Bangladesh: Samyabadi Dal says yes, Janata League no to electronic voting in Bangladesh | The Daily Star

Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal ML yesterday supported introduction of electronic voting e-voting system in upcoming general election while Krishak Sramik Janata League opposed it saying the system is not enough to prevent vote rigging.

Leaders of the two parties expressed their opinions in seperate dialogues with Election Commission EC at its secretariat in the city as part of its ongoing dialogue with 38 registered political parties till July 14.

EC launched the dialogues on Tuesday for opinions on key issues like use of e-voting machine; Representation of the People Order; laws on demarcation of constituencies and appointment of election commissioners. Both parties stressed on the need for establishing a free and powerful EC to conduct a neutral election.

Nevada: On second try, Carolyn Goodman votes for herself in mayoral race | Las Vegas Sun

Carolyn Goodman woke up bright and early today to vote for herself for Las Vegas mayor, but almost pulled the lever for her opponent, Chris Giunchigliani.

When Goodman pushed the button next to her name on a voting machine at the Public Administration Building downtown, Giunchigliani’s name popped up.

“I touched my name and strangely ended up with my opponent,” a visibly worried Goodman said from her voting booth. She pushed the button a second time and successfully voted for herself.

Nevada: Las Vegas Mayoral Candidate Sees Own Vote Flipped to Opponent on Touch-screen Voting Machine | The Brad Blog

It took two tries, but Carolyn Goodman, candidate for Mayor of Las Vegas, and wife of current Mayor Oscar Goodman, was finally able to vote for herselftoday on Nevada’s illegally-certified, 100% unverifiable Sequoia AVC Edge touch-screen voting machines. At least she thinks she did. Whether her vote will actually be counted for her is something that nobody can ever know.

…  As we revealed in our investigative exposé in the 2008 book Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008, and summarized in our article on the Reid/Angle election for U.S. Senator just before Election Day last year, Nevada’s Sequoia touch-screen voting machines were illegally certified in 2004 by then NV Secretary of State, now NV’s recently-appointed (to take the place of disgraced Sen. John Ensign) Republican U.S. Senator Dean Heller.

Wisconsin: Supreme Court recount cost $520,000-plus, survey shows | madison.com

The recent recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg cost counties more than $500,000, an Associated Press survey found.

The AP queried election officials in all 72 counties, asking for their best cost estimates. Seventy counties reported spending a total of nearly $520,500. The actual cost was likely higher because two counties and the state didn’t provide estimates.

Waukesha County appears to have spent the most. It estimated its cost at $129,000, with more than a third of that going to pay a retired judge who oversaw the recount after the embattled county clerk recused herself.

National: Clemson University research team to lead accessible voting technology project | Clemson Newsroom

A Clemson University research team has been chosen by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to lead a national effort to make voting systems more accessible.

Juan Gilbert, a professor and chairman of the Human-Centered Computing Division in Clemson’s School of Computing, will direct a three-year, $4.5 million project funded by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to increase the accessibility of “new, existing and emerging technological solutions” in the design of voting systems.

Bangladesh: E-voting in next election says Bangladesh Prime Minister – opposition parties object | bdnews24.com

Electronic voting will be started from next general elections, says the prime minister. Speaking at a discussion at Bangabandhu Conference Centre on Tuesday, Sheikh Hasina said, “The Election Commission will be strengthened to return the people’s power to the people.”

“It is people who will decide as to whom they’ll hand over the reins of power,” she added. Hasina also noted that most of the South Asian countries use e-voting system in elections.

Bangladesh: BSD favours e-voting for Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

The Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal has said the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) will bring a revolutionary change to the country’s electoral system.

“The system will play a vital role in conducting fair elections,” the party’s general secretary Dilip Barua said, while talking to the Election Commission on the EVM dialogue on Wednesday.

“We favour EVM. It is an epoch-making system. Bangladesh has to march forward with the pace of modern technology.”

