10/14. Hasta La Vista Transparency, Absentee ballot blues, E-voting spreads in Texas

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Hasta La Vista Transparency, Absentee ballot blues, E-voting spreads in Texas

October 14.

Schwarzenegger Vetoes Election Integrity Bills...Absentee Ballot Blues: Santa Barbara Mayor warns of lost ballots in Vote-by-Mail election, and 800 Franklin County OH voters told to redo absentee ballot requests... Panel to evaluate Hawaii elections chief's work...Bo Lipari report on New York’s Voting Machine Pilot Part 1...Paperless voting spreads in Texas...Wisconsin Lawmakers approve plan to study email balloting...High turnout, violence and damaged voting machines at the polls in India... Systest chosen to test Philippines voting source code...

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

CA: Schwarzenegger Vetoes Election Integrity Bills.
CA SoS Bowen 'laments' rejection of 'common-sense election bills aimed at enhancing government transparency' So do we. Please help demand Bowen now take corrective action on her own.
...
According to a press release from CA Sec. of State Debra Bowen today, CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed one bill for improvement to state election law, while using his veto pen to terminate three other "common-sense elections bills ... aimed at enhancing government transparency."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7465#more-7465

CA: New law allows emergency crews to vote where they are serving
October 13, 2009. Public safety workers will be able to vote wherever they are serving in a government-declared emergency. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed AB 1440, closing out the 30-day session.
http://tinyurl.com/ca-absentee

CA: Santa Barbara, Mayor Warns of Lost Ballots in Vote-by-Mail Election
Tangled Up In Ads Oct 13. ...Ballots have been sent out for the city’s first vote-by-mail election, but some ballots destined for apartment complexes may have been misplaced, resulting in their being delivered to wrong addresses, or tossed as junk mail, or both.
http://www.independent.com/news/2009/oct/13/mayor-warns-lost-ballots-vote--mail-election/

HI: County officials blast state elections chief
Oct 13, 2009. Four county clerks that help implement statewide elections are criticizing state elections chief Kevin Cronin. The clerks of Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii counties testified before the state Elections Commission today. They said Cronin is not collaborating with them enough. They warned that could impede the smooth conduct of two major elections next year.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/breaking/64159307.html

HI: Panel meets to get a grip on elections
Oct 13, 2009 With less than a year before the primary election, the state Elections Commission will discuss today the troubled preparations for that event and the performance of the state's chief election officer.
Kevin Cronin, the Elections Office chief, has been under fire from legislators for weeks over his handling of election equipment contracting, his leadership skills and for not providing sufficient information about his agency's budget woes.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091013_Panel_meets_to_get_a_grip_on_elections.html

KY: Mercer gets 19 new eScan voting machines
October 14, 2009 HARRODSBURG..At its meeting Tuesday the court approved the purchase of 19 new eScan voting machines.
http://www.amnews.com/stories/2009/10/14/loc.530537.sto

MN: Legislature may address proposals for early voting in ’10 session
Oct 14. WILLMAR — With memories of a long Senate recount still lingering, and a lively governor’s race looming, the Legislature is expected to take up a variety of voting issues in the 2010 session.
http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/58642/

MN: Times editorial columnist
Oct 13. Ranked-choice voting has appeal, but it's too complicated
In Pierce County, Charter Amendment 3 seeks to repeal ranked-choice voting, also called instant-runoff voting. It's a system with some very good points, but it's too complicated for the public to trust it.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2010057396_bruce14.html

NJ: "Will Chris Daggett Fall Victim To The Ballot Order Effect?"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/014572.html

NY: New York’s Voting Machine Pilot, Part 1
October 14 2009 ... Of the 47 participating counties, 18 chose to use the scanners county wide. The remaining counties chose a limited number of polling places to roll out the new systems, deploying them in anywhere from 1 to 248 polling places. 15 counties chose not to participate in the pilot at all, including the state’s largest Boards of Elections in Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City...
http://www.bolipari.com/boblog/2009/10/new-yorks-voting-machine-pilot-part-1/

OH: FRANKLIN COUNTY 800 told to redo absentee ballot requests (3.8% of requests!)
Tuesday, October 13. Nearly 800 residents will have to submit new applications to vote by mail because they did not provide all the required information, Franklin County Board of Elections officials said yesterday... About 21,000 people have requested mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 elections.
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/10/12/absentee.html?sid=101

OH: Brunner denies request to speed up Cuyahoga vote counting
October 13, 2009. Brunner’s office denied the request because it might have constituted a voting system modification, according to a letter sent in late September from a member of Brunner’s staff to a manager with Election Systems & Software, the maker of the county’s voting machines
....
More than 1,060 memory sticks will be used in next month’s election. So with a single computer to read them, it could take about 5 hours to tally the votes.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/brunner_denies_request_to_spee.html

PA: Straight-party instructions added again
Written directions had been on electronic ballot. Two commissioners decided to restore the notice.

Instructions for straight-party voting have been added back to Luzerne County’s electronic voting machine election ballots, despite opposition by minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban.
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Straight-party_instructions_added_again_10-14-2009.html

TN: Sullivan Co. Elections administrator says felons are registered, have voted; wants DA to prosecute
October 13th, 2009...about 100 felons fraudulently registered, are registered still, and voted in the county — some going back as far as the early 1960s.
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9017601

TX: County to streamline election process (Walker County buying paperless e-voting machines and e-poll books)
“These machines have three independent memories to insure that no votes will be lost or altered,” McRae said. “As far as a recount goes, we’re able to replicate each vote that goes into the system, which means we can print out a ballot image for every single vote.
http://www.itemonline.com/local/local_story_286224015.html

TX: Texas law, NAACP at odds in Orange council revision
October 14, 2009. Orange City Council Tuesday began the process for a May charter election to change the makeup of the council, but the president of the local NAACP chapter said the process isn't quick enough.

