National: How Columbus Day could disenfranchise thousands of voters | CS Monitor

Two Democratic senators have a new voting rights nemesis: Columbus Day. US Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Patrick Leahy of Vermont say the federal holiday could disenfranchise “hundreds of thousands” of Americans whose voter-registration applications wouldn’t be postmarked until after nine states’ deadlines to register by mail. In a letter addressed to the US Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) Sept. 30, the senators asked the agency to work with election officials in the nine states to extend their deadlines past the October 10 Columbus Day holiday. The senators’ letter shows how voting rights advocates are “aggressively calling attention to any potential for disenfranchisement,” as the Associated Press’s Christina Cassidy writes, in the first presidential election since the Supreme Court watered down the Voting Rights Act in 2013. While courts have been asked to rule on controversial voter ID laws since then, the senators are also concerned about other ways Americans might not be able to vote. “The right to vote is too precious to have something so simple to fix potentially prevent so many Americans from participating in the upcoming Election,” wrote Mr. Schumer and Mr. Leahy in the letter.

Georgia: Judge hears arguments in Georgia voter registration lawsuit | Atlanta Journal Constitution

Georgia has agreed to temporarily suspend a requirement that has prevented tens of thousands of residents from registering to vote as it works toward a possible settlement in a federal lawsuit that accused Secretary of State Brian Kemp of disenfranchising minorities ahead of the presidential election. As a result, thousands of voters whose applications have been rejected since Oct. 1, 2014, may be allowed to cast a ballot on Nov. 8. The state has also agreed to stop the automatic rejection of applications that don’t exactly match information in state and federal databases as part of the agreement, which was finalized late Monday. In a letter to U.S. District Judge William O’Kelley, the state Attorney General’s Office said Kemp was voluntarily taking the actions to avoid any unexpected emergency measures imposed by the court as the lawsuit moved forward.

Voting Blogs: Voter registration numbers soar: Social media helps break registration records | electionlineWeekly

With the 2016 general election about a month way and the first voter registration deadlines just around the corner, it’s been a record-breaking voter registration week for states and counties across the country. Not only did we celebrate National Voter Registration Day this week, but many elections officials are thanking Google, Facebook and other social media outlets for the push. On September 23 Washington State saw a record one-day registration spike of 14,824 new registrants with nearly 13,000 of those via the state’s online portal MyVote — which was the second most for a single day since the portal launched. The spike follows a prompt from Facebook which urged Washington residents aged 18 and older to register to vote and included a link to connect people to the state’s online voter registration system.

Indiana: State Police investigating local voter registration forms | Herald Bulletin

More than 250 Madison County voter registration forms have been secured by the Indiana State Police as part of a statewide investigation that some registrations may be fraudulent. ISP detectives visited the Madison County Voter Registration Office on Wednesday after being contacted by Joe Spencer, the Democratic Party representative of the office. The ISP investigation was initiated when the Hendricks County Clerk’s Office raised concerns about 10 voter registration forms received through the Indiana Voter Registration Project through Patriot Majority. Spencer said the Madison County office received 13 voter registration forms that were questioned. Some of them had Indianapolis ZIP codes and at least one with a Pendleton address on a numbered street. “There are no numbered streets in Pendleton,” he said. As directed by Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, the Madison County office contacted the state police about the registrations.

National: Voter Registration Emerges as Key Political Flash-Point | NBC

Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, when a network of thousands of voting rights and civic engagement groups will aim to add tens of thousands of Americans to the rolls. But despite the day’s non-partisan message, it comes at a time when voter registration has emerged as a major political and legal flash-point. Several red states have run into legal trouble for restrictive policies that make it harder to get or stay registered to vote, while other states, mostly blue, are dramatically expanding access. Coming off a well-received debate performance, Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina—where absentee voting has already begun—to register. “You may or may not know today is National Voter Registration Day,” Clinton said. “I hope you all will, and hope you tell everybody that you know to do the same because we want to make sure people are registered.”

