Colorado: Democrats bear brunt of Colorado Secretary of State’s noncitizen voters hunt | The Gazette

Democrats make up more than half of the 155 suspected noncitizen voters that Secretary of State Scott Gessler is referring to prosecutors, according to figures released by his office Friday. The party affiliation breakdown shows that 88 of the voters are Democrats, 49 are unaffiliated, and 13 are Republicans. Five others are from minor parties, according to numbers provided by Gessler’s office to The Associated Press. No charges have been filed yet against the voters, which Gessler said are being referred to prosecutors.

Wisconsin: Inactive voters removed from polling lists | The Marshfield News-Herald

Hundreds of thousands of inactive Wisconsin voters have been removed from local voting rolls as government officials undergo regular maintenance. More than 220,000 voters were removed in May by the Government Accountability Board, the nonpartisan agency tasked with overseeing the state’s elections and campaign finance laws. “Local clerks have recorded who all voted in November, and who didn’t. We can see who hasn’t voted in the last four years, and those people get postcards,” said Reid Magney, a GAB spokesman. If voters didn’t respond to the postcard mailed to their address, they are listed as inactive voters and removed from local voting rolls. The GAB conducts this regular maintenance of voting rolls during odd-numbered years after a presidential or gubernatorial election.

Colorado: Suspect voters sent to Colorado DAs mostly Democrats | The Denver Post

Democrats make up more than half of the 155 suspected noncitizen voters that Secretary of State Scott Gessler is referring to prosecutors, according to figures released by his office Friday. The party affiliation breakdown shows that 88 of the voters are Democrats, 49 are unaffiliated, and 13 are Republicans. Five others are from minor parties, according to numbers provided by Gessler’s office to The Associated Press. No charges have been filed yet against the voters, which Gessler said Monday are being referred to prosecutors. It’s the latest chapter in a heated debate that Gessler, a Republican, has helped drive since taking office in 2011, repeatedly saying noncitizens on voter rolls are vulnerability in the system. He said this week that officials “can no longer turn a blind eye” to it.

Kansas: One-third of Kansas voter registration applications held up | Kansas City Star

Roughly one-third of all voter registration applications submitted in Kansas since Jan. 1 are in “suspense” because applicants could not provide proof of citizenship, but some say a flawed computer upgrade is responsible for most of the problem. Six months after the state started requiring new voters to prove their citizenship, 11,101 people who attempted to register were considered unqualified to vote because of lack of proof of citizenship, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. During that period, 20,780 have been added to the voter rolls, according to figures provided by the Kansas secretary of state’s office. When people show proof of U.S. citizenship to get a driver’s license in Kansas, the documentation is not making it to election officials for voter registration purposes, said Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew. “There are quite a few in suspense across the state, and we (in Douglas County) are no different than that,” Shew said.

Colorado: Voter citizenship checks yield few responses | Associated Press

The latest round of letters questioning the citizenship of some Colorado registered voters has 63 out of 298 people affirming their right to vote, and most recipients are ignoring the May letters altogether. The letters are part of an ongoing effort by Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler to address what he says is a risk for voter fraud. Gessler’s office provided the latest numbers to The Associated Press this week. Another 15 people who received letters last month said they weren’t U.S. citizens and asked to be removed from voter rolls.

Alaska: Voter case under review | Juneau Empire

It appears someone registered to vote in Alaska and another state cast ballots in both states during the November election, an Alaska elections official said Thursday. Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said the matter was sent to the criminal division of the Department of Law for review earlier this month. “At this point in time, it appears to be the same person,” Fenumiai told The Associated Press. “Signatures look the same. Other information matches. And I believe it’s the same person.” She declined to identify the other state.

Editorials: Cleaning up Indiana state registration offers confidence at polls | Fort Wayne News Sentinel

It’s not a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but the $2 million designated in the recent session of the General Assembly will begin the messy but necessary process of cleaning up Indiana’s voter registration rolls. Bloated voters rolls in every one of the state’s 92 counties contain the names of people who have moved away, are in prison or have died. Their presence on the registration lists make elections vulnerable to the type of shenanigans that can truly affect the outcome of elections. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson is in charge of the state’s elections and led the charge to obtain the funds for the statewide project. She knows the importance of cleaning up the voter rolls in maintaining the integrity of the elections and meeting requirements of state and federal laws.

Georgia: Uncounted votes | wsbtv.com

More than 10,000 Georgia voters in the last presidential election were forced to vote on paper instead of electronically. A Channel 2 Action News investigation found that thousands of votes didn’t count, though many should have. State investigators still don’t even know how many people actually voted. “Having looked forward to voting for a long time and following the election, I was very excited to go there and to cast my vote,” said 18-year-old Bailey Sumner. But when she arrived at her Sandy Springs precinct, the poll workers refused to give her a ballot. “They told me that I wasn’t on the list, and that I couldn’t vote,” Sumner told Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer.

