Editors Note: Today’s voting news is dedicated to my mother who passed away on January 21, 2010. She is sorely missed but is at peace now. A big thanks goes out to Sean Flaherty of Verified Voting who has been publishing the Voting News in my absence, from January 18- 28. Without Sean, the voting news would not have gone out. ~ Joyce McCloy, editor.
Now the voting news highlights: Internet voting – Neighborhood Councils Urge (Los Angeles) City Hall To Allow Online Voting…Washington State SOS sponsors bill for military to vote by email or fax. Strangley, Thurston Co. WA Auditor Kim Wyman says: “This is not voting via the Internet.”
Aspen Colorado ballot image suit may go to court in March…The value of audits demonstrated: $4,000 of Indian River County funds ended up in personal bank acct of Election Supervisor…Colbert Bait -Even with the new SCOTUS ruling, Doritos can’t sponsor his 2012 run…Murray Hill Inc. announced it was filing to run for U.S. Congress…Tests expose weaknesses of Philippines new voting machines…EU calls on Sri Lanka to probe reports of election irregularities…
All this and more in today’s voting news below….
CA: Neighborhood Councils Urge City Hall To Allow Online Voting
http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/city-news/online-voting-neighborhood-cou/
Jan. 29 2010 …Still, time is running short for this year’s elections, and the clerk’s office has indicated it would rather not deal with the issue until 2012. Last week, Councilman Paul Koretz authored a motion encouraging the clerk’s office to implement pilot voting programs this year. But without firm directive, the clerk’s office seems likely to swat the idea aside.
Read blog articles about internet voting risks at Verified Voting blog here:
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/category/issues/internet-voting
CA: Election Day registration worries county clerk
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/1009583.html
…Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie called same-day registration a “no brainer” and said it was more secure because “you have the person right in front of you — not a postcard in the mail,” Yee wrote
CA: California “Top-Two Open Primary” to be on Ballot as Proposition 14
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/01/31/california-top-two-open-primary-to-be-on-ballot-as-proposition-14/
CO: Marks v. Koch- Ballot ImageTransparency Litigation – Aspen Colorado
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/01/marks-v-koch-ballot-imagetransparency.html
Marilyn Marks filed suit against the City of Aspen Municipal Clerk to gain recourse for the City’s refusal to provide access to a CD containing recorded images of the ballots which were cast in Aspen Colorado’s May 5 municipal election.
…
A further trial management conference was set for Feb. 18 and a tentative trial date was set for March 22 and 23.
CO: Editorial: A vote for voters
http://bit.ly/9VqrUY January 29, 2010 No need to even ask. Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder is dutifully researching and asking voters whether they want a mail-ballot-only election for the state primary races in August, or whether they want the county to set up voting machines in precincts or voting centers.
CO: Scott Doyle announces re-election bid
http://bit.ly/cva6pv
Doyle is credited with pioneering the Vote Center concept in Colorado that eliminated neighborhood precinct polling places in favor of large centers
FL: Solari: Annual audit to include $4,000 bank error in Indian River County Supervisor of Elections Office
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jan/29/solari-annual-audit-to-include-4000-bank-error/
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Almost $4,000 was found missing in March from one of Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem’s office accounts, and transferred to her personal account, say county officials who have heard preliminary findings of the county’s 2009 independent audit.
HI: $200 Million of Your Money Wasted
State procurement squanders cash and delays services
http://bit.ly/c9UHAh
…ES&S Election Systems & Software’s electronic
voting machines did not get the state contract despite costing
$24.3 million less than the competition over eight years.
IL: Undervoting Law Causes Questions
http://visitpontiac.com/components/news/community/article.php?a=ad5a2bd65e04e1fb399f82828deb855e
Voters are inquiring if they are still allowed to undervote, which is a practice used by voters on purpose. If they don’t wish to cast a vote, they don’t have to. This could be to send a message to the candidates, or if the voter feels they are not educated enough on a race to cast a vote.
IN: UPDATED: Counties could save cash with vote centers
http://bit.ly/cXcKd5
January 31, 2010 …But some caution that the concept may not work everywhere. With fewer polling places, many people have to travel farther to vote, which is a problem for those without transportation.
NY: Columbia County Government Round-Up
http://bit.ly/aqxbSt
January 31, 2010 …several counties, including Nassau County in Long Island, are interested in joining proposed litigation to declare the state Election Reform and Modernization Act of 2005 (ERMA) unconstitutional.
NY: Once a mayor, he’s now a commisioner
http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php/the-news/842-by-debora-gilbert
29 January 2010 …Asked his reaction to the new voting systems voters must use in future elections, he admits he mistrusts computers involved in the voting process, because “when you need them the most, they let you down.”