National: Social networks drive tens of thousands of voter registrations | The Hill

Top social media platforms steered hundreds of thousands of users to voter registration websites over the weekend in an effort several states said set new records for registration activity. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media networks began reminding users over the age of 18 to register to vote on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s National Voter Registration Day. Users on Facebook were directed to a federal website that would then direct them to sites in their home states. Twitter will roll out a similar voter registration tool Tuesday, a company spokesman said. Facebook reminded users to sign up by placing reminders at the top of newsfeeds and by allowing users to declare to their friends that they had registered. SnapChat ran in-house advertisements featuring celebrities like actors Jared Leto, Jimmy Fallon and Dwayne Johnson and the singer Ciara.

National: Big Brands Sign Up for Voter Turnout Effort | Wall Street Journal

Large technology and media companies are among the businesses that have joined the TurboVote Challenge, an effort by nonpartisan nonprofit Democracy Works to boost U.S. voter turnout to 80% by 2020, up from about 60% in recent presidential elections. The TurboVote Challenge, which announced 35 new corporate partners Monday, including tech brands Google, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and Tumblr, encourages companies to promote civic engagement among their employees and customers. “We think that a total overhaul of how people vote could increase turnout by up to 20 percentage points,” said Democracy Works co-founder Seth Flaxman, who helped start Democracy Works as a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

National: Facebook launches Voter Registration Drive for the U.S Elections | Technowize

Apparently, Facebook is using its popularity for a good cause. The flagship social network is launching its first nationwide voter registration drive. This is an attempt to urge all the citizens of U.S to participate in the voting process. This is a special feature which will appear on the homepage of the people of U.S to encourage them to vote. Facebook hopes that through this feature, the number of voters might improve. This is because majority of the people check their Facebook newsfeed regularly and hence such a reminder will be useful.

Arizona: Democrats seek extension of voter-registration deadline | The Arizona Republic

Democrats are asking county elections officials to extend the voter-registration deadline so it doesn’t fall on the Columbus Day holiday, when state and federal offices will be closed. In letters to all 15 county elections officials, party officials are asking for a one-day extension, to Oct. 11. They cite a state law that allows the deadline to be moved when it falls on a holiday, and cite a 58-year-old attorney-general opinion that reinforced that practice. In a practical sense, they said, not extending the deadline could deter would-be voters who attempt to register at state motor-vehicle offices or by mail. Those offices are closed Oct. 10, the published registration deadline. “You can’t get a piece of mail postmarked when the post office is closed,” said Spencer Scharff, voter-protection director for the state Democratic Party.

Pennsylvania: In wake of lawsuit, voter registrations up at Pennsylvania’s county assistance sites | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Since 2012, when a lawsuit was settled over voter registration issues, county assistance offices have submitted voter registration applications or change of address updates for more than 160,000 Pennsylvanians, according to a tally of statistics from the state. The lawsuit alleged that spot-checks and interviews with those who sought benefits at county assistance offices and through the Women, Infants & Children nutrition program showed that the state was not properly offering clients voter registration applications. Additionally, the state’s own statistics showed that it was failing to do what the law required, the complaint said. From 1995 to 1996, the state’s public assistance offices registered 59,462 voters, but during 2009 and 2010, only 4,179 voters were registered. The state settled the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.

Georgia: Suit alleges Georgia blocked thousands of minority voters from rolls | Atlanta Journal Constitution

Less than a week before early voting starts in Georgia’s presidential election, a coalition of voting advocates filed suit Wednesday accusing Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp of disenfranchising thousands of residents by blocking their access to vote. Further, the lawsuit alleges that Georgia’s use of a strict matching process for voter registration has disproportionately affected minority voters across the state, meaning the voter registration applications of black, Latino and Asian Americans in Georgia are more likely than those of white applicants to be rejected. It is an accusation denied strongly by Kemp, who has traveled the state to tout the accessibility of Georgia’s elections.

Georgia: Voter registration process violates the law, lawsuit claims | WSB-TV

Georgia’s voter registration process violates the Voting Rights Act and has prevented tens of thousands of residents, mostly minorities, from registering to vote, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. Under a policy implemented in 2010, people aren’t added to the voter rolls if identifying information on their applications doesn’t exactly match information in databases maintained by the Georgia Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administration, the lawsuit says. “What Georgia is doing is denying people the ability to make it onto the registration rolls at the outset, which is what’s so problematic about this matching program,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The organization said it filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Gainesville, in north Georgia, along with other legal organizations on behalf of a coalition of civil rights groups.

