CO: Photo ID voting requirement passes House – KDVR
After a long argument on the House floor, Republicans were able to pass a bill that would require a photo ID in order to vote on an initial voice vote. House Bill 1003, sponsored by Reps. Ken Summer of Lakewood and Libby Szabo of Arvada, argued that not requiring an ID opens the door for voter fraud. Democrats, meanwhile, argued that such fraud is not widespread and that the ID requirement will make it harder for seniors and the poor to vote. Read More
KY: Absentee voting procedures for primary announced | The Courier-Journal
Registered voters in Jefferson County who will be absent from the county on May 17 — the day of the primary election — can either apply for an absentee ballot now or vote at the Election Center in the Urban Government Center on Barret Avenue April 18 through May 16.The Election Center began accepting absentee ballot application requests by phone on Jan. 24 and began mailing absentee applications Feb. 14. The center will begin mailing absentee ballots on March 29, said Nore Ghibaudy, spokesman for the Jefferson County Board of Elections. Read More
MN: Pro/Con: People should need a photo ID to vote | Duluth News Tribune
To a fair amount of attention, a well-conceived bill to require photo IDs for voting was introduced in the Minnesota Legislature this session. This would be an important and long-overdue election reform, but one that has been stymied by DFL leadership, more so than by rank-and-file DFL lawmakers; 10 DFL House members voted for it in the last legislative session. With a new Republican majority at the Legislature, the bill probably will be passed this session, one way or another. Read More
NH: Students oppose voting restrictions – Brattleboro Reformer
College students hoping to vote in New Hampshire would face the most restrictive registration law in the country if lawmakers pass a bill targeting both students and members of the military, according to a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on voting access and election law. Republican Rep. Gregory Sorg of Easton has proposed barring students from voting in college towns unless they lived there before enrolling. The bill also specifies that member of the military stationed in New Hampshire should continue to be residents of their previous states for voting purposes. Read More
NM: Is voter fraud an issue, or is it competence? – The Santa Fe New Mexican
Electoral fraud is a long-running complaint — from those whose party or candidates lose the election. Sometimes the whiners make a compelling argument: the presidential elections of 1960, when Illinois’ Cook County “came in” for John F. Kennedy, and of 2000, when Florida shoehorned George W. Bush into office, for example. Here in New Mexico, Río Arriba County was once reputed to be a region where souls rose from the dead to vote, and our state’s Republican minority sometimes seems more dedicated to grumbling about fraud than to electing candidates. Read More
NY: Bill Would Allow Villages to Continue Using Lever Voting Machines – Nyack-Piermont, NY Patch
State lawmakers sent a Valentine of sorts to villages around the state with the Feb. 14 passage of a bill that would allow some locales to continue to use lever voting machines. Specifically, the measure would allow villages that administer their own elections to use the old-fashioned machines instead of federally mandated electronic machines until Dec. 31, 2012. Read More
NY: Dem Frank Skartados doomed by vague election law crafted by his own lawyer – NY Daily News
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver‘s former adviser wrote the state law that may have cost him his powerful, veto-proof, Democratic supermajority. Democrat Frank Skartados was forced to concede the seat for the 100th Assembly District last week when he was a mere 15 votes behind. In his heart of hearts, he believes he won. But in a double whammy of irony, Skartados was seemingly doomed by a vague election law that was crafted by his own lawyer, Kathleen O’Keefe, while she worked as Silver’s chief election counsel. O’Keefe’s strict interpretation of her own law walled off one of Skartados’ last hopes of fighting for the seat. “I couldn’t do anything with the way the law was written,” said Skartados, who conceded to Republican Tom Kirwan after one of the most drawnout contests in state history. “But I feel that justice was not served because the voices of everyone were silenced by the courts.” Read More
NC: Voter photo IDs are just a modern-day poll tax | The Asheville Citizen-Times
America was established with the goal of preserving the civil rights of every citizen who participates in society, no matter their personal history. Enter the present powers-that-be in Raleigh, Republicans advocating legal tactics to disqualify Democratic voters. Voter ID requirements disenfranchise minorities, the poor, women, elderly. While photo IDs seem harmless, they are in fact the modern-day poll tax. Obtaining documentation can be quite costly. Naturalization is itself an expensive process; a copy of the naturalization certificate is currently $380. Birth certificates differ from state to state, with some charging $24. In this economy, even a small fee for an ID can keep a family from putting food on the table for several days.And where are the examples of the supposed massive voter fraud? Research indicates they are rare. Common sense tells us that those who set out to cheat will find more efficient ways of defrauding the system. Read More
WI: Republicans moving ahead with voter ID bill – chicagotribune.com
While Democrats are staying away, Senate Republicans could take up a bill requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Monday that bill was being considered for a vote as the 14 Democrats remain away to avoid having to take up another measure taking away collective bargaining rights for public employees. A committee vote to advance the voter ID bill for debate in the Senate was scheduled for Tuesday. Democrats have fought the bill for years, which they argue would make it more difficult for minorities and elderly people to vote.
International
Colombia lacks funds to roll-out biometric voter ID – Colombia news
Biometric identification voting systems will not be available for the upcoming October local elections, according to Colombia’s Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras. The Interior Justice Minister Wednesday said that there is not enough money to implement the new voting system. A full-scale implementation of the system has been debated since it was first presented in Cartagena, Bolivar in October of 2010 The minister also said that implementing these machines is not an important issue in areas where armed criminal groups are seeking to control the results of the upcoming elections. National Registrar Carlos Ariel Sanchez defended the new system, saying that the country has already spent $200 million on the modernization of the electoral process but “has not invested money in using the identification databases to prevent electoral fraud.” Read More
The West Bengal Election Commission is set to introduce the Braille facility for visually-challenged voters in all Assembly constituencies. “In the 2006 Assembly polls, the facility was introduced only in Kolkata, but this time we have decided to introduce the Braille facility in all the 294 constituencies,” a senior EC official said. The details would be chalked out in a meeting with the Election Commissioner, he said. The latest electronic voting machines have been equipped with Braille signs which could be introduced in nearly 70,000 booths all over the State, the official said. Read More
Uganda: Elections |Voting materials delay as polling starts – Daily Monitor
Ugandans Friday morning trooped to cast their ballots for presidential and parliamentary candidates but several reports indicate that voting materials had not arrived at polling stations even within the capital, Kampala. Within Kampala, voting was delayed in many parts of Nakawa, Kawempe, Rubaga and Makindye Divisions. The delay was apparently due to lack of transport for voting materials. Daily Monitor’s reporter in Nakawa, Flavia Lanyero, reports that voting started late in many of the polling stations that she visited. She said voting started at 9:40am at Ddungu polling station, at 9:50am at Kitintale Police Post. Electoral rules say voting is supposed to start at all polling centres at 7am but according to Ms Lanyero, polling officials only arrived at Kitintale Polling Station after 9:30pm. Read More
UK: Electoral reform would cost millions, say ‘No’ campaigners – UK Politics, UK – The Independent
The campaign against reforming Britain’s voting system will today claim that the change will cost taxpayers tens of millions of pounds which could be spent on public services. Opponents of the proposal will also say that Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, gave up on his pledge to protect students from higher fees as part of the coalition negotiations in order to “wring” the referendum vote out of the Conservatives. Meanwhile, supporters of the Yes Campaign for Voting Reform will unveil two rather unlikely supporters of their crusade: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The actors Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, who both won Baftas for their portrayal of the royal couple in The King’s Speech, have sent messages of support to the “Yes” camp. Read More
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