Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 02/18/08

[tbyg52]

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News, Monday 07/02/07

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[tbyg52]

1. States nt

[tbyg52]

8. CA: Former L.A. County Registrar Blames Everyone But Herself for 'Double Bubble' Failure

L.A. County's former Registrar Recorder, Conny McCormack, who quit just prior to February's Super Tuesday Primary Election, turned into Condi Rice today. She's quoted in an Los Angeles Times' front page story confirming, as we pointed out over the weekend, that Election Officials did nothing about the "Double Bubble" ballot problem --- which may well disenfranchise a conservatively estimated 50,000 county voters --- despite massive disenfranchisement with the same design over last six years, since McCormack first implemented it.

In her best Condoleese, McCormack is quoted by the paper today saying, "This is an unfortunate, unanticipated result...No one could have predicted this."

Sound familiar?

She is shortly contradicted, in the same article, by a spokesperson from her own former office, before she continues on to blame voters and poll workers for the problem that she created, and did nothing about...

More:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5707

[Wilms]

37. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x497603

[tbyg52]

9. FL: Elections Boss Favors Voting System Firm That Was Diebold

The elections supervisor is recommending that Premier Election Solutions be given a $6 million contract to provide voting machines for Hillsborough County elections.

Texas-based Premier formerly was called Diebold Election Systems. Diebold has been a source of controversy through the years, mostly for perceived security flaws in its voting systems.

Kathy Harris, the attorney for Hillsborough County's elections office, said Premier offers updated equipment and software. The company was recertified by the state, she said, and "passed with flying colors."

More:
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1106147/

[tbyg52]

11. WA: Protests, ‘oops’ letters follow voting

Lori Augino read her “love notes” over the hum of an envelope-opening machine: “(Expletive) you. You stole my vote. This is un-American.”

The Pierce County elections supervisor has received about 40 such messages, written on presidential primary ballots by voters who were so incensed over the requirement to declare allegiance to a political party that they wrote protest notes.

But there’s another stack of 1,800 ballots – about 2.5 percent of ballots returned so far – in Pierce County with no check mark and no protest message. In some counties, that figure is as high as 20 percent.

More:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/286253.html

[tbyg52]

12. KS: Proof of citizenship before voter registration is debated in Kansas

With sentiment against illegal immigrants strong, Kansas is among a dozen states this year that could require proof of citizenship before someone can register to vote.

Supporters say such a law is necessary because of what they think is a growing trend among illegal immigrants to register to vote. Opponents see it as anti-Hispanic legislation that’s a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.

Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, the state’s chief election official, has heard stories about illegal immigrants registering, but “never have I had anybody bring me proof where I can prosecute.”

Thornburgh acknowledges it could happen, however. People filling out a voter application swear they are citizens. The application warns that a false voter registration can mean up to 17 months behind bars.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/494294.html

[tbyg52]

13. MS: Hosemann: Voter registration scams surface

It has come to the attention of the Secretary of State’s office organizations are going door-to-door soliciting people to vote, using mail-in forms, and saying to citizens they are endorsed by the Secretary of State’s office. While we encourage citizens to vote, the Secretary of State does not endorse these organizations.

“Your best bet is to visit your Circuit Clerk’s office to register to vote,” says Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. “This will ensure your voter registration card is filled out correctly—without mistakes and with privacy.”

More:
http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_049095613.html

[tbyg52]

19. WI: Bill would restore voting rights to some Wisconsin felons

Tomorrow is election day in Wisconsin but 40,000 state citizens won't be voting.

They're felons who are either on parole or probation and state law prohibits them from voting.

But a bill with strong backing from the Wisconsin American Civil Liberties Union wants to change that and give them back their right to vote. As long as they've finished their prison time and are serving parole or probation.

More:
http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2008/feb/18/bill-would-restore-voting-rights-some-wisconsin-fe/

[tbyg52]

20. WI: Election's Agency Trashes Hundreds of Mail-In Registration Forms

If you registered to vote using a mail-in form, you'll only be registered if you beat the January 30 deadline.

