7/14 Vote or Vice? Internet voting $1.5 B industry. AZ Election evidence disappears

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Vote or Vice? Internet voting $1.5 B industry. AZ Election evidence disappears

July 14 2010

News reports say that internet voting is a $1.5 Billion industry. You didn't think it was being promoted for the good of voters, did you? Computer scientists say that internet elections are inherently insecure and ballots are non secret...Evidence Discovered Missing from Allegedly 'Fixed' AZ Election..Tulare County CA discovers 2,500 ballots not counted...Letter to editor: "New York's elections are being Floridized."...

All this and more in today's voting news below...


Editor note: yesterday we attirbuted the story "Ballot error" to Connecticut, but the state is Vermont instead. We apologize and thank readers for notifying us.

AL: Alabama: editorial warns GOP about crossover voting (or closing the barn door after ...) http://www.votelaw.com/blog/archives/006412.html
The Huntsville Times editorializes: Be careful what you ask for. It may not be what you really want.

AL: New election night reporting system to be tested during primary runoff election
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12791803
MONTGOMERY, AL - A new election night reporting system would be tested during the primary runoff election Tuesday. The test program will take place in four counties: Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, and Montgomery.

AZ: EXCLUSIVE: Evidence Discovered Missing from Allegedly 'Fixed' AZ Election; MUCH MORE* http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7946
Out of 368 precincts, 112 poll tapes are completely missing. Moreover, 102 of the "yellow sheets" --- certified precinct reports, signed by poll workers, detailing corresponding summary information, such as numbers of ballots received, cast and spoiled, as helpful for important auditing functions at the precinct level --- are missing as well.
Furthermore, of the poll tape records that are not missing, 50 of them do not match the results as recorded in the final canvas of the election,

CA: Tulare County discovers 2,500 ballots not counted *
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/13/2005111/tulare-county-discovers-2500-ballots.html?storylink=mirelated
Wallis says the problem was discovered during a recount in a supervisor's race when election officials discovered 395 additional votes compared to the first tally. They soon learned the problem extended across the county.

CA: Election-night error resulted in 10 percent of absentee ballots not being tabulated; no races affected by since-rectified problem, elections officials say
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100712/NEWS01/100712017/1002/Election-night+error+resulted+in+10+percent+of+absentee+ballots+not+being+tabulated++no+races+affected+by+since-rectified+problem++elections+officials+say http://is.gd/dr6gO
(Tulare County)... the vote-by-mail ballots involved were counted but not uploaded to the Election Office ballot-tabulation program.

CA: Assemblywoman asks for recount of state Senate ballots
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100713/NEWS0301/7130311/1006/news01/
Assemblywoman+asks+for+recount+of+state+Senate+ballots http://is.gd/dskIf
(Riverside County) Assemblywoman Mary Salas late Monday asked for a recount in the primary race for state Senate, two days after the results showed she lost by 22 votes.

CA: County supervisors approve election report, keep registrar
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100713/NEWS03/100713015/County-supervisors-approve-election-report-keep-registrar- (Riverside County)
The internal county review discussed today blamed “poor” communication with voters and a reduced budget for most of the problems.

CT: They Can Keep The Money
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/they_can_keep_the_--_for_now/id_27691 (Updated) A federal court panel ruling Tuesday limited the ability of publicly financed candidates to keep up with the spending of millionaires who finance their own campaigns. But two candidates most immediately affected by that ruling—Dan Malloy and Michael Fedele—can keep an extra $2 million they got for the upcoming gubernatorial primaries.

FL: No More Free Postage For Absentee Ballots
http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/07/no-more-free-postage-for-absen.html
Jacksonville taxpayers aren't footing the bill this year for absentee voters. For the first time in a long time, you'll have to buy your own 44 cent stamp to send your absentee ballot in.
Duval County was the only district in Florida to offer prepaid postage but that's being scrapped because of tough budget times

GA: With court approval, state continues to verify voters
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/with-court-approval-state-569972.html
Thousands of Georgians were recently told they need to provide proof of citizenship before their votes can be counted in next Tuesday’s primaries.
...
More than 4,200 were flagged by Georgia’s voter verification process, which is under legal attack and continues to await approval by the U.S. Justice Department or the federal courts. A recent court order allows the secretary of state’s office to continue the process, even though some of the people being flagged are citizens and eligible to vote.

