The Voting News Weekly for July 11-17 2011

The Voting News Weekly for July 11-17 2011

Malaysian riot police officers fire tear gas at activists from Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections

Wisconsin taxpayers paid just under a half a million dollars for a round of six primaries this week in which 'fake' Democrats challenged 'real' Democrats in order to give the Republican Senators facing 'real' recalls an extra month to campaign and raise funds. The election also allowed what officials called a "soft launch" for the State's new Voter ID law, which will cost those same taxpayers over $7 million to implement. Sussex County New Jersey officials are withholding service and maintenance payments to their election vendor ES&S until they get an adequate explanation and remedy for tabulation errors that occured in several contests earlier this year. The GOP candidate for Kentucky Secretary of State is challenging the incumbent's practice of allowing homeless American citizens to write "homeless" in the address line of their voter registration application. Egypt announced it would not pursue internet voting in upcoming elections, which were also postponed. Recall fever has reached Arizona, where State Senate President Russell Pearce will face an election this November after petitions were submitted and approved. After their crushing defeat in parliamentary elections last week, the Thailand Democrat Party has challenged the winner of the election, Yingluck Shinawatra in part because she cooked noodles at a campaign event and then provided the results of her culinary efforts to attendees, which thelosing party interprets as bribery. And in Malaysia election reform protesters were met with tear gas and water cannons in what had become a very volatile situation.

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Jul 16, 2011 05:35 pm
Wisconsin voter ID law: Hurdles for voters, little to curb voter fraud & $7 million tab | Madison Independent

Governor Walker recently signed a bill that requires voters to show IDs at the polls. The new bill will cost Wisconsin taxpayers nearly $7 million in new spending and lost revenue, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Many claim that the measure will do little to prevent voter fraud and will disenfranchise thousands of minority, elderly and rural voters.

According to PolitiFact, Wisconsin’s law is one of the most restrictive, based on research on acceptable IDs and voting procedures for those without IDs from state election offices, and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Under the new law, citizens would be allowed to vote only after showing a photo ID such as a Wisconsin driver’s license, state-issued ID card, certain very limited student IDs, military IDs, passports, naturalization certificates or IDs issued by a tribe based in Wisconsin. The new law will be partially implemented in the upcoming recall elections this year, with full implementation beginning with the presidential election in 2012.

Wisconsin’s allowance of student IDs comes with a major caveat: Photo IDs from accredited, Wisconsin-based colleges and universities could be used to vote if they had signatures on them and expired within two years of being issued. The University of Wisconsin System IDs, however, do not meet the law’s criteria.

Those showing college IDs would have to establish they are current students, such as by presenting fee payment receipts in conjunction with their college IDs or cross-referencing their name on a student housing list provided by the university to election clerks. Other voters will have to present a state-issued ID showing their current address. If the address on the ID is not up to date, then a utility bill in their name with their current address will also have to be presented at the poll.

While voter ID laws do not directly bar anyone from voting, they add hurdles and rules to a process that already prescribes voting hours, legal voting age and residency requirements. The legislation should prevent people from voting in another’s name, but not the most commonly prosecuted form of voter fraud in the state — felons voting while on state supervision.

According the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the state Department of Justice and Milwaukee County district attorney’s office have prosecuted 20 cases of voter fraud from the November 2008 election. None involves people voting in someone else’s name at the polls. Similarly, after the 2004 election, then-U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Full Article: WI voter ID law: Hurdles for voters, little to curb voter fraud & $7 million tab — Madison Independent | Examiner.com….