Indiana: State to spend $2M to clean up voter rolls | Tribune Star

Indiana’s bloated voter registration rolls, which officials say make elections more susceptible to fraud, will soon come under more scrutiny by the state. The Indiana Secretary of State’s office will spend more than $2 million to purge the voter registration rolls in each of Indiana’s 92 counties, removing the names of voters who are dead, in prison, or have moved away. County election officials are responsible for keeping the voter rolls current, but the lack of money has caused some of them to fall behind. The result: In some counties, the number of people listed on the active voter rolls is higher than the number of voting-age people who live there.

Oregon: Too nice for voter fraud? Some say Oregon’s election system vulnerable despite few cases | NWWatchdog.org

Two dead people tried to vote in Oregon. The researcher and a voter integrity advocate who found the problem told election officials, who told them this kind of thing is rare, and the chances of it happening again are slim, given the state’s good track record, kindly nature and all that. “This is a very Oregon moment,” researcher Robert McCullough of the energy consulting firm McCullough Research said. “The Pacific Northwest is a very honest area, and so we have little in the way of checks and balances. But, luckily, we also have very few villains.”

Indiana: Bill Pushes State Officials To Examine, Purge Voter Rolls | Indiana Public Media

Legislation passed during the 2013 session requires a statewide mailing to verify and update voter registration information every two years and puts money behind the effort. Secretary of State Connie Lawson says voters will receive postcards in the mail with their registration info. They mail the cards back with any changes listed. Lawson says the mailing will also remove voters from the rolls.

Mississippi: Federal suits filed over voter rolls in Jefferson Davis, Walthall counties | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com

A nonprofit group has sued the election commissions in Jefferson Davis and Walthall counties in federal court, claiming each county has more registered voters on the books than residents eligible to vote. The American Civil Rights Union filed both lawsuits in U.S. District Court late last month, asking the court to declare violations of the National Voting Registration Act of 1993 and to force the counties to perform registration list maintenance, along with requesting attorney’s fees. “Defendant has violated (the NVRA) by failing to make a reasonable effort to conduct voter list maintenance programs in elections for federal office and by failing to produce records and data related to those efforts,” both very similar complaints state.

Alabama: Black lawmakers vow to fight proposed change in voter registration deadline | al.com

Black lawmakers in the House of Representatives today vowed to fight a bill that would move the deadline to register to vote in Alabama from 10 days before an election to 17 days. County registrars are seeking the change for more time to process voter rolls before elections. But African-American legislators called the bill an effort to disenfranchise and discourage voters. “This is a bill made just for suppressing the vote,” Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, said.

Mississippi: Voter card mailout not without hiccups | The Daily Leader

Election officials want to ensure Brookhaven voters know where to cast a ballot during upcoming municipal elections in the hope of reducing confusion at the polls, but those officials have already encountered a few headaches themselves. In a mass mailing of voter registration cards sent during the last week of March, several Brookhaven areas did not receive the cards. These areas included the Deer Run and Moreton Estates neighborhoods, but City Clerk Mike Jinks has asked other residents to inform him if they did not receive a copy of their voter registration card by mail. The voter registration cards indicate the city ward and county district a given voter lives in. Mailing cards to each registered voter in the city is intended to help inform those voters if they have been moved into a new ward due to redistricting.

Pennsylvania: Measure allowing online voter registration advances in Senate | PennLive.com

Legislation to modernize Pennsylvania voter registration is advancing in the Senate. The Senate State Government Committee today passed legislation that would allow citizens 18 years and older to register to vote online until 30 days before the election. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Lloyd Smucker, R-Lancaster County, now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Twelve states already allow for online registration, while 13 others are moving in this direction, said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause/PA, a government reform group. “It allows every citizen of voting age increased access to voter registration. This further elevates citizens’ right to vote,” Kauffman said. Plus, it “will dramatically reduce counties’ and the state’s voter registration processing costs, improve the accuracy of registrations and official voter rolls, and improve security of registrations by preventing bad actors from intercepting confidential information or failing to turn in legitimate registrations.”

