Tag Archives: tvnw

The Secretary of State’s Office chose a Denver-based company Tuesday to supply future voting machines for the state’s 64 counties, and Mesa County Clerk Sheila Reiner couldn’t be more pleased. That’s because Reiner used voting machines from that company, Dominion Voting Systems, as part of a three-year pilot project to test various machines for a uniform voting system. Having all counties use the same machines not only will allow each to get them cheaper, but also help save costs in maintenance, supplies and training time for election workers, Reiner said. She said Dominion, more than any of the other companies that were included in the pilot study, had a product that was ready to go. “Dominion … was by far the most developed and appropriate system for our state,” Reiner said. “I say that because from the simplicity of building the ballot definition all the way through the risk-limiting audit that we’re going to be required to do by statute in 2017, everything just fit with Colorado laws and current needs. The other vendors are still developing things to fit our model.”

Kentucky: New governor reverses executive order that restored voting rights for felons | The Washington Post

Kentucky’s new Republican governor has rescinded an executive order that restored voting rights to as many as 140,000 non-violent felons, surprising some observers who had watched him — and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — argue for a more lenient approach to the issue. “While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights,” Gov. Matt Bevin (R-Ky.) said in announcing the order, “it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people.” The November election, which Bevin won in an upset, did not really turn on felon voting rights. In Bevin’s view, outgoing Democratic governor Steve Beshear forced the issue, granting a mass restoration after eight years of following the usual, slow, individualized standard for voting rights.

Ohio: Dispute over Ohio’s voting rules in hands of federal judge | Associated Press

A legal dispute over changes to voting rules in swing state Ohio is now in the hands of a federal judge. At issue are a series of Republican-backed revisions that Democrats allege disproportionately burden black voters and those who lean Democratic. The state’s Democratic Party is among the plaintiffs suing the state’s Republican elections chief over the policy changes. Those include the elimination of a week of early voting in which Ohioans could also register to vote, known as the “golden week.” Both sides filed their closing comments with the court Tuesday. They now await a ruling from U.S. District Judge Michael Watson.

Virginia: Democrats Praise Virginia Court Settlement in Voting Rights Case | The New York Times

Democrats in Virginia claimed a victory on parts of a voting rights lawsuit in the state, with a settlement on the portion related to long waiting times for voters to cast ballots, especially in precincts with large numbers of minorities residents. The settlement, hammered out in a consent decree by the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia in the case, rules that there will be major changes by the state Board of Elections and Department of Elections to lay out guidelines about how to handle paper ballots in the case of machine breakdowns, and finding solutions to help local boards with the issue of long lines. In some cases, there have been reports of voters waiting hours before casting their ballots. The settlement on the long-lines part of the larger suit came less than a year before the presidential election. Virginia is a crucial battleground state, with an electoral composition that is reflective of demographic changes in the rest of the country.

Central African Republic: Election delayed over logistical concerns | The Guardian

A national election in Central African Republic, designed to replace its transitional government and bring stability to a nation wracked by years of sectarian violence has been postponed to 30 December. The election, delayed several times before, was originally scheduled for 27 December. The National Election Authority proposed a short delay to deal with technical and organizational difficulties, officials from the government and the election authority said on Thursday. Electoral agents need to complete training, said Bernard Kpongaba, vice president of the National Election Authority, adding that he did not have assurances that voting materials would have made it in time for the original date. “We will take the time for the collation and deployment throughout the country,” he said.

Haiti: UN urges Haiti to reschedule postponed poll | AFP

The United Nations Security Council urged Haiti on Wednesday to quickly reschedule its postponed presidential election ahead off further civil unrest. The second round of voting to choose a successor to President Michel Martelly had been due to go ahead on December 27 but was cancelled after fraud allegations. The first-round of voting and the subsequent lengthy and delayed vote count was marked by street protests alleging official corruption. An “election evaluation committee” has been set up to determine a way forward, but no new date has been set for the run-off, leaving the western hemisphere’s poorest country once more in political limbo.