See Also:

• Election officials wary over cost, implementation of Wisconsin voter ID bill | LaCrosse Tribune
• Senate passes Wisconsin voter ID bill, sends to Walker | Wisconsin Law Journal
• Hold On Ohio, Rhode Island’s Voter ID Bill Isn’t the Same | Rock the Vote Blog
• Critics challenge South Carolina ‘Voter ID’ plan | TheState.com…
• Bill Clinton: GOP War on Voting Is Most Determined Disenfranchisement Effort Since Jim Crow | ThinkProgress

Jul 15, 2011 06:17 am

Judge wants expert witness, voting machine docs in Fairfield case | NJ.com

On its face, the voting irregularities stemming from Primary Election day in Fairfield Township looked like a simple switch-up. Democratic Executive Committee candidates Ernest and Cynthia Zirkle questioned the total votes they received. Upon research, it became clear they weren’t alone in doubting touch-screen Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machines.

Superior Court Judge David E. Krell ruled Monday the Cumberland County Board of Elections must make available a number of documents tied to the voting machine used on June 7.

“The voting machine isn’t going to tell you anything,” said Krell of inspecting the Sequoia machine used at the polling place. However, the associated documentation produced by the machine during the programming process was of interest to him.

To be made available are:

~ any printouts generated as a result of programming after the ballot definition was received
~ any maintenance logs that was printed
~ a maintenance report from the setup diagnostic process
~ any tape produced once the diagnostics were completed and any printing from the tape
~ all printed results from the pre-LAT tests (a machine testing procedure)

Also, Princeton University Department of Computer Science Chair Andrew Appel was approved as an expert witness.

State Deputy Attorney General George Cohen represented the board of elections Monday. He maintained that county Board of Elections Director Lizbeth Hernandez had programmed the machine in accordance with the ballot definition sent over by the clerk’s office.

“We can’t oppose a call for a new election,” said Cohen, who later stated, “It’s because of this unique case we’re not challenging a new election.” He’s referring to the 30 affidavits signed out of the 43 total voters who swear they voted for the Zirkle pair. With that majority in mind, the results were in question, but an expert such as Appel was overkill to Cohen.

Full Article: Judge wants expert witness, voting machine docs in Fairfield case | NJ.com….

See Also:

• “Human error” found in Fairfield New Jersey election results | NJ.com…
• State Supreme Court dismisses challenge to electronic voting machines in Travis County | statesman.com…
• Voting machine fears hit home in Cumberland County | NJ.com…
• BNP won’t join polls if e-voting introduced in Bangladesh | The Daily Star
• Fairfield candidates contest election results, blaming touch-screen machines | NJ.com…

Jul 15, 2011 06:12 am

Secretary of State Candidates Spar Over Homeless Voters | WFPL News

The candidates for Kentucky Secretary of State are sparring over the issue of registering homeless people to vote, which is becoming the first line of attack in the race for the commonwealth’s chief election officer.

Earlier this month, the state board of elections sent a 2-page memorandum to county clerks telling them to uphold up state law and approve registration cards that have “homeless” or “place to place” listed under their addresses. The memo said a clerk should not refuse to register a homeless person on the grounds they do not have a traditional residence, but some county officials raised concerns about potential election fraud.

Citing state law and the now-defunct community organizing group ACORN, Republican candidate Bill Johnson decried the memo and called on current Secretary of State Elaine Walker, who chairs the state board, to resign from office.

He declared “No Address, No Voter Registration” on his website last week and told WFPL in a telephone interview he plans to file a legal challenge against the state board along with an ethics complaint against Walker before the end of the week. Johnson says he’s not opposed to homeless people voting and understands their plight, but they should have to list an address to avoid voter fraud.

“When you look at Kentucky statuette it says that to properly register to vote you must provide an address. Now that address needs to be some identifiable place which you live and it just can’t say place to place or in your car, for example,” he says. “And it’s important because without an address we can’t determine residency, which is one of the eligibility requirements.”However, the list of requirements on the secretary of state’s office does not mention residency and a Walker spokesperson points out the courts have ruled against refusing to allow homeless people to register on the grounds that they fail to inhabit a traditional residence because it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In response to Johnson’s charges that she is “unfit” for office because she supports the homeless’ right to vote without an address, Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes says Johnson is restricting voting rights to property owners and is unfamiliar with state law.

