New Laws, Technology Challenge Elections Officials Presidential Race Raises Voting Fears in Toss-Up States - "Elections officials worry about malfunctioning equipment, new voter-identification requirements and errors in registration lists come Election Day. The biggest worry, though, is that those three problems are most acute in the half-dozen swing states that could decide the election." 9/19/08
Report: Crucial swing states not prepared for voting problems - "Provisional ballots are provided to voters whose registration is disputed, but Common Cause is concerned that the states have not ordered enough provisional ballots to handle the anticipatable problems on Election Day." 9/19/08
Goo-Goo [good-government, democracy-committed] America - "People are starting to feel a deeper cry of citizenship, to get involved in the process in a new way, whether it be by signing up as election judges or poll watchers, or by becoming indie media types and videotaping what they see going on." 9/18/08
DuPage [IL] election panel doesn't answer concerns on machines - "Elections are the soft underbelly of democracy. If America is lost, it will not be because of planes flying into buildings, but because of a few votes stolen here and there by insignificant people in obscure places." 9/18/08
Voter Registration and Voter Purges - "To address the potential for election theft, consider serving as a poll worker on Election Day or helping the nationwide election protection effort being coordinated at 866ourvote.org." 9/17/08
EAC Chair: Contingency Planning More Important than Ever this Year Expect the Unexpected and Plan Accordingly - "Planning for a huge voter turnout will be especially important when it comes to making sure there will be enough ballots and supplies on hand." U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chair Rosemary Rodriguez, 9/17/08
Report Shows Voting Problems in 10 Swing States - "As election officials brace for record-breaking voter turnout on Election Day, a close examination of voting preparedness in 10 swing states shows that significant problems in the basic functions of the American election administration system persist, and in a few cases have worsened over the last few years, a new report by Common Cause and The Century Foundation shows." 9/16/08
Supervisors agree to audit Registrar of Voters Office - "After an election integrity group presented documents suggesting discrepancies in how ballots were handled in the June primary in Riverside County, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously agreed that an audit of the Registrar of Voters' Office should be conducted." 9/16/08
McCain-Palin 2008 Launches 'Honest and Open Election Committee' - "The committee will advise the campaign with respect to policy and actual or potential legal proceedings involving the campaign laws and practices in various states working towards avoiding litigation when possible." 9/15/08
Voter activist group finds fault with June election - "The most serious problems, the group said, were inadequate security for ballots, voting machines and memory cards and a 'lack of accountability' along the chain of custody." 9/15/08
Voting Groups Release Guidelines for E-voting Checks - "About 20 states using electronic voting systems do not audit the results after elections, but there's still time to change direction...[A] coalition of fair elections advocates and e-voting critics called on states to require post-election audits of electronic voting systems, including touch-screen voting machines and optical scan systems. The groups also released a set of recommendations for best practices in election audits." 9/15/08
American Statistical Association Endorses Statistical Principles of ElectionAudits.org's Post-Election Audits Document - "In light of irregularities in previous elections, exploring and verifying election results to assure the public that the recorded vote is correct can play a critical role in restoring confidence in election results. Statisticians can make unique contributions to this process." Peter A. Lachenbruch, ASA's President, 9/15/08
What Can We Do Now To Protect the November Election - 10 Things Individual Citizens Can Do include: "Work as a 'voter protection observer' in poll sites, prepared to call hotlines, lawyers, or media teams if voters are unfairly challenged or face other barriers to ballot access. Submit application now to work at the polls in November. Talk with everyone - family, friends, neighbors...Politics is the way a free people govern themselves. No one will 'give us' a fair election and an honest government. We have to keep track of what our public servants are doing and know the issues. We need to 'Work the Vote' as poll workers and 'Watch the Vote' as observers." 9/12/08
Petition seeks poll change - "Students at Lincoln University [West Chester, PA] would face a hardship in voting in the coming 2008 presidential election unless the polling place is changed from a small community center to the historically black university's gymnasium...So states a petition, signed by Democratic and Republic voters." 9/10/08
Voter Education Project Inc. Press Conference - "The Voter Education Project, Inc., in collaboration with the El Paso County Voter Consortium will hold a press conference to discuss the continuation of its voter registration, education, and mobilization drive that has now been recognized by the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project and the Willie C. Velasquez organizations, joining their national initiative to motivate the Latino population in El Paso County." 9/10/08