National: New Federal Election Commission Head Aims for Calm | Al Jazeera

The Federal Election Commission, tasked with policing what’s expected to be the nation’s most expensive election ever, will drag itself into the New Year perhaps more internally injured than at any point in its 40-year history. It will do so under the leadership of Matthew Petersen, a Republican appointed chairman Thursday in a perfunctory vote by his five commission colleagues. The job switches annually between Republicans and Democrats. But Petersen, a soft-spoken and professorial attorney by trade, says his tenure at the commission’s helm will prove decidedly different than that of Democrat Ann Ravel, the current chairwoman who’s used her office’s meager power — a bully pulpit, mainly — to its maximum. “I’ve learned to take a more low-profile approach,” he told the Center for Public Integrity in an interview earlier this month. “I don’t feel any need to have my face out there any more than it is.”

National: More Than a Dozen States Eye Automatic Voter Registration | The American Prospect

Advocates of automatic voter registration won two legislative battles in Oregon and California this year, and lost another in New Jersey when GOP Governor Chris Christie vetoed automatic registration legislation last month. Now the question is whether 18 states mulling a variety of automatic voter registration bills will approve or reject those proposals. The bills would in one form or another allow government agencies to transfer voter eligibility information to state election officials, who would confirm and register eligible voters, excluding any who chose to remain off the rolls. The push for automatic registration comes at a time when voting rights advocates are contending with state-based initiatives around the country that erect a variety of barriers to the polls. These include voting restrictions in North Carolina that have become the subject of a federal challenge.

Voting Blogs: The Risk of Another Disputed Presidential Election is Higher than Most Think | Ned Foley/Election Law Blog

Throughout American history, there has been an important interplay between institutions and individuals in terms of the capacity to resolve vote-counting disputes in accordance with a basic standard of fairness and integrity. Insofar as the institutions for adjudicating these disputes have been weaker than desirable (in large part because of the oversight at the Founding, as described in the first post), the political system inevitably places greater reliance on the ethical judgments of individual politicians who play critical roles in the handling of these disputes. Conversely, to the extent that institutional improvements occur that increase the capacity for impartial adjudication of these disputes, there is correspondingly less dependence upon the particular character and virtue of individual politicians.

District of Columbia: No Leader, Old Voting Machines: D.C.’s Election Agency Faces Multiple Challenges | WAMU

With only seven months left until D.C. voters cast ballots in the 2016 primary, the agency in charge of running the city’s elections remains without top leadership — and on Wednesday struggled to explain whether it has the money to buy new voting machines it says it needs. The issues were at the forefront of a hearing in a D.C. Council committee, where Council member Kenyan McDuffie expressed frustration with the challenges facing the D.C. Board of Elections as the city enters an election year. “This is too precarious a situation,” McDuffie said. “I remain concerned about the board’s direction.” Some of the issues aren’t new, and in the past have resulted in technical glitches that delayed the reporting of election results — most recently in the April 2014 mayoral primary. But one board-watcher said Wednesday that they may be getting worse.

Florida: Senate redistricting trial ends as judge weighs options | Miami Herald

After eight rulings by the Florida Supreme Court and an admission of guilt by legislators, the Senate redistricting trial ended Thursday with a Tallahassee judge asking the parties to tell him their top choices for a new Senate map. Leon County Circuit Court Judge George Reynolds now must decide whether to accept one of four proposals offered by the challengers — a coalition of the League of Women Voters, Common Cause of Florida and a group of Democrat-leaning individuals — or a map drawn by Senate staff but never voted on by the Legislature. The challengers said Reynolds should pick one of two maps that create four Hispanic-majority districts in Miami-Dade County, boosting the number of Hispanic-dominated seats from three and opening the door to a Hispanic district dominated by Democrats.

Hawaii: Na’i Aupuni cancels Native Hawaiian election | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Facing a potential court battle that could go on for years, Na‘i Aupuni announced this morning that it will cancel the Native Hawaiian election and proceed to a four-week convention in February. All 196 Hawaiians who ran as candidates will be offered seats as delegates to the convention, or ‘aha, said Na‘i Aupuni President Kuhio Asam. “Our goal has always been to create a path so that Hawaiians can gather and have a serious and much-needed discussion about self-governance,” Asam said at a downtown Honolulu press conference this morning. “We anticipated that the path would have twists and turns and some significant obstacles, but we are committed to proceeding to the ‘aha where this long-overdue conversation can take place,” he said.