“No group—regardless of your economic status—should be denied the most basic right that each of us are entitled to here in the commonwealth of Kentucky and that’s our right to exercise our voice on Election Day,” she says. “As a candidate for secretary of state, I would expect and hope that Mr. Johnson would know better. The bill of rights provides that are elections shall be free and fair to all individuals regardless of their economic status.”

The memorandum does address ways county clerks should deal with an incomplete voter registration card. It instructs election officials to “make all attempts to contact” individuals if a telephone number or mailing address is provided. It also says if the application uses the description of an address then clerks should assign the corresponding precinct. If a person lists “place to place” or “homeless” then state officials should place the voter in the precinct containing the county clerk’s office.

Full Article: WFPL News | Sec. of State Candidates Spar Over Homeless Voters.

See Also:

• GOP candidate files ethics complaint over voter registration of homeless | Kentucky.com…
• Johnson plans legal action regarding homeless voters issue | Kentucky Politics
• Hold On Ohio, Rhode Island’s Voter ID Bill Isn’t the Same | Rock the Vote Blog
• Critics challenge South Carolina ‘Voter ID’ plan | TheState.com…
• County clerks worry Kentucky homeless voter policy could lead to fraud | FOX19

Jul 14, 2011 06:12 am

No Internet voting in Egypt: Telecom Minister | Ahram Online

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) presented new draft amendments to the telecommunications law, according Maged Osman, minister of communications and information technology.

… The minister dismissed the possibility of utilizing electronic voting through the internet in the upcoming elections. “It has been proven worldwide that there is a high risk of security compromises using such method in elections”

“Also candidates and supervisory bodies will not be able to dispute election results in court since there will be no printed forms to be recounted,” the minister added.

Osman explained that the Egyptian government cannot take the risk of applying electronic voting as it wants to ensure the maximum efficiency of the model used in elections.

Full Article: Security will not be able to cut telecom again, no electronic voting: Telecom Minister — Economy — Business — Ahram Online.

See Also:

• Internet voting has high cost in Alberta | Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune
• Estonian Parliament Sets up E-Voting Working Group | ERR
• Vancouver voters to get online choice this fall | The Vancouver Observer
• Citizens to decide fate of e-voting before Mumbai civic polls | Express India
• Lessons from Estonia: Preparing for a major cyberattack | Nextgov

Jul 13, 2011 07:17 am

6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls | JSOnline

Six fake Democratic candidates put up by the Republican Party to buy time for Republican state senators subject to recalls accomplished that job Tuesday, but none of them did the unexpected and knocked off a real Democrat.

Candidates backed by the Democratic Party won all six Senate primary elections, all but one of them by substantial amounts. They’ll all go on to face the Republican incumbents on Aug. 9, in an attempt by Democrats to regain control of the state Senate and put the brakes on Gov. Scott Walker’s agenda. That the primaries were held at all is a function of the twists and turns of political strategy played out in recent months as the state broke into warring camps over Walker’s attempt to restrict collective bargaining for public employees.

The Republican Party forced the primaries to give its six senators facing recall another four weeks before facing a Democratic challenger, in order to allow them to take their case to the voters and argue that their work on the budget was good for the state.

… But there was some activity in the final week to turn out voters for those candidates.

One of the most prominent efforts was in Harsdorf’s 10th Senate District, where Jesse Garza, chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party, sent out an email urging recipients to vote Tuesday, telling them a vote for Weix was the same as a vote for Harsdorf.

Moore was probably the Democrat most vulnerable to this tactic, as she didn’t have the name recognition the other Democrats did — all of them having run for or held a major office in their districts.

Calls urging votes for the fake Democrats were reported in three other Senate districts last week — Olsen’s, Hopper’s and Kapanke’s — with a piece of literature sent out in Hopper’s. It said voting for protest Democrat Buckstaff over King was a way to express support for Walker.

