Lampooned: Aspen’s chronic election problems via YouTube video. The portrayal of the ballot box just outside the mayor’s office during “early early” voting was outrageous yet true…
Calibration issues with Montgomery County Ohio Diebold touchscreens but the vendor will “fix” them for free…No machines, no money, no state election director: .Hawaii can’t afford a special election…NH’s electronic voting panel issuing report after meeting with Finnish e-voting expert Harri Hursti today… NY Board of Elections certified new voting machines,flaws and all in time to avoid federal intervention..Want Fair and Accurate Elections in Tennessee? Call Your Senator Today…Internet voting continues to metastasize in Canada…
AL: Cedar Bluff election results (finally) in
CEDAR BLUFF — It took over 16 months to seat them, but the Cedar Bluff Town Council finally has three new members…
http://www.postpaper.com/cbelection09.htm
CO: ASPEN ELECTION NOT OUT OF CONTROL (Satire – on YouTube)
Produced by betterbadnews December 14, 2009
…In Colorado early voting is taken very seriously. A ballot box set up near the mayors office gives voters something to do while waiting for their appointment with the boss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1F5Jlzs6a8&videos=IyVyyTQY27Q
CO: Who decides what the people may know?
Aspen….What is the city hiding, and why?
…
Aspen has chronic, unseen but undeniable election integrity problems.
…
Election integrity, the fundamental building block of our society, is waved off as unimportant detail in Aspen….
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20091215/LETTER/912149987/1020&ParentProfile=1058
CT: Miles Rapoport: Demos Leader and former CT Secretary of the State
December 15, 2009 http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2689
HI: Election chief says special vote would be difficult
Dec 11, 2009 The state Office of Elections has not made a decision on how, or even if, a special election would be held once U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie decides to vacate his seat in Congress.
Abercrombie says he will announce Sunday his intent to step down to concentrate on his run at the governorship in 2010.
“That is a possibility,” Cronin said at a press conference today. “It would be a matter of discussing among all the election officials the question of the capacity of the Office of Election to administer an election when we’re already experiencing significantly reduced staffing, virtually no funding to get us to June 30, 2010, and no voting machines.”
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/bulletin/79107482.html
IL: Board nixes funding for voting machine upgrades
December 13, 2009 JERSEYVILLE — The Jersey County Board hopes to send a message to state legislators by refusing to fund changes in voting equipment that will be required by a new “under-voting” law.
…
Jersey County Clerk Steve Pohlman asked the board for $4,000 from the general fund to pay for reprogramming of election computers so that the equipment can immediately report when a voter fails to fill in a space on the ballot.
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/upgrades-34133-board-voting.html
IL: Policitican accused of buying votes with $2 bills says ‘that’s just crazy’
EAST ST. LOUIS — Politician Will McGaughy says he’s been mailing envelopes to voters in his precinct at Christmastime for 30 years, wishing them holiday cheer and including a crisp $2 bill as a “keepsake.”
…
But what makes this year different said Dancy is what McGaughy conceded is his first combined Christmas and candidacy message. It was mailed to more than 500 voters.
http://www.bnd.com/372/story/1049012.html
NC: Jim Crow and Civil Rights in North Carolina
http://www.literacynews.com/2009/12/jim-crow-and-civil-rights-in-north-carolina/
NH: NH’s electronic voting panel issuing report
December 15, 2009 CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A special New Hampshire committee studying electronic voting systems is issuing its final report.
Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan (SCAN’-lan) said Harri Hursti (HUR’-stee), 1 of the world’s leading experts on voting systems, will discuss voting systems in America.
http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=11678097
NY: NY certifies new voting machines for 2010 election *
Dec 15, 2009 ALBANY, N.Y. The New York Board of Elections has certified new voting machines, in time for next fall’s elections and to avoid federal intervention.
The board unanimously approved the machines by Canadian-based Dominion and Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software Tuesday, although they have some minor technical problems.
The board isn’t elaborating, but officials say the problems will be resolved before 2010 elections…
http://www.examiner.com/a-2373625~NY_certifies_new_voting_machines_for_2010_election.html
NY: $50M vote on elex machines
December 14, 2009 …The board is replacing the decades-old lever machines to comply with federal regulations and has narrowed its final choice to two machines: the ImageCast, by Canadian company Dominion, and the DS200, by Election Systems & Software of Nebraska.