California: That letter that says you’re not a registered voter might be wrong | The Orange County Register

A voter registration drive by a national nonprofit has erroneously notified scores of voters throughout Southern California that they are not registered. That’s causing “absolutely unnecessary voter confusion,” according to Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley, whose office has received dozens of calls from voters who received letters from the group and wanted to verify that they were registered. Officials in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties also reported a recent rash of calls from puzzled voters, as the group has launched the latest phase of a mailing that has reached more than 4 million California households this year. “Whether by intent or by accident, it is clear that the organization that sent out these mailings used bad data and failed to compare that data with the existing voter file,” said Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.

Nevada: Native American tribes to sue Nevada over voter disenfranchisement | Reno Gazette Journal

A pair of Native American tribes are planning to file a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the state of Nevada after being denied voter registration sites and polling places on tribal lands in Washoe and Mineral counties. The basis of the suit is voter disenfranchisement of a protected class under the Civil Rights Act. The plaintiffs — the Pyramid Lake Paiutes and the Walker River Paiutes — argue that a lack of access to voter registration and polling places on the reservation has hampered Native American turnout. Native American registration and turnout historically is low, mainly due to access and other barriers, according to Bret Healy, a consultant for the Native American advocacy group Four Directions who is overseeing the lawsuit. He’s handled similar requests in other states and said that if they are granted, turnout tends to increase dramatically, sometimes as much as 130 percent. “It’s because there’s more obstacles,” Healy said. “It’s not an equal access to the ballot box.”

Cambodia: Cambodia Cranks Up Election Process Raising Fraud Concerns | RFA

As Cambodian officials rolled out a new voter registration system on Thursday, questions were raised about the nation’s ability to conduct free and fair elections. While Cambodian authorities announced a three-month registration process that will run from Sept. 1 to Nov. 29, the U.N. ambassador to Cambodia expressed concern that the country’s current political situation could poison the process. “The European Union has expressed concerns over certain actions of the authorities in implementing legal procedures against the opposition party’s officials, civil society’s representatives, and the National Election Commission (NEC) deputy general secretary,” said Ambassador George Edgar. “Cambodia’s authorities must ensure an atmosphere that all political parties and nongovernmental agencies are able to do their jobs without obstacles,” he added during a ceremony announcing the launch of the registration system.

National: Google’s search engine directs voters to the ballot box | phys.org

Google is pulling another lever on its influential search engine in an effort to boost voter turnout in November’s U.S. presidential election. Beginning Tuesday, Google will provide a summary box detailing state voting laws at the top of the search results whenever a user appears to be looking for that information. The breakdown will focus on the rules particular to the state where the search request originates unless a user asks for another location. Google is introducing the how-to-vote instructions a month after it unveiled a similar feature that explains how to register to vote in states across the U.S.
The search giant said its campaign is driven by rabid public interest in the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As of last week, it said, the volume of search requests tied to the election, the candidates and key campaign issues had more than quadrupled compared to a similar point in the 2012 presidential race.

Cambodia: Computer System to Register Voters | Khmer Times

Cambodia’s new voter registration system will use a computer program to register eligible citizens who have a national identity card and are over the age of 18 before election day, according to a National Election Committee (NEC) technical officer at a media training event on Friday. Tob Rethy, head of the department of voter database management and NEC voter lists, explained the registration process and addressed reporters’ security concerns. “The names of villages, communes, districts, provinces, capitals and other important details are already included in the program, meaning program users are not allowed to write or add more villages or communes,” he said. “We will use a 3G service to send the data to the server at the NEC head office in Phnom Penh. In case data cannot be sent through the Internet, the user can store it on a flash card or SD card, then send the data file to the NEC commune office for forwarding to the capital,” he said.

Connecticut: ‘Motor voter’ off to fast start at Connecticut DMV | The CT Mirror

Connecticut registered nearly 700 new voters Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of a “motor voter” system established at the Department of Motor Vehicles under last week’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. And the DMV wasn’t even open Monday, just AAA. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said any customer doing business at the DMV or at AAA offices that serve as DMV branches is now automatically prompted to register to vote or update their voting address, a long-overdue step complying with a U.S. civil rights law.

