The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for June 15-21 2015

Nationwide many states and counties will have to move to new voting systems for the first time in more than a decade in advance of the 2016 election cycle. During a fraught exchange at Thursday’s Federal Election Commission monthly meeting, a Republican commissioner said none of the six panel members should be counted as a “person” when it comes to petitioning their own agency. Already implemented in Oregon, automatic voter registration is being considered in several other states. Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin announced that he had chosen Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software to replace the state’s voting equipment for nearly $30 million. Legislation proposed by New Jersey Democrats would provide in-person voting for two weeks, same-day and online voter registration, and automatic registration for people receiving driver’s licenses or state identification cards from the Motor Vehicle Commission. Just weeks before a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s voting restrictions is due to reach Federal Court, state legislators passed a bill allowing voters who do not have government-issued photo identification to still vote in next year’s elections by signing an affidavit and presenting alternate forms of ID. The Hong Kong government’s controversial Beijing-backed election reforms were defeated in the legislature, while electoral reform campaigners stepped up demands for 16- and 17-year-olds to be given full voting rights across the United Kingdom.