National: Arizona Voter ID Law to be Heard This Week by Supreme Court | Fox News

The Supreme Court will struggle this week with the validity of an Arizona law that tries to keep illegal immigrants from voting by demanding all state residents show documents proving their U.S. citizenship before registering to vote in national elections. The high court will hear arguments Monday over the legality of Arizona’s voter-approved requirement that prospective voters document their U.S. citizenship in order to use a registration form produced under the federal “Motor Voter” voter registration law that doesn’t require such documentation. This case focuses on voter registration in Arizona, which has tangled frequently with the federal government over immigration issues involving the Mexican border. But it has broader implications because four other states — Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Tennessee — have similar requirements, and 12 other states are contemplating similar legislation, officials say. The Obama administration is supporting challengers to the law.

Australia: Electoral Commission bids for change | Bunbury Mail

Many people who turned up to cast their vote on Saturday were surprised to find out they were one of 240,000 West Australians that were not listed on the electoral roll, prompting the WA Electoral Commission to look to other states for a solution. WA Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately said while the commission often contacted people at what were believed to be their new addresses, the onus was for voters to respond and provide their details so they could be enrolled. Some people simply chose not to turn up, despite voting being compulsory. Mr Gately said a solution which had been picked up in New South Wales, was to enrol people automatically as a result of change of address information supplied to government departments. For this to happen, legislative change is required.

Pakistan: Counting continues: Army enters neighbourhoods, doesn’t make it to the door | The Express Tribune

After the opposition parties raised hue and cry over what they called was a botched verification of electoral rolls, the army was seen on Tuesday standing guard in some neighbourhoods. The election commission workers are completing the second phase of the voter verification process that began on January 10. Several political parties expressed, however, their reservations that the process was being carried out without the help of the army and Frontier Constabulary, which was against the Supreme Court orders. On Monday, the chief election commissioner, Fakhruddin G Ebrahim had assured the protesting parties that the army would be called in, but the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the army – gave no confirmation.

Colorado: Bill to cancel suspected noncitizen voters fails | FOX21News

Democrats rejected a GOP proposal to cancel voter registrations of people believed not to be U.S. citizens. The bill would have required election officials to check voter rolls against national and state immigration databases to verify citizenship. Election officials would then have hearings for people to show proof of citizenship, or have their registration canceled. Democrats say eligible voters could be disenfranchised because the databases are not reliable.

Editorials: Voter fraud and illegal immigration: a biometric card solution | Robert Pastor/latimes.com

The American people want the Democratic and Republican parties to solve our nation’s problems together, but bipartisan solutions become possible only if each side gives the other the benefit of the doubt. We should begin with two polarizing issues — voter fraud and migration. Biometric identification cards offer a solution for both. More than 30 states require identification cards to vote. Republicans believe such ID cards are important to prevent electoral fraud. Democrats believe voter impersonation is not a problem, and that the real reason for the IDs is to suppress the votes of poor and old people and minorities, who lack cards and tend to vote Democratic. The Supreme Court accepted that voter identification cards were a legitimate instrument for ensuring ballot integrity, but many state courts suspended the laws because they were implemented late with confusing rules and without easy access to cards. In fact, statewide IDs are of little help because most cases of double voting are by people with homes in two states.

Louisiana: State removes names of inactive voters | The Advocate

State elections officials removed about 52,000 inactive voters from Louisiana’s voter rolls after November’s presidential election, according to new secretary of state office statistics. State Elections Commissioner Angie Rogers said election laws require the purge of voter registration rolls once every two years or so, to remove the names of people who have not voted in the past two federal elections or any state or local race during that time period. “They have never voted in any state or federal election,” Rogers said. “They are obviously not here or don’t want to vote.”

Editorials: On voting, listen to John Lewis | Reuters

President Barack Obama emphasized the need to modernize the U.S. election system in his Inaugural Address. One bill to do just that is set to be introduced Wednesday by the civil rights hero Representative John Lewis (D-Ga.) — who knows a thing or two about how to expand democracy. Under his reform plan, states would have to take responsibility to make sure that every eligible voter is on the rolls. How? By taking existing computerized voter rolls, and expanding them with names voluntarily collected when citizens deal with government — including the Department of Motor Vehicles for drivers’ licenses, the Social Security Administration or other agencies. Any voter could opt in with the click of a mouse. The proposed bill would bring our antiquated system into the 21st century. The  “Voter Empowerment Act,” introduced by Lewis with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), could transform the way we choose our leaders.

Iowa: Senator says Schultz lacks authority to implement voter registration rules | Radio Iowa

The incoming president of the Iowa Senate suggests Iowa’s top election official does not have the authority to implement rules that set up a system for removing non-citizens from voter registration rolls. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, questions the effort from Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz. “Regardless of our opinion on the proposed rules, whether we’re for it or against it…I believe that this rule has exceeded the authority of the secretary of state’s office,” Jochum says. “I believe these are issues that are for the legislative branch of government.”

