The Voting News for June 8, 2011

Wisconsin: Former county GOP leader to challenge Shilling as Democrat in Wisconsin recall election | LaCrosse Tribune

Republicans have found a spoiler candidate to challenge Rep. Jennifer Shilling in this summer's recall election, which would force a Democratic primary and extend the campaign by nearly a month.

James Smith, until recently a member of the La Crosse County GOP's executive committee, says he is running as a protest candidate.

Smith, a regular fixture at local labor protests this spring where he held signs touting his support for Gov. Scott Walker, said he resigned his party leadership position Monday before announcing his candidacy. He said he does not plan on campaigning aggressively but wants to protest the recall process.

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North Carolina: Latest version of proposed North Carolina voter ID bill restricts forms of ID | Sun Journal

House Republicans have thrown another twist in a proposal to require North Carolina voters to provide a photo ID when they go to the polls.

They abandoned an earlier version that would have allowed citizens to show a voter registration card or other approved documents, such as a utility bill or a paycheck, in favor of a strict government issued photo identification card.

“The bill we discussed earlier today was an attempt at a compromise that might have garnered some support from the other side of the aisle,” said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, a primary sponsor of the bill. “Unfortunately that did not work.”

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Minnesota: Republicans look at putting Voter ID on Minnesota ballot | Hometown Source

Republicans look to put a Voter ID constitutional amendment before the voters in 2012. Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, and Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, will be looking to pass their respective amendment legislation after lawmakers return to the Capitol in January of next year.

At a press conference today (Tuesday, June 7) the two lawmakers indicated it was not their intentions to push for passage of the legislation during the anticipated special session this summer.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the Voter ID legislation recently passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

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Wisconsin: Nonpartisan Government Accountability Board faces partisan charges | JSOnline

Republicans are leveling charges of bias and partisanship against a state elections and ethics agency they helped set up just four years ago with the idea of making it completely nonpartisan.

And the pressure on the Government Accountability Board could get even more intense Wednesday, as the election and ethics board decides whether to schedule recall elections for three Democratic state senators, to go along with the six it's already set for Republicans.

Whichever way the six-member board's decision goes, it's likely to draw ire, and perhaps legal action, from whoever loses out.

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Switzerland: Swiss women celebrate 40 years of suffrage | swissinfo.ch

Swiss women have come a long way since 1971, the year they were granted the right to vote at the federal level. Exactly 40 years after their first chance to do so, around 125 representatives of the Swiss political, social and economic scenes celebrated the milestone in Bern on Monday.

On February 7, 1971, 66 per cent of Swiss men voted in favour of allowing women to vote as well. The first opportunity came on June 6 of that year – when nationwide issues included environmental protection and financial regulations.

Many women who remember that momentous year were at the Bernerhof on Monday to reminisce and discuss what still needs to be done.

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Nevada: On second try, Carolyn Goodman votes for herself in mayoral race | Las Vegas Sun

Carolyn Goodman woke up bright and early today to vote for herself for Las Vegas mayor, but almost pulled the lever for her opponent, Chris Giunchigliani.

When Goodman pushed the button next to her name on a voting machine at the Public Administration Building downtown, Giunchigliani's name popped up.

"I touched my name and strangely ended up with my opponent," a visibly worried Goodman said from her voting booth. She pushed the button a second time and successfully voted for herself.

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Blogs, Nevada: Las Vegas Mayoral Candidate Sees Own Vote Flipped to Opponent on Touch-screen Voting Machine | The Brad Blog

It took two tries, but Carolyn Goodman, candidate for Mayor of Las Vegas, and wife of current Mayor Oscar Goodman, was finally able to vote for herselftoday on Nevada's illegally-certified, 100% unverifiable Sequoia AVC Edge touch-screen voting machines. At least she thinks she did. Whether her vote will actually be counted for her is something that nobody can ever know.

… As we revealed in our investigative exposé in the 2008 book Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008, and summarized in our article on the Reid/Angle election for U.S. Senator just before Election Day last year, Nevada's Sequoia touch-screen voting machines were illegally certified in 2004 by then NV Secretary of State, now NV's recently-appointed (to take the place of disgraced Sen. John Ensign) Republican U.S. Senator Dean Heller.

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Wisconsin: No recommendation made on three Wisconsin recall challenges | RealClearPolitics

Attorneys for the Wisconsin board that oversees elections are not recommending whether recall petitions targeting three Democratic state senators should be rejected or accepted, leaving that determination to the panel of retired judges that will consider the issue Wednesday.

A memo to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board signed by its director, Kevin Kennedy, its lead attorney and other staff members released Tuesday addresses the complaints and discusses the evidence related to each one, but makes no recommendation on what to do.

