Welcome to the second edition of Election News Roundup. So far, we've had no new title suggestions and no volunteers to help, so I'm still looking for both! I go away for most of the summer, so if someone would be willing to do it during that time, I would greatly appreciate it.
The news in this diary has been collected from last Tuesday until today, if you couldn't tell by the title. If there is any outdated news, let me know.
I'm adding a poll, inspired by Vladislaw, that I will post the results of next week. For now, just make your choice (although I wish we could do it by range voting...).
Before we start, ALERT: If you're from Pennsylvania, you may have been purged from the voter rolls, along with about 200,000 other PA voters. 53,000 were in Allegheny County alone. If you're missing from the rolls, at this point in time you can't vote in the election on May 19, but it's still worth re-registering. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review via Daily Voting News.
First, I should give a shout out to Kossack broken ladder with whom I had a nice discussion about range/score voting. He's an advocate for it and it's basically a system in which you rate the candidates on the ballot, the ratings are added up then divided by the number of votes, and the person with the highest total wins (if I have that wrong please correct me). It's an interesting system and he claims that it's better than the ever-popular instant runoff voting and the infamous system we have now. Here's his website.
Just a friendly reminder from my last diary:
Election reform is one of the most important issues facing our country and our world right now, even if it doesn't get the coverage of torture or abortion. The way that we run our elections and initiative processes determines who makes policy, the type of policy made, and the tone of our political discourse. If we ignore it or take advantage of the electoral system, we our doing ourselves and our republic a disservice.
Also, if you have an election reform diary, just put something like "election reform" or "electoral reform" or "government reform" in the tags and I'll link try my best to remember to link to it.
Now, onto the news.
Miami Herald trashes election legislation in editorial - Adding to the list of people hating the proposed election law that has been called the "worst election law in 100 years," the Miami Herald calls it a clear example of "power politics." The bill would make it harder for voters to get legal help while at the polling place, make it harder for initiatives to qualify for the ballot, and would prevent people from waiting in line to vote to have any sort of food or water, among other things. Not surprisingly, it was rushed to the floor by Republicans. The Herald continues:
The sweeping rewrite of Florida's election laws by the Republican majority last week is a flagrant example of power politics at its worst. Here we have legislation authored in secrecy and haste, which has been bereft of meaningful public input or comment.
If they stand, the bills would erect barriers to participation by voters while making it easier for lobbyists and special interests to influence political parties. The bills make it harder for local election supervisors to handle large turnouts of voters while making it easier for political outsiders to become involved in Florida elections. The bills clearly benefit the narrow self-interest of political partisans but make voter access to the polls more difficult.
The Miami Herald via Daily Voting News.
UPDATE from Thursday: Florida House poised to gut controversial election bill - From John Gideon at Daily Voting News:
It appears that there may be some good news coming from Florida. The State House Majority Leader has said that the regressive voter suppression bill will be totally rewritten to remove almost all of the provisions that had any controversy. This change in tone is the result a lot of hard work on the part of advocacy groups. Clearly they made it so uncomfortable for the majority party that the party had no choice but to back-off of their really bad bill. Congratulations on a great job go to all of the advocacy groups and advocates who worked long hours to kill this bill. Of course we now have to see what the changed bill will look like. Fingers crossed here.
I'll update this story as I write this diary over the next few days, so you can see the progress being made. St. Petersburg Times via Daily Voting News.
Also, Ballot Access News has this update about the provision for banning per-signature payment to signature gatherers, which now appears dead.
National Popular Vote: The Connecticut House is set to vote on HB 6437, which is the National Popular Vote Plan, and all that is needed for the National Popular Vote Plan to pass in Washington is the governor's signature. The Nevada Assembly has now also passed the National Popular Vote. Today, also, the Washington governor is supposed to sign the National Popular Vote bill and make Washington the fifth state to ratify the agreement, making the total of electoral votes of these states 61 out of the 270 needed before it comes into effect.
