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The Voting News for 05/27/2011
The Voting News for 05/27/2011
Internet voting won't be a part of the political process in this November's civic election in Vancouver, The Province has learned. The mayor's office was notified earlier this week.
… [R]isks include: the vulnerability of Internet voting to service disruptions or hacker attacks; authentication of voter identity without jeopardizing anonymity of the vote; and protecting voters from intimidation or coercion when they are exercising their franchise away from the transparent environment of a physical voting place," said the letter acquired by The Province.
Minnesota: Minnesota governor vetoes voter identification bill | Reuters
Democratic Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have required voters to provide photo identification to cast votes. Dayton cited a lack of broad bi-partisan support for the bill and its potential as a $23 million unfunded mandate on local governments in part for his veto. The Republican-led Legislature had sent the bill to him on Monday.
… Dayton said he did not believe voter fraud to be a significant problem in Minnesota and that the reason most often cited for requiring photo identification, felons voting, would not be resolved by the bill.
"We have the highest voter turnout year after year and under intense, bipartisan scrutiny, the recent statewide recounts have highlighted how reliable the results are," Dayton said in a letter notifying the Senate of his veto.
In many of the articles I've read regarding the Voter ID legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker yesterday I've seen a variation of the following statement from officials who support the legislation. This version of the statement comes from Oneida County Clerk Mary Bartlet:
""You have to show an ID to buy liquor, you have to show an ID to use a credit card so why not?" "
This simply isn't true. You do not "have to show an ID to use a credit card." There is no law in the State of Wisconsin that makes that a requirement. There is no federal law that makes that a requirement.
New Zealand: Tweeters face big fine if they break New Zealand’s electioneering law | NZ Herald News
Twitter and Facebook users face $20,000 fines if they use their accounts to campaign for their favourite party or leader on election day. Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden said material posted on social media websites was covered by strict rules which prohibit electioneering on election days.
"People should be aware that if they tweeted on election day to influence how somebody votes they will be breaching the [Electoral] Act and the [Electoral] Commission will take action."
The House of Representatives gave final legislative approval Wednesday to a bill that would establish standards to ensure that local voting officials buy enough paper ballots, a response to last November's Election Day problems in municipalities like Bridgeport, where a ballot shortage helped delay the declaration of a new governor.
The 117-26 vote — with only Republicans voting against it after expressing concerns about interference with local voting officials — came 12 days after the Senate's 34-0 approval of the bill. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who intends to sign it.
League of Women Voters of South Carolina President Barbara Zia strongly denounced passage of the “voter photo identification” bill in the state General Assembly and calls on Governor Haley to veto this legislation.
The legislation requires eligible citizens to present specific government-issued photo identification in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This is an expensive new government program that will create barriers to voting for thousands of citizens in an effort to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist.
Missouri: General Assembly Passes Missouri Voter ID Requirements | Oakville, MO Patch
Voters could be prompted to show photo identification at the polls under a proposal that the Missouri General Assembly passed earlier this month.
The legislature passed two measures in May that would prompt Missourians to show government-issued photo identification at the polls. The first is a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to enact the requirement. That amendment requires voter approval. The second piece of legislation is a statutory change that would put the photo identification requirement into effect.
Ohio’s Republican-led House recently passed a set of voting regulations that overhaul the state’s elections system. The proposed changes in House Bill 194 include allowing voters to change their address online, requiring people casting provisional ballot to provide additional forms of identity, eliminating the requirement that poll workers direct voters in the wrong precinct to the correct one and prohibiting elections boards from mailing absentee ballots to voters.
Among the controversial changes are new limits on early voting, which Democrats say amount to voter suppression. Republicans say the state needs more uniform voting regulations and less costly ways to manage elections.
Texas: Texas Passes Voter Photo-ID Law | Bloomberg
Texas joined South Carolina and Wisconsin in passing a bill to curb vote fraud by demanding photo identification before letting someone cast a ballot. Republican Governor Rick Perry plans to sign the measure tomorrow, according to an e-mailed statement today. The second most-populous state joins six others including Florida and Indiana that demand a photo ID from voters at the polls.
Opponents plan to challenge the measure in court, said Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. The Austin-based nonprofit group, which advocates on behalf of minorities, says the law is unconstitutional and aimed at making it harder for Latinos to vote. Republicans who dominate the Legislature say it will survive judicial review.
Texas: Photo identification requirement is criticized in Texas | The Laredo Sun
State Rep. Richard Raymond regretted the adoption of a legislative proposal that would require people to present a photo ID when going to vote
"It is a measure implemented by the Republicans to try to control and prevent the vote of minorities to vote, it is definitely something that will affect Democrats, " said Raymond.
Florida: Florida Elections bill stirs mixed reactions — Ponte Vedra Recorder
St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections Penny Halyburton wouldn’t have been disappointed if Gov. Rick Scott refused to sign the elections bill. “It puts an unnecessary burden on our voters,” she said.
The bill, called HB1355, enacts numerous election reforms in Florida. The two that most concern Halyburton are new rules regarding voters who change their address on election day and new restrictions to early voting periods.
Of the three ballot initiatives that voters will decide upon this fall, the generally thinking is that they favor Republicans and will drive up conservative turnout- and I think it’s fair to say they will all pass. These would be the first ballot initiatives to get the okay from voters, should they get majority support.
One of the initiatives voters will decide upon is a law to require voter identification at the polls. Throughout the country, voter ID is generally popular and there is no reason to believe it is any different in Mississippi. As it was the Mississippi Republican Party that spearheaded the signature drive, we know where the GOP stands and this is certainly a good issue for them.
Even before a single ballot was cast on election day in the special election in New York‘s 26thCongressional District, Republican Candidate Jane L. Corwin filed a request for a court order to prevent the election from being certified citing the closeness of the race in pre-voting polling.
On election day Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia issued an 11-page order preventing the elections boards in Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, Livingston and Monroe counties from certifying the election until Buscaglia could hold a show-cause hearing on Thursday. Within the order, attorneys for Corwin had until Wednesday to serve copies of the court order to the affected county boards of elections, their sheriff‘s offices, the state board of elections and the other three candidates in the race.
New York: Corwin Camp Cancels Vote Count Hearing | wgrz.com
A court hearing to challenge the results of the election results in the 26th District Congressional race has been cancelled.
The lawyer for the Jane Corwin campaign camp made a move to impound paper ballots, but the Republican candidate has since conceded victory to Democrat Kathy Hochul.
Texas: Possible voting-date complications remain with Texas absentee voting changes | dallasnews.com
Questions as to whether Texas might move its primary from March into April appeared resolved late on Tuesday when the House amended a voting bill to keep the March primary intact. Turns out the uncertainty might not be over quite yet. Under the current arrangement, local May elections and early voting for primary runoffs would be just two days apart.
Senate Bill 100, which passed the House on third reading Wednesday, is aimed at trying to make it easier for military and overseas voters to cast absentee ballots. Federal law requires that Texas make the changes.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) will use fingerprints from the file of the Venezuelan Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Citizenship (Saime) to complete the register of voters.
The electoral schedule 2012 may not be known until the fourth quarter of this year, but the technical restriction that prevented "joint" voting at different levels (for instance, elections for president and state governors) will be overcome by the implementation of the Comprehensive Authentication System (SAI).
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