The voting vendor TrueBallot Inc certified Aspen Colorado's May 5, 2009 election as "fair and accurate" on April 12, 2010 according to FOIA request...Jim Crow makes a comeback in Virginia...Voter Action charged the Election Assistance Commission with shortchanging comment period on Internet Voting.EAC then issued correction adding miserly 15 more days..Is NY29th spec election worth it? 10% of Philipines optical scanners fail.

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Outsourcing democracy - The voting vendor TrueBallot Inc certified Aspen Colorado's May 5, 2009 election as "fair and accurate" on April 12, 2010 according to FOIA request...Jim Crow makes a comeback in Virginia...Voter Action charged the Election Assistance Commission with shortchanging comment period on Internet Voting. The EAC then quickly issued a "correction" adding a miserly 15 more days...Is it worth $1 M for special election to fill NY 29th seat for just a few months?...Jeremy Epstein to give talk in UK "Internet Voting: Threat or Menace"...Philipines optical scanners 10% failure rate....

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

CO: TrueBallot certifies Aspen May 5, 2009 election "fair and accurate" on April 12, 2010
http://aspenelectionreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/trueballot-certifies-aspen-may-5-2009.html The following was produced as a response to a Colorado Open Records request for the certification called for in the agreement between TrueBallot, Inc. and the City of Aspen.

CO: Online Voter Registration Now Available in Colorado
http://www.telluridewatch.com/view/full_story/7085118/article-Online-Voter-Registration-Now-Available-in-Colorado?instance=secondary_stories_left_column
"Colorado is one of only two states that allow voters to register online," Nerlin says. "Democracy has never been more accessible."

CT: Bysiewicz testifies in lawsuit against her own office, party
http://www.rep-am.com/news/elections/478349.txt

FL: Legislature considers a 'poison pill' to nullify citizen petitions
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/legislature-considers-a-poison-pill-to-nullify-citizen-petitions/1087460#
I suppose there is no point in saying that the Legislature is doing something stinky. It sort of goes without saying.

IA: Iowa Passes Corporate Governance Fixes to Citizens United
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015709.html

NM: County clerks review old voter registration cards
http://www.newswest9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12319978
The clerks received the old forms this week from the secretary of state's office. It's not clear where the cards have been since 2008 or who decided to mail them to the clerks.

NY: Massa Mess - Can the 29th Afford an Election?
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Massa-Mess-Can-the-29th-Afford-an-Election/zd0-cj9ugk6Ik304Qk-5Cg.cspx
A special election could cost taxpayers up to $1 million, according to Monroe County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Tom Ferrarese. He said that even if a special election were held, by the time the winner is sworn in, it could be a few months at most, before the seat is open once again.

TX: Judge orders mail-in votes impounded in Pct. 2 Commissioner race
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/-110978--.html
According to Peña, his poll watchers saw irregularities in the mail-in votes. "Some of the signatures on the applications did not appear to match the return ballot. Numerous mail-in ballots had the signature of the same politiquera who obtained the voters' signature and ballot," Peña's petition states.

UT: Federal Court Hears Argument in Utah Case on Whether Petition Signers' Names are Public http://www.ballot-access.org/2010/04/15/federal-court-hears-argument-in-utah-case-on-whether-petition-signers-names-are-public/

VA: Jim Crow makes a comeback in Virginia
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/jim_crow_makes_a_comeback_in_virginia/

Internet Voting Watch

UK: Internet Voting: Threat or Menace
http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/24354
Jeremy Epstein. Tuesday 27 April 2010, 16:15-17:15 University of Cambridge
How do we (and should we) answer the frequently asked question "if I can bank online and shop online, why can't I vote online'?

Voter Action charges EAC with violating the federal Administrative Procedure Act
http://www.voteraction.org/news-article/2010/voter-action-charges-eac-violating-federal-administrative-procedure-act-0
Fifteen days notice simply is not adequate to permit the public to comment on the proposed requirements and implementing manual to govern voting systems to be used by U.S. citizens in uniform or living abroad to vote on voting systems involving the internet -- something that would be sanctioned by the EAC for the first time.

Election Assistance Commission charged with shortchanging comment period on Internet Voting http://www.ctvoterscount.org/?p=3043

National

"FEC commissioner faces disbarment complaint after Raw Story report"
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0413/progressive-network-calls-disbarment-fec-commissioner/ The progressive non-profit network Velvet Revolution has filed a disciplinary complaint against Federal Election Commissioner Caroline Hunter with the DC Court of Appeals, asking that she be debarred for providing "misleading statements" under oath.

New MIT paper ranks IRV lowest of all alternative voting methods (pdf doc)
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/RivestShen-AnOptimalSingleWinnerPreferentialVotingSystemBasedOnGameTheory.pdf

"Money Talks But it Isn't Speech"
http://electionlawblog.org/archives/015712.html

FOIAchat Friday - Sunshine Review and WIkiFOIA are launching a new FOIA friday chat on twitter to encourage conversation about FOIA records.
http://openrecords.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/foiachat-friday/

International

PCOS machines in Philippine automated elections: failure rates, error rates
http://rverzola.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/pcos-machines-in-philippine-automated-elections-failure-rates-error-rates/ According to the news, two of the twenty PCOS machines in Hongkong stopped working for a while. That is a 10% failure rate.

Voting News by Joyce McCloy.
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Disclaimer: Articles and commentary included in "Voting News