New Jersey Electing a Lieutenant Governor This Year for the First Time - For the first time ever, in 2009 New Jersey citizens will be voting to elect a lieutenant governor. The governor will pick someone to run with and voters will choose them as a team, much as they do for presidential elections. Ballot Access News.
Could the Arkansas Green Party become one of two parties in the state? - Because of inane ballot access laws and the somewhat unlikely possibility that the Republican Party won't run a candidate against the popular Democratic governor in Arkansas, the Republican Party might lose its ballot qualified status there. If that were the case, it would most likely leave just the Green Party and Democratic Party. From an article I wrote about another article on Independent Political Report.
Significant election reforms to be discussed (and possibly implemented) in New York State - If you're a citizen of New York State, this is important news. From now until November, hearings will be held on a series of election reform bills. This past week the following bills were discussed:
The bill package for the April public hearings include:
* S1616 (Senator Valesky) —Allows voters to register and vote on Election Day through a Constitutional amendment.
* S3372 (Senator Addabbo) —Allows voters to register and vote on Election Day (once Constitution is amended).
* Bill Number TBD —Reduces the deadlines for changing party enrollment to 25 days prior to an election for unaffiliated voters and 90 days for those already registered to a party.
* S3996 (Senator Addabbo) —Reduces the deadline by which a registration must be received from 25 to 10 days before an election.
* S3995 (Senator Addabbo) —Provides an additional opportunity for new registrants to indicate choice of party enrollment where original choice was omitted or void.
* S1266 (Senator Montgomery) —Educates the incarcerated and those released but serving sentences about their voting and absentee ballot rights and provides for assistance in registering and voting by absentee ballot.
* S4035 (Senator Addabbo) —Requires State Board of Elections to address forms to local county board when voter downloads from the Web-site.
The schedule for hearings is as follows:
April—Voter Registration
Hearings April 23rd in Buffalo at the Erie County Legislature, April 24th in NYC
at 250 Broadway
Committee meeting April 28th
May—Casting a Ballot/ Poll Sites
Hearings May 11th in Albany, May 14th in Syracuse (TBD)
Committee meeting May 19th
June—Board of Elections Oversight
June 3rd in Albany, June 12th in NYC
Committee meeting June 16th
September—Election Code Reform (TBD)
November—Election Oversight (TBD)
If you're interested, more information is available here and here.
B.C. to consider far-reaching voting reform - This is not about anything in America, but it's significant anyway. In a few months, the voters of British Columbia will decide by referendum whether to keep their current plurality system - similar to how most Americans elect their legislators - for electing their regional legislature or to switch to a "proportional representation system known as Single Transferable Vote (STV)." The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly picked STV as the best voting system for their situation. Wikipedia offers an explanation of how STV works and so does a British Columbian site (note: the British Columbian version of STV differs slightly from traditional STV). Canada.com (and here).
Voting machine trouble in Washington, DC - From The Washington Post via VotersUnite.org's Daily Voting News:
Sequoia may have a bit of a legal problem in Washington DC to go with their legal problems in New Jersey. Sequoia was served with a subpoena, last September, to provide certain information, including their source code, to a special investigative committee. It appears that Sequoia has chosen to ignore the subpoena and committee chairwoman Mary Cheh is turning to the Superior Court to force compliance via a motion to compel which will be filed tomorrow. Typically Sequoia’s spokeswoman will post a blog on their website that attacks the character of those who stand against the company. She did this in the case of one New Jersey court witness. This should be interesting as it plays out.
Voting changes led to budget increases - Here's a generally negative piece from Charlotte County, Florida about how the county's budget for elections has doubled since 2000 (even though this wasn't part of Florida that had so much trouble). It's a whiny, stupid piece, in my ever so humble opinion. Elections should have no real spending limit to ensure their accuracy and accessibility, especially considering they're not terribly expensive, with the Charlotte County elections budget of 2007 being less than $20 per person. $1.50 or so a month for quality elections is a small price to pay. The Charlotte Sun via Daily Voting News.