The Wisconsin Elections Division says it has to discard hundreds of forms that missed the deadline.

The agency says the law prohibits it from processing late forms.

In most cases the news shouldn't be a big deal. Those residents can still vote in Tuesday's primary, but they'll have to register at the polls.

More:
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/15729717.html

[tbyg52]

23. VT: Instant Runoff Voting

Last spring, Vermont's Senate passed a bill in support of Instant Runoff Voting for congressional races, and this session, the House is due to vote on it. Instant Runoff Voting is a system where voters rank candidates, and a winning candidate must receive a majority of the votes. The city of Burlington first used IRV in its mayoral race in 2006. We talk over the pros and cons of such a system with Burlington Rep. Chris Pearson, and Rutland Sen. Kevin Mullin.

More:
http://www.vpr.net/episode/43009/

[tbyg52]

24. TN: Felons' voting rights issue for MTSU panel

A panel of speakers will address the issue of “Felony Disenfranchisement and the Right to Vote in Tennessee” in a discussion slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Room 121 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building at MTSU.

This event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Tennessee Right-to-Vote Campaign, the American Democracy Project, and MTSU’s Black History Month Committee.

A law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly (Public Chapter 860) in 2007 “streamlines the process and creates a uniform system for restoring voting rights of persons with past felony convictions. In addition, former felons no longer have to go to court to restore their voting rights,”

More:
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=9318

[tbyg52]

34. MI: Suit says blacks slighted by county districting

President of Mount Clemens school board says census data was outdated.

Macomb County's black residents are unfairly represented in the move toward an executive form of government, according to the Mount Clemens school board president who filed a lawsuit Friday in the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Greg Murray, an outspoken civil rights advocate, said the Macomb County Board of Commissioners used outdated census figures to draw up districts from which charter commissioners would be chosen if voters approve the executive proposal in May.

"The statute says the districts have to be drawn as squarely as possible, and they must reflect the most recently published Census data" Murray said. "I don't think there's a racist person involved in this, I just think they rushed too much."

More:
http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/021808/loc_blaks.shtml

[tbyg52]

2. National nt

[tbyg52]

3. Foreign nt

[tbyg52]

6. Pakistanis vote amid violence, fraud fears

Millions of Pakistanis voted on Monday in critical elections overshadowed by violence and fears of rigging, with the fate of key US ally President Pervez Musharraf hanging in the balance.

The parliamentary polls were delayed after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack in December, and they cap a year of political turmoil and bloodshed in the nuclear-armed Islamic republic.

The vote is intended to complete a transition to civilian rule about eight years after Musharraf seized power in a coup, but analysts say it is more likely to spark fresh unrest if the opposition claim widespread fraud.

Voting in major cities began slowly after polling stations opened at 8:00 am, (0300 GMT), with 81 million people eligible to vote. They are due to close at 5:00 pm, with the first results at about 10:30 pm.

More:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSvUBQC_Rqz17i_I7-NRptTupsCQ

[tbyg52]

7. Pakistan: No bombs, but plenty of tension as polls close for counting

On a day that began with fears of suicide bombings and massive vote-rigging, something else emerged from the nation's polling stations – an unvarnished look at democracy, Pakistan-style.

Voters turned out for long-anticipated parliamentary elections, which were originally scheduled in January but postponed after the Dec. 27 assassination of popular opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Her Pakistan People's Party and another opposition group, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), are expected to do well against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which supports the increasingly unpopular President Pervez Musharraf. Many see the election as a referendum on Mr. Musharraf's leadership.

West of Lahore, in the narrow strip of urban streets and fertile farmland wedged between the city and the Indian border, Pakistan emerged in miniature.

More:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0219/p25s01-wosc.html

[tbyg52]

16. Top German legislator reports massive election fraud in Pakistan

A leading lawmaker of the co-governing Social Democratic Party reported widespread election fraud in Pakistan, the daily Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper said in a report to hit the newsstands on Tuesday.

"The question is not if the election was manipulated but what the scope of it was," said Sebastian Edathy who had been accredited by the Pakistani government as an election monitor.

