Voting News For September 29, 2009

GA Court rules e-voting OK, Where's the paper, EAC?, NY Levers, Internet voting in Halifax

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 04:10 PM PDT

Georgia's State Supreme Court threw out the e-voting case because the voters could not prove fraud on the paperless voting machines. What a pity. After all, the whole point is that we voters should be able to prove that our election results are legitimate, but without a tangible record of the vote we cannot do so.

Where's the paper in EAC's new voting system guidelines? ACCURATE comments on the US EAC's Voluntary Voting System Guidelines: "Most notably omitted is any requirement for software independence, which would require systems to be designed so that undetected flaws in the voting system software could not cause undetectable changes in the vote count."~Joseph Lorenzo Hall ACCURATE.

Internet whack-a-mole in Canada: Halifax Nova Scotia's recent municipal election was held over the internet.

E-voting push for London: Leo Boland, chief executive of London City Hall says city is seeking e-voting proposals whether the Electoral Commission gives go ahead or not.

WHY Citizens United Matters: If Citizens United v FEC unleashes corp money into elections, the outcome could stifle the voices of youth voters.

"While our political idealism and passion run deep, our pockets generally do not. We do give what and when we can, but we certainly cannot afford to match the kind of massive expenditures corporations and unions can make. " ~ Nate Frentz

GA. GA High Court Rules Electronic Voting OK (audio available)

In 2006, a group of Georgian voters sued the state complaining that touch screens didn't provide enough protection against voter fraud.

They argued without tangible records that could be recounted, it'd be too easy to manipulate election results.

Today, the state supreme court voted unanimously to throw out the lawsuit.

WABE legal analyst and Atlanta trial lawyer, Page Pate says it was a simple case because the group of voters had no real evidence of voter fraud.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/

1559619/Atlanta/GA.High.Court.Rules.Electronic.Voting.OK

or use this smaller URL: http://tinyurl.com/ga-court

NJ. Will early voting change campaigns? (Has it done so already?)

A story in today’s NJ Courier-Post speculates about the change that will occur in NJ politics as a result of the new permanent absentee balloting law.

http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/?p=2889

NY. Martin favors lever machines

September 26, 2009 As part of a continuing campaign to keep lever voting machines in use in Columbia County and New York State, Democratic election commissioner Virginia Martin held her ground last week as a member of a panel concerning the machines and their use, speaking at the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC).

“Two of the counties said their budget had tripled because of this,” Martin said.

...“I actually love the technology of the optical scanners,” McGivney ( Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook) said. “But their safety has not been proven, certified, or in any way assured. As expensive as they are, they are cheaply made and nowhere near the security of an ATM machine. And we need the same quality for voting as we do for handling our money.”

http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2009/09/26/news/doc4abda3ed27502588422063.txt

National.

ACCURATE Comment on VVSG v1.1

28 Sep 2009.

A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable and Transparent Elections (ACCURATE) submitted public comment today to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission on their draft Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, version 1.1 (VVSG v1.1). The VVSG provides national certification requirements and testing protocols for voting systems against which many states require their voting systems to be certified.

http://accurate-voting.org/2009/09/28/accurate-comment-on-vvsg-v1-1/

Citizens United V FEC

Campaign Finance: Add Generational Warfare to the Mix

September 28, 2009

http://politicalactivitylaw.com/?p=5454

Protect young voters -- save campaign finance reform

The Supreme Court may gut laws that were intended to keep corporations from dominating elections with their cash

Sept. 28, 2009 Salon Younger voters -- those in the under-30 crowd like me -- invested an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm in the 2008 elections.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/28/campaign_finance/

International

Canada Sep 28, 2009 08:00 ETOnline Voting Results in Record Number of Voters Participating in Halifax By-Election

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 28, 2009) - It appears a lot of voters like the convenience of electronic voting. More voters cast ballots in the September 19th by-election for the new District 6 - East Dartmouth -The Lakes Councillor for Halifax Regional Municipality's Council than in any of the other 12 by-elections since the Halifax Regional Municipality was amalgamated in 1996, and almost 75% of those votes were cast online using the internet or the telephone.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Intelivote-Systems-Inc-1050995.html

UK. Despite not getting the go ahead from the Electoral Commission, the GLA is set to start the tendering process for a company to run electronic voting in the capital.

28 Sep 2009 The Greater London Authority (GLA) is set to launch the tendering process for an electronic voting system before it has been given the go ahead from the Electoral Commission.

The electronic vote counting raised concerns in the last mayoral race in 2008 from both civil liberties groups, the Returning Officer for Greater London and the Electoral Commission. As a result, the GLA was asked to conduct an analysis to decide whether the electronic process was acceptable

http://www.itpro.co.uk/615643/gla-goes-ahead-with-e-voting-tender

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.

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