ACLU faults Pima county AZ for invalidating 18% of 2008 provisional ballots..Candidate for California SOS has voted once in his life.. NYC Elections Chief Attacks Reports of Primary Day Chaos..Vote Centers for Ohio?..Dave Schechter, CNN Senior National Editor has a wide ranging analysis of today’s election systems and challenges… FVAP blogs on military vote updates…
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
AL: Some troops may not get ballots in time
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/some-troops-may-not-get-ballots-in-time
AZ: ACLU faults county for invalidating ’08 ballots
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_acad50e1-f065-5b34-8068-f3850189c1f3.html
Pima County was the worst offender in disenfranchising voters in 2008, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union, which determined the county invalidated 18 percent of provisional ballots because voters went to the wrong polling place.
…
The organization’s study, which covered Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai and Coconino counties in the 2008 election, found that of about 131,500 provisional ballots, almost 40,000 ended up invalidated, for reasons as varied as the person didn’t have the right identification or was ineligible to vote.
CA: Challenger who rarely voted seeks California elections post
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16215223?nclick_check=1
Damon Dunn wants to lead the office that oversees elections and voting systems in the nation’s most populous state — a rather large leap for someone who never voted until last year’s statewide special election.
CO: Campaign finance complaint filed against Colo. Secretary of State
http://www.kdvr.com/news/sns-ap-co–colorado-bueschercomplaint,0,3108272.story
A Denver attorney has filed a complaint against Secretary of State Bernie Buescher claiming Buescher violated state law by using state workers to coordinate his campaign for re-election
CT: Lose home but not right to vote
http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2010/09/29/life/doc4ca 34f2aeab84763696821.txt http://tinyurl.com/27qxx4q HARTFORD – Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz sought today to reassure Connecticut foreclosure victims that they will not be denied the right to vote.
DE: Delaware Supreme Court Will Hear Fusion Lawsuit Filed by Libertarians, After Election http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/09/30/delaware-supreme-court-will-hear-fusion-lawsuit-filed-by-libertarians-after-election/
FL: Court halts penalties for Fla. election violations
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/30/1850152/court-halts-penalties-for-fla.html
Florida election law violators can avoid civil penalties by simply opting for a hearing before an administrative law judge owing to a glitch in legislation passed three years ago, an appeal court ruled Thursday.
FL: Election talk on fantasy Lane (comedy video about Sarasota FL saga)
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7233883/
IA: Churches to host early voting during Sunday worship
http://www.amestrib.com/articles/2010/09/29/ames_tribune/news/doc4ca3
7f68a5950099539305.txt http://tinyurl.com/2bc4xs8
IL: County election board hears case*
Candidate’s husband says his wife’s name off ballot; lack of training cited
http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/2755118,elections0929.article
County Elections Board Attorney Jim Wieser explained that there were four machines sent to the Boys & Girls Club, two for each precinct. However, the two reportedly programmed for EC-31 weren’t out when the day’s first voters arrived, but within a short time, a mechanic found the machines and set them up.
IN: Election board meets about clerical mistake; clerk doing mailing to possible affected absentee voters* http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1668630.html Nearly 200 Greene County registered voters may have received duplicate absentee ballot cards in the mail during the past two weeks
MS: Local voter fraud case ends
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Local-voter-fraud-case-ends/2PP_KOgYnUarUCfB8qLxcw.cspx
A long-running voter fraud case has come to an end in Benton County.
Kenny Ray Bowen and Billy Street were the last among 16 defendants in the case.
NC: Hand count may be needed for some N.C. ballots
http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/8373469/ The State Board of Elections finalized details Wednesday on the method used to identify the Court of Appeals race winner being decided through instant runoff voting.
…
The board decided workers in 24 counties with electronic machines will have to read the register tape generated by each electronic vote should second and third choices be counted.