Cambodia: As Voter Registration Nears, Fears Of Exclusion | The Cambodia Daily

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday appealed to Cambodia’s 9.6 million eligible voters to register to cast their ballots when enrollment opens next month, as the opposition CNRP expressed concerns that a million migrant workers could be disenfranchised. As part of the 2014 political deal between the CPP and CNRP, a new bipartisan National Election Committee (NEC) was created with a mandate to build a new electronic voter list without the hundreds of thousands of double and missing names that plagued previous lists. Mr. Hun Sen, speaking at a ceremony for a new bridge in Kandal province on Monday, said that those who do not register when NEC officials travel the country from the start of September to the end of November would not be able to vote in next year’s commune elections.

Connecticut: Justice Department Signs Off On ‘Motor Voter’ Settlement | Hartford Courant

The state and the U.S. Justice Department reached a settlement to resolve claims that Connecticut’s method of registering voters at the Department of Motor Vehicles was not in compliance with federal law. Under a program beginning next week, applications for driver’s licenses and identification cards will effectively serve as voter registration applications unless a customer specifically opts out. And when a customer changes the address on file at the DMV, that information will be reflected on the voter rolls unless they make a different request. “The motor voter provision of the [National Voter Registration Act of 1993] critically supports and enhances our citizens’ access to the democratic process,” U.S. attorney Deirdre M. Daly said in a statement. “Compliance with those requirements plays an important role in ensuring that all Conneticut citizens can more easily exercise their right to vote.”

Ghana: Electoral Commission to Reopen List of Voters | VoA News

Ghana’s electoral commission will reopen the nation’s voter registration list Friday so that tens of thousands of people whose names were deleted because of a problem with their identification documents can re-register in time to take part in December’s general election. The country’s Supreme Court had ordered the electoral commission to delete from the registry anyone who applied to vote using a National Health Insurance Scheme card. The court said the health card was not a valid proof of identity for voting purposes. So the electoral commission, which compiles the voter list, said anyone previously struck from the registry would have a week to re-register, beginning Friday. A separate period later this month has been set aside for registering those who have never voted before.

United Kingdom: Labour leadership: quarter of new supporters could be barred from voting | The Guardian

The battle for the Labour leadership was becoming increasingly fraught yesterday as allies of Jeremy Corbyn expressed concerns that more than a quarter of new supporters who signed up to the party could be prevented from voting. Backers of the Labour leader, who faces a challenge from Owen Smith, say 40,000 of the 183,000 people who joined as registered supporters in recent weeks, paying £25 for the chance to vote, have been disqualified by Labour, with another 10,000 referred to a scrutiny committee. Party officials insist it is too early to tally any numbers and say that if people are denied a vote it is generally for administrative reasons, for example, their application does not tally with the electoral register, or they can already vote by another means such as trade union affiliation. However, potential electors can also be disqualified if it is found they actively support another party. Those close to Corbyn say they fear many of those denied a vote are being weeded out for political reasons. “It’s definitely a worry,” one ally said.

Kansas: Judge: 17,500 suspended voters can cast ballots in all races Tuesday | The Wichita Eagle

A Shawnee County judge has ruled that 17,500 voters can have their votes counted in state and local races as well as federal ones in Tuesday’s Kansas primary election. “Losing one’s vote is an irreparable harm in my opinion,” Judge Larry Hendricks said in his bench ruling Friday. A state board approved a rule earlier this month to allow people to vote only in federal elections – not state and local ones – if they registered at DMV offices but failed to provide proof of citizenship as required by Kansas law. The rule, crafted by Secretary of State Kris Kobach, was meant to put the state in compliance with a recent ruling by a federal judge to let these voters vote under the federal “motor-voter” law. Kobach contended that the federal ruling applied only to federal elections and that the state’s proof of citizenship requirement still barred these voters from casting votes in state and local races. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the rule under the equal protection clause in the Kansas Constitution. “You’re either registered or you’re not,” ACLU attorney Sophia Lakin told the judge. “There’s no such thing as half registration.”

Alabama: Merrill initiates program to increase voter registration | Alabama Today

More Alabamians will be voting in the upcoming municipal elections and the general election in November if Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has anything to do with it. Merrill announced Thursday approximately 1.2 million eligible Alabamians who either are not registered to vote or in need of updating voter registration information will receive a Mail-In Voter Registration Application thanks to the state’s new partnership with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). ERIC — whose sole mission is assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens — will identify eligible citizens who are not yet registered to vote using a combination of public and private data to more accurately identify voters who have moved or died allowing voter rolls to be appropriately updated. Current, unregistered Alabama residents will receive a voter registration application in the mail from the secretary of state’s office following identification by ERIC.