IA: Iowa: Less than 1 percent of Iowa primary voters were same-day registrants
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/07/12/less-than-1-percent-of-iowa-primary-voters-were-same-day-registrants/

IL: Illinois Governor Alters an Election Law Bill to Convert Illinois Open Primary Into a Secret Open Primary
http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/07/13/illinois-governor-alters-an-election-law-bill-to-convert-illinois-open-primary-into-a-secret-open-primary/

IN: Recount for District 4 council seat goes into late-night hours* (ES&S Optech Eagle with iVotronic for disabled)
http://newsandtribune.com/local/x829289545/Recount-for-District-4-council-seat-goes-into-late-night-hours CLARK COUNTY — A recount in the Clark County Council District 4 race was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Monday, but delays pushed the recount late into the night
...
The issue with the voting machines occurred when a tape used to count the number of votes ran out before it was completed on the night of the election. The machine delayed some voting results, but was brought back to the county building and the count was finished.

KY: Sixth Circuit Strikes Down Two Judicial Elections Canons, and Expresses Doubts about a Third One http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016418.html
The Sixth Circuit in Carey v. Wolnitzek has struck down Kentucky's ban on judicial candidates publicly announcing their party affiliations and its ban on the personal solicitation of campaign contributions.

MN: Ramsey County / 30 people charged with election fraud
http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_15501475?nclick_check=1
in Hennepin County, Deputy County Attorney Pat Diamond said authorities are investigating 216 allegations flagged by Minnesota Majority but have yet to charge anyone from that list.

Carruthers said more than a third of their list was immediately dismissed, and another 135 have been investigated without resulting in charges

NY: N.Y.'s elections being Floridized (LTE)
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=950057&category=LETTER
The plaintiffs are right; New York's elections are being Floridized. But their complaint is the tip of the iceberg.

OR: Breaking News: Ballot snafu worries county officials *
http://tillamookheadlightherald.com/news/article_eeb104b7-2e0c-5322-bca3-97f787fd3546.html
TILLAMOOK - An oversight compiling language for county Ballot Measure 29-99 has county officials worried that voters won't recognize it as request for a bond measure to finance replacement of the county fairgrounds grandstand and bleachers.

VT: Ballot snag short-circuits early voting
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100713/NEWS01/7130344
MONTPELIER – Early voting in Vermont's hotly contested 2010 primary kicked off Monday, but some communities turned people away due to a lack of ballots.

VT: Election ballot error* (We ran this under CT yesterday in error)
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=12793289
Montpelier, Vermont. Primary election ballots sent to cities and towns around Chittenden County had to be destroyed and replaced due to a printer's error.

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz says the problem was the Democratic ballot was printed on a larger piece of paper than the Republican or Progressive ballots. The ballots were replaced in time to meet Monday's early voting deadline.

VT: Deputy Secretary of State Bill Dalton On The Early Voting System
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88451/
Voting for the 2010 Primary election begins today. That's because Vermont's early voting system is now up and running.
The Legislature made some changes to the state's election laws this winter and one of the changes allows voters to cast their ballots 45 days before an election.

WV: Election expenses concern officials
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/540157.html
"I hope this additional financial expense is not born by the counties, because elections are not cheap and we have not built it into our budget for this year,"

Internet Voting Watch

Online Voting Company Scytl Raises $9.2 Million
http://www.pehub.com/76943/online-voting-company-scytl-raises-92-million/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+pehub/news/all+(PEHub+News)
http://is.gd/dr6Q1 Analysts believe that the public sector market for electronic voting systems is worth approximately $1.5 billion.

National

Election Officials Consider Upgrades to Registration System
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/election_officials_upgrades
Many states have already reaped the benefits of modernization, reducing costs and improving their voter registration systems.

What Won't Brown Do for You?
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/016419.html Soon after Democrats and reform groups put all their DISCLOSE eggs in the Scott Brown basket, Brown came out firmly and strongly against it.

International

Nigeria: New INEC commissioners doubt use of e-voting
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5593627-147/new_inec_commissioners_doubt_use_of.csp
Abdulkadri Oniyang and Amina Zakari, the two newest national commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have expressed doubts over the use of electronic voting in the 2011 election.

UK: How Facebook Increased General Election Voter Registration
http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20100713/how-facebook-increased-general-election-voter-registration/

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