October 15. Who will stand up for our troops vote? Soldiers to Choose Risking Democracy on Electronic Voting – FVAP says ok for troops send ballots by “unsecure electronic means” as long as its voluntary…CA Computer Scientists Charge U.S. EAC Misused Security Findings from Landmark E-Voting Study…Citizens Assail GA Supreme Court Voting Decision…Applause: NC State Board of Elections asks DOD to become voter registration agency…Guilty pleas in Atlantic City NJ absentee ballot fraud…Clermont County OH says vote by mail or you might get swine flu…Real cause of low turnout: lack of issues, disconnect with voters…
Irony warning: Tennessee SOS Tres Hargett says state can comply with voting machine law by 2010 if court orders him to…Ireland finally planning disposal of its banned e-voting machines…Plenty of internet voting whack-a-mole today…
All of that and more in today’s Voting News below..
AK: Recount scheduled in North Pole mayor race
October 15, 2009 NORTH POLE, Alaska (AP) – North Pole City Clerk Kathy Weber says the city will conduct a recount in the mayor’s race.
…
Jacobson tells the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that an election worker told him the city’s voting machine malfunctioned on Election Day.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=11317627
CA: CA Computer Scientists Charge U.S. EAC Misused Security Findings from Landmark E-Voting Study
In letter to federal Election Assistance Commission, investigators from CA’s unprecedented e-vote review blast the approval of flawed protocols in certification tests for new Diebold e-voting system…
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7470
CA: (Tweet)smcvote Can you increase turnout using emails & texts from a Chief Elections Officer-Drs. Michaelson/CSU East Bay & Malhotra/Stanford will find out.
(No link just go to www.twitter.com type in smcvote)
GA: Citizens Assail GA Supreme Court Voting Decision
October 15, 2009 Press Release
…Plaintiff Mark Sawyer stated: “This decision authorizes the Secretary of State to continue pretending to conduct elections. Not one of the 100+ million actual votes that have been cast on Election Day since 2002 can be audited for correctness of vote recording. No state election official can prove that any election result ever produced by these machines is correct.”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Citizens-Assail-GA-Supreme-by-Garland-Favorito-091015-216.html
IA: Recount Board Verifies Results of Davenport Third Ward Primary
…The following process was used to recount the votes in each precinct.
Each board member reviewed each ballot and agreed on the candidate for which the ballot was cast. As the board reviewed each ballot the ballots were separated by candidates. After all ballots had been reviewed for a particular precinct each board member hand counted the results. Each board member then publically stated the vote total for each candidate.
http://scottcountyauditor.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/recount-board-verifies-results-of-davenport-third-ward-primary/
MD: Maryland Delegate plans revision to state law allowing felons to vote
October 14 …Once introduced, Impallaria’s bill will require ex-convicts to register with the State Board of Elections as a “restored voting rights felon,” and the felon will only be permitted to vote by absentee ballot.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9913-Maryland-Statehouse-Examiner~y2009m10d14-Maryland-Delegate-plans-revision-to-state-law-allowing-felons-to-vote
MI: Michigan considers e-mailing absentee ballots overseas
House bill would allow U.S. military, others out of the country more time to cast votes
Lansing — Chances of getting their votes counted are so slim for U.S. military personnel overseas, many servicemen and women don’t bother to vote, according to testimony today on a bill to allow e-ballots in the state
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091015/POLITICS02/910150406/1024/POLITICS03/Michigan-considers-e-mailing-absentee-ballots-overseas
NC: Soldiers to Choose Risking Democracy on Electronic Voting
In a letter to the NC State Board of Elections, the Federal Voting Assistance Program has recommended that individual soldiers be left to determine the viability of returning their votes by email.
…
We see some problems with this.
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2451
NC: FVAP recommends 4 changes to NC law to help overseas military voters Four good ideas, one really bad one. The Federal Voting Assistance Program also endorses having troops send voted ballots by “unsecure electronic means” as long as the troops volunteer.
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FVAP recommendations are in this letter dated Oct 7. See excerpts below, and note that short term FVAP oks troops sending votes unsecured online, as volunteers, and long term goal is to transmit voted ballots electronically :
http://ncvoters.blogspot.com/2009/10/fvap-recommends-4-changes-to-nc-law-to.html
NC: Letter to DOD, help us help troops vote says North Carolina State Board of Elections
Our overseas troops need help voting, and the North Carolina State Board of Elections is seeking options.
…
“I request that the Department of Defense, in its operation of military pay/personnel offices in North Carolina, agree to be designated as a voter registration agency.”
http://ncvoters.blogspot.com/2009/10/letter-to-dod-help-us-help-troops-vote.html
NJ: Will vote fraud guilty pleas and court dates of AC Dems affect Corzine’s GOTV efforts? *
October 14, 2009 Ronald Harris of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy in an absentee-ballot fraud case. He was among 13 people charged with engaging in ballot fraud on behalf of City Councilman Marty Small’s mayoral campaign, including David Callaway and Small himself.
http://www.electionjournal.org/2009/10/14/will-vote-fraud-guilty-pleas-and-court-dates-of-ac-dems-affect-corzines-gotv-efforts/
OH: Board: Vote early – to avoid H1N1
October 14, 2009 One local election board is urging people to vote early – to avoid H1N1…Clermont County elections director Judy Miller wants more people to vote by mail rather than in person to cut down on the spread of illness, particularly the H1N1 flu.