The Rev. Raymond Young, president of the Orange Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said after the council meeting that he wants single-member district representation in place for the May council election.
http://tinyurl.com/beaumont-tx-law

VA: New Rules For Early Voting In VA
New this year for voters in Virginia, emergency workers can now vote absentee. This includes firefighters, paid and volunteer, search and rescue crews, and EMS workers. The deadline to apply for a ballot by mail is October 27 and the deadline to vote in person is October 31. Election day in Virginia is Tuesday, November.
http://www.wcyb.com/pages/5424034.php?contentType=4&contentId=4856947

VA: Military voters still left without a voice
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/military-voters-still-left-without-voice

WI: Panel approves election plan; balks at voter ID
Oct. 13, 2009. Madison — Lawmakers approved a five-year election plan Tuesday that will study changing the date of the September primary, permitting absentee ballots to be returned by e-mail, implementing elections that are conducted entirely by mail - but not requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/64096112.html

International

Afghanistan: Mathematical Proof of the UN Coverup of the Afghan Election Fraud
http://kathydopp.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/45-Mathematical-Proof-of-the-UN-Coverup-of-the-Afghan-Election-Fraud.htm

India: Repolling in 28 Arunachal booths
14 October 2009, ITANAGAR: A day after the Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to conduct repolling in 28 polling booths of Arunachal Pradesh
...
Elections at these polling stations spread across 13 Assembly constituencies had to be suspended following incidents of damage and snatching of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Repolling-in-28-Arunachal-booths/articleshow/5124964.cms

India: 60-72 % voting in Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh assembly polls (Update)
A 48-year-old polling agent of an independent candidate was killed in a clash with supporters of a Congress nominee in Gulha assembly constituency in Haryana’s Kaithal district.

Despite the massacre of 17 policemen five days ago and poll boycott call given by naxals in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, an estimated 55 per cent of electorate cast votes while neighbouring Gondia, also hit by Maoist menace recorded a 68 per cent turnout.

Also, stray incidents of firing were reported from Gadchiroli district where polling could not take place at 22 polling station as the staff failed to reach the destinations because naxals put up obstacles...
http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/60519.htm

Philippines: Voting machine source code testers chosen
10/14/2009 OUT of four accredited testing and certification laboratories in the US, Systest Labs has been chosen by poll body to certify the source codes of the voting machines to be used in the 2010 elections.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/voting-machine-source-code-testers-chosen

Russia: FACTBOX: 30 million Russians to vote in regional elections
Sun Oct 11, 2009 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev faces a test of his pledge to boost democracy on Sunday when polls open for 30 million voters in regional elections. Here are some facts about the vote...
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE59929D20091011

Voting News Archives here at http://votingnews.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to receive the Voting News by email by visiting this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=VotingNews&loc=en_US
email comments, questions us at ncvoter (at) gmail.com

[Peace Patriot]

1. Thanks so much for this extensive update...

There will be a story about election integrity in Honduras, for sure. Go to the DU Latin American Forum for continuing posts/comments. A general election is scheduled for late November. Meanwhile, the country's "ten ruling families" and the military shot up the current president's house (Mel Zelaya), kidnapped him at gunpoint, flew him to the US air base in Honduras for refueling, and dumped him on the tarmac at an airport in Costa Rica, in his pajamas in the middle of the night; declared martial law in Honduras, and suspended all civil rights. This junta has been running the country since late June--severely repressing the media and any protests against the coup. People have been killed, tortured, beaten, raped and unjustly imprisoned for their political opinions. Zelaya has tried to get back into the country twice, and finally succeeded, and is encamped in the Brazilian embassy. The OAS was finally able to get into the country, and set up talks between Zelaya's representatives and the coup's representatives, and the latest news is that the coup may restore him to his rightful office for the remainder of his term (January).

But how Honduras can hold a fair, transparent election after four months of brutal repression, is the question now (--if the restoration in fact does occur). The junta may stand down, under severe international pressure, and since it is quite obvious that the people of Honduras do not support the coup. They have been mounting protests continually, in an ever-increasing and coordinated, grass roots, leftist democracy movement, since day one of the coup--in the face of live ammunition, tear gas, rubber bullets, arbitrary arrest, murders and other brutality. They are one courageous people!

But how can a fair election be gotten together in the short time left? Zelaya can't run. (The Honduran Constitution--which Oscar Arias recently called "the worst Constitution in the world"--a Constitution written by Reagan's henchmen in the 1980s--limits the president to ONE four-year term, so as to prevent any kind of FDR achieving enough power to help out the poor majority.) One of the candidates on the ballot (I think for the congress) has broken bones, as a result of a police beating. The two presidential candidates seem to be the Tweedle-dee/Tweedle-dum sort. One military general said that the Honduran military "will not permit" a boycott of the election. (?!) And the junta purged the government of anyone who supported the elected president and the "rule of law." They also poured chemicals on the broadcast equipment of one TV station, and confiscated all the equipment in another.

So-o-o-o, this ought to be one of the more "interesting" elections in the world. Stay tuned.