The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for August 4-10 2014

After years of tracking allegations of fraud, Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt has found 31 credible cases of in-person voter fraud out of almost one billion votes cast since 2000. A new report by the National Commission on Voting Rights that examined 18 years of lawsuits, challenges and settlements has concluded that voting discrimination persists nationwide, but the worst offenders today are still southern states with a history of such actions. Responding to a court order, Florida lawmakers released a re-drawn congressional map Thursday which would shift the contours of seven U.S. House districts spread throughout Central Florida. The Maryland Board of Elections decision to cancel an online ballot-marking system has become a legal battle pitting advocates for voters with disabilities against cybersecurity experts. A U.S. District Judge has denied a preliminary injunction barring the use of North Carolina’s omnibus voting law but declined to dismiss the trio of lawsuits filed last year challenging the constitutionality of the voting law, which are scheduled for trial in July 2015. The Virginia State Board of Elections decided this week that, to cast a ballot, voters will have to present a current photo ID or one that expired within the past year. The audit of Afghanistan’s Presidential election entered a third week, raising tensions throughout the country. A working group established last in New Zealnd last September has concluded that “absolute security on the internet is not achievable” and recommended that “[o]nline voting systems should be ‘secure enough’ to support their use and that this judgement should be supported by a detailed threat analysis which is developed and maintained throughout the delivery process.”