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The Voting News for July 4, 2011
The Voting News for July 4, 2011
Editorials, National: Happy 26th Amendment Day! Enjoy It While It Lasts | Campus Progress
July 1, 1971 saw the 26th amendment, which reduced the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, and millions of college-age Americans were given the right to vote.
40 years later, lawmakers are attacking this Constitutional right by introducing so-called voter ID bills. These bills require voters to show specific types of photo identification at the polls, a requirement that 18 percent of young people in the United States currently do not meet.
Many laws also limit the use of student ID cards as acceptable forms of identification. The student activism that led to the passage of the 26th Amendment should inspire and direct student activism today to protect our rights.
Egypt: Egypt looking at e-voting | Bikya Masr
Information technology in Egypt is on the rise and at a conference on Wednesday run by Intel’s “Egypt Tomorrow – IT Vision for a Brighter Future” experts and leaders pushed for the idea of e-voting to become a reality in the new Egypt.
The conference was promoted as an open discussion on the first steps toward how ICT can be a stepping-stone for democracy and freedom in future Egyptian elections.
Wednesday’s session looked at how e-platforms can help improve democratic institutions in Egypt to create a more open voting and educational platform for the country’s citizens. The speakers looked at how technology can play a vital part in achieving democracy.
Oklahoma: Cherokee Chief Asks For Machine Recount | KTUL.com
The war of words over the Cherokee Nation's Election results continues this holiday weekend. Principal Chief Chad Smith wants a machine recount. Smith lost the election after the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court upheld the election and certified Bill John Baker as the new principal chief on Thursday.
Earlier, Baker was declared the winner in an unofficial vote, then Smith was certified the winner Monday, and now it's Baker win, by a 271 vote difference. Smith says he wants to get to the bottom of the different vote counts and there's only one way to do it.
Pennsylvania: Controversy over Voter ID Bill Hits Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Jewish Voice
If Pennsylvania signs a contentious new bill into law, the process of voting is about to become very difficult for over 700,000 of the state's residents. On June 24, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed the controversial voter ID proposition also known as House Bill 934.
House Republicans had forced the vote on the bill, which, if passed by the Senate, could potentially disenfranchise about 700,000 otherwise eligible Pennsylvanians.
House Bill 934 would require all voters to show a valid, unexpired photo identification to prove citizenship.
Australia: F1Esc Dumping Australian 2011 Election Data to ThePirateBay | ZeroPaid
It would appear that ThePirateBay is one of the most popular data dumping grounds for scores of hacked data. One of the latest data dump appears to be an ongoing release where data from the Australian 2011 elections are being posted. As of this writing, 5 data dumps have been posted so far.
The AntiSec movement isn’t really tied to any one country or any one or any group of hackers. In a tweet early last month, F1Esc tweeted that he had obtained 76GB of data from the Australian 2011 elections. It wasn’t until more recently that the data was being posted on to BitTorrent site ThePirateBay.
The release is being posted in batches. Part 1 is 180MB, part 2 is 513MB, part 3 is 1.69GB, part 4 is is 37MB and the most recently released part, part 5, is 276MB.
Florida: Florida voting database leaked, can they keep anything safe? | Cyber War News
Florida has seen its 2nd leak today, 1st being here with both leaks being done by @Abhaxas via twitter.
This one is from the voting system and consist of candidates , races , poll worker users details, voter stats and is dated upto 2010. Although it may not be totally vital now, it gives an insight to the operations that go on behind the scenes and the people involved.
After computer hacker group LulzSec announced its retirement after "50 days of lulz," an Internet rampage, the flame of cyber war seems to be losing fuel. LulzSec apparently jumped back on ship with its old buddy, Anonymous, to continue sailing the "Operation Anti-Sec" against governments.
Operation Anti-Security, an agenda tackled by LulzSec and Anonymous together earlier this month, originally intended to expose corrupt, abusive governments by protesting and combating any and all institutions' or governments' attempts to censor or moderate the Internet.
After revealing contents from the Arizona police force, the Anti-Sec team unveiled sensitive content from the servers of a number of governments, including content from the servers of Anguilla, passwords from Brazillian government servers, and the userbase of Zimbabwe. Another batch comes from Australia, but the contents remain vague.
