11/21 New York Dems mull recount in 60th. CA GOP challenges provisional ballot signatures

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

New York Dems mull recount in 60th. CA GOP challenges provisional ballot signatures

Nov 21 2010

California GOP challenges signatures on provisional ballots...Update on 2 "lost" voting machines in NY..Dems mull recount in New York's 60th District: “Make no mistake, this is really bad. The state put into law that there has to be a paper trail precisely so that when there are irregularities of exactly the type we’re seeing in this race we can ensure that the votes are counted properly.” ~ Downstate Senator-Elect Mike Gianaris & attorney overseeing count..My Florida Recount Memory... CT voters says no patchwork solutions please... Wisconsin: Better way than photo ID?..

All this and more in today's voting news below...

AK: Abstention in Alaska
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/ ...there seems little likelihood that either a state or federal court would end up nullfying the outcome of this election

AK: Federal Judge Rules for Miller, Temporarily Halts Certification of Murkowski in AK Senate Race http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8203
Question of misspelled write-in ballots belongs in state court, says judge...
...
Miller would be performing a service to the voters of Alaska and the rest of the country if he used his standing to insist on a full, public hand-count...

CA: GOP challenges signatures on provisional ballots
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?entry_id=77478
Contra Costa County Registrar Steve Weir: "We cannot allow a 'casual' observer to challenge a voter's right to participate when he or she is not present."

CA: Harris' lead over Cooley grows in attorney general race
The Democrat is ahead by about 40,000, with about 300,000 ballots left to count.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-attorney-general-20101120,0,4410535.story
Most of the remaining votes statewide are provisional ballots, given to voters when polling places do not have a record of their registration, often because a voter has moved.
...
About 80% to 85% of provisional ballots are usually deemed valid, said Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan.

CA: Bay Area races increase scrutiny of ranked-choice voting
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ranked-choice-20101120,0,6759361.story
The method avoids runoffs by having voters pick candidates in order of preference. Some question its fairness, but all agree it will transform the nature of campaigning.

CO: Boyd brings election complaint to BOCC* (asks for recount)
http://www.southforktines.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=1278
Boyd also brought an affidavit from Sheila Saudevs Casias, who worked as an Elections Assistant, that reported “at the main Elections Polling Precinct, there were several mechanical problems that occurred while the Rio Grande County Elections Officials were tallying the ballot votes using the scanner machines” and that “due to inconsistencies… the ballots had to be rescanned numerous times, because the numbers kept changing.”

CT: Bysiewicz: Secretary of the State powerless to enforce election laws, count ballots http://www.ctvoterscount.org/bysiewicz-secretary-of-the-state-powerless-to-enforce-election-laws-count-ballots/ We caution agains patchwork solutions. The problem goes well beyond the number of ballots printed; voting integrity and confidence call for a much broader study and action than proposed by the current Secretary

FL: My Florida Recount Memory
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/opinion/21florida.html
Ten years ago this month, all eyes were on Florida ..The Op-Ed editors asked some of the people at the center of the recount to share their reminiscences.

MN: New voting not as simple as 1-2-3
http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/109543404.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU6:iPhD_oD3aPc:i_kchO7DU
Minneapolis' 2009 foray into the ranked-voting system showed promise for statewide use but pitfalls, too.

MN: County officials blast GOP request for vote match
http://www.startribune.com/politics/recount/109351909.html
Counties say Tom Emmer's call for signature count is unwarranted.

MN: Ritchie responds to Emmer petition
http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/109295259.html

MO: Warned about potential conflict, Election Board refuses to release security contract http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_305bd8a2-f41e-11df-a732-0017a4a78c22.html

NJ: Why vote-by-mail can lead to fraud
http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/10385190/article-Why-vote-by-mail-can-lead-to-fraud?instance=home_Most_popular
Under the current law, agents of political campaigns are permitted to handle as many Vote by Mail ballots as they can get their hands on.

NY: Dems mull recount in 60th
http://tonawanda-news.com/top_stories/x1897759002/Dems-mull-recount-in-60th

NY: Lost Voting Machine In 60th Senate Race? (Erie)
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=95935&catid=37
"Well there certainly aren't any new voting machines," Ralph Mohr, Republican elections commissioner, said. "Those voting machines were present on Election Day, and they were returned to the warehouse with the other voting machines that were utilized in the election."

Mohr's Democratic counterpart Dennis Ward agreed that there are no new machines.

They explained that on Election Day, two voting machines in two separate districts malfunctioned. As a result, replacement machines were delivered.

NY: State finds no flaws with voting machines (Erie County)
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/politics/article259438.ece Gianaris' laundry list of mistakes range from two newly discovered voting machines to machines with memory sticks that are not readable to machines with paper records that do not match comparable computer records.
...
Ward and Mohr confirmed that two voting machines not previously included in the final count were discovered Thursday. When they were, Grisanti gained an additional 136 votes over Thompson.

Mohr said the two machines were dispatched on Election Day to polling places in Buffalo when two other machines broke down. He said the practice of replacing a broken machine with a new one is state approved.

NY: BREAKING: Hudson County prosecutor will forward 4th Ward case to Attorney General http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/10381547/article--BREAKING--Hudson-County-prosecutor-will-forward-4th-Ward-case-to-Attorney-General-?instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column
The campaign of former Councilman Michael Lenz has alleged voter fraud.