"One cannot speak of real democracy. All of it, is far away from being a fair process," the chairman of the Germany-South Asian parliamentary group added.

Edathy pointed out that 20 million additional ballot papers were in circulation, compared to the actual number of eligible voters.

More:
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0802184144192216.htm

[tbyg52]

17. Some Pakistan Women Warded Off Voting

Posters of the Muslim world's first female prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, fluttered in the wind. But the ballot boxes inside the women's polling station of this impoverished village were empty Monday.

The elders of the village in the Islamic nation's conservative northwest took their own vote the day before Pakistan staged its crucial elections. They decided women would not have a say in selecting the constituency's national and provincial lawmakers.

No one defied the order, said Farida Begum, an election official at the largest segregated polling station in Khazana.

More:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gu6eNzxACeJ4EEonbltb6QyZ8i8wD8USUKA80

[tbyg52]

25. In at least seven booths, women stopped from voting

Women in some areas North West Frontier Province (NWFP), tribal areas and Punjab were barred from voting in Pakistan’s general elections Monday. Authorities said they would take action against those behind the move. In Pakistan women and men vote in different polling stations. Out of the 80 million registered voters about 36 million are women.

At least seven polling stations meant for women in NWFP, tribal areas and Punjab were closed down after the “elders” there decided that women would not vote.

When contacted, an Election Commission spokesman said action would be taken against those stopping women from voting.

More:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/in-at-least-seven-booths-women-stopped-from-voting_10018702.html

[tbyg52]

22. Election riddled with rigging, says blogosphere

The Pakistani blogosphere is bursting with accounts of electoral fraud today as increasing numbers of bloggers tell tales of trickery and blind-eye attitudes in the general elections. Particularly low participation numbers make good conditions for usurpation and in this election both President Musharraf’s party and the opposition may have taken advantage of them. The accounts have yet to be confirmed by international observers.

More:
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080218-election-riddled-rigging-says-blogosphere

[tbyg52]

27. Missing Names, Duplicate Voters Dog Polling In Pakistan

Under a temporary marquee, 53-year-old Jameel Ahmed has been carefully going through the area electoral list since the morning - his ball pen scratching away on the photocopied papers.

'See, this one has been dead for eight years,' said Ahmed, sitting in the temporary camp of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), where he was besieged by would-be voters looking for names on the electoral list and participated in Pakistan's most crucial general election Monday.

His small tent was decorated with PML-N posters and pitched outside the gate of the F4 Senior Secondary School for Boys in Islamabad, a large two-storey, red brick building.

More:
http://newspostindia.com/report-37725

[tbyg52]

15. Thailand: Poll agency to consider vote-buying case against House Speaker

Thailand's Election Commission will meet Tuesday to deliberate charges of electoral rigging lodged against House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat who was alleged to be involved in buying votes while contesting his parliamentary seat under the People Power Party banner.

Chief election commissioner Aphichart Sukhagganond said the polling agency will handle the charges against the House Speaker in a scrupulous fashion, which he said may take more than one day, although the case was considered urgent.

Mr. Aphichart dismissed criticism that his agency may have been working under pressure and was influenced by an "invisible hand'' as earlier implied by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The chief commissioner assured the public that his agency was independent and free of external influences and was obliged to handle such cases with justice and care.

More:
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=2881

[tbyg52]

4. Blogs, Editorials, LTTEs, etc. nt

[tbyg52]

10. CA: Editorial: Casting ideas for better count of votes next time

Ten days after the Feb. 5 presidential primary, nearly 1 million votes - about 14 percent of those cast in California - were uncounted. Because Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain won their parties' primaries by large margins, there's been no crisis and no outcry.

But it could be another matter entirely in November, when an especially long ballot is expected to further delay vote counting. Many counties like Santa Clara probably won't be able to announce conclusive results for 15 to 18 hours after the polls close. It will be weeks before the totals are final - shades of Florida in 2000.

By law, the state has a month after an election to certify results. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen must do all within her power and the state budget to cut the wait.