India: India, Nepal Ink Pact to Boost Election Management | outlookindia.com

Amid efforts by Kathmandu to establish a multi-party democracy, India and Nepal today inked a key pact to deepen cooperation in the field of election management and boost voters participation.

India’s Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, who is on an official three-day visit to Nepal, and his Nepalese counterpart Neel Kantha Uprety signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exchange of knowledge, experience and expertise relating to the electoral process and systems.

India: Indian Election Commission shares polls expertise with Nepal |The Himalayan Times

Preventing the misuse of money to influence voters during elections is one of the biggest impediment to holding free and fair polls, the chief of India’s Election Commission said today.

Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, who is in Kathmandu on the invitation of his Nepali counterpart, Neel Kantha Upreti, shared his experience of conducting Indian elections at a programme organised by Indian Embassy and BP Koirala foundation, titled ‘Managing Indian Election: Sharing experience and prospectus for Co-operation’.

Bangladesh: Election Commission dialogue: LDP against e-voting in Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at a meeting with the Election Commission has said they do not favour electronic voting system.

“The voting machine is useless without fingerprint. We urge not to waste public money by introducing this system,” LDP president Oli Ahmed said on Tuesday.

The EC started dialogue with 38 registered political parties on the issue with LDP being the first to join the talks at 10:15am on Tuesday.

Bangladesh: Election Commission opens dialogue with Bangladesh parties from today | Financial Express

The Election Commission (EC) starts dialogue with the registered political parties from today (Tuesday) to collect their views to make the election laws time befitting, reports UNB.

During the dialogue with the political parties, the commission will discuss various issues including delimitation of constituencies, state funding for political parties and constitution process of the commission, use of electronic voting machine (EVM) and also amendment to the Representation of People’s Order (RPO).

India: Activist goes to court for no-vote option | The Times of India

An activist has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court seeking directions to include a new panel for the negative vote on Electronic Voting Machines ( EVMs).

Dr Mahesh Bedekar feels this will allow voters to voice their dissent about the candidate or the party through the ballot. “Under the present election rules, a voter who does not want to cast his ballot to the listed candidates can do so by filling up form 17 A of the Election Commission. The presiding officer has to be requested to issue the said form and the voter can record his negative vote in the presence of the election staff. It is contrary to rules which provide for absolute secrecy in voting,” Dr Bedekar said.

India: Plea to make provision for ‘negative vote’ in Indian Electronic Voting Machines | Business Line

A [Public Interest Litigation] PIL has urged the Bombay High Court to direct the Election Commission to introduce electoral reforms by making a provision for “negative vote” in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) during elections.

The PIL filed by Thane resident Mahesh Bedekar also urged the court to ensure that secrecy of the “negative vote” is maintained during elections as it is not being done under the existing rules.

National: Most Security Measures Easy to Breach, Expert Says | NBC Chicago

When things go really, really wrong, Roger Johnston has a really, really good day. After all, he’s usually the man who made them go wrong.

Johnston has a PhD, 10 patents to his name, and what every 10 year old kid would think is a dream job. As chief of the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, he has made it is his mission to crack into every security system labeled as foolproof by their creators.

… One of the most frightening examples Johnston has turned up is in one of the nation’s most treasured franchises: the right to vote. He said he’s found that most voting machines have almost no security to reveal tampering. Thus, he said, it’s a fairly simple matter to tinker with the electronics while machines are in storage or being transported by the truckload. He has even demonstrated how he can turn cheating mechanisms in voting machines on and off by remote control.

“It’s much easier to steal the election, right at the electronic voting machine,” said Johnston. “In many cases, we see security devices or electronic voting machines where we really have to wonder, ‘Did anybody spend 60 seconds figuring out the security issues?”

Colorado: Judge hears Colorado Secretary of State Gessler ballot request | Center Post Dispatch

Few surprises were in evidence Tuesday at the hearing on Sec. of State Scott Gessler’s request that he be allowed to obtain the ballots for the 2010 Saguache General election to conduct a hand review with citizens present.