Kennedy said the legal question over whether petitions targeting the three senators were fraudulent, and if so whether only parts or all of the petitions should be invalidated, was a legal determination that the board alone needed to make. The memo was designed to present them with the evidence and facts to help make their decision, Kennedy said.

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West Virginia: Charleston’s new council to hear election challenge | The Charleston Gazette

The eight newly elected members of Charleston City Council will face an unusual task almost as soon as they're sworn in June 21: deciding whether the recent election was held properly.

Janet "JT" Thompson, the Democrat challenger whom Danny Jones soundly defeated in winning his third term as mayor, filed a "notice of election contest" late Friday, alleging a number of irregularities in the May 17 municipal election. As far as City Attorney Paul Ellis can figure out, the new council will preside over Thompson's protest.

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Wisconsin: Supreme Court recount cost $520,000-plus, survey shows | madison.com

The recent recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg cost counties more than $500,000, an Associated Press survey found.

The AP queried election officials in all 72 counties, asking for their best cost estimates. Seventy counties reported spending a total of nearly $520,500. The actual cost was likely higher because two counties and the state didn't provide estimates.

Waukesha County appears to have spent the most. It estimated its cost at $129,000, with more than a third of that going to pay a retired judge who oversaw the recount after the embattled county clerk recused herself.

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Wisconsin: Waukesha County’s cost for Supreme Court recount: $130,000 | JSOnline

Waukesha County's 21-day recount of the Supreme Court election results cost county taxpayers about $130,000, county officials reported Tuesday.

Waukesha County's recount took longer than any other county in the state, in part because of the approach taken by the judge hired to run the recount and because more campaign observers were on hand and raised more concerns about ballots raised.

… The largest share of the cost - $47,000 - was for retired circuit Judge Robert Mawdsley, who was hired as temporary chairman of the Board of Canvassers after County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus recused herself.

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National: Clemson University research team to lead accessible voting technology project | Clemson Newsroom

A Clemson University research team has been chosen by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to lead a national effort to make voting systems more accessible.

Juan Gilbert, a professor and chairman of the Human-Centered Computing Division in Clemson's School of Computing, will direct a three-year, $4.5 million project funded by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to increase the accessibility of "new, existing and emerging technological solutions" in the design of voting systems.

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Nevada: GOP urges state Nevada Supreme Court to not change date of congressional special election | AP/The Republic

Delaying the date of a special election to fill a House vacancy could further taint a political process already clouded in confusion, lawyers for the Nevada Republican Party argued Monday in a court brief.

The GOP said it does not oppose rescheduling the Sept. 13 election so that the Nevada Supreme Court has more time to decide the rules of Nevada's first special election to fill a House seat. State law, however, does not seem to allow for a date change, the lawyers claim.

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Australia: Key witness for Pauline Hanson a no-show in election challenge | News.com.au

A key witness in Pauline Hanson's legal challenge to the New South Wales election result has failed to show up, prompting the state's Supreme Court to consider issuing a warrant for him to appear. The former One Nation leader ran as an Independent in the March 26 election but missed out on an Upper House seat by just 1306 votes.

She claims she was cheated out of 1200 votes that were put in a pile of blank ballots by "dodgy staff" at the NSW Electoral Commission. She is challenging the count, based on alleged email exchanges between the NSW Electoral Commission's chief information officer Ian Brightwell and communications manager Richard Carroll.

However, the man who alerted her to the alleged emails, Michael Rattner, failed to appear in court today, and until he does his existence is in doubt. "I've either been cheated out of a seat or this is a very elaborate hoax," Ms Hanson said today before attending the hearing before Justice Peter McClellan.

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South Africa: Independent Electoral Commission dismisses vote-rigging claims in South Africa Free State | SABCNews

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Free State has once more dismissed allegations that votes were rigged at ward 10 in Tseki village, in Qwaqwa, in the eastern part of the province.

The final results of the elections revealed that the ANC had won two of the three polling stations in the Tseki village.

The Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA) claimed there were irregularities in the vote count saying that extra ballot papers were smuggled into one of the polling stations.

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Bangladesh: Election Commission begins dialogue with Bangladesh political parties | The Daily Star

The Election Commission yesterday kicked off their elaborate dialogue process for reforms in the EC with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Jatiya Party (JP) expressing their support for introduction of an electronic voting system (EVS) in the next general polls.

As the main opposition BNP continued to shun it, both LDP and JP expressed their satisfaction with the electronic system at talks that lasted for over three hours.