Poll-Monitor Plan Stirs Activists: Civil-Rights Groups Decry Justice's Idea Of Voter Protections - "The debate over vote fraud and vote access has become a politically polarizing one. That is in part because the two major political parties have differing definitions of the problem. Republicans view registration drives by groups supporting Democrats as possibly allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. Democrats view the greater problem as intimidation of minorities at polling places." 9/9/08
About those so-called 'Election Audits' - Missing Info - "Unlike real audit reports, the Connecticut process seems to be light on evaluating management controls and missing any methodology at all for dealing with expanded audits if significant problems are found." 9/9/08
New Study: New Mexico Leads in On-Campus Polls, Equipment Uniformity - Concerns Linger on Poll Booth Allocation Plans - "Long lines are often caused by an inadequate number of poll booths and have plagued voters, particularly in lower-income neighborhoods, in the past several election cycles." 9/8/08
Official boots observer over ballot-count queries - "[John] Brakey [an observer representing the Democratic and Libertarian parties in an official capacity at a state-mandated audit ] said he became concerned about the veracity of the ballots when he found seven ballot bags from different precincts had been improperly sealed or had discrepancies between the seal and the paperwork in the ballot bag." 9/7/08
County prepares for long ballot - "Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University, suggests voters educate themselves as much as possible before heading to the polls because the ballot is so large. 'When you have a complicated ballot, the only thing you can do is advanced prep," Jillson said. "If you are just standing there looking at 75 different choices and looking at it the first time, you are helpless." 9/7/08
Save the Nov. 4 Election - "The goal must be to guarantee that the chain of ballot custody is not broken. To do that, there must procedures in place that are followed in the heat of a high-turnout, high-profile election." 9/6/08
New voting machines need scrutiny - "Tuesday's primary will be the first test of the new technology. Election inspectors will need to be especially mindful of that and make sure that even the slightest problem is addressed immediately to make certain there are no problems in the November election and that the integrity of the voting process is maintained." 9/5/08
Few things more important than registering to vote, then going to polls - "The [League of Women Voters] has long worked to register and educate voters, increase voter participation in elections, and ensure voters' rights and to make sure that all votes are counted accurately. You can be a part of this exciting work. We welcome your involvement." 9/2/08
Another election like 2000? - "If it's a close election, it'll be 2000 all over again. I think we'll have major problems in Palm Beach County. They've got to do their work now and the good news is they've got a little time to do it." Gerald Richman, attorney, 9/2/08
Voting audit hits town - "We are preparing for the most significant national election in decades. We expect a very high turnout of between 80 and 90 percent. I thought it was critical that we make sure the machines were working properly for that election." CT Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, 8/31/08
New Study: Missouri May Experience Long Lines on Election Day County-by-County Survey Reveals Flaws in Election Administration - "FairVote surveyed 110 out of 117 Missouri county clerks and found that the state does not have a standardized method for allocating poll booths and found that only 9 out of 110 counties surveyed knew when the ballot design would be made available to the public." 8/27/08
Voters' rights groups seek paper-ballot backup - "Voters' rights groups say they are concerned that some Pennsylvanians will be unable to vote on Election Day if electronic voting machines break down." 8/27/08
Candidates Nationwide Called Upon to Challenge Suspicious Elections - "Current conditions in the U.S. election system have shattered confidence in election results. StandingForVoters.org, a project of VelvetRevolution.us, calls upon candidates for any public office to prepare to demand recounts, file lawsuits, or take other actions necessary should election processes or results raise suspicion." 8/26/08
No One Should Have to Stand in Line for 10 Hours to Vote - "Most of the logistical questions about voting are generally left up to local officials. Too often they don't want to spend the money to provide enough machines, and fail to hire or properly train enough poll workers for a smooth process. There is also a lot of poor planning...It is hard, however, to rule out various forms of bias." 8/25/08
No chad, but questions still hang over voting - "Election authorities should anticipate record turnout and have enough staff and machinery to accommodate the surge of voters," U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, 8/25/08
Election experts warn of November storm - "Federal officials urged early contingency planning: Extra paper ballots stashed as a backup in case computers fail. Extra poll workers on call in case of long lines. Roving troubleshooter crews equipped with generators and other materials." 8/25/08
