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New from National Issues -
Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
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By EAC Media Release
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May 09, 2008 |
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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) today announced that Alice P. Miller will join the EAC as its chief operating officer, effective June 2, 2008. Ms. Miller currently is in charge of elections
in the District of Columbia, where she serves its 340,000 active voters
and manages a $5.2 million budget.
"We are very pleased to have someone with Alice's unique experience,
both as a manager and an election official," said EAC Chair Rosemary
Rodriguez. "The EAC has a lot of work ahead, and I am confident that
she will help us make sure election officials have the tools they need
to conduct accessible, accurate and secure elections."
Ms. Miller will oversee the day-to-day operations at the EAC in six
program areas: Voting Systems Testing and Certification, HAVA Funding,
Election Administration Improvement Programs, Research, Administration
and Human Resources. Her leadership role will also figure centrally as
the agency focuses on developing and integrating policies and
procedures aimed at improving efficiency and transparency.
Ms. Miller is the executive director of the District of Columbia
Board of Elections and Ethics. During her 12 years in this role, she
has been responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of
elections, from voter registration to ballot access for candidates and
measures. She also has directed the management of voter rolls and
supervised the recruitment, training and deployment of 2,500 poll
workers.
In addition to her duties as chief elections official for the
District of Columbia, Ms. Miller also served in 2003 as president of
the National Association of State Election Directors. She holds a juris
doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law and a bachelor
of arts from Boston College. |
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New from States -
South Dakota
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By Rapid City Journal Staff
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May 08, 2008 |
This article appeared in the Rapid City Journal.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson is warning
South Dakotans that a Boston organization called the "Voter
Participation Project" is sending mailings into South Dakota, saying
residents -- under "state law" -- must re-register to vote. The mailing
lists the Secretary of State's address, adding the appearance of
credibility.
"The language in this mailing is not true," Nelson said. "This
organization is misleading our citizens into thinking they need to fill
out another voter registration form in order to vote."
Nelson said he has received a number of complaints about the
mailings and that some of the mailings have gone to deceased South
Dakotans. Others have targeted older citizens.
"My elderly mother received a mailing and was concerned that she needed to fill it out in order to vote," Nelson said.
He
noted that voters aren't required to re-register when they move, but he
does encourage the practice. Nelson said any voter wishing to view
their registration status should go to www.sdsos.gov and click on the
Voter Information Portal. The site shows where voters are registered,
where polling places are and offers a sample ballot for the primary
election. |
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New from National Issues -
Voting Rights
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By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
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May 08, 2008 |
This article was posted at AlterNet and is reposted here with permission of the author.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has retreated on a recently
announced policy to allow voter registration drives at its facilities
where veterans' groups and others would assist wounded former soldiers
to participate in the 2008 presidential election.
"It is VHA (Veterans Health Administration) policy to assist patients
who seek to exercise their right to register and vote; however, due to
Hatch Act (Title 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 7321-7326) requirements
and to avoid disruptions to facility operations, voter registration
drives are not permitted," the new policy directive by Michael J.
Kussman, Under Secretary for Health said.
The Hatch Act restricts political activities by federal employees.
The VA directive rolls back a new policy announced in late April where
the agency agreed, after mounting public and political pressure, to
assist wounded veterans with registering to vote and voting for federal
elections. While the VA still says it will help former soldiers on an
as-requested basis with registration and voting, curtailing voter
registration drives brought swift condemnation from Capitol Hill and
advocacy groups.
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New from States -
Indiana
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By Deborah Hastings, Associated Press
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May 06, 2008 |
About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.
Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.
The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway.
>"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,'" Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.
Read the Entire Article
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New from States -
Indiana
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By Bill Engle, Palladium-Item
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May 06, 2008 |
This article was posted at Pal-Item.com.
Voting in the Indiana Primary election today is getting to be an all-day project in Richmond.
Lines had formed everywhere by 11:30 a.m. as the lunch crowd jammed the city’s four vote centers.
“People are standing in line everywhere,” said Wayne County Clerk Sue Ann Lower. “But we understand that there are lines all over the state.”
Lower said she sent “reinforcements” — additional poll workers — to First English Lutheran Church first thing this morning and sent helpers to the Kuhlman Center on the city’s west side shortly after 11 a.m.
The idea was to get the lines moving and let people vote.
“We expected a heavy turnout. This is what we expected,” Lower said.
It didn’t help that the Richmond Senior Center lost its Internet feed around 11:30 a.m. At 12:30 p.m., county IT employees were still working with Parallax to reconnect the feed. They said it would be about another 10 minutes.
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New from States -
Guam
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By Verified Voting Foundation Press Release
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May 05, 2008 |
The extremely close vote in Guam's Democratic Presidential caucus shows the need for recountable and verifiable voting systems, the Verified Voting Foundation said Sunday. Only seven votes separated Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama out of over 4,500 cast. The caucus used voter-marked paper ballots, and a recount was ordered.
“Since the election was conducted using voter-marked paper ballots, they can do a recount,” said Warren Stewart, Senior Projects Manager for Verified Voting. “If the caucus had used paperless touch screens, all they would get would be a reprint,” Stewart said. “Imagine the Electoral College this November is hanging on the results from one state – Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia – where the winner is determined by a razor-thin margin and there is no way to conduct a meaningful recount. Add to that inevitable machine failures in a handful of precincts in the state that will have resulted in long lines or anomalous results, and we have a constitutional crisis.”