Blogs, National: 26th Amendment and #WhyUVote | Overseas Vote Foundation
Forty years ago - on the 1st of July 1971 - the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, and forever changing the face of the American electorate.
Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) honors this historical milestone and salutes America's young people by engaging U.S. voters around the world in a dialogue about "why you vote" - in 140 characters or less.
Due to popular demand, we've decided to extend this event throughout the 4th of July weekend!
Editorials, North Carolina: Bob Hall: Voter ID requirement a step backward | FayObserver.com
Forty years ago this month, North Carolina played a pivotal role in expanding voting rights for American citizens. On July 1, 1971, our General Assembly became the final state legislature needed to ratify the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
A few days later, at a signing ceremony for the amendment, President Richard Nixon looked around the room of assembled young people and said, "America's new voters, America's young generation, will provide what America needs as we approach our 200th birthday - not just strength and not just wealth, but the Spirit of '76, a spirit of moral courage, a spirit of high idealism in which we believe ... that the American dream can never be fulfilled until every American has an equal chance to fulfill it in his own life."
Thousands of miles away, 18-year-old Americans were fighting and dying in Vietnam. The cry of "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" had grown louder through the 1960s, and Congress finally proposed the 26th Amendment in March 1971. It sped through state legislatures, gaining the necessary ratification of three-fourth of the states with our General Assembly's historic vote.
Later this month, the General Assembly will consider several bills with a far different purpose. They aim to restrict, rather than expand, opportunities for qualified voters.
Editorials, Indiana: White claims vindication … but, please | Evansville Courier & Press
Despite a stern rebuke from the Indiana Recount Commission's chairman, Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White claimed vindication after the three-member panel decided not to boot him out of office last week.
He said the secretary of state's office, and he as its head, have lost no credibility as a result of voter fraud accusations that very well might result in White being forced out of office by a criminal trial in Hamilton County set to start in August.
His logic behind that claim? Voters knew about the accusations he faced, and still elected him. Therefore, he should be able to do the job with his name and reputation intact.
Please.
Oklahoma voters will have to learn how to fill in boxes instead of connect lines for the 2012 elections. Otherwise, said state Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax, most won't notice much difference from other elections over the past two decades.
There will be a difference, though, and a big one. The state will soon begin taking delivery on a new voting system to replace the OPTECH-III Eagle optical scanner machines in use since 1992. Ziriax expects the system to be fully tested and installed in time for the February 2012 school board elections.
"It's my belief that most people won't notice a difference," said Ziriax. "Voters will still be marking their ballots by hand and they'll still be putting them into a scanner. "The main difference will be that instead of connecting two ends of an arrow, there will be a box to fill in. And the ballots will be a little lighter weight stock."
Thailand: Thailand elects first woman prime minister | WORLD News
Thailand's opposition has won a landslide election victory, led by the sister of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a triumph for red-shirt protesters who clashed with the army last year.
Exit polls showed Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai (For Thais) party winning a clear majority of parliament's 500 seats, paving the way for the 44-year-old business executive to become Thailand's first woman prime minister.
"I'll do my best and will not disappoint you," she told supporters after receiving a call of congratulations from her billionaire brother, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in Dubai to avoid jail for graft charges that he says were politically motivated. "He told me that there is still much hard work ahead of us," she said.
Thailand: Vote buying, ballot tearing top legal complaints in Thai election | The Nation
Suspected vote-buying and the tearing of voters' ballots were the most common legal breaches on election day, with many complaints of such criminal acts lodged with the Election Commission (EC) and private watchdog P-Net.
A number of voters were arrested yesterday for tearing ballots for various reasons - ranging from misunderstanding to drunkenness to upset after crossing the wrong boxes - all of which could subject violators to a five-year restriction on voting, a one-year prison term and/or a maximum fine of Bt20,000.
Thailand: Backgrounder: Thailand’s general election | xinhuanet.com
Polling started on Sunday morning in Thailand's first general election after years of political unrest as voters are casting their votes to pick up 500 members of the House of Representatives. The polling began at 8 a.m. and will close at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The unofficial results of the election are expected to be available by 10 p.m.
The Election Commission, according to law, shall endorse results within seven days if there is no complaint about electoral fraud. However, one could still file complaints about unfair election within 30 days.
