FL: Nelson blasts Florida Legislature’s 2012 election-law fixes – Legislature – MiamiHerald.com
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson blasted state Republican lawmakers Monday for an election law overhaul that he says will block college students and military personnel from having their votes counted next year when he and President Barack Obama both seek re-election. Then Nelson waded into a controversy of his own when he suggested the U.S. special forces that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden could be blocked from voting if the Legislature passes the bill. “Should we deny those very military that carried out this very successful decapitating of the al-Qaida snake?” Nelson asked at a Capitol news conference. “Should we deny them because they have signed their voter registration card in a different way than they signed their absentee ballot overseas?” Full Article
Report: Recounts rarely impact state elections | California Watch
Between 2000 and 2009, recounts in state elections were extremely uncommon and rarely resulted in reversals when they did happen, according to a new study [PDF] by the Center for Voting and Democracy. Out of 2,884 statewide general elections there were 18 recounts, only three of which resulted in a change in decision. “There are people who have been pretty critical of the way that we do a lot of voting, thinking it could be done better. But at the same time the basic function of tallying ballots once the voter gets them to their poll worker or the machine, it seems to actually be doing well,” said Robert Richie, co-author of the study. … Having an automatic recount procedure for a race won by 0.5 percent, that’s way too high, absent some reason to think that there’s something that was systematically done in error or fraud.”
But Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, said the systems used in many states can’t be recounted because of their design. And even where recountable systems are used, fraud and error can easily go undetected if a race is not close enough to merit a recount. “You’ve got 18 recounts out of close to 3,000 contests, three of which resulted in decisions being reversed,” she said. “Well, three isn’t a large percentage out of 3,000, but it’s a sixth of 18. If those are the only cases that you’re doing a recount in, I think you have to look at that.” Californians have been nothing if not skeptical when it comes to using electronic machines and adopting methods like ranked-choice voting. But Smith said California is ahead of the curve when it comes to many of these issues. The state has been conducting a baseline manual tally of 1 percent of precincts in every county for decades. And in 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen commissioned a “top-to-bottom review” of voting systems and created a Post Election Audit Standards Working Group [PDF]. California also recently passed legislation launching a “risk-limiting audit” program to increase the scrutiny of electronic voting machines, which is something that Richie calls for in the study. “Recount laws should go hand in hand with rigorous post-election audit procedures designed to identify outcomes that may be questionable due to fraud or error no matter what the initial margin.” Full Article
AZ: New concerns raised over Tucson all mail election | fox11az.com Tucson
When voting this year, residents won’t be heading to the polls. Weeks ago, Tucson’s city council voted to make the switch to an all vote by mail election. It was a decision that stirred up controversy. But news of missing mail ballots in Sahuarita is causing concern. On April 5 the council weighed whether or not Tucson can handle an all mail election. And after hearing from the public, council members decided the answer was yes, an all vote by mail election was the best way to go. “It’s just a way of ensuring people cast their votes, regardless of how they cast their votes,” said Tucson council member Karin Uhlich. But that day, questions were raised about how safe an all vote by mail election would be. “While those ballots are probably very secure while in the postal office’s care, they are not secure while in a mailbox,” said an attendee of the early April forum on the all mail election. Those concerns are growing after the U.S. Postal Service misplaced 85 ballots in Sahuarita’s election. Read More
CA: Editorial: Online voter registration system is long overdue – Sacramento Bee
Think about 6.4 million people. That’s more people than live in 34 of the 50 states. It’s also the number of Californians who are eligible to vote but are not registered. Individuals are most directly responsible for shirking their most basic civic duty. But California’s top election official, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, has a role. Bowen, a Democrat, won a second four-year term in November. Now, she is running in a special election for a congressional seat in Los Angeles County left vacant when Jane Harman stepped down. While she has her eye on Washington, Bowen has some unfinished business here in Sacramento, most notably bringing California’s voter registration system into the computer age. Bowen, a cautious person, last year canceled a contract with a software company that had agreed to create a voter database that would allow Californians to register to vote online. But six months after winning re-election, the secretary of state and the Department of General Services have failed to put a new contract out for bid. The delay is unacceptable. Read More
Guam: Early in-office voting, machines debated | Pacific Daily News
Lawmakers yesterday debated two bills that could affect future island elections — ending the recently approved process for early in-office voting and paving the way for the return of controversial electronic voting machines. The Legislature passed a law in October 2007, giving Guam voters the right to cast their ballots early, but the Legislature could repeal that law because of concern the Guam Election Commission failed to properly administer the early voting process. Guam law for decades has allowed absentee voting by those who can’t go to the polls on Election Day because of their job, illness or travel. Those voters have to fill out an affidavit stating the reason they are casting an absentee ballot. But the 2007 early voting law, written by Sen. Adolpho Palacios, extended it to all voters, allowing them to vote at the Election Commission’s Hagåtña office beginning 30 days before the election, without having to state a reason. Sen. Rory Respicio, who sponsored the bill to repeal the early voting law, yesterday said there were many problems with early voting during last year’s General Election, including improperly secured early ballots and improper recording of the voter registration logs. Read More
WI: Local vote totals change in Supreme recount — GazetteXtra
Justice David Prosser gained 10 votes in the recount of Rock County ballots for the state Supreme Court race. Challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg, meanwhile, gained 47 votes. Rock County Clerk Lori Stottler said those are the preliminary results of the local recount of the April 2 vote. The recount was completed Monday. Most precincts where errors were found had only one or two changes, Stottler said. Orfordville had the most with seven. Stottler said the problem in Orfordville might have been that the voting machine was not properly calibrated, so it was not reading votes correctly. The Orfordville village clerk has already called the manufacturer to check the machine before it is used again, Stottler said. Stottler estimated the local recount will cost no more than $2,000. She attributed the low cost to volunteers who donated many hours to the effort. Fifteen of the volunteers gave up six straight days, “and to me that’s just simply amazing,” Stottler said. Government Accountability Board spokesman Reid Magney said the town of Larrabee in Waupaca County discovered 68 votes for Kloppenburg and one vote for Prosser. County Clerk Mary Robbins said town officials simply didn’t record the votes. Read More