Wisconsin: Federal judges leave open challenge to state redistricting | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In a case that could establish a new standard for how courts decide when partisan legislative redistricting crosses the line of constitutionality cleared a major hurdle Thursday. A federal court allowed a lawsuit to proceed that claims that Republican-drawn legislative district maps are unconstitutional. Democrats filed the suit in July, saying the 2012 redistricting plan drawn after the 2010 census so favored Republicans that it violated the civil rights of Democratic voters. Though the plan was crafted by private attorneys and consultants hired by Republican lawmakers, the suit names as defendants the Government Accountability Board, and its executive director, because the board administered elections in the state. The defendants said the issue of partisan gerrymandering is a political one, and the suit should be dismissed because there’s no clear standard for a court to decide the claim.

Central African Republic: Voters in CAR Show Overwhelming Support for New Constitution | VoA News

Voters in the Central African Republic appear to have overwhelmingly approved a new constitution aimed at stopping more than three years of violence between Muslims and Christians. Preliminary results from Sunday’s referendum show 90 percent voting yes. Voting in parts of the country where militias threatened violence, including a Muslim neighborhood in Bangui, was postponed. Those ballots have yet to be counted.

Spain: Spain gears up for most uncertain election in 40 years | Reuters

Spain faces its most uncertain national election in 40 years on Sunday with newcomer parties poised for big gains against the traditionally dominant conservatives and socialists, complicating efforts to form a stable government. The ballot will mark the end of the established two-party system that has held sway since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco ended in 1975, ushering in an untested and potentially volatile era of consensus politics. It will also offer the latest snapshot of the willingness of European electorates to abandon the mainstream center-right and center-left, following significant gains by populist parties since October in elections in France and Portugal. Opinion polls show the governing conservative People’s Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will win Sunday’s vote but fall well short of an absolute majority.

National: Potential Power Shift as Court Weighs ‘One Person One Vote’ | The New York Times

A closely divided Supreme Court on Tuesday struggled to decide “what kind of democracy people wanted,” as Justice Stephen G. Breyer put it during an argument over the meaning of the constitutional principle of “one person one vote.” The court’s decision in the case, expected by June, has the potential to shift political power from urban areas to rural ones, a move that would provide a big boost to Republican voters in state legislative races in large parts of the nation. The basic question in the case, Evenwel v. Abbott, No. 14-940, is who must be counted in creating voting districts: all residents or just eligible voters? Right now, all states and most localities count everyone.

Editorials: The public doesn’t support restrictive voter ID laws, but many new ones will be in force in 2016 | Herman Schwartz/Reuters

Defenders of photo ID laws regularly cite public opinion polls that show widespread support for their arguments. Yet these polls reveal no such support, and they prove nothing about this new restrictive legislation because the polls’ questions cover a far broader range of IDs than the actual laws accept as proof of identity. Many of the new laws do not accept a college student ID, for example, or an out-of-state driver’s license; but the polls drawing favorable responses encompass such IDs. As always, the devil is in the details. When Republicans won full control of 21 states in 2010, they promptly adopted measures to restrict and deter voting by minorities, the poor and the young, all key components of the Democratic base. One of the most effective measures requires voters to show one of a restricted set of photo IDs issued by either a state or federal government. Government studies have shown that these laws can prevent or deter significant numbers of poor and minority voters from voting. By 2015, 13 states had adopted what the National Conference of State Legislatures considers a “strict” voter photo ID law, including seven Southern states formerly subject to federal oversight under the Voting Rights Act.

Editorials: Bush v. Gore in 2000: Partisans still in charge | Richard Hasen/Orlando Sentinel

This month marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore, which ended a recount of ballots in Florida, and assured the election of Republican George W. Bush over Al Gore as our 43rd president. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that we haven’t had another election meltdown with such stark national ramifications for the past decade and a half, but that’s because we’ve been lucky, not smart. There were lots of lessons we could have learned from the Florida fiasco with its “hanging chad” punch-card ballots and its slew of lawsuits: that our voting technology was quite poor, and in a close election, the margin of error would exceed the margin of victory; that handing political partisans discretion to make choices over how to count and recount the votes can lead to both partisan decision making and lack of confidence by those on the losing side in the fairness of the process; and that in close elections, we can simply count on the loser in a razor-thin race to gracefully accept defeat and move on.

