/
1002&parentprofile=1001 http://tinyurl.com/29num2h

DC: D.C. Council hearing sums up election: Poor training and preparation
http://www.wikiusnews.com/3044/d-c-council-hearing-sums-up-election-poor-training-and-preparation.html

LA: Election night returns slowed by computer problems
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/10/election_night_returns_slowed.html
Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said there were two problems.
One was “very, very slow” transmission of data from a computer at the office of Orleans Parish Clerk of Criminal District Court ArthurMorrell, where Orleans returns are collected, to the secretary’s officein Baton Rouge.

The other problem was a lack of adequate bandwidth on election night for the secretary’s website, which was overwhelmed when, among otherthings, more people than expected logged on seeking election returns.

MI: Ottawa County clerk apologizes for second costly election ballot printing error in four years* http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/10/ottawa_county_clerk_apologizes.html
The glitch — the office’s second ballot error in four years — affected ballots sent to about 1,400 voters and carries a $48,570 cost for ballot reprints.
The clerk’s office omitted the names of Natural Law Party candidates Stacy Kohmescher, candidate for the state Board of Education, and Doug Dern, candidate for Wayne State University’s Board of Governors.

NC: You would think voting would be easy for a servicemember….nnnope
http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/2010/10/you-would-think-voting-would-be-easy-for-a-servicemembernnnope.html I hope you take the opportunity to vote this year and every year offered. I, being one of many servicemembers deployed overseas that desire to vote via absentee voting wanted to vote but wasn’t successful. (sorry Walter B Jones North Carolina 3rd you didnt get my vote because our absentee system is all jacked up)

NC: Campaign cash, flowing from where?
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/10/729577/campaign-cash-flowing-from-where.html

NJ: Judge finds no evidence of voter fraud in Paterson
http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/104622224_Judge_finds
_no_evidence_of_voter_fraud.html http://tinyurl.com/2d4z7tx The election day results showed McDaniel leading Rodriguez by 25 votes.

The Voting News Daily: Video Cure for Internet Voting. Ireland voting machines to be traffic cones?

Must see video testimony! DC’s Board of Elections detected the hack of their internet voting system BECAUSE Professor J. Alex Halderman & U. of Michigan students wanted the hack detected. “A real attack might be completely invisible and could have run on undetected much, much longer…”. Halderman’s team also changed the BoE password to protect it foreign hacker attempts..Files stolen from NM’s SoS whistleblower..Ireland to turn €50m voting machines into ‘traffic cones or fleeces’ (with video)…

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

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AL: Bessemer, Ala: mayor fires city clerk over absentee ballots
http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006447.html
When Brooks refused to go off-site, the mayor fired him about 5:30 p.m., forced him to turn over his keys to the mayor and had a police officer escort him out of Bessemer city hall, Brooks said. The absentee ballots for today’s election were locked in the city clerk’s office, and Brooks said the mayor, who is a candidate in today’s election, had the key to the office.

CA: andidate’s DOB an issue for voters (Orange County)
http://www.ocregister.com/news/voters-269915-candidate-dob.html
When Miller Oh filed to run for City Council in Buena Park, he dutifully put down his correct age: 52.
…
Oh admits his registration says he’s 46, as do his Social Security records, his passport, and every other legal document he has.

CT: Probate judge to run as write-in candidate after ballot glitch
http://www.theday.com/article/20101006/NWS01/310069852/-1/NWS

CT: State to Tackle Ann Coulter Voter Fraud Allegations Next Week
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/politics/State-to-Tackle-Ann-Coulter-Voter-Fraud-Allegations-Next-Week—104509789.html
Whether conservative pundit Ann Coulter falsely used her parents’ New Canaan address as her voting address is up to the state Election Commission.

DC: DCBOEE Lessons Learned from Digital Vote by Mail Hacking (internet voting)
http://dcboee.us/dvm/ps_hacker_response.htm
[DC BoEE idea of lesson learned is to ignore computer scientists overall warning that
internet voting can not be secured period, at least for 10 years and not this internet.]