The primaries set up major faceoffs in the six districts, with national attention on the races, and massive amounts of money and national advertising flowing into the state.

Full Article: 6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls — JSOnline.

See Also:

• Democrats may join GOP in fielding ‘fake’ candidates in recalls | JSOnline
• Architect of Arizona “Papers Please” Immigration Law to Face Recall Election | AllGov
• Recall Primaries: Real vs. ‘fake’ Democrats will cost taxpayers more than $475,000 | UPI.com…
• Fake Democrats run in Wisconsin primaries for recall elections | chicagotribune.com…
• St. Croix County Republicans urge vote for ‘fake’ Democrat | JSOnline

Jul 13, 2011 07:16 am

Cherokee Nation Orders Second Recount In Chief Election | KOTV.com

The Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ordered another recount Tuesday in the election for Principal Chief. The second recount will be done by hand and will start at 8:30 a.m. this Saturday, July 16, 2011.

The race has been the center of controversy since the election on June 25, 2011. Chief Chad Smith was initially declared the winner by just seven votes over challenger Bill John Baker. Baker ordered a recount and was declared the winner by 266 votes last week.

But over the weekend, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court counted absentee ballots. Their count showed more than 200 of those ballots were not included in the recount that reversed the election results.

Smith claims the recount short-changed him by several hundred votes. Baker responded with claims Smith is trying to steal the election.

According to an order from the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Tuesday, “at this time in this appellate process, this Court cannot confirm the accuracy of the results” to a “mathematical certainty.”

Read the order from the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court

Full Article: Cherokee Nation Orders Second Recount In Chief Election — NewsOn6.com… — Tulsa, OK — News, Weather, Video and Sports — KOTV.com… |.

See Also:

• Recount ousts Cherokee chief | MuskogeePhoenix.com…
• Cherokee election recount progressing slowly | MiamiHerald.com…
• Second recount in Cherokee elections starts Saturday | MiamiHerald.com…
• Chief candidates offer up ideas for recount | MuskogeePhoenix.com…
• Chief: Cherokee election recount ‘fatally flawed’ | AP/RealClearPolitics

Jul 12, 2011 08:14 am

Architect of Arizona “Papers Please” Immigration Law to Face Recall Election | AllGov

Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, sponsor of the nation’s most controversial anti-immigration law, has become the first legislator in his state’s history to face a recall election.

Pearce was the author of SB 1070, Arizona’s law requiring law enforcement to pull over any motorist suspected of being an illegal immigrant and demand proof of legal residency or citizenship. It was signed into law in April 2010 by Governor Jan Brewer.

Opponents of Pearce collected more than 16,000 signatures from people in District 18 for a recall petition that required about 7,700 names. Local elections officials certified at least 10,300 signatures were valid, making the recall official.

Pearce now has two choices: resign from office within five days; or become a candidate for his seat in a special election slated for November.

Supporters of the Republican state senator expect him to fight for his seat. But he will do it with limited participation from corporate interests. The day before the recall signatures were certified, Arizona’s solicitor general informed Pearce that the law forbids direct contribution of corporate or union money to recall campaigns. However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 Citizen United ruling will allow contributions to his cause through third-party Super Pacs.

Full Article: AllGov — News — Architect of Arizona “Papers Please” Immigration Law to Face Recall Election.

See Also:

• Recall elections surge in state and local governments | latimes.com…
• Who will challenge Pearce in recall election? | azfamily.com…
• 6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls | JSOnline
• Brewer calls Nov. 8 recall election for Pearce | Arizona Republic
• Pearce officially faces recall election | Arizona Capitol Times

Jul 12, 2011 07:09 am

‘Noodlegate’ an utter farce | Bangkok Post

The Election Commission last week found itself stuck in a situation that was both silly and serious. On one hand, it received a complaint about election campaigning that perhaps 99% of the nation would consider frivolous and, at best, a joke.

