Voting News: Pima CO fights ballot audit

Voting News: Pima CO fights ballot audit, 9,000 Absentee ballots returned-to-sender, Sequoia laid bare

Pima CO fights ballot audit, 9,000 Absentee ballots returned-to-sender, Sequoia laid bare

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 02:09 PM PDT

Is a Fair Election in Afghanistan Possible?...Tuscon wants hand count audit, Pima County says NO...9000 absentee ballots undeliverable in El Paso County Colorado... Indiana Secy of State gives up on criminalizing use of election data...Nevada is prosecuting ACORN itself, not just individuals...Employee for Ohio pro casino group indicted on 5 counts voter registration fraud -Casino group not blamed... Group complains about WVA's electronic voting machines... National Academy of Sciences reviews voter registration databases... McCain, Feingold Speak on Senate Floor About Citizens United...Sequoia Voting System database laid bare...

All of that and more in today's Voting News below.

AZ: City, Pima at odds over vote hand-count

Dispute over audit of ballots could affect Nov. 3 tallies

Tucson, Arizona 10.21.2009. A dispute between Tucson and Pima County could lead to no hand-count of November's election results — a practice that could help uncover voting machine malfunctions and fraud.

...

The heads of the Pima County Republican and Democratic parties asked the council to take the hard line to force a hand count, given the county's history with the 2006 Regional Transportation Authority election, where some observers alleged votes were flipped to change the outcome of the election, and the county was forced to pay $230,000 in attorney's fees for losing a public records suit

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/314130

CO: No ballot? No problem, contact county clerk *

October 20, 2009 If you’re a registered voter but didn’t get a ballot in the mail last week, it’s probably because you moved but didn’t update your address with the county clerk’s office.

The office of the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder, Bob Balink, said Tuesday that out of 278,000 ballots mailed last week for the Nov. 3 election, about 9,000 ballots had been returned as undeliverable. To cut down on voting fraud, the Postal Service is forbidden by law to forward ballots

http://www.gazette.com/articles/ballot-64099-clerk-contact.html

CT: Al Lenge Named Director of State Elections Enforcement Commission

October 21, 2009

http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2474

IN: Funding for new voting machines approved

21, 2009 The Harrison County Council Tuesday, Oct. 13, unanimously approved new voting equipment for the county.

The machines, produced by Hart Intercivic based in Lexington, Ky., and Harp Interprises, were purchased for a reduced price of $227,250 because they were used for one election cycle in Hawaii.

...

New voting machines became an issue after Election Systems & Software, the company which provided upkeep for the county's 40 Optech Eagle machines, said technical support no longer will be available for the machines.

http://www.corydondemocrat.com/Articles- i-2009-10-20-212291.114125_Funding_for_new_voting_machines_approved.html#

IN: Rokita rolls out redistricting proposal

Secretary of State Todd Rokita today urged lawmakers to change how Indiana draws legislative and congressional districts.

But he backed off an earlier recommendation that they make it a felony to consider political data, including the addresses of incumbents and the voting history of constituents

http://www.indystar.com/article/20091020/NEWS05/910200367/

Rokita+rolls+out+redistricting+proposal

or use this tiny url http://tinyurl.com/yjqx9gh

IN: Ind. Decisions - Petitions to transfer filed in the Indiana voter ID case

Briefs have now been filed re the Court of Appeals decision in League of Women Voters v. Todd Rokita, the voter ID case decided on state constitutional grounds.

http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2009/10/ind_decisions_p_30.html

MD: New voting system will have long-term savings, benefits

To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News

...

there will be an 80 percent reduction in voting machinery, and the costs associated with maintaining them.

More significant than resulting cost savings, a new voting system will restore the confidence of Maryland voters in the integrity of the voting system and permit meaningful and accurate audits and recounts.

http://www.times-news.com/opinion/local_story_291211841.html

MN: IRV: Not So Fast, Not Simple

October 21, 2009. We have several concerns with Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). At first it seems simple and appealing, however, a closer look reveals concerns and unappreciated consequences, including...

http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=2471

NM: Group fights voter fraud

No photo ID? No problem.

You just have to give your name, address and birth date, and you can vote in New Mexico.

This means anyone with a phone book can go to the polls and vote illegally in the place of registered voters, according to Hispanos Unidos, a small citizens group formed in Doña Ana County that fights voter fraud in New Mexico.

...

Denise Lamb, deputy clerk in charge of elections in Santa Fe County, said the county has not experienced any instances of voter impersonation.

Additionally, Lamb said, “we were easily able to thwart an attempt (at such fraud) in last spring’s City Council election.”

Lamb is referring to Santa Fe real-estate agent Teresa Monahan, now serving probation after she admitted to voter fraud in the city’s special election over a proposed tax on sales of expensive homes.

http://www.nmfreepress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=861:group-fights-voter-fraud&catid=2:0309

NV: Nevada is prosecuting ACORN itself, not just individuals in it

Oct. 19, 2009

For more than 40 years ACORN has helped the nation’s poor solve their own problems.

...

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, faces still another high-stakes challenge — and more embarrassment — in Nevada, where it has been charged with 13 felony counts related to potential voter registration fraud during the 2008 campaign

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/19/nevadas-threat-acorn-unique/

OH: Deters: Voter fraud was to 'impress bosses' *

October 21, 2009. A Montgomery man who was working a $10-an-hour job in the pro-casino committee’s Cincinnati campaign office has been indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury on five felony counts of filing false absentee ballot applications.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091021/NEWS0108/

310210042/Deters++Fraud+was+to+impress+boss

or use this tiny url http://tinyurl.com/ylopjeg

OH: Field Worker Indicted On Voter Fraud Charges *

Prosecutor: Pro-Casino Group Not Tied To Wrongdoing

CINCINNATI -- A "rogue employee" for a group tied to Ohio's pro-casino effort was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on charges that he forged applications for absentee ballots, a prosecutor said.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said an investigation concluded that 27-year-old Walter Sullivan, of Montgomery, acted alone.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/21360574/detail.html

WA: Franklin County can vote on technology's edge

Franklin County voters should take advantage of a pilot program for online voting.