Voting Rights Groups Call for Equal Rights in PA Election Administration, Uniform Standards for Emergency Paper Ballots - "...a coalition of voting rights groups in Pennsylvania, have been advocating that the Pennsylvania Department of State, and county Boards of Election, prepare and administer uniform policies for issuing and counting emergency ballots when voting machines malfunction on Election Day." 8/21/08
Elections board to seek $615,000 for '08: Officials say more is needed to buy ballots, postage, rent scanners - "The bottom line is: If we can't have the money, we can't buy ballots and we can't have an election,'' Bryan Williams, Summit County elections board's deputy director, 8/20/08
Nonprofit group claims vote-counting machine vendors are the ones in control during some elections - "It's not too late, Theisen said, for more public officials to take election administration into their own hands come November." Ellen Theisen, co-director of VotersUnite.org, re: its the 53-page report, Vendors are Undermining the Structure of U.S. Elections, 8/19/08
Getting ready: Connecticut will audit local primary results - "As Connecticut prepares for perhaps its highest turnout election in a generation, it is important voters have faith that their vote will be recorded accurately and that's why the independent audits are so vital." Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of the State, 8/21/08
Officials Say Flaws at Polls Will Remain in November - "We need the federal oversight to create consistent standards and to hold the manufacturers to a certain level of quality, but we also have to be able to get the equipment when we need it. Right now, that equipment is not coming, and we're left making contingency plans." Ohio secretary of state, Jennifer L. Brunner, 8/16/08
Elections Board Told How To Reduce Lines At Polls -The board of elections of Franklin County, OH, released their commissioned report with recommendations, including "that voters head to the polls around lunchtime, which is the least crowded time of day for voting." 8/15/08
Coming election to test statewide voter registration databases - "Herbert Lin, a senior scientist at the National Academies of Sciences, which conducted a study for the Election Assistance Commission, urged state officials to encourage voters to check their registration status before going to the polls and to push voter registration groups to submit information early so there won't be a crunch near deadline. It's also important, said Lin, that names purged from rolls be reviewed by humans." 8/14/08
Preparation Is Key To Election Reform - "Rosemary Rodriguez Of The Election Assistance Commission On What Can Go Wrong, What Has Gone Wrong And What Can Be Done To Help." 8/14/08
Counting pace a worry - "'Speed is not the primary concern. If ballots are counted slow, people might be a little irritated, but if they're counted inaccurately, they'll be very irritated.'" Denver elections director Michael Scarpello, 8/14/08
Nation's Largest Nonpartisan Voter Protection Coalition Launches 2008 General Election Hotline in Advance of Historic Election - "Voters should call 1-866-OUR-VOTE August 12 through Election Day to seek LIVE help and report registration and voting problems." 8/13/08
Record number of U.S. voters are likely to use paper ballots this November - "Paper can't malfunction or be hacked into. But it has to be printed, shipped and securely stored before and after Election Day. Counties already paying to warehouse electronic machines will have to buy reams of card stock, print extras in multiple languages, pay for delivery and eventually destroy the unused ballots." 8/6/08
The Youth Vote: A Matter of Access, Not Apathy - "Young voters participate at lower rates because the system is rigged to make it is hard as possible to participate." 8/6/08
Controversial Voting Machine "Sleepovers" Still Legal - "Sometimes the machines can sit for days 'sleeping over' in a worker's garage." 7/29/08
Your vote counts - "As the saying goes, we can get a man on the moon, but we can't figure out how to count his vote." 7/22/08
Three key ways YOU can help protect the 2008 election - "The world has now endured the horrific consequences of two consecutive stolen presidential elections. So millions of Americans are asking how to stop it from happening again." 7/3/08
Do voters need to be told paper's an option? - "Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is requiring that Franklin County and the 52 other counties using touch-screen voting machines also make paper ballots available at the polls Nov. 4, just as she did for the March 4 primary." 6/26/08
Chesterfield Voting Complaint - VA citizens filed civil rights complaint, alleging county voting officials failed to provide enough Democratic ballots and told voters to cast ballots on blank scraps of paper, which weren't counted. 6/25/08
"We urge voters who find themselves purged from the registration roles to write a letter of complaint to their local Board of Supervisors, especially their own representative, with a CC to their SoS [Secretary of State], the local newspaper Editor, and their congressional members. If those responsible for representing the citizenry start receiving such letters they might act to eliminate the cause." 'Daily Voting News' by John Gideon