The competing pollsters will go through public demonstrations this week, followed by a Dec. 29 public hearing, with a final decision expected on Jan. 5.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/vote_on_elex_machines_UnscQXWEhfu0EbI1sr9mAI
NY: Optical scan voting machines to be tested by Staten Island voters
December 14, 2009.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/optical_scan_voting_machines_t.html
(article incorrectly claims HAVA requires levers to be replaced)
OH: Problems with Montgomery County voting machines to be fixed for free *(Premier/ES&S touchscreens
DAYTON — Problems with Montgomery County’s electronic voting machines will be fixed for free once the state certifies new software, according to Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
Harsman told the board on Tuesday, Dec. 15, that there are continued problems with calibration of the touch screen, an issue discovered in 2006. Additional calibration and testing procedures were put in place to catch problems.
Harsman said about 137 voting machines were outside of tolerance standards and had to be pulled from use prior to last November’s election.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/election/problems-with-montgomery-county-voting-machines-to-be-fixed-for-free-449643.html
OH: Elections board chief to resign, will seek state rep post
December 15th, 2009 SHEFFIELD TWP. — Lorain County Board of Elections Director Jose Candelario will leave his job in January to run for state Rep. Joe Koziura’s seat in the Legislature.
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/12/15/elections-board-chief-to-resign-will-seek-state-rep-post/
TN: Want Fair and Accurate Elections in Tennessee? Call Your Senator Today.
Mary Mancini on December 15, 2009 In January, the debate over fair and accurate elections in Tennessee will continue in the General Assembly.
“But wait,” you ask, “didn’t we win the battle to replace the 100% unverifiable touch-screen electronic voting machines with paper ballots that can be monitored, audited, and recounted back in 2008?”The answer to that question “yes.” BUT
http://www.openpen.org/?p=2220
TN: Budget amendments approved for county
Several budget amendments were approved by the Cumberland County Budget Committee during its December meeting Tuesday evening including $5,631 for the county’s election commission.
The amendment is for past due invoices from 2008 from MicroVote for a software maintenance plan on county voting machines for $5,500 and for 50 rolls of paper for voting machines in the amount of $131.03.
Cumberland County Administrator of Elections Sharon York appeared before the committee and said she had gotten a letter as a reminder that the commission had three past due invoices totaling more than $11,000.
http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_344161945.html
International
Canada. Online voting
Ontario should resist
December 14, 2009 At a time when voter apathy is rampant, it makes sense to allow Ontario’s snowbirds and military personnel to vote by mail in provincial elections.
…
Peter Woolstencroft, a political scientist at the University of Waterloo, told a Toronto reporter that “many citizens are just deeply disaffected by electoral politics and politics generally. Changing the way in which you cast your vote is not going to address that.”
It could, however, adversely affect the outcome of an election. Because of that, Bentley must say no.
http://www.windsorstar.com/Online+voting/2337280/story.html
Canada. Online voting may be recommended to Victoria
Denise Wong (mailto:dwong@radio.astral.com )
Mon, 2009-12-14 City Council and civic staff are now mulling over ways they might like to change the local election act.
After a dismal 11 percent voter turnout in the recent city by-election, Mayor Sharon Shepherd has been renewing her push for the allowance of online voting for municipal elections. But City Clerk Stephen Fleming re-affirms it’s not currently a legal procedure.
…
Fleming also says the online voting procedure would be pricey, should they decide to implement it in the future. He says they’d be charged based on the number of eligible voters in the city – not the actual number of votes cast.
“There is a cost per eligible voter, which by 2011 in Kelowna will be fairly high.”
http://www.am1150.ca/news/565/1038520
Canada. Internet Voting Coming to Belleville
December 15th, 2009. Belleville voters can go to the web and click-on their favourite candidate when election time comes up next year. Last night, City Council decided to make “internet voting” an option for voters when the polls open in the October election. Mayor Neil Ellis says turnout at the polls is more than 50-percent but hopes this will improve it especially for young people. A staff report indicates the price tag for the internet voting will be 39-thousand-800 dollars.
http://www.mix97.com/news/2009/12/internet-voting-coming-to-belleville/
Korea. Koreans Abroad to Vote in Primary
Absentee voters living abroad will be allowed to participate in the selection of the presidential candidate of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), senior party officials said Monday.
“In accordance with the passage of a bill that grants suffrage to Korean nationals residing overseas, the GNP decided Sunday to include them in the electoral roll of the party’s presidential primary,” Rep. Jeong Tae-keun of the GNP said
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/116_57252.html
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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