New Hampshire: Governor vetoes New Hampshire voter ID bill | NashuaTelegraph.com

Gov. John Lynch vetoed a Senate bill that would have required voters to flash a photo ID before being allowed to enter the polls. The plan, Senate Bill 129, meant voters who couldn’t provide ID would get a provisional ballot that would be counted if they later presented identification to a city or town clerk, according to the bill.

Lynch said the plan risks denying residents their right to vote if they can’t get an ID or get back to the city or town clerk within three days, as the law would have required. “Voter turnout in New Hampshire is among the highest in the nation, election after election. There is no voter fraud problem in New Hampshire,” Lynch said in a statement. “We already have strong election laws that are effective in regulating our elections.”

New Hampshire: Lynch vetoes bill requiring photo ID at polls | New Hampshire NEWS06

Gov. John Lynch vetoed a bill Monday that requires all voters to present photo identification at the polls in order to cast a ballot. Lynch said the bill, Senate Bill 129, “creates a real risk that New Hampshire voters will be denied their right to vote.

“Voter turnout in New Hampshire is among the highest in the nation, election after election. There is no voter fraud problem in New Hampshire. We already have strong elections laws that are effective in regulating our elections,” Lynch said. The House and Senate can override Lynch's veto, if leaders can garner two-thirds majorities. A session to deal with vetoes is expected in the fall.

Ohio: Senate OKs Ohio elections revamp | The Columbus Dispatch

A sweeping overhaul of Ohio's election laws passed the Senate on a party-line vote yesterday, and a bill requiring Ohio voters to present a photo ID before casting a ballot is now on track to move next week. After a day filled with heated rhetoric and shifting plans, majority Republicans pushed through House Bill 194, which moves the 2012 presidential primary from March to May.

The bill, which the House is likely to send to Gov. John Kasich next week after approving Senate changes, would let Ohioans register to vote or change their addresses online and reduce early voting from 35 days before an election to 21 days by mail and 17 in person - which eliminates the so-called "golden week" when people could register and vote on the same day.

Editorials: Whose voter fraud? | Toledo Blade

The General Assembly is considering several bills that, in the name of combating voter fraud, would promote vote suppression. Ohioans shouldn't be fooled.

The legislation, promoted by the Republican majorities in the state House and Senate, would require Ohioans to show government-issued photo identification at the polls before they could exercise their right to vote. It also would prohibit counties from mailing unsolicited absentee-ballot applications to voters. Both provisions are solutions in search of problems, designed to limit the vote instead of keeping it honest.

The House approved its version of voter-ID legislation with scant public comment. The Senate was on track to do so yesterday, but separated that issue from other election changes. Sponsors argue that the identification mandate will prevent voters from trying to cast multiple ballots in the same election, but there is no evidence that has been a problem in Ohio.

North Carolina: Perdue vows to veto North Carolina voter ID legislation | Statesville Record

Controversial bills that passed both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly will require voters to present very specific forms of photo identification before being permitted to vote.

The House of Representatives bill --– whose 32 sponsors or co-sponsors include Iredell County representatives Mitchell Setzer and Darrell McCormick --– passed in that chamber by a 62-51 vote. The senate’s version of the legislation, which was sponsored by 30 of the 31 Republicans in that chamber (including all three who represent Iredell), was ratified along a party-line vote.

Democrats, including North Carolina Party Chairman David Parker, have lambasted GOP leaders for the move and compared it to the Jim Crow-era poll taxes that disenfranchised southern black voters for most of the 20th century.

North Carolina: Final voter ID mandate appears headed for veto | BlueRidgeNow

Republican-backed legislation requiring North Carolina voters to show picture identification before casting a ballot they know will count is headed Thursday to the desk of Gov. Beverly Perdue, who sounds ready to veto the measure that fellow Democrats have called purely partisan.

The House agreed to minor changes to the bill approved Wednesday night by the Senate. The House vote of 62-51 was well short of the margin that would be needed to withstand a veto. Democrats have been critical of GOP efforts to place additional hurdles on voting in a state with history of civil rights restrictions during the Jim Crow era.

"The voter ID is clearly not in a form that the governor can support," Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said.

New Jersey: Morris County New Jersey freeholder race remains in doubt as recount finds 4 Parsippany residents voted twice | Daily Record

A manual recount today of 1,605 absentee ballots reduced Morris County Republican freeholder candidate William Hank Lyon's slim primary lead over incumbent Margaret Nordstrom to just six votes, down from last week's tally of 10.

But the race is hardly over, as a new wrinkle has emerged in that county election workers have discovered that four Republicans registered in Parsippany voted twice, both by absentee and provisional ballots, and the state Attorney General's Office has been asked for guidance.

New Hampshire: House, Senate pass photo IDs for voters | Boston.com

Voters would have to show photo identification to vote in New Hampshire under legislation passed by the House and Senate. It now heads to the governor but the bill's future there looks uncertain.

The version approved 14-9 by the Senate on Wednesday allows for provisional ballots for those who do not have official identification, allowing them to vote if they come back to municipal officials within three days with a government-issued photo identification.