...

...we are not allowed to vote online -- yet.

With this project voters can mark an online ballot, but they still have to print it out and mail it in.

...

Only 67 people gave the program a test run in the primary elections

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/opinions/story/759926.html

WA: For primary, vote scanners fixed in the nick of time (we just found this article)

Sept 3, 2009. Arnold will have her hands full as King County Election Department tries to get its new Premier scanners running properly before the November election. The equipment failed to correctly read ballots in the August Primary. The problem was caught and procedures put in place to compensate for it

...

A few days into processing ballots for the August Primary, a King County Elections worker compared an actual ballot to its scanned image and noticed that a vote, clearly visible on the ballot, was not shown on the scanned image.

As election workers began exploring what went wrong, two problems emerged. First it was found that the scanners could not read ovals that were lightly filled or not completely filled in. Then it was discovered that minuscule amounts of ink and debris were being scrubbed off as ballots passed over the scanner. This debris would build up until the scanner could no longer see the votes under the line of built-up ink, even though the build-up not visible to the eye

http://www.queenannenews.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=28995&SectionID=26&SubSectionID=248&S=1

WV: Group complains about electronic voting machines

A local leader of the conservative Constitution Party asked Raleigh County Commission members Tuesday to stop using the Election Systems & Software (iVotronic touch-screen voting machines currently used in West Virginia.

...

Gene Stalnaker presented Commission president John Humphrey and Commissioner John Aliff with the Ohio Project EVEREST voting study.

According to the study, the voting machines are intrinsically flawed.

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_293222536.html

National

McCain, Feingold Speak on Senate Floor About Citizens United

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/014612.html

National Academy of Sciences Releases EAC-funded Report on Statewide Voter Registration Databases

Washington – The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) today released its Improving State Voter Registration Databases report, funded by the U.S Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The report, available on the EAC Web site, includes data gathered from the states about their databases and short-term and long-term recommendations for improving and implementing them.

http://wwweac.gov/News/national-academy-of-sciences-releases-eac-funded-report-on-statewide-voter-registration-databases

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita to testify before U.S. House Subcommittee on Elections

10/21/2009 Secretary Rokita to outline concerns about H.R 1719, the Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2009

...H.R. 1719 outlines requirements for states to modernize their election registration processes. The bill requires states to provide for online voter registration However, it does not require or permit states to use existing databases to verify information.

http://www.munciefreepress.com/node/21481

U.S. District Court in New Jersey Finds Lack of Standing for Plaintiffs Challenging Presidential Qualifications October 21st, 2009

http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/10/21/u-s-district-court-in-new-jersey-finds-lack-of-standing-for-plaintiffs-challenging-presidential-qualifications/

Federal Election Commission Publishes 2008 Election Returns Book

October 21st, 2009 The Federal Election Commission has just released its book, “Federal Elections 2008″, which has election returns for President and Congress. There is no publication that takes greater pains to capture write-in votes.

http://www.ballot-access.org/2009/10/21/federal-election-commission-publishes-2008-election-returns-book/

Sequoia Code

An election integrity first: public copy of e-voting code

...Apparently,the company, Sequoia Voting Systems, tried to make the code inoperative before releasing it, but according to Jim March, a major player in Arizona's election integrity community, the company failed.

http://arizona.typepad.com/blog/2009/10/an-election-integrity-first-public-copy-of-evoting-code.html

Sequoia Voting System database laid bare but no secrets found

The Linux Distillery.22 October 2009

Liberal US shock-blog Daily Kos gained legal access to the database used by electronic voting machines produced by Sequoia Voting Systems. The Daily Kos sensationally claimed the database violated Federal voting law. A closer examination gives a different story....

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/28715/1141/1/0/

International

Is a Fair Election in Afghanistan Possible?

New York Times. "A runoff is in no one’s interests. The Afghan people are tired and disgusted, and no second round is going to redeem the democratic process in their eyes. The turnout is likely be miniscule – under 20 percent – making any talk of government legitimacy more than a little absurd."

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/is-a-fair-election-in-afghanistan-possible/

Afghanistan's Election Runoff: Logistical Trainwreck (worth reading)

Wired News. Afghanistan’s recent national election took months to plan - and it was still corrupt and lame. Now, there’s going to be a second round. But this time, U.S., NATO and Afghan officials will only have three weeks to prep. Logistical trainwreck, anyone?

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/afghanistans-election-runoff-logistical-trainwreck/

Nicaragua court opens way for Daniel Ortega re-election

Oct 20. ...The court's constitutional arm issued a ruling blocking restrictions on a president running for another term, following a petition from Ortega and a group of mayors last week, and the country's electoral court said it would comply with the move.

http://af.reuterscom/article/worldNews/idAFTRE59J11820091020

Niger legislative elections end smoothly (great photos of voters casting ballots)

2009-10-21 ...West African economic bloc ECOWAS on Tuesday said it will not recognise the results of the controversial legislative elections in Niger and suspended the country from its ranks.

...

The opposition which was united under the name Forces for Democracy and the Republic (CFDR) boycotted the elections, challenging the legality of the referendum which allows Tandja to run for another term of office.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/21/content_12288378.htm

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.

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