Prominent computer scientists have warned strongly that all electronic voting systems are vulnerable to error and tampering. Verified Voting estimates that over 30 per cent of the ballots in the November Presidential election will be cast on paperless electronic machines. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee, most votes will be paperless, and in Georgia, New Jersey, and Maryland, electronic systems with no paper record will be the only voting method at the polls. In all, 14 states will have some paperless electronic voting on November 4. “Unfortunately, over one fourth states are not as ready for a close Presidential race as the Guam Presidential caucus,” said Stewart.
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New from National Issues -
Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
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By ACCURATE
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May 05, 2008 |
Download ACCURATE'S Comments on the Draft VVSG
A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable and Transparent Elections ([ACCURATE]) submitted [public comment] today to the [U.S. Election Assistance Commission] on their draft [Voluntary Voting System Guidelines] (VVSG), urging the Commission to adopt certain key features fo the draft. The VVSG provides a national certification framework for U.S. voting systems against which 40 states require their voting systems to be certified.
ACCURATE's comments laud the new draft as a groundbreaking and badly needed overhaul of our national voting system standards while making constructive suggestions for further development.
The most significant element of the draft VVSG is the requirement for *software independence*, which would require voting systems to be designed so that undetected flaws in the voting system software cannot cause changes in the vote count. ACCURATE fully supports requiring software independence as the backbone of a robust and comprehensive next-generation voting system certification regime.
The commentary goes on to emphasize the importance of welcome features of the draft: adversarial vulnerability testing, volume testing, the new framework for usability and accessibility testing and comprehensive voting system documentation requirements. The comment closes by pointing out areas of the VVSG that will require increasedinstitutional support outside of the VVSG process, including the crucial innovation class and a closed loop for incident reporting and feedback.
ACCURATE plans to participate further as the draft VVSG is modified and extended. |
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New from National Issues -
General Topics
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By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet
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May 02, 2008 |
This article was posted at AlterNet and is reposted here with permission of the author.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued new rules allowing former soldiers living at VA facilities to ask for help with registering to vote and voting -- a decision that could increase participation in the 2008 election by wounded Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.
The new rules, to be published on government websites this week, reverses a years-long policy where the VA opposed helping patients and others living on VA campuses -- notably homeless veterans -- with voter registration and voting, saying to do so would be a partisan activity.
"It is VHA policy to assist patients who seek to exercise their right to register and vote," said the new policy, issued by the Veterans Health Administration as Directive 2008-023. "This policy establishes a uniform approach to assembling and providing information on voter registration and voting to veterans who request it."
Under the directive, VA facilities "must ensure" there is a "written, published policy on voter assistance" that allows patients to leave the facility to register and vote, subject to their physician's approval; provides help for registering and voting by absentee ballot; and informs patients that voting assistance is available. It states, "This also needs to be done when the patient is admitted to the facility."
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New from States -
Indiana
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By Common Cause
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May 02, 2008 |
Indiana
voters face a series of obstacles to cast a ballot in the state’s
primary election on Tuesday, and should plan to go prepared to the
polls or risk losing the right to vote. The combination of a draconian
voter ID law that allows citizens to vote only with Indiana state or US
government-issued photo ID, the fact that Indiana still deploys
paperless electronic voting machines that have been known to
malfunction, and the late surge in voter registrations, is sure to test
the election system, according to a report by Common Cause and the Verified Voting Foundation.
“This
is an exciting opportunity for Indiana voters to be part of the process
of choosing our next president,” said Stevie Miller, executive director
of Common Cause Indiana. “But we are also looking at circumstances that
require voters to know their rights and come prepared.”
“The
disappointing Supreme Court ruling this week that upheld Indiana’s
voter ID law is likely to disproportionately impact young voters,
senior citizens and minorities, who are less likely to have the
requisite ID,” said Tova Wang, an elections expert and vice president
of research for Common Cause.
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New from National Issues -
Federal Legislation
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By Senator Dianne Feinstein Press Release
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May 01, 2008 |
Bill Allowing Election Day Registration is Introduced Following Supreme Court Decision Allowing Laws Impeding the Right to Vote
U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) are introducing legislation to help more Americans register to vote by allowing Election Day registration at polling places for all federal elections. The Election Day Registration Act addresses chronic problems with the American electoral process – low voter turnout and archaic voter registration laws.
Election Day registration is also seen as preferable to advance registration since voters are actually present when they register, reducing opportunities for fraud. The bill’s introduction comes days after the Supreme Court upheld an Indiana voter ID law that seriously impedes the ability of elderly and low-income Americans to vote. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Jon Tester (D-MT), who represent states that recently enacted Election Day registration, are also cosponsors of the bill.
“The right to vote is at the heart of our democracy, and we should constantly be looking for ways to make it easier for Americans to exercise that right,” Feingold said. “Election Day registration has worked well in Wisconsin for more than 30 years and is a major reason why Wisconsin is a national leader in voter turnout. By allowing people to register in person on Election Day, we can bring more people into the process, which only strengthens our democracy.”
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