On the other, the complaint that the top candidate as the next prime minister had bribed voters is actually enshrined in the election laws. The idea that Yingluck Shinawatra’s noodle cooking amounted to an election bribe is ludicrous. Unfortunately, because of a bad law that never was corrected, the EC is actually forced to consider reversing Ms Yingluck’s election and banning her from politics.

How did we get in one week from a universally praised free and fair election to the point where almost every campaign stop by every candidate is contested by hard-nosed opponents? It is not as if this issue arose suddenly. It is almost three years since then-prime minister Samak Sundaravej was thrown out of office because he had once conducted cooking shows on television.

That decision was by the Constitution Court. It should have been a red flag that the election laws had serious loopholes giving featherbrained complaints equal status with serious allegations of cheating and corruption to get elected.

On its face, the current case involving Ms Yingluck almost gives new meaning to the term “unwarranted”. A single voter in Nakhon Sawan saw a well-circulated photo in a newspaper of the then-candidate stirring up a dish of kuay teow pad thai at a Nakhon Ratchasima market. The accompanying story stated _ probably correctly _ that members of the crowd around her got a taste of her finished noodles. The voter dashed off a letter of complaint to the EC.

By law, the commission has to consider all allegations of cheating. Indeed, the current law makes it a serious offence for the EC to do the right thing. That would be to chuckle and throw the complaint in the dustbin, so that members can consider real complaints of actual election cheating.

But that could land EC members in hot water and trigger charges of malfeasance _ under the current law.

Full Article: Bangkok Post : ‘Noodlegate’ an utter farce.

See Also:

• Wisconsin voter ID law: Hurdles for voters, little to curb voter fraud & $7 million tab | Madison Independent
• Election Commission set to endorse Thai premier-in-waiting | M&C
• Judge wants expert witness, voting machine docs in Fairfield case | NJ.com…
• Secretary of State Candidates Spar Over Homeless Voters | WFPL News
• Bill edits overhaul of state election laws | The Columbus Dispatch

Jul 11, 2011 08:13 am

Malaysian authorities crack down on protesters demanding free and fair elections | CNN.com

Malaysian authorities cracked down on protesters demanding free and fair elections Saturday, firing tear gas and arresting more than 1,6000 people. Some 1,667 people had been arrested as of early evening, according to the Royal Malaysia Police, with 16 children among them. Protest organizers said at a news conference earlier in the day that about 400 had been detained.
By Saturday night, police said the crowds had been dispersed.

The government said the protest, organized by a loose coalition of opposition groups known as Bersih 2.0, was illegal. It had already declared Bersih an illegal organization and police said anyone found with Bersih-related materials, such as yellow T-shirts, could be arrested.

“Malaysians of all walks of life overcame the oppressive acts of the police to come out peacefully and in incredibly large numbers to show their love for their country and for the principles of justice,” the coalition said on its website.

“We are nonetheless horrified that several hundred people have been detained, many of them without any justification whatsoever,” it said.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was among hundreds of protesters who gathered at the Hilton hotel in Kuala Lumpur before heading toward the Sentral Station. There the protesters breached police lines to march through the rail station, before being met by riot police with tear gas on the other side.

Ibrahim posted on his Twitter account that he had sustained a minor injury during the demonstration and that a staff member had been badly hurt. He also said his youngest daughter had been arrested.

Writing on his blog ahead of the protest, Ibrahim said the “intended peaceful gathering” was to bring Malaysians together “as one united people in pursuit of clean and fair elections.”

Full Article: Malaysian authorities crack down on protesters — CNN.com….

See Also:

• Electoral Reformers Plan Next Steps After Protest Crackdown | VoA News
• Wisconsin voter ID law: Hurdles for voters, little to curb voter fraud & $7 million tab | Madison Independent
• Judge wants expert witness, voting machine docs in Fairfield case | NJ.com…
• Secretary of State Candidates Spar Over Homeless Voters | WFPL News
• No Internet voting in Egypt: Telecom Minister | Ahram Online

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