Thailand: Monkeys go ape over voter list, rip papers to shreds in polling station | Asian Correspondent

A troop of 100 monkeys kicked up a storm in Thailand on Sunday, ravaging a voter list for the upcoming constitution referendum at a temple in the northern province of Phichit. Local media reported that about 100 pig-tailed macaques stormed the open hall of Wat Hat Mun Krabue temple, a designated voting station for the upcoming referendum on Aug 7. According to the Bangkok Post, investigators were dispatched to the scene upon receiving a report on the incident. After reaching the temple, Pol Lt Col Banchob Uthayo, one of the investigators sent from the Tambon Yanyao police station, found five out of 15 voter list pages ripped apart. The macaques also tore up seven pages of guidelines on voting which were also pinned on a notice board.

National: Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Uses Pokémon Go to Register Voters | Wall Street Journal

Hillary Clinton is hoping to use Pokémon Go to catch voters. At a rally on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton talked about the game phenomenon, saying “I don’t know who created ‘Pokemon Go,’ but I’ve tried to figure out how we get them to have Pokémon go to the polls.” The game, created by Niantic Labs in a partnership with Nintendo and Pokémon Co., is causing people to flock to public places as they search for Pokémon, which virtually pop up in the real world. The mobile game has been cited for traffic accidents, injuries and for giving its users unexpected exercise as they walk around trying to find “pocket monsters.”

National: Google Search To Offer State-Specific Voter Registration Guide Ahead Of 2016 Elections | Tech Times

With the election season just around the corner in the U.S., Google is getting in on the action and looking to make things easier for prospective voters. Google Search will simplify the registration process for voters as it will offer state-specific voter registration guides prior to the 2016 presidential elections in November. On Monday, July 18, the Alphabet subsidiary will push out the new search functionality, which will aid users in registering to vote before the elections. “Starting on Monday, we’re introducing a new tool in Search to simplify the voter registration process to make it easier for you to have your voice heard,” revealed Google on July 15. When you type “register to vote” or a similar query in Google Search post July 18, you will be greeted with state-specific and in-depth guidelines on how you can register to vote, the eligibility criteria and the deadline for your state. All these details will be reflected at the top of the search page, as well as the Google app.

Kansas: Little public notice given on rule to throw out Kansas votes | Associated Press

Kansas officials plan to take up on Tuesday a proposed temporary rule that will allow election officials to throw out votes in local and state races cast by tens of thousands of people who register at motor vehicle offices without proving U.S. citizenship. The State Rules and Regulations Board gave the public just a day’s notice that it will consider the temporary rule sought by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Those voters affected by the rule — which the state has estimated could number about 50,000 — would be given a provisional ballot. “It just stinks. This is not how democracy works, and something as important as voting should not be taken care of in this backroom manner,” said state Rep. Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat.

Georgia: Project Vote sues Georgia over voter registration records | Atlanta Journal Constitution

Georgia is being sued for the second time this year over its handling of voter records, this time by a group seeking more information from Secretary of State Brian Kemp about how the state decides to reject applicants trying to register to vote. Project Vote, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit active on voting and election administration policy, said in federal court filings this week that it has sought public records since May 2014 detailing Georgia’s process for reviewing voter registration applications and the subsequent reasons why applications may be rejected.

New Jersey: Court Upholds 21-Day Pre-Election Registration Requirement | New Jersey Law Journal

A New Jersey appeals court has rejected a constitutional challenge to the state’s requirement that would-be voters register at least 21 days before an election.
In a published ruling, the three-judge Appellate Division panel said in Rutgers University Student Association v. Middlesex County Board of Elections that the 21-day deadline does not amount to an undue burden on citizens who want to exercise their right to vote. The lawsuit was filed by the Rutgers University student body governing association. Appellate Division Judge Michael Haas, joined by Judges Thomas Manahan and Mitchel Ostrer, on July 1 upheld a decision by Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Heidi Currier to dismiss the lawsuit. A separate panel two years ago remanded the case to Currier, with the demand that she more fully explain why the 21-day deadline codified in N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.3(b) did not impose an onerous burden.