She’s back. Election Sup. Kathy Dent still fighting Sarasota’s 2006 charter ordered election audits. Dent has taken on the voters, the FL Supreme Court & lawmakers. Now Dent wants the Circuit Ct to explain the Sup.Court ruling…Florida Gov Crist name is last on ballot…Possible vote buying in Bladen Co NC…Columbia Co. NY fights to keep lever machines…Tennessee passes bill to block voter purge for form errors…UK Gordon Brown twitter czar Kerry McCarthy tweeted election results before May 6 count…
All this and more in today’s voting news below…
AZ: Coconino Co. voters told of wrong polling places for May 18 election
http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_21ed9ee4-53d9-11df-8b65-001cc4c002e0.html
CA: Open primary offers pluses and minuses
http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_14986304?nclick_check=1
The open primary initiative on the June 8 ballot would produce scores of Democrat-vs.-Democrat showdowns in California, drive up campaign costs and increase nonpartisan voters’ influence, according to an analysis from the Center for Governmental Studies
CO: Election Commission to Hear Zimet Complaint Alleging Unconstiutional Election
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/election-commission-to-hear-zimet.html The complaint update details how he determined Mayor Mick Ireland’s likely voting data from cast vote records improperly collected in order of poll book entries, and then publicly released by the city.
CT: Bills Waiting For Action In Last Days Of Session
http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3145
Currently there are two election bills we are aware of waiting for passage in one house, both of which deserve passage, in our opinion:
FL: Clarification sought on an election ruling
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100430/ARTICLE/4301067?Title=Clarification-sought-on-an-election-ruling SARASOTA COUNTY – Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent will ask the Circuit Court to clarify a recent Florida Supreme Court decision regarding whether she must hire an independent auditor to verify election results.
FL: Crist to be Listed Last in a List of Nine Candidates
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/04/30/crist-to-be-listed-last-in-a-list-of-nine-candidates/ Charlie Crist will be listed ninth (i.e, last) on the November 2008 ballot for the U.S. Senate race in Florida.
FL: Crist gets Florida election law changes (HB 131)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/29/1604964/crist-gets-florida-election-law.html
Crist vetoed a bill with the same provisions as the one that passed Thursday in the House because he opposed another section creating special campaign funds for legislative leaders.
KS: Proposal would preserve voting rights for residents with mental illness
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/sns-ap-ks-xgr–voting-mentalillness,0,3012771.story
KS: Should mentally ill get to vote?
http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Should-the-mentally-ill-get-to-vote/2_tdl-rUdUaCqgd4F-iJyQ.cspx
MD: NEW VTP WORKING PAPER ON SCANTEGRITY II’S USE IN TACOMA PARK *
http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=3181
Despite some glitches, the use of Scantegrity II was a success
http://vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/working_paper/
carbacketal_scantegrityiimunicipalelectionattakoma_4bd89dd02d.pdf
http://bit.ly/axy36r (pdf)
The First E2E Binding Governmental Election with Ballot Privacy
“About fifteen scanned ballots, scanned in a time period of about seventy-five minutes by the same scanner, had lines on them that caused the scanner to be unable to read votes. Images of all scanned ballots were saved, and those not readable by the scanner were marked, so we were able to manually enter in these votes.”
MO: Woman who wants to be on ballot as D. Crystal to be deposed
http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/22170
Did a Kansas City woman essentially make up a name, as a lawsuit contends, to confuse voters to the benefit of an incumbent on the Jackson County Legislator?
NC: State investigating Bladen Co. vote buying allegations
http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/22511
NM: Secretary of State Reopens 2008 Probe of County Clerk (Rio Arriba County)
http://www.riograndesun.com/articles/2010/04/29/
news/doc4bd8594a8c70d696383962.txt http://bit.ly/bhujI1
NY: LETTER: Columbia County Will Continue to Fight (for lever machines)
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/04/29/
opinion/doc4bd74d245e808519916815.txt http://bit.ly/a1EXT4
OH: Ohio court rules on health care ballot issue
http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=33406151.story&POE=click-refer
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a proposed amendment by groups seeking to exclude the state from President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul should appear as a single issue on the ballot.
OR: Secretary of State to appeal court decision on ballot
County Commission position 3 shouldn’t be on ballot
http://canbyherald.com/news/2010/April/29/Local.News/secretary.of.state.to.appeal.
court.decision.on.ballot/news.aspx
http://bit.ly/agiwpD
PA: New voting polls could take months
New voting polls could take months
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/west/index.ssf?/
base/news/127248546133600.xml&coll=1 http://bit.ly/9Gumaj
Cumberland County must receive — and act upon — petitions to add voter precincts before the 2010 census is complete.
PR: US lawmakers clear path for new Puerto Rico referendum
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hbn
A3Ucau6IF7lEjqdfo40sqVy3A http://bit.ly/aTUSEZ
The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a measure allowing the territory of Puerto Rico to set a new referendum on statehood or possible independence.
TN: Bill to Block Voter Purging for Form Deficiencies Goes to Gov
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey/2010/04/bill-to-block-voter-purging-fo.html
The House and Senate both approved Thursday legislation declaring that, once a voter’s registration has been accepted by county election officials, he or she cannot be purged from voter roles for a deficiencies on a registration form.
TX: No snags yet in Irving’s mixed voting system, city says
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-irvmixed_29met.ART .West.Edition1.4c35d96.html Irving City Secretary Shanae Jennings said there have been no major hiccups so far in the city’s first elections under the new mixed system of single-member and at-large City Council districts.
VA: McDonnell to sign bill expanding protections for overseas voters
http://watchdog.org/3679/mcdonnell-to-sign-bill-expanding-protections-for-overseas-voters/ Virginia is one of five states now allowing tardy overseas ballots to be counted if they’re mailed to voters late
WV: Voters reminded to look at both sides of ballot
http://wvgazette.com/News/201004290869 Kanawha County officials are reminding voters to look at both sides of the ballot for the May 11 primary election.
National
Why do you think the secret ballot was adopted?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100428171219AAQ3puR
Complying with the NVRA: States Learn that Voter Registration through public agencies works http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=431
Diebold Election Systems is on Facebook (still)
http://pa-in.facebook.com/pages/Diebold-Election-Systems/106391422729969
Citizens United
Democrats’ campaign-finance plan: Put the donors on camera
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-campaign-finance-20100430,0,5208488. story Senators led by Charles Schumer offer a proposal in which the chief executive of a corporation or group that is the primary financial sponsor of a political ad would have to claim responsibility for it by appearing on camera. GOP leader Mitch McConnell calls the idea ‘beyond suspicious.’
Internet Voting Watch
US: ACCURATE’s UOCAVA Pilot Program Comments
http://accurate-voting.org/2010/04/30/uocava-pp-comments/
Canada: Better Ballots works to beat voter apathy
http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2010/04/30/better-ballots-works-to-beat-voter-apathy/
the group suggested telephone and online voting as a method of improving convenience.
International
India’s Electronic Voting Machines Are Insecure, Study Finds
http://www.pcworld.com/article/195328/indias_
electronic_voting_machines_are_insecure_study_finds.html
http://bit.ly/doGh02
UK: General Election 2010: Kerry McCarthy illegally publishes election vote results on Twitter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7653913/General-Election-2010-Kerry-McCarthy-illegally-publishes-election-vote-results-on-Twitter.html
the disclosure of election results before the final May 6 count was against the law.
Voting News by Joyce McCloy.Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
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