Arizona: Supreme Court scrutinizes GOP challenge to Arizona legislative map | Tucson Sentinel

U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday weighed a challenge to Arizona’s legislative districts, which claims the maps systematically deprived Republican, non-minority voters of one person, one vote protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The case, Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, is based on the fact that almost all of Arizona’s Republican-leaning districts are overpopulated, and almost all of the state’s Democratic-leaning districts are underpopulated. A group of 10 Republican voters brought the challenge, claiming these disparities show an intentional attempt to boost Democrats in the state legislature.

Maryland: Leaders consider “universal” voting registration | Baltimore Sun

Maryland’s top Democrats are looking at legislation that would automatically put every eligible state resident on the voting rolls, abandoning the traditional registration system. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch say they are seriously considering putting their weight behind a “universal voter registration” plan. If a change were approved, Maryland would join a small number of state legislatures, all led by Democrats, that passed laws to register people who did not take the initiative to register. The policy would add hundreds of thousands of voters to rolls here — and faces deep objections from the Maryland Republican Party.

Virginia: Calibration issues found with voting machines | The Gazette-Virginian

Chris Hudson, a former investigator with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Department who unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Sheriff Fred S. Clark in the Nov. 3 election, told supervisors they need to act immediately on replacing the county’s voting machines. Hudson, who came in third in the sheriff’s race in November behind winner Fred Clark and Thomas Logan, voiced concerns during the public comment period of Monday’s board of supervisors meeting about what he described as “a major issue” with the county’s 51 voting machines used in the Nov. 3 election. Filing for an investigation to take place immediately after the election, Hudson said his issue was to address a calibration problem with the machines. “I was advised I had to wait 30 days before the process could start, so the process started Friday,” he told supervisors.

Haiti: Nearly two months after vote, Haiti elections still in dispute | Miami Herald

The ink on his thumbnail was supposed to be a fraud-proof deterrent, a sign that he had already voted in Haiti’s critical presidential and legislative elections. But hours after the adviser to Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council cast his ballot in the now disputed Oct. 25 vote, the indelible ink stain was barely visible, more resembling a fading birthmark than an electoral safeguard. Nearly two months after the pivotal balloting and three weeks before the scheduled Dec. 27 presidential runoff, Haiti remains at an impasse. Allegations of ballot tampering, fraudulent tabulations and widespread procedural breakdowns — such as failing ink that led to multiple voting — have fanned a widening chorus of doubt about the credibility of the results.

United Kingdom: British parliament votes against lowering voting age for EU referendum | Reuters

Britain’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday against reducing the voting age for a referendum on EU membership, blocking a move that might have boosted the campaign to stay in the 28-member bloc. Members of parliament voted 303 to 253 to reject a move by the upper chamber, the House of Lords, to lower the voting age to 16 from 18 for the referendum which Prime Minister David Cameron has promised by the end of 2017. The Lords is now unlikely to be able to force through the change after the Commons speaker invoked “financial privilege”, which means that by convention the upper house should not overturn the lower house’s decision.

National: Election Funding for 2020 and Beyond | The Canvass

As jurisdictions across the country are preparing for 2016’s big election, many are already thinking of the next presidential election—2020 and beyond. This is especially true when it comes to the equipment used for casting and tabulating votes. Voting machines are aging. A September report by the Brennan Center found that 43 states are using some voting machines that will be at least 10 years old in 2016. Fourteen states are using equipment that is more than 15 years old. The bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration dubbed this an “impending crisis.” To purchase new equipment, jurisdictions require at least two years lead time before a big election. They need enough time to purchase a system, test new equipment and try it out first in a smaller election. No one wants to change equipment (or procedures) in a big presidential election, if they can help it. Even in so-called off-years, though, it’s tough to find time between elections to adequately prepare for a new voting system. As Merle King, executive director of the Center for Election Systems at Kennesaw State University, puts it, “Changing a voting system is like changing tires on a bus… without stopping.” So if election officials need new equipment by 2020, which is true in the majority of jurisdictions in the country, they must start planning now.