Wednesday night, at a meeting, the Hudson County Board of Elections said they were forwarding 190 "suspicious" ballots to the county prosecutor's office. Then, on Friday, Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said the matter would be referred to the state Attorney General's Office

TX: Turmoil still swirling over Cameron County election* election & recount errors)
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/election-44688-swirling-turmoil.html
Before the recount, Cascos was told he had won the election by 77 votes. Immediately after the recount, on Nov. 13, he was told his margin of victory had narrowed to 50 but he was still the winner.

But hours later, on Nov. 14, Elections Administrator Roger Ortiz reportedly called in the candidates and told them that an error had been made in totaling the tally sheets, and that Wood was the winner by five votes.

A tally sheet from Precinct 54 had been left out of the totals, Ortiz said. When it was included, it resulted in a shift of 55 votes, giving the victory to Wood.

WI: A better way than voter ID
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/109308494.html
Every system is capable of manipulation. Fake IDs are available as are courses in forging handwriting. But if the real object of Wisconsin Republicans is to lower the odds of voter fraud, then a sign-in system would accomplish the goal just as well as would requiring a photo ID. And it would not give the Democrats a reason to object that the GOP was creating an unreasonable block to the ballot.

National

United States Government Files Brief in U.S. Supreme Court in Lawsuit over Size of U.S. House http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/11/21/united-states-government-files-brief-in-u-s-supreme-court-in-lawsuit-over-size-of-u-s-house/

International

One in 10 victorious Afghan candidates banned for fraud
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/21/afghan-candidates-banned-for-fraud
Hamid Karzai may overturn election body's ruling over ballot in which polling station closures hit Pashtun votes

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[David__77]

1. I love the ranked choice system.

It would open new progressive horizons.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. "progressive losses in San Francisco under ranked choice voting"

District-By-District Analysis
MACHINE BEATEN!
______
FERRELL, COHEN
VICTORIOUS;
WIENER, KIM ALSO
WIN – ALL ARE
NON-MACHINE
CANDIDATES
________

Bay Guardian In Denial As Its Slate Card Flops
________

Peskin Also Loses Ballot Propositions, Judicial Race
...
The Bay Guardian prides itself on the political clout of its election Endorsements which fill the entire front page — and seemed weirdly in denial after all its first choice candidates for Supervisor lost. It ran a long article extolling the virtues for progressives of its beloved ranked choice voting system in Oakland – ignoring the progressive losses in San Francisco under ranked choice voting – and executive editor Tim Redmond posted a column denying that there was a political machine in San Francisco, when the Guardian is the lungs and spleen of Peskin’s machine. One can sympathize with the Guardian’s discomfort. “This election, his preferred system of ranked choice voting came around and bit Peskin in the ass in San Francisco,” said John Shanley, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s delegate to the Democratic Central Committee.

Shanley called the November election “a disaster for the progressives.” Ballot issues favored by Peskin’s DCCC and the Guardian, including invitation-to-voter-fraud initiatives to allow non-citizens to vote and same-day voter registration on the day of next year’s mayor’s election, were defeated, along with an attempt to increase the hotel tax to a max that would send budget-minded tourists to Daly City to drink, and the voters passed the “Sit-Lie” Proposition L, that the DCCC opposed Guardian hyperventilatedly attacked.

...
http://www.argonaut360.com/breaking-news/district-by-district-analysis-2/

[David__77]

5. You still have to win the people's votes.

Nothing is guaranteed. No one is forced to selected secondary or tertiary preferences. If people have marginal preference for right-wingers then, yes, the right-wingers will win. But it is still a matter of expanding rather than stifling choice.

[Bill Bored]

3. Yeah, it's so "progressive" no one can figure out who won!

See:
Unlocking IRV in Aspen
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20101003/ASPENWEEKLY/101009972
and
Aspen Voters Vote to Ditch IRV
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20101103/NEWS/101109959

"ASPEN — Instant runoff voting's tenure in Aspen lasted only one election, as preliminary numbers reported by Pitkin County election officials Tuesday night showed voters wanted to get rid of it.

"Referendum 2B asked Aspen residents if they wanted to reinstate the voting method the city used prior to instant runoff (IRV), and they said yes. Of the 2,534 voters who weighed in on the issue, 1,654, or 65.3 percent, said IRV should go, while 880, or 34.7 percent of voters, said they wanted to keep it."

-snip-

What does "progressive" mean in this context anyway? And why wouldn't it open up "regressive" horizons as well?

The problem with this system is it's too complex. We don't even audit 2-candidate races properly to see who really won. How can we expect anyone to audit ranked choice elections counted by computers?

Please give this some more thought from the perspective of election integrity.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. Election integrity is first point, but still the "advertisement" for IRV

is often wrong.

I've seen these claims repeated but when you look at IRV in real life, it
often doesn't work as advertised.

And if there is a mistake in tallying, who'd know?

Exit polls are useless and voters can't observe the tally.

Ballots are hauled to a central local to be "tallied" (eventually).

IRV isn't additive, you can't just add up the votes like you do with regular ballots.

So what could possibly go wrong?