… Hagihara told Knaiser that the logic and accuracy pre-election test was run properly except for the fact that test ballots were used. He also said Myers asked the SOS to come to Saguache to review the November 2010 election after discovering “votes cast didn’t match votes counted.”

According to Hagihara, when the SOS came Nov. 15-16 to run the ballots back through the M650 (only the number of ballots, not the votes themselves were counted), the totals that were recorded were the correct totals, even though a commissioner’s and the clerk’s race were overturned. This determined that the Nov. 5 retabulation, not the Nov. 2 totals was the correct result.

Texas: Floor Amendment to Texas SB 100 Preserves May Uniform Election Date in Limited Circumstances | The Austin Chronicle/Texas Municipal League

It’s slow going at City Hall. No City Council meeting, and a Public Health committee meeting on nonprofits has been postponed to next week. It’s worth looking outside City Hall for action – and luckily, action obliged, as a state senate bill looks to throw local elections into chaos.

S.B. 100 from San Antonio Dem Leticia Van de Putte, brings the state in line with federal law requiring federal ballots be delivered to military and overseas voters at least 45 days before the election. It preserves Texas’ current March primary date, while lengthening any primary run-off by the 45 day requirement, to the fourth Tuesday in May.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh opposition calls strike, seeks to keep caretaker system | M&C

The opposition Wednesday called a daylong general strike at the weekend to protest the government’s scrapping of Bangladesh’s system of holding elections under neutral caretaker administrations in a country prone to polling violence. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir – acting secretary general of the Nationalist Party, which leads an opposition alliance – announced the nationwide strike for Sunday, saying the party had resolved to go all-out against the government plan.

The central standing committee of the Nationalist Party said earlier that the party would not join elections unless there is a caretaker government system for holding free and fair polls. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a Nationalist Party ally, also called a strike Sunday.

Bangladesh: Moudud Ahmed says BNP to boycott e-voting in Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

A [Bangladesh Nationalist Party] BNP policymaker has said they will not take part in elections if the government introduces e-voting, as it will be ‘a tool of vote rigging’.

“We won’t accept e-voting and take part in elections. Elections must be held under the existing voting system,” Moudud Ahmed said at a human chain programme at the South Plaza of the parliament building on Saturday morning.

Kenya: 2012 electronic voting plan receives support of Kenyan MPs | Nairobi Star

MPs want the electronic voting system put in place in readiness for the 2012 general election. Several MPs yesterday supported a motion by Karachuonyo MP James Rege for the government to facilitate the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to develop an electronic system for collection, collation, transmission and tallying of electronic data.

Cabinet minister Otieno Kajwang rooted for the passage and adoption of Rege’s motion which he said will help weed out electoral malpractices. He said an electronic voting system will facilitate the release of instant results after an election.

Kenya: Parliament backs motion on electronic voting in Kenya | Kenya Broadcasting Corporation

Parliament has Wednesday given the nod to compel the executive facilitate the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission develop a modern electronic system. The system will legalize electronic voter registration in all polling stations in the country up to the national level in readiness for electronic voting come 2012. The motion sponsored by Karachuonyo MP Eng. James Rege, unanimously…

Bangladesh: Election Commission set to introduce electronic polling in Bangladesh over BNP opposition | Gulf Times

The Election Commission (EC) is set to introduce electronic voting machines (EVM) in the coming general elections to stop malpractices during polling but the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has already rejected the plan. Despite BNP’s rejection, the Election Commission will start a series of dialogues with registered political…

Tennessee: Bill wipes out voter safeguards in Tennessee | The Tennessean

In 2008, the Tennessee General Assembly voted almost unanimously to make elections more secure, dependable and trustworthy by requiring a verifiable paper trail for each vote. The step was long overdue — more than 30 states already have such security measures. But three years later, secure elections in Tennessee remain at risk, and voters may…

Egypt: Minister says no electronic voting for Egypt | Ahram Online

Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Maged Othman announced in a press conference today that Egypt will not use electronic voting in the next presidential election. Othman said electronic voting is currently too costly and requires extensive preparation to ensure the voting process is transparent and everyone is able to vote.