The cause of this month's delays was twofold: the forced conversion in two dozen counties from electronic voting to paper ballots, and a substantial increase in voting by mail. Bowen made the right call in decertifying touch-screen systems because of doubts over reliability and security. But the time frame for counties like Santa Clara to switch to paper was too short, and most couldn't buy enough equipment. Machine breakdowns bedeviled some counties.

More:
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8294006

[tbyg52]

14. LTTE: NY: Voting machines raise practical questions

How do you sell something that is probably not needed? The first rule of selling is never ask the question "Do you want to buy?" The question should be phrased as "either-or." This gives the best chance for a sale.


So it is with the debate with new voting machines. The question isn't whether we need them or if they are superior to our current machines, because that would result in a no answer. Instead, we are being asked which do you want: "either" an optical-scan machine using a paper ballot "or" a touch-screen device.

More:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=664320&category=OPINION&newsdate=2/18/2008

[Wilms]

38. Discussion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x497605

[tbyg52]

18. A fix for the Electoral College

THE ELECTORAL College has a pernicious effect on American politics, and not just because every now and then someone wins the presidency even after losing the popular vote. Enshrined in the Constitution, the system divides the presidential election into 50 state contests - relatively few of which are competitive, because most states tilt predictably toward one party. Candidates target their campaigns to the concerns of a small number of swing states, and voters in other states have less incentive to turn out.

One clever way to fix this problem is a proposal called National Popular Vote. The Constitution lets states decide how to choose their electors, and nearly every state now gives all its electors to the winner of the popular vote in that state. (Maine and Nebraska, in theory, can split their votes.) States that adopt National Popular Vote laws would instead pledge their electoral votes to whoever gets the most votes nationwide. The pact would take effect only when adopted by states with a total of 270 or more electoral votes - a majority of the Electoral College. New Jersey and Maryland have already signed on.

More:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/02/18/a_fix_for_the_electoral_college/

[tbyg52]

28. CA: Time to reform primary rules

Less than a week before the Feb. 5 California presidential primary, Bob Mulholland, the sometimes mischievous top functionary of the California Democratic Party, saw a need to send political reporters a long message detailing the arcane rules his party would use to apportion national convention delegates after the votes were counted.

If political writers and analysts who have made their livings for decades by analyzing elections didn't understand the rules by then, no one could expect voters to know how much their ballots really counted.

Even now, long after the vote, the outcome is uncertain because of those rules. For in the Democratic Party, things are not completely democratic. Nor are they in the Republican Party, but let's deal with the Democrats first.

Democrats have prided themselves since 1976 on having proportional representation (by congressional district) in presidential primaries, so you might think that since Sen. Hillary Clinton won 51 percent of the primary votes in this state, she'd get about that share of delegates.

More:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8291088

[tbyg52]

29. Opinion: Superdelegates expose super problems in voting system

Who's excited for the Oregon primaries? The truth is no one. No one even mentioned Oregon until 23 other voting states could not make up their minds. Easily excited media and bloggers declare that Oregon's voters MAY have an impact.

But what if Oregon voters can't decide either? And what if the three other states that have primaries even later than Oregon (Montana, South Dakota, Puerto Rico) can't choose a clear frontrunner either? What happens if August rolls around and the Democrats have no true candidate? That's where superdelegates come in and our votes go out.

Superdelegates differ from ordinary delegates in the sense that they are free to support any candidate for nomination. They are seated based on their status as current or former elected party officials or officeholders. In a race as close as Obama and Clinton's, the ability of these superdelegates to decide without any backing of actual voters can turn former party officials into king makers. We have no control over who they are, or what their qualifications are.

More:
http://willamettelive.com/story/Opinion_Superdelegates_expose_super_problems_in_voting_system110.html

[tbyg52]

31. Black History Month: Voting Rights

During the century that followed the end of the Civil War, legal and illegal measures were taken to disenfranchise African-American voters, denying them their rights as citizens to participate in elections.

As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we take a look at the struggles and sacrifices activists endured to secure equal voting rights. (See link below picture for special section with more stories and profiles of extraordinary Arkansans.)

Click the THVideo icon to watch CNN's Kyung Lah's report.

More:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=60818

[tbyg52]

5. The Youth Vote nt

[tbyg52]

21. Democratic groups push for younger voter turnout

Lake-Geauga Young Democrats Kevin Malecek and Alicia Kundtz agree on just about everything in politics - except for who should become the next president of the United States.

Preferring Hillary Rodham Clinton is Malecek, the Young Democrats chapter president and Willoughby Hills councilman on Clinton's delegate list for the Democratic Party's national convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver.
Backing Barack Obama is Kundtz, a Willoughby resident who is a political consultant.

Malecek and Kundtz are among the Young Democrats and other youth activists stumping for their preferred candidates in Ohio's March 4 primary.
In addition, Ohio Young Democrats and the Ohio Student Public Interest Research Group are campaigning daily on college campuses to get young people to vote this year, no matter who their choice is.

More:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19305674&BRD=1698&PAG=461&dept_id=21849&rfi=6

[tbyg52]

26. TX: Thousands of Prairie View Students, Angered at Lack of Early Voting Locales, Set to Protest

It’s 7.3 miles from the Prairie View A&M University campus to the county courthouse of Hempstead in Waller County, Texas. Tuesday, thousands of students plan to walk the distance to protest changes in early voting locations in the county -- and vote to show county leaders that students make a difference.

“The walk will take about two and a half hours, but we’re going to do it. We’ve got to do it,” Christina Sanders, Texas coordinator for Black Youth Vote, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Waller County officials earlier this year reduced the number of early voting locations throughout the county from about six to one at the County Courthouse in Hempstead. They said the change was made because the county could not afford to operate the additional sites, including one adjacent to Prairie View campus.

More:
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/prairieviewprotest218

[tbyg52]

30. Superdelegates' power play would kill enthusiasm

Young people will disengage if their votes do not count

The quickest way to deflate the motivation of motivated young voters? Let superdelegates decide the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Unless you're some sort of Electoral College scholar, you probably didn't know much about superdelegates until just a few weeks ago. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win the nomination. Of the 4,049 up for grabs, 796 are superdelegates. With Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in a dead heat in the race for delegates, superdelegates wield all kinds of clout.

And just who are these superdelegates? And what makes them so super? Political insiders, you might say. Members of Congress, former presidents, party officials and other political types who go to the national convention uncommitted. This year, in a tight race, the nomination could come down to their decisions.

Nothing like undermining the will of the voters to disillusion a generation of new voters.

More:
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=191249

[tbyg52]

32. OH: Campus political groups prepare for campaign

Ohio State Republicans are confident John McCain will be the next president of the United States.

"We're excited to see which candidate John McCain is going to beat this fall," said Josh Sheldon, a senior in economics and vice chairman of OSU's College Republicans.

With the March 4 Ohio Primary right around the corner, many OSU students are working to promote awareness about voting and the different nominees. Republicans have turned their efforts to uniting the party by rallying around McCain, while Democrats continue to campaign on campus and in Columbus for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Sheldon said McCain has already won enough states in the Republican primary to secure his presidential candidacy.

However, Democrats are uncertain who will represent them in November. Obama and Clinton are locked in a race that could last until the convention, and many OSU Democrats believe Ohio will play an influential role in determining the results of the democratic primary.

More:
http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/02/18/Campus/Campus.Political.Groups.Prepare.For.Campaign-3216607.shtml

[tbyg52]

33. 17-year-old graduates early for Clinton campaign

Matt Lavigueur has been working full time for no pay, crashing on someone else’s couch and he’s been rejected on a regular basis.

And he would love to be able to do it all again in four years.

“I will definitely do it again,” he said about campaigning for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. “When she runs for re-election . . . I hope she gets to.”

Lavigueur, 17, of Hudson, is a student at Alvirne High School who became so passionate about Clinton as a candidate, he decided to graduate early and hit the road in support of her.

More:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080217/STYLE/128877708

[tbyg52]

35. That's all folks! nt

[sonias]

36. Awesome tbyg52!

I'll K&R for you.

:applause:

Sonia