Wisconsin: State would need to spend $1.2M to check for illegal voters, report says | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin would need to spend $1.2 million to begin checking federal databases for names of non-citizens who should be removed from voter registration lists, says a report from the state’s election agency. Two other states have found relatively few illegal voters on the lists, and there’s no reason to suspect more would be detected in Wisconsin, an agency spokesman said Monday. The Government Accountability Board is to decide Tuesday on sending the staff report to the state Legislature, which would need to enact new laws before the agency could use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program.

United Kingdom: Electoral Commission concerned at accuracy of Northern Ireland register | BBC

An independent watchdog body has expressed concern about the accuracy and completeness of the register used for elections in Northern Ireland. After carrying out a random check of 1,500 addresses, the Electoral Commission said as many as one in five entries are inaccurate. It also said up to 400,000 people are not registered at the correct address. The elections watchdog body is recommending urgent action is taken.

Ghana: 4 Ways To Steal An Election In Ghana | GhanaWeb

Of course there are several ways to rig an election but I have put them in a four quadrant grid to cover some of the other variations as well. In the case of Ghana’s forthcoming elections I came up with these: the Tain Effect strategy (TES), flaws in the Biometric exercise, Voter suppression and the Voter maximizer strategy. Certain factors must come into play for it to execute efficiently: It must take place in a constituency you are highly favored to win aka Tain. You intentionally cause a delay in your Tain using ‘Dumsor’ (rolling blackouts) as an excuse- an act of their evil god. Your opponents have already turned in figures and all their polling stations closed. You cause disruptions using Djan’s method of machomen and foot soldiers to dispute your opponents figures.

Florida: Voter suppression and Florida’s butterfly effect | MiamiHerald.com

Edgar Oliva waited to vote at Shenandoah Elementary School and fretted. The line was too long. The clock was ticking. He had to get to work across town. Twice before, during in-person early voting, he tried to vote but he had to leave because lines were even longer. Tuesday was his third try at voting in between one of his two jobs, cleaning carpets in Doral and working at an airport hotel. About 4 p.m. on Election Day, he gave up. “I had the intention of voting but there were always a lot of people,” Oliva, a native of Guatemala, told a Miami Herald reporter as he left the scene. Oliva had so much company on Tuesday.

Florida: Active-duty service members disenfranchised by Fla. voter purge | CBS News

Tampa-area resident and Navy captain Peter Kehring has spent more than 30 years in the U.S. military. But due to Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott’s recent purge of voter rolls, Kehring will not be able to cast a vote on Election Day, reports Tampa CBS affiliate WTSP. Florida state law requires county election supervisors to regularly update voter rolls to remove felons, deceased individuals, and those who have moved out of the county. Voters who miss two consecutive general elections (2008 and 2010, for example) are sent a letter warning them they will be removed from eligibility unless they contact county officials. Kehring, who has been serving in the military abroad for the last five years, never got his letter.

National: Congressman opens voting rights probe of tea party group | latimes.com

A Maryland congressman has opened an investigation of a group that has tried to remove thousands of voters from registration rolls across the nation in advance of the presidential election. The inquiry by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings , a Democrat, is being started a week after Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) urged the Justice Department to enforce voting rights laws, citing a Los Angeles Times article detailing attempts by an Ohio offshoot of the group, True the Vote, to strike hundreds of students and others from voting rolls. “At some point, an effort to challenge voter registrations by the thousands without any legitimate basis may be evidence of illegal voter suppression,” Cummings told True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht in a letter on Thursday. “If these efforts are intentional, politically motivated and widespread across multiple states, they could amount to a criminal conspiracy to deny legitimate voters their constitutional rights.” Cummings is the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Florida: Judge says voter purge can go on | MiamiHerald.com

A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale ruled Thursday that Florida’s purge of potential noncitizens on the voter rolls can go on. U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch said federal law does not prohibit the state from removing voters who were never lawfully eligible to register in the first place. Florida has identified 198 voters as potential noncitizens — among an estimated 11.4 million registered voters — and sent the names to independent county elections supervisors for their review. A coalition of liberal-leaning voting-rights groups had asked the court to halt the purge, arguing in a hearing Monday that federal law prohibits purging the voter rolls 90 days before an election. Attorneys for Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner countered that the state could purge noncitizens at any time because they should have never been on the voter rolls. “We’re very pleased another federal court has ruled that Florida’s efforts to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls are lawful and in the best interest of Florida voters,” Detzner said in a statement Thursday. “Ensuring ineligible voters can’t cast a ballot is a fundamental aspect of conducting fair elections.”