There’s ALOT of news today…Project Vote releases new policy paper on “No Match, No Vote”. “…matching voter data with other govt databases is an unreliable, error-laden process, and that conditioning the right to vote on such a flawed system will inevitably disenfranchise eligible citizens.”…
…The Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United has a loophole that lets Corporations donate anonymously to campaigns…Nassau and Westchester Counties NY are worried about funding their new voting systems. HAVA funds might not be enough. Westchester County is discussiong a bond act for $2 million. The EAC is accepting public comment about Expenditure (MOE) policy…DHS loses 1000 computers…
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
CO: Defendants reply to Surreply regarding Protective Order – Marks v. Koch (Aspen Election Transparency Suit)
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/02/defendants-reply-to-surreply-regarding.html This is the fifth document in the series discussing the access to TrueBallot’s testimony.
CO: Entrance to Aspen, voting method return to city agenda
http://bit.ly/dzSG0g
A potential ballot question offering an alternative voting method would have to be formalized by the end of August, he added. If approved, the new method would be valid for the May 2011 municipal election.
CT: Secretary of the State a ‘long shot’ for Garfunkel
(Town Clerk to run against lawmaker)
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2926
GA: Justice Department seeks more info on precinct consolidation
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/02/26/1030499/voter-precinct-changes-justice.html
The biggest news of the night was that the U.S. Department of Justice earlier Wednesday had requested the local elections office send it more information on the plan to cut local voting precincts from 48 to 28,
IA: HF 682 Would Secure the 2010 Iowa Vote
http://www.blogforiowa.com/blog/_archives/2010/2/27/4467543.html
“States that have done security reviews of our same voting equipment are doing the responsible thing and conducting audits,” Flaherty said. “We can’t urge the Senate strongly enough: don’t fail Iowa elections,” he said.
MA: Voting Rights monitoring ends in Springfield
http://bit.ly/cFzbCN
Springfield City Solicitor Edward Pikula said Monday the department ended its Voting Rights case against Springfield last week and said the city has complied with a federal court settlement to properly assist Latino voters.
MI: Technology may change local elections
http://bit.ly/bBUHDq
Bad Axe….Huron County Clerk Peggy Koehler told area township and city clerks the state wants all precincts to begin using electronic poll books.
NJ: YAT primary election period extended, website coding error resolved
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/02/26/25344/
The Young Alumni Trustee (YAT) primary election will be extended by one day after a technical glitch initially barred several members of the Class of 2010 from voting,
NY: Monday, March 1st County Board Agenda
Westchester County Bond Issue for financing voting systems
http://yonkersinsider.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/press-release-307/
…Finance voting systems for Board of Elections: Bond Act authorizing the issuance of $2,002,000 in bonds to finance the local share cost of voting systems for Board of Elections purposes
NY: County scraps mechanical lever voting machines
http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/536684.html
MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Board of Elections recently completed a public auction sale of 81 mechanical lever voting machines to scrap dealer Archie Nichols …thus ending an era of voting for county General Election voters.
NY: Old voting machines to be replaced by electronic devices in Nassau County
http://www.liherald.com/detail/22935.html
“We believe a federal judge will direct us to put them into use this year for the primaries and the election,” said John DeGrace, Republican commissioner…“even though the county is suing to keep lever machines in place this year.”
…
…DeGrace…expects the cost to the county to approach $5 million, including training, public awareness campaigns, technicians and additional personnel that may need to be hired.
NY: More Trouble Looms for Embattled Political Party
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/more-trouble-looms-for-embattled-political-party/
…now faces a barrage of accusations that it violated campaign finance laws to
NY: NY’s Jim Crow laws—back in the day, and what remains today
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/nys_jim_crow_laws–back_in_the_day_and_what_remains_today/
OH: We should be able to vote for none of the above
http://www.timesgazette.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=382&ArticleID=171443
We, the people need a way to tell the political parties that we do not want – and will not have – their candidates or their agendas – if we, the people don’t like them.
OR: Oregon offers online voter registration
http://bit.ly/aSJACN
SC: ACLU Wins United Citizens Case on South Carolina Fusion Procedure
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/03/01/aclu-wins-united-citizens-case-on-south-carolina-fusion-procedure/
TX: Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Texas
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/justice-department-to-monitor-elections-in-texas-85825807.html
The Justice Department today announced that it will monitor primary elections on March 2, 2010, in Fort Bend, Galveston, Gonzales, Williamson and Wilson Counties in Texas, to ensure compliance with the minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights
VA: Virginia Bill on Who can See List of who Voted Hits a Snag
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/02/26/virginia-bill-on-who-can-see-list-of-who-voted-hits-a-snag/
VA: Know Campaign Update
http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/03/01/know-campaign-update/
In January, we brought you a piece about the Know Campaign and the privacy of your voting history. This post is an update on the lawsuit and changes to the statute:
VT: IRV activists campaign in Burlington
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=12056124
National
Maintenance of Expenditure (MOE) policy
http://www.eac.gov/News/public-comment
EAC is accepting public comments through March 24 on a Maintenance of Expenditure (MOE) Proposed Policy as Amended on 2-19-10.
New Project Vote Policy Paper: No Match, No Vote
http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=254
some states have misinterpreted the intent of HAVA and passed onerous “No Match, No Vote” laws. Under such statutes, if a state is unable to match the information on a voter’s registration application with information in an existing government database, the application is denied outright
A License to Adopt
http://www.trustthevote.org/a-license-to-adopt
Open Source Technology Licensing…
We’ve been promising to respond to the chorus of concerns that we may drift from the standard GPL …
HOMELAND SECURITY LOSES OVER 1,000 COMPUTERS IN ONE FISCAL YEAR
http://www.i2i.org/main/page.php?page_id=298
New documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to lose hundreds of computers per year. At least one DHS component agency maintains that the losses fall within accepted accounting standards.
Supreme Court Allows Corporations to Donate Anonymously
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/28donate.html
Decision Could Allow Anonymous Political Contributions by Businesses
The Supreme Court decision last month allowing corporations to spend unlimited money on behalf of political candidates left a loophole that campaign finance lawyers say could allow companies to pay for extensive political advertising while avoiding the disclosure requirements the court appeared to leave intact
Two Law Professors Pinpoint Disadvantage of Non-Partisan Elections
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/02/28/two-law-professors-pinpoint-disadvantage-of-non-partisan-elections/
…because many voters are so dependent on party labels, they simply won’t vote in elections without party labels. The op-ed focuses on elections for San Francisco city office.
International
Iraq: Iraq’s poor sell their votes
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article24540.ece
BAGHDAD: Iraq is rife with allegations of vote buying a week ahead of the country’s national elections.
UK: Prisoners fight for the right to vote
http://www.euranet.eu/eng/Today/News/English-News/Prisoners-fight-for-the-right-to-vote
This year’s UK general election runs the risk of being declared unlawful if the country’s 83,000 strong prison population is not given the right to vote.
…
Britain is one of the few places in the world with a blanket ban on inmates voting, despite a five-year old ruling from the European Court of Human Rights
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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