Voters also could get a waiver from the photo identification requirement from the Secretary of State or request and receive a voucher to cover the cost of getting photo identification from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Editorials: Voters need to be able to register at polls | NJ.com

Gabriela G., Annalee S. and Ed V. are Rutgers University students who eagerly went to the polls to vote in the November 2008 general election. All three had registered to vote, prior to the 21-day deadline, from their college addresses.

However, when they went to cast their ballots, they were surprised to find that their names were not on the voting lists. They were directed to either leave the polling place or to vote by paper provisional ballots, which are checked post-election against the voting rolls. However, they were not informed of the strong likelihood that their provisional ballots would be thrown out, since their names were not in the system.

 

New Jersey: Troublesome voting machine cartridge from East Hanover New Jersey likely to decide Morris freeholder race – Sequoia Advantage DRE | dailyrecord.com

A vote cartridge from East Hanover that is expected to be read today may reveal whether Republican Freeholder incumbent Margaret Nordstrom or challenger William "Hank" Lyon won the primary nomination Tuesday night.

As of this morning Lyon, a resident of the Towaco section of Montville who works for his familys restaurant business, Qdoba Mexican Grill, had a six-vote lead over Nordstrom, a freeholder since 1999.

The unofficial tallies are Lyon with 12,234 votes and Nordstrom with 12, 228 votes. But one vote cartridge in East Hanover could not be read last night so county election officials today got a court order from Superior Court Assignment Judge Thomas Weisenbeck to have the cartridge removed from the voting machine and brought to the Morris County Clerks office where it will be read and recorded by witnesses.

North Carolina: Latest version of proposed North Carolina voter ID bill restricts forms of ID | Sun Journal

House Republicans have thrown another twist in a proposal to require North Carolina voters to provide a photo ID when they go to the polls.

They abandoned an earlier version that would have allowed citizens to show a voter registration card or other approved documents, such as a utility bill or a paycheck, in favor of a strict government issued photo identification card.

“The bill we discussed earlier today was an attempt at a compromise that might have garnered some support from the other side of the aisle,” said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, a primary sponsor of the bill. “Unfortunately that did not work.”

New Hampshire: New Hampshire House Passes Voter ID Bill | NHPR.org

GOP-backed bill would require voters to produce government-issued photo ID to cast ballots beginning in November 2012. NHPR's Josh Rogers reports.
The House voted 259-116 to require voters without proper photo identification to cast a provisional ballot and be given three days to produce a valid photo ID.

The bill also calls for the state to issue voters ID card for free. The bills’ lead author, Republican David Bates of Windham argued that the bill is a common sense way to root out election fraud and won’t disenfranchise eligible voters.

Florida: New Florida Election Law Draws Criticism | WJXT Jacksonville

Read HB 1355 – Florida’s Omnibus Elections Bill

On the heels of a historic Jacksonville mayoral election with a narrow margin of victory, Gov. Rick Scott signed a major revision to Florida’s election laws. After the law goes into effect July 1, there will be fewer early-voting days and it will be more difficult for a voter to change his or her address.

The law has drawn criticism from across the state and nation.

“This new law is going to make it very difficult for us to engage eligible voters in our Democratic process,” said Katherine Carithers, president of the Jacksonville chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Ohio: Election reform bill heads to Ohio Senate after House debate | Fallsnewspress.com

Legislation that would shorten the state’s early voting period and change requirements for casting provisional ballots passed the Ohio House May 18 following more than two hours of contentious debate. The final vote on House Bill 194 was a party-line 53-39, with Democrats opposing. The legislation next heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, R-Cincinnati, said the law changes are needed to establish consistent rules and procedures for voters statewide. “This is a serious piece of legislation,” he said. “It has a lot of complex issues, and we have endeavored from the very beginning to balance access, accuracy and equal protection throughout the entire state of Ohio.

Editorials: Kurt Browning: Combating fraud while preserving access to the polls | Palm Beach Post

One of my most important responsibilities as your secretary of state is preserving the integrity of the voting process in Florida while increasing access to the ballot box. The right to vote is one of the most obvious symbols of our nation’s freedom. Americans must have confidence in the electoral process we use to choose our local, state and national leaders.

Legislators also take this responsibility seriously, and sent an important reform bill to Gov. Scott, who signed it Thursday afternoon. The bill makes early voting more accessible, by expanding the number of hours that election supervisors can open early voting sites from just eight hours per day to 12.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Assembly approves voter ID, sends bill to Senate | JSOnline

The Assembly late Wednesday approved requiring people to show photo ID at the polls, putting the measure on a fast track to becoming law. The Senate is expected to sign off on the plan Tuesday. The move comes when drivers are about to have to present more documentation to get their licenses and wait longer to get them.

The Assembly passed the bill 60-35 amid shouts from a small group of protesters in the viewing gallery. “Welcome to Wisconsin, Jim Crow!” one of them shouted. The Republican-run Assembly quickly adjourned as the protesters chanted “Shame!” and were led out of the gallery by police officers.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin: Only a few provisional ballots out there | JSOnline

Some voters have questioned whether provisional ballots could change the thin lead Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg holds over Justice David Prosser in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Calls to a few of the state’s more populous voting jurisdictions indicate that’s unlikely.

Three provisional ballots were cast in the City of Milwaukee, according to an employee with the city’s election commission. So far, one of the three voters have provided the information needed to count the ballot. In Dane County, two voters cast provisional ballots, according to an employee in the county clerk’s office.