See Internet Voting Watch section for more on the DC internet voting pilot hack

GA: Election law change approved by feds (early voting on touchscreens)
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/headlines/Election_law_change
_approved_by_feds_104546754.html http://tinyurl.com/23zo3vw
Electronic voting, as well as paper absentee ballots, must be provided for at least 45 days before elections starting next year.

Guam: BREAKING NEWS: Justice Department Sues Guam Election Commission: Overseas Citizens Must Have Right To Vote! http://guamnewswatch.com/201010063240/Local-News/Justice-Department-Sues-Guam-Election-Commission-Overseas-Citizens-Must-Have-Right-To-Vote.html The Department of Justice filed their complaint today in the U.S. District Court of Guam following news that the Guam Election Commission had failed to deliver timely ballots to overseas service members and citizens who are registered to vote on island.

Guam: Justice Department Announces Lawsuit to Protect Rights of Military and Overseas Voters in Guam http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/October/10-crt-1122.html

IL: Cahokia voter fraud plea deal
http://www.ksdk.com/news/regional/story.aspx?storyid=219627&catid=16
Wiggins pleaded guilty to 43 counts of voter fraud, but 39 of those counts were dismissed. Brown, 27, who worked in the Cahokia Streets Department, originally received 22 counts of voter fraud but 19 of them were dismissed. Wiggins, 44, is married to the village clerk.

The Voting News Daily: Internet voting faces the music. SC voting machine bugs. Ireland trashes EVMs

About the DC Internet vote hack, Dr. David Jefferson says “Let there be no mistake about it: this is a major achievement, and supports in every detail the warnings that security community have been giving about Internet voting for over a decade now.”..The U. of Michigan team changed cast ballots to write-ins like HAL 900 of “2001: A Space Odyssey” …MAJOR writeup about SC’s voting machines, computer scientist says machines would get an ‘F’..Election expert testifies at trial on Shelby Co TN election irregularities..Ireland scraps EVMs, tired of paying storage fees…

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

CA: “SURGE IN EARLY VOTING UPENDS ELECTION PLAYBOOKS”
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017254.html

CA: County’s mail ballot will need 61¢ postage
http://www.modbee.com/2010/10/06/1370533/countys-mail-ballot-will-need.html
Sacramento County’s registrar of voters is warning that extra postage is required to return vote-by-mail ballots.

CT: Ann Coulter to Face Vote on Voter Fraud Charges in CT by State Elections Enforcement Commission http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8110
“This case is scheduled to appear on the October 14, 2010 public session. We expect the Commission will vote on this matter at that time.”

KS: Should the state require you to show ID?
http://www.kansas.com/2010/10/05/1527367/should-the-state-require-you-to.html

MD: Early votes to be tallied earlier
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/10062010/indytop172101_32402.shtml
Early-voting totals must be processed and submitted two hours before polls close on general election night, according to an emergency regulation the state elections board approved last week.

MI: APPEALS COURT TO HEAR BARROW SUIT TO REMOVE BING NOV. 2
Former candidate seeks Bing’s immediate removal due to massive irregulaties in vote
http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=923 “This law suit is not sour grapes or a refusal to accept an election loss, rather it’s about 59,135 of 114,718 ballots which the public does not know were un-recountable and irregular….”

ND: Benson County won’t have polling site on reservation
http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/543535.html?nav=5010
MINNEWAUKAN The Spirit Lake Reservation will be the only reservation in North Dakota without an on-reservation polling site this election.

NJ: HOMEOWNERS IN FORECLOSURE CAN STILL VOTE
http://www.nbc40.net/news/14916/

NY: Voter was right to be skeptical
http://registerstar.com/articles/2010/10/05/opinion/letters/doc4caa73ff
66e3e840177490.txt http://tinyurl.com/2vgnvwa By Virginia Martin, Democratic Commissioner of Elections. I and my counterpart, (Republican) Commissioner Nastke, believe that the only way we can be confident that we’ll know how the voters voted — which we must know before we can certify the results — is by counting every single vote on every single paper ballot that was scanned. Therefore, while what the scanner might show the voter on its screen might be interesting, no voter should be reassured by what that screen reveals, because it could be wrong.