NE: 13 say they weren’t allowed to vote*
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100929/NEWS01/709309853#13-say-they-weren-t-allowed-to-vote
NY: Elections Chief Attacks Reports of Primary Day Chaos
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30machines.html?_r=2
City election officials on Wednesday gave their first public accounting of the problems that occurred during the primary this month and, while acknowledging missteps, they vigorously and sometimes heatedly defended their handling of the transition to electronic machines from lever-operated voting booths.
NY: The Board of Elections Blames the Mayor
http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2010/09/29/the-board-of-elections-blames-the-mayor/
“There is no cheap way to run an election,” Commissioner J.R. Polanco told the senators at the downtown Manhattan hearing. He said the board had asked for $16 million to conduct public education on the new system but received $10 million less.
NY: Lawmaker Calls for Critique of New Voting Machines
County Legislator Edwin Day says there needs to be confidence in voting procedures.
http://newcity.patch.com/articles/lawmaker-calls-for-critique-of-new-voting-machines
OH: Secretary Brunner’s Pilot “Vote Center” Concept Creates Significant Savings In Special Election http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2010/09/secretary-brunners-pilot-vote-center-concept-creates-significant-savings-in-special-election.html
OR: State looking into election complaint
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100929/COMMUNITIES/9290385/1133
City reader board in front of library had candidate listed
TN: Ex-voting technician cites dismissal for election woes
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/29/firing-cited-in-election-woes/
A former voting-machine technician for the Shelby County Election Commission says his dismissal last year contributed to problems in the disputed Aug. 5 election.
…
But election administrator Richard Holden said Reeder was responsible for voting machines, not the electronic poll books.
WV: W.Va. GOP to deploy “Ballot Security Team”
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/squawkbox/2010/09/30/w-va-gop-to-deploy-ballot-security-team/
Internet Voting Watch
U.S. Voters Abroad Test Efforts To Expedite Balloting
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130209616
Hundreds of thousands of ballots from military and other overseas voters were never returned or counted in the 2008 U.S. election. But a new law requires states to send absentee ballots overseas at least 45 days in advance, and some states are now accepting votes via e-mail and fax.
…
The Overseas Vote Foundation is recommending that anyone who sends their votes electronically also send a backup paper copy, just to be safe…
Canada: Online Voting
http://www.thehamiltonian.net/2010/09/online-voting.html Do you think this idea’s time has come? Is Burlington one step ahead of us, or venturing into troubled water?
Canada: Internet voting seen as wave of the future
Technology may soon change the face of elections
http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Internet+voting+seen+wave+future/3600226/story.html
Canada: Cottagers can carry clout
http://thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2773123
With many townships moving to vote-by-mail or telephone and Internet voting, those thousands of seasonal residents have a lot of weight to throw around in local races.
Cyber Warfare On The Net
http://business.ezinemark.com/cyber-warfare-on-the-net-31847fc3459.html
Until the recent admission by Iran of a successful cyber attack on its nuclear power plant facilities, cyber warfare had not made serious inroads into the collective consciousness.
National
Analysis: Our votes are counted accurately — aren’t they?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/30/voting.machines/
By Dave Schechter, CNN Senior National Editor
Tools for Transbearency: Q&A Sites for Open Government
http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2010/09/30/tools-for-transbearency-question-answer-open-government/
Absentee Voting Week
http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/09/absentee-voting-week/
Starting this year, states are required to send their ballots out 45 days before the election, to send them out electronically (email, fax, online posting) if you ask for that, and the Military Postal System will Express Mail all ballots for overseas military personnel and their dependents overseas.
GOP senators urge push for states, counties to get ballots to troops
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/29/senators.troops.ballots/
Several Republican lawmakers Wednesday urged Attorney General Eric Holder to immediately force states and counties that missed the deadline for mailing military absentee ballots to act promptly to ensure men and women in uniform can vote in time for the November election.
International
India: Sikkim 1st state with round the clock uninterrupted CCTV
surveillance of EVMs http://stockmarkettoday.in/2010/09/30/sikkim-1st-state-with-round-the-clock-uninterrupted-cctv-surveillance-of-evms/
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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