Some 47.3 million eligible voters across the country will pick up 500 members of the House of Representatives, or the lower house -- 375 members from single-seat constituencies and another 125 from party-list category.
Thailand: Election Commission warns netizens of breaching election law | mcot.net
The Election Commission (EC) has warned political parties and online citizens to be more careful in using websites--particularly social network sites including Facebook and Twitter--to campaign during the dead period before and after the general election on Sunday, according to EC Secretary General Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn.
Political parties are prohibited from any campaign activity after 6 pm Saturday until midnight of Sunday, July 3. The sale of alcoholic beverages would also be banned during this period.
Australia: Western Australia to develop voting application for vision impaired | Techworld
The Western Australia Electoral Commission (WAEC) has flagged plans to develop a computer-based application to grant blind and vision-impaired voters the ability to cast a secret vote at the next state election.
WAEC IT manager, Des Chenik, told Computerworld Australia that the commission has begun developing a basic application for the upcoming election, pegged for 2013, to enable the blind, vision impaired or those voters with dyslexia to vote independently for the first time.
Malaysia: Election Commission’s Transformation For Fair And Transparent Elections | Malaysian Mirror
It is the duty of the Election Commission (EC) to protect, administer and maintain the democratic process of the country through free and fair elections. It is also doing its best to meet the demands from several quarters who have been calling for a better electoral process.
EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the commission had made various improvements to ensure elections were conducted in a transparent manner.
"We've done a lot and brought many issues to Parliament to improve the electoral process," he said at a recent forum on "Tuntutan Bersih - Apa Penjelasan SPR" (Bersih Demands - What the EC Has to Say) organised by the Mind Development Institute here.
Malaysia: One Address Voter Registration System Starts in Malaysia | Malaysian Mirror
Starting today, the Election Commission (EC) will implement the one address system where voters registered at one address will be identified. EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the system was created to prevent strangers from using other people's address to vote or for some other reason.
"The family head only need to enter the identity card number and the system will list those registered using the same address.
"I will see that my wife, son, brother or others who share my home address," he said at a forum entitled "Tuntutan Bersih-Apa Penjelasan SPR" organised by Mind Development Institute (INMIND) here on Thursday.
Philippines: New technology eyed for Philippines 2013 polls | The Philippine Star
A Commission on Elections (Comelec) official yesterday said the poll body might use a new technology to make the 2013 computerized elections better than last year’s.
Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said they are initiating the preparations for the next national and local elections using the automated election system (AES) again. But Tagle, who was appointed head of the Comelec steering committee for the 2013 polls, said they might employ a new technology.
Philippines: Mindanao polls deferred to 2013; Palace sets regional reforms | BusinessWorld
ELECTIONS IN the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been moved to 2013 under a law signed yesterday by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III. An opposition leader at the House of Representatives immediately challenged the new law at the Supreme Court, which was asked to issue a stay order.
Republic Act (RA) 10153, or the ARMM Election Synchronization Bill, defers the Aug. 8 elections to coincide with the 2013 midterm elections in the interest of reform. “To halt the irregularities in the ARMM government, we have synchronized the ARMM elections with the local and national elections,” Mr. Aquino said during his speech after the signing ceremony in Malacañang, while thanking Congress for passing the priority measure.
Morocco: 98% Moroccans vote for constitutional reforms | The Times of India
An overwhelming 98% of Moroccans voted for constitutional reforms transferring more powers to parliament, and setting the country on course for democratization that it has huge aspirations for but little experience in.
The Friday referendum, cast under the hot sun of 41 degrees, logged a 73% turnout of which almost 98% said in the affirmative to the proposals conceived by a committee, appointed by the Palace in the wake of anger in the Arab world that has popularly come to be known as the Arab Spring.
The vote was a fait accompli since the day King Mohammed VI proposed the reforms, and marks a big step towards relieving the burgeoning expectations of a citizenry — especially the youth — that is fast integrating with the world at large. What made the Moroccan celebrations special was the stark contrast it struck with the resurfacing of fierce rebellion on the Arab street on Friday — a resurgence against the Al Assad regime in Syria, and a desperate threat from Muammar Gaddafi to unleash terror in Europe if NATO did not stop its support for Libyan rebels.
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