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20091014/NEWS01/910150305
OH: Double check ballot requests: Absentee voters can only obtain them by going through Board of Elections
October 15, 2009…paid solicitors who call homes trying to get voters to support their issues told them they would be added to a list of people who requested an absentee ballot. Candelario said voters will only receive absentee ballots directly requested from the Board of Elections, not an outside third party.
http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/10/15/news/mj1754598.txt
OH: Summit elections board chairman tells Brunner he won’t quit
Oct 14, 2009 Summit County elections board chairman Jack Morrison Jr. is refusing Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s request that he resign because of his convictions on ethics charges.
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Morrison told Brunner she doesn’t have the authority to remove him from the board without a formal complaint and a hearing.
http://www.ohio.com/news/64305042.html
TN: Fair elections top Hargett’s list
Tennessee secretary of state speaks to Rotary Club Secretary of State Tre Hargett said he’s convinced he has the best job in government.
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Whatever legislators and courts decide to do with the voter equipment standards, Hargett said the division of elections will be prepared
http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20091015/NEWS01/910150305/Fair+elections+top+Hargett+s+list
TN: Tre Hargett’s Christmas Present
October 14, 2009. The war on fair elections comes earlier and earlier every year. Secretary of State Tre Hargett got a shiny new present for Christmas and the voters of Bedford, Lincoln, and Rutherford counties got lumps of coal.
…
Secretary of State Hargett knows that 93 out of 95 counties cast votes on these machines and yet he continues to want us to use them in election after election. Why, as the guardian of our democratic process, doesn’t he want to fix our broken election system?
http://www.liberadio.com/2009/10/14/tre-hargetts-christmas-present/
TN: Facts About Voting Machine Technology from the National Association of Secretaries of State
October 15. According to the National Association of Secretaries of State, jurisdictions in 49 states use the kinds of voting technology that Tre Hargett says we cannot use.
http://www.liberadio.com/2009/10/15/facts-about-voting-machine-technology-from-the-national-association-of-secretaries-of-state/
Prevent Election Fiascoes in Tennessee – Enact Paper Ballot Law Now
August 11, 2009
A perfect storm is brewing for Tennessee voters for the 2010 election
…Unless the Secretary of State Hargett takes swift and certain prompt action, thousands of votes will be at risk in the 2010 election.
http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/tag/electronic-voting-machines/
WA: Pierce charter amendment supporters, opponents squabble over campaign cash
Posted By David Wickert on October 15
Supporters and opponents of three proposed Pierce County charter amendments have been trading jabs recently.
Alex Hays, president of the Pierce County Better Government League, which supports the three amendments, has accused opponents of accepting “secret campaign cash” from an out-of-state group.
http://blog.thenewstribune.com/politics/2009/10/15/pierce-charter-amendemnt-supporters-opponents-squabble-over-campaign-cash/
International
Canada (Durham, Ontario): Clarington voters may cast ballot online in 2010
Voters may have the option of traditional or Internet voting, and election signs may only be placed on Regional roads, if council follows two staff recommendations on how to run the 2010 municipal election.
http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/137648
Estonia: Almost 10% of Estonian voters cast their votes electronically
Oct 14…Estonian electronic voting is possible thanks to the ID-cards which bear an electronic microchip. People who want to vote electronically – i.e. without leaving their computers – have to stick the card into a smartcard reader, type in their secret PIN for authentication, make a selection in their constituency, and then confirm the vote with another secret PIN for signing. ID-cards cannot be used for voting – or any other such activity – without those PINs.
http://www.empirechronicles.co.uk/2009/10/14/almost-10-of-estonian-voters-cast-their-votes-electronically
India: Lack of issues, disconnect with voters cause for low turnout
PUNE: A lack of issues and an apparent disconnect between voters and candidates have been cited by political and social experts as some of the main
factors behinds large-scale apathy towards voting among urban residents
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He added that voters can now choose the None Of The Above’ (NOTA) option, though not many are aware of it. “If the NOTA option is included in the electronic voting machines themselves, voter turnout will be higher,”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Lack-of-issues-disconnect-with-voters-cause-for-low-turnout-/articleshow/5125288.cms
Ireland: Group plans disposal of e-voting machines
A GOVERNMENT task force is trying to decide how to dispose of electronic voting machines, following the scrapping of the scheme which cost over €51 million to develop, the Dáil was told.
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Storage costs last year amounted to €204,000, lower than those for previous years, said Mr Gormley. Costs for the years 2004 to 2007 were €658,000, €696,000, €706,000 and €489,000 respectively.
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“This was factored into the analysis and informed the decision to end the electronic voting project.’’
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1015/1224256691641.html
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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