Australia: Voting Twice Online in Australia’s Same-Sex Marriage Poll Was Frighteningly Easy | Mother Jones

For the past month, Australians have been casting their ballots in a nonbinding-yet-divisive survey to advise their elected leaders on the question: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” As an overseas Aussie who cares deeply about the issue, I wanted my say. So, one day a few weeks ago, I entered my personal details into a designated government website and received a “Secure Access Code” that allowed me to cast my vote online. When I checked my mail later that day, however, I found a letter from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the agency administering the survey. This letter contained a different Secure Access Code. My reporter’s red flag flew up immediately. Was it possible, I wondered, that the system would validate both of these codes and let me vote twice? That would be a potentially troubling situation, because if I could do it, then others could, too. I had to find out.

California: State takes issue with Contra Costa elections chief over double-voting concerns | East Bay Times

The California Secretary of State’s office is taking exception to the Contra Costa County elections chief’s call for a change in how vote-by-mail voters are accommodated at election-day polling places, and wants to see evidence backing allegations made last week that following state rules allowed double-voting in the June 7 primary election. Secretary of State spokesman Sam Mahood said Monday his office as asked Contra Costa Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla to provide evidence that 113 people successfully voted twice in the primary election in that county. Canciamilla said this week he will comply.

Kansas: Kris Kobach files to prosecute three voter fraud cases in Kansas | The Wichita Eagle

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has filed criminal charges against three people he says committed voter fraud in the 2010 election. They are the first charges filed since the Legislature granted Kobach prosecutorial power earlier this year. Gov. Sam Brownback signed the bill making Kobach the only secretary of state in the nation to have such authority in June. Kobach filed two criminal cases in Johnson County and one in Sherman County on Friday. His office released the criminal complaints on Tuesday. The felony complaint against Lincoln L. Wilson in Sherman County, which borders Colorado, alleges that he perjured himself on voting forms and voted in 2010, 2012 and 2014 despite not being lawfully registered. His first appearance in court is set for Nov. 3.

Arizona: Court rules some double voting not illegal | Arizona Daily Sun

It turns out that the old quip about voting early and often is not illegal in Arizona. In a unanimous ruling Tuesday, the state Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of a Bullhead City woman who prosecutors said voted in both Colorado and Arizona. The judges said the way the Arizona law is worded, people who are qualified to vote here can also cast ballots in other states — assuming the other states don’t have a problem with it. In fact, appellate Judge Kenton Jones said the only way to break the Arizona law with multi-state voting is when a presidential candidate is on the ballot. Carol Hannah was indicted in 2013 after prosecutors said she cast an early ballot in the 2010 election in Adams County, Colo. and then went to the polls that November in Bullhead City. She was convicted of illegal voting, a felony, and placed on probation for three years.