Voting changes could undermine local elections - Wisconsin State Senator Neal Kedzie weighs in on two election measures: one to move local elections from spring to the typical general election date in November (he says this will drown out the voice of local candidates) and one to lower the statewide voting age to 17 (he says that 17 year olds aren't mature, don't have responsibilities, and it would require two sets of ballots). I think I agree with him about local elections because it's a choice between lower, more informed turnout or higher, much less informed turnout (even the people who would be interested in local elections would probably have their attention elsewhere). As for the age thing, I'm 16 right now so you can see why I'm against him on this. Most 18 year olds have the same responsibilities as 17 year olds and in my opinion it would help our democracy to have another set of voices participating. Lake Geneva Regional News and Resorter via Daily Voting News.
Bill would require photo ID to vote - A Republican California Assemblyman has introduced AB 1415, which would require citizens to bring a photo ID to their polling place in order to vote. This is a really stupid idea and it's pretty much just more Republican fearmongering. I am not going to hid my contempt for this bill - if you live in California please call your Assemblyman to tell them not to vote for this, BECAUSE VOTER FRAUD IS NOT A PROBLEM! Election fraud is a huge problem, but voters voting multiple times or underage people voting or illegal immigrants voting barely happens at all, and it probably wouldn't even be prevented by this law. ABC via Daily Voting News.
Ohio Secretary of State releases important report on election reform - The Secretary of State of Ohio, Jennifer Brunner (who is now running for Senate as a Democrat), has released a significant report suggesting certain reforms for elections and voting in Ohio. Significant reforms would include easier ballot access for third parties and
Cost saving measures for boards of elections. Move special elections to primary or general election days, saving taxpayers an estimated $2.7-5.4 million per year. Allow the use of vote-by-mail for vacancy in office special elections. Explore measures such as limiting state issue ballot language length, creating buying pools for elections materials, and implementing a voting centers pilot project.
Enhancements for the Statewide Voter Registration Database. Finalize a new voter registration matching process with the Ohio BMV and the SSA. Provide counties with a form of access to relevant nonmatches, with rules prescribing their treatment of relevant nonmatches. Specify that a nonmatch could not, on its own, be the basis for disenfranchising a voter.
Streamline Ohio’s voter ID laws. Bring Ohio into line with other states by focusing voter ID on verification of identity, not address. In particular, allow either an official photo ID or two non-photo IDs for voting purposes, a change that will provide both voters and poll workers with greater certainty and predictability in administering voter ID laws.
Offer annual vote-by-mail ballot requests. Decrease the administrative burden on boards of elections by creating an annual vote-by-mail ballot request form.
Expand the number of in-person early voting locations and align Ohio’s in-person early voting period with other states. Decrease the period for in-person early voting to 20 days before a general election, while increasing the number of locations allowed from one to four. End early voting no earlier than 5:00 p.m. the Sunday before Election Day.
Streamline provisional balloting. Limit the reasons voters are required to vote a provisional ballot and increase the instances where that ballot is counted. Modify the wrong precinct rule by allowing any ballot cast anywhere in a county to be remade and counted if cast by an eligible voter.
You can read the whole thing at www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/news/20090422postconferencereport.pdf - Blockquote from the Secretary of State's website.
Minn. Supreme Court will hear IRV challenge in May - On May 13, the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of instant runoff voting, which the voters of Minneapolis approved for use in local elections by referendum in 2006. A lower court had previously ruled that it is constitutional. KSTP/ABC.
NIST Accepting Public Comments on Federal Voting Machine Test Guidelines - The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a new set of voluntary standards for voting machines. If you would like to comment on them and read them, you can do so here. Govtech.com.
Dems vow to protect election fund money - Democrats in Connecticut want to keep the well-used and well-intentioned but possibly counterproductive to truly fair elections public campaign financing budget from being slashed for the 2010 elections, while Republicans can't see past the most superficial explanation of the situation. Connecticut Post via Election Law Blog.