VT: Small turnout at IRV repeal hearing (“rare noontime meeting”)
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11903718
January 29, 2010 Instant Runoff Voting is back on the front burner in Vermont’s largest city. A group of Burlington residents brought a petition to repeal IRV, and the issue will appear on the city’s upcoming March 2 ballot.
SC: South Carolina Democratic Party Says it Won’t Let Ex-Felon Run for Congress in its Primary
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/01/31/south-carolina-democratic-party-says-it-wont-let-ex-felon-run-for-congress-in-its-primary/
January 31st, 2010 …On January 27, Doyle sued the South Carolina Democratic Party over its threat to keep him off its primary ballot, and also over its failure so far to include him on the party’s web page list of candidates this year
WA: Make it easier for overseas ballots to count
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/1122136.html
February 01, 2010 …Secretary of State Sam Reed has sponsored a bill in the state Legislature that would allow military and overseas voters to return their ballot via e-mail or fax.*
Citizens United related articles:
Supreme Court Ruling Spurs Corporation Run for Congress (video also)
http://www.murrayhillweb.com/pr-012510.html
First Test of “Corporate Personhood” In Politics
Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited corporate funding of federal campaigns, Murray Hill Inc. today announced it was filing to run for U.S. Congress and released its first campaign video on www.youtube.com/user/murrayhillcongress
Sen. Franken Press Release on Barring Foreign Money in US Elections Post-CU
http://tinyurl.com/frankenpr
“Hanging a ‘For Sale’ Sign Over the Judiciary”
Dorothy Samuels has written this important “Editorial Notebook” item in the NY Times.
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015167.html
Colbert in 2012?
http://volokh.com/2010/01/29/colbert-in-2012/
While Frito-Lay could air ads in support of Colbert’s candidacy, it still can’t fund his campaign directly or coordinate its expenditures with the Colbert campaign…
National
Software in Dangerous Places
http://blog.verifiedvoting.org/2010/01/26/387
By Dan Wallach, Rice University
An Open Letter to the U.S. Media on Elections
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mimi-kennedy/an-open-letter-to-the-us_b_434390.html
The anonymous secret ballot is as fungible – transferrable -as the dollar. At present, it is easy to steal. From casting to counting, our votes must be better-protected in all voting systems. An easy first step is for you, the media in a free country, to ask How voters cast their votes in covered races and How they are counted, along with Who is the subcontractor serving the election jurisdiction – and to publish the information.
Internet Voting, Google, and the China Syndrome
http://www.trustthevote.org/internet-voting-google-and-the-china-syndrome/comment-page-1
International
Davos 2010: Cyber threats escalate with state attacks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8489265.stm
Attacks can come from anywhere in the world now
Cyber-attacks are rising sharply, mainly driven by state-sponsored hackers, experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos have warned.
India: CYBER LAWS IN INDIA: E-Voting In India
http://cyberlawsinindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/e-voting-in-india.html
The Gujarat State Election Commission is discussing plans to introduce voting through SMSes and over the Internet for municipal and panchayat elections. Previously, India has adopted the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)
India: Guj mulls over SMS, internet voting in local body polls
http://www.ptinews.com/news/490716_Guj-mulls-over-SMS–internet-voting-in-local-body-polls
Ireland: Would you vote for these machines as the decade’s daftest decision ?
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/would-you-vote-for-these-machines–as-the-decades-daftest-decision-2040314.html
Whatever the outcome, e-voting — as the marketers insisted on calling it — was a costly mistake that has, to date, set the taxpayer back to the tune of an estimated €55m. “In terms of symbolic significance, it was the greatest governmental cock-up of the last 10 years,” says Labour environment spokesman Ciaran Lynch.
Philippines: Tests expose weaknesses of poll machines *
http://2010electionresult.blogspot.com/2010/01/tests-expose-weaknesses-of-poll.html
January 29, 2010 THE FIELD TESTING of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the automated elections continues to be hounded by glitches,
…
repeated attempts to transmit the results of the demo vote failed…
…
One machine, also in the Aguho school, rejected four out of 10 ballots
…
Jay Herada, the South Cotabato election supervisor, said the voting machine would regularly “pause” during the voting process, thereby delaying the printing of the results.
Philippines: VP candidate advocates online voting for OFWs
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/240945/vp-candidate-advocates-online-voting-ofws
Sri Lanka: EU calls on Sri Lanka to probe reports of election irregularities
http://srilankanewsfirst.com/politics/15902.html
29 January, 2010 BRUSSELS, – The European Union on Friday urged the Sri Lankan authorities to investigate reports of “irregularities” during the country’s recent election and ensure the safety of his defeated opponent.
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in “Voting News” do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers’ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.