Editorials: Evenwel and the Next Case | Daniel Tokaji/ACS

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Evenwel v. Abbott. The subject of the case is the meaning of the “one person, one vote” rule. The appellants argue that the Constitution requires equality of eligible voters among legislative districts. This argument is unlikely to carry the day – in fact, the appellants may well lose unanimously. Evenwel is still an important case, however, because what the Court says will affect how states draw state legislative districts after the next census and possibly even sooner. The hard question isn’t the disposition of Evenwel but rather its implications for the next case. The “one person, one vote” rule requires that legislative districts be drawn on the basis of population. Where single-member districts are used, each district must be of approximately equal population. In Reynolds v. Sims, the Supreme Court held that the “one person, one vote” rules applies to state legislative districting. This ended the states’ practice of using districts with very different populations – some with disparities over 40:1 – which generally advantaged rural areas at the expense of urban and suburban areas.

Alabama: Greater Birmingham Ministries, NAACP sue Alabama over voter ID law | AL.com

A federal lawsuit challenging Alabama’s law that requires voters to present identification before they can cast a ballot was filed Wednesday by Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama NAACP. The lawsuit alleges Alabama violated the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when the state enacted a photo ID law in 2011. Alabama’s secretary of state had estimated that at least 280,000 registered voters would be immediately blocked from voting, the lawsuit states “If the Photo ID Law remains in place, hundreds of thousands more eligible and registered voters will be barred from voting in the years to come,” according to the lawsuit.

Florida: State Supreme Court approves congressional map drawn by challengers | Miami Herald

With just over four years left before another redistricting cycle begins, the Florida Supreme Court gave final approval to Florida’s congressional map Wednesday, rejecting the Legislature’s arguments for the fourth time and selecting boundaries drawn by the challengers in time for the 2016 election. “Our opinion today — the eighth concerning legislative or congressional apportionment during this decade since the adoption of the landmark Fair Districts Amendment — should bring much needed finality to litigation concerning this state’s congressional redistricting that has now spanned nearly four years in state courts,” the court wrote in a 5-2 decision. The ruling validated the map drawn by a coalition led by the League of Women Voters, Common Cause of Florida and several Democrat-leaning individuals, and approved by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis after the Florida Legislature tried and failed to agree to a map in a special redistricting session. Although the boundaries are now officially set for the 2016 elections, the map is expected to be challenged by at least two members of Congress in federal court. U.S. Reps. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, have threatened a lawsuit for restricting the ability of their constituents to elect minorities to office.

Hawaii: Supreme Court Blocks Native American Election Vote Count | Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked votes from being counted in a unique election that’s considered a major step toward self-governance for Native Hawaiians. The high court granted an injunction requested by a group of Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians challenging the election. They argue Hawaii residents who don’t have Native Hawaiian ancestry are being excluded from the vote, in violation of their constitutional rights. The order blocks the counting of votes until at least the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues its ruling. The group suing to stop the election appealed a district court’s ruling allowing voting to proceed. University of California Irvine election law expert Rick Hasen said it’s “very unusual” for the high court to enjoin the counting of votes during an ongoing election. “I can’t think of another instance where the Supreme Court has done that,” Hasen said. “The court has stopped … the recounting of votes, for example most famously in Bush vs. Gore” in the 2000 presidential election.

Ohio: Democrats call Ohio’s purgings of voter rolls too aggressive | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio House Democrats and some liberal advocacy groups want to put an end to the state’s purging of people from voter-registration rolls just because they move within the state or have not voted for a few years. But Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office says Ohio is following federal law when it clears inactive voters off the rolls. Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, says Ohio is too aggressive in purging people from the voter rolls. It has removed 2 million names over the past five years. Husted’s office said that total includes more than 400,000 deceased voters.

Canada: Trudeau to review voting ban for long-term expats | The Canadian Press