A Great Amarican - Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker examines Akhil Reed Amar and his role in creating the National Popular Vote Plan in this piece on his blog. He talks about how the Founding Fathers were more favorable to direct democracy and a more direct republic than the Constitution would suggest. Amar has also revived the idea of popular sovereignty, making an ongoing national online election for national ballot initiatives, called the National Initiative for Democracy, possible. Because of these two things that he has done, I believe Amar could possibly become one of the more important American historical figures. The New Yorker via ni4d.org.
Kossacks -- Now Is The Time To Act - Scout Finch brings us a story of a recent weekend at some kind of entrepreneurship weekend. The reason I'm talking about it is that you can vote for Scout Finch's creation here using a method called ranked pair voting, which is a variant of the Condorcet method, which is a complicated system that, as I understand it, creates pairs of choices to see which one wins.
Hawaii holding its first all-mail election - Ikaika Anderson won Hawaii's first election in which voters sent in their ballots through the mail, which was for a vacant city council seat in Honolulu. With a field of 11 candidates, he won 49 percent of the vote. Hawaii had the lowest turnout in the nation in 2008 and hopes are high that mail-in voting will increase turnout, although there may be some trouble with it because of slow mail service leading to invalidated votes. Honolulu's last special election, in 2002, had 28 percent turnout and this one has had over 44 percent turnout. A law was passed in Hawaii in 2003 allowing mail-in voting for special elections, but the voting technique hasn't been used in the state until now. Seattlepi.com via Ballot Acess News.
Nevada Bill to Severely Restrict Initiatives - A bill in the Nevada legislature, SB 212, would require that an initiative would need as many signatures as at least 10% of the previous vote in each of Nevada's 42 legislative districts. This is a severely restrictive law and if you live in Nevada please contact your state legislators to oppose it. Ballot Access News.
Bill in Virginia to protect petitioners - From Citizens In Charge:
Meanwhile, activists in Virginia were faced with a very different situation. A group of 40 citizens in Gloucester County tried to use a petition to remove several unresponsive county officials from office. Their recall petition was eventually thrown out due to a technicality, but that was only the beginning of their troubles. After their measure failed, those 40 citizens who led the recall effort were fined a total of $80,000 in legal fees!
Fortunately, bills were introduced in Virginia's Assembly to protect petitioners in future recall efforts from being slapped with court costs or other fines. A coalition of state groups mobilized Virginians in support of the measures. I also traveled to Richmond, as a representative of Citizens in Charge Foundation, and addressed a meeting of activists who rallied support throughout the state. Thanks to these efforts and our testimony, the legislation passed both bodies unanimously and now sits on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature!
Rose Institute Launches Miller-Rost Institute Initiative Database - The Rose Institute is launching a database of all the successful citizen ballot initiatives in US history and the challenges to them in court. This should be a great resource for anyone interested in learning, anyone involved in direct democratic law, or anything else like that. The Rose Institute via ni4d.org.
ron Paul Donates $500 to COFOE - I'm mostly writing this to alert readers to a way they can take action for better ballot access. Ron Paul has become the largest donor ever to the Coalition for Free and Open Elections, which is the leading organization fighting for fairer ballot access. It is led by Richard Winger, the writer of Ballot Access News, and if you donate $25 you will get a free subscription to the print edition of Ballot Access News, which I highly recommend and get myself.
Press Conference to Oppose Illinois Anti-Slating Bill - From Ballot Access News:
Free & Equal has organized a press conference at the Illinois State Capitol Press Room, for 3 p.m, Tuesday, April 28. The purpose of the press conference is to criticize HB 723, which makes it virtually impossible for qualified parties to nominate candidates after the primary has been held.
The Senate Local Government Committee hears the bill today at 1 p.m.
Illinois has passed some pretty horrific "reform" in the past when they got rid of multiparty legislative districts in favor of single party plurality districts, so this would not be an unprecedented move.
Some highly recommended sources for election news:
Ballot Access News
Daily Voting News
Election Law Blog
NOTE: I am looking for a few good suggestions about how readers can act on reforming elections. I haven't done much myself, I mostly just read and write about it, so if you have any ideas please let me know.