NY: Libertarian Party, and Anti-Prohibition Party, Sue New York Over Refusal to Print Nominees’ Name Twice on Ballot http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/10/06/libertarian-party-and-anti-prohibition-party-sue-new-york-over-refusal-to-print-nominees-name-twice-on-ballot/

NV: RNC mails 200,000 absentee ballot request forms to wrong county, has to do
robocall to inform voters* http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/ralstons-flash/2010/oct/06/rnc-mails-200000-absentee-ballot-request-forms-wro/ The Republican National Committee recently mailed an estimated 200,000 absentee ballot request forms into Clark County – but a warning on the form instructs people who have never voted in “Washoe County” that they can only use the mail ballot under strict circumstances. (form and flyer posted)

OH: Morgan County suit seeks money to pay for election
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/05/copy/suit-seeks-money-to-pay-for-election.html

The Voting News Daily: India to get paper trail? DC Internet Voting Pwned – update. NY voter feedback poll

D.C.’s internet “Voting System Pwned by Michigan Wolverines” in public test. Great. What would experts find if allowed to “test” W.VA.’s military/internet voting system, or other states’ email balloting?..The NY State Board of Elections is conducting a voter feedback poll. So is the New York Daily news..Trial against Shelby Co TN Elections Commission starts Wednesday..Voting by mail? Check the postage!…Will The World’s Largest Democracy beat the U.S. to full VVPR?…

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

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AZ: Voter registration goes too far for some
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13261134
Bils pointed out that Arizona law requires name, address, birth date, a “yes” answer to citizenship, and the number a driver license or state ID, or last four digits of the Social Security number.

“They should put it someplace telling you what items are mandatory and what items are really optional which is the majority of the document,” Bils said.

CA: THE SMOKING TOILET
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017242.html LA City Councilman Richard Alarcon has been indicted on charges that he didn’t really live in the home that allowed him to represent his district According to this report, the evidence against him includes utility bills showing that the home was only using 8.2 gallons of water

CA: Some Vote-by-Mail Ballots Delayed, More Pricey
http://www.capradio.org/articles/2010/10/04/some-vote-by-mail-ballots-delayed,-more-pricey Some voters in the Sacramento region may have to wait an extra week to receive their vote-by-mail ballots. And some will have to put extra postage on their ballots to make sure they’re delivered when they send them back.

CA: County Cuts Dozens of Polling Location Sites
http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/story/County-Cuts-Dozens-of-Polling-Location-Sites/Qcq1BVI2ukSLdcznNb4UtA.cspx

IN: Election offices unaware of mobile registration site (for mobile phone)
http://www.wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=13264449

KS: Clerical error leads to voter registration mixup between Barton, Douglas counties
Woman had been listed in wrong county for 2 years
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/oct/01/clerical-error-leads-voter-registration-mixup-betw/

NC: Key election dates ahead
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2010/10/05/news/doc4caa4f729f818142119334.txt
Wynn’s replacement will be selected by means of an “instant runoff,” which lets voters rank their preferred candidates in three columns — first, second, third.

NY: Board of Elections conducts voter-feedback poll to learn about ‘complications’
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/05/2010-10-05_you_like_us_dont_you_board_of_elex_conducts_voterfeedback_poll.html
The city Board of Elections thinks it did a great job running last month’s problem-scarred primary election – so it’s paying for a poll to prove it. (NY Daily News has poll up too)

NY: Why Some Polling Places Were Tardy on Primary Day
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/why-johnny-couldnt-vote-on-primary-day/

NY: Late poll openings, paper jams mar New York City primary
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700070966/Late-poll-openings-paper-jams-mar-New-York-City-primary.html About 6 percent of New York City’s polling sites did not open on time for last month’s primary election and thousands of poll workers had not been trained to operate new voting machines that debuted that day, the city’s Board of Elections acknowledged Monday

TN: Trial Against Elections Commission Starts Wednesday (video also available)
Had intended to start Monday, but both sides fought over information not being released http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-court-election-democrat-challenges,0,7924646.story Attorneys for the Shelby County Elections Commission and Democratic candidates and others have fought hard since August 5th. This day wasn’t going to be any different.