… One of the main questions raised by the political parties was if there was any scopes to manipulate the casting of votes or cast fake votes using this system which the BUET professor said was not possible.

The EVS has been prepared locally under the joint collaboration of BUET and Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory.

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Bangladesh: E-voting in next election says Bangladesh Prime Minister — opposition parties object | bdnews24.com

Electronic voting will be started from next general elections, says the prime minister. Speaking at a discussion at Bangabandhu Conference Centre on Tuesday, Sheikh Hasina said, "The Election Commission will be strengthened to return the people's power to the people."

"It is people who will decide as to whom they'll hand over the reins of power," she added. Hasina also noted that most of the South Asian countries use e-voting system in elections.

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Bangladesh: BSD favours e-voting for Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

The Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal has said the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) will bring a revolutionary change to the country's electoral system.

"The system will play a vital role in conducting fair elections," the party's general secretary Dilip Barua said, while talking to the Election Commission on the EVM dialogue on Wednesday.

"We favour EVM. It is an epoch-making system. Bangladesh has to march forward with the pace of modern technology."

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Tunisia: Tunisia’s Elections Delayed | WSJ.com

Tunisia is delaying its first elections since the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president, the prime minister announced Wednesday, setting a new date of Oct. 23.

The elections had earlier been planned for July 24, but Tunisia's electoral commission proposed last month that they be postponed until October, saying conditions weren't right to hold a vote.

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Editorials, Russia: Electronic voting offers possibility of “cloud democracy” | Novaya Gazeta

For us in Russia, democracy in and of itself is a miracle: the simplest and most understandable democracy, based on the most average European templates, where no one pressures anyone else, there is no irreplaceable leader, and there is an independent court. One would think that if one were to dream, then it would be only of this: when the time comes, for this desired end to come!

Meanwhile, all the rest of progressive humanity continues to move forward, and while we are admiring the facades of classical democracy, an incredible transformation is being readied behind them, and in some places is already happening.

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Moldova: Communists Remain Leading Party Following Local Moldova Elections | Radio Free Europe

The Moldovan Election Commission has announced complete preliminary results of the local elections on June 5 that were seen as a crucial test of the liberal ruling coalition. The results indicate that the country remains nearly evenly divided between the three-party Alliance for European Integration (AEI) and the Communist Party.

Perhaps the closest contest and the most important — the race for mayor of the capital, Chisinau — will go…

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India, Nepal: India, Nepal Ink Pact to Boost Election Management | outlookindia.com

Amid efforts by Kathmandu to establish a multi-party democracy, India and Nepal today inked a key pact to deepen cooperation in the field of election management and boost voters participation.

India's Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, who is on an official three-day visit to Nepal, and his Nepalese counterpart Neel Kantha Uprety signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exchange of knowledge, experience and expertise relating to the electoral process and systems.

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Guyana: USAID grant will help disabled exercise voting rights in Guyana | Guyana Chronicle Online

GUYANA Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities will soon host a needs assessment workshop for persons within its target group. The President, Mr. Leon Walcott said the purpose is to assist participants to take advantage of their right to be participate in the general elections process.

The announcement follows the last week hand over to the organisaton, by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its governance enhancement project, US$18,000 to provide disabled and their families with tools to improve their ability take part in the voting.

USAID Guyana Mission Director, Ms. Carol Horning said, then, that the grant is aimed at increasing participation in elections, by different audiences, through the provision of information and encouragement of a peaceful process.

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Guyana: Cabinet expresses concern over the large number of Guyana identification cards yet to be picked up | NCNGuyana.com

Government remains concern at the large number of uncollected national identification cards from Guyana Elections Commissions. This was revealed by cabinet secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon at his post cabinet media briefing today.

Dr. Luncheon highlighted the issue of uncollected identification cards continues to plague the Guyana Elections Commission and remains an issue for the government.

He expressed the view that in some cases persons may have difficulty in collecting their ID cards while on the other hand some persons are unwilling to do so.

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Turks and Caicos Islands: UK calls for $20m fiscal surplus before Turks and Caicos Islands elections | tcweeklynews.com

TCI must be “well on course” to achieving a colossal $20m fiscal surplus by April 2013 in order for elections to take place. And that’s no mean feat with the current financial crisis equating to a staggering $12,000 debt for every man, woman and child living in the Islands.

Overturning the country’s pecuniary woes is one of the much touted “milestones” before a return to self-government. It is hoped that the string of recently announced taxes will prompt a sharp spike in revenue. But it presents Islanders with something of an economic ultimatum – pay up or stay under British rule.

A statement issued by Government on Wednesday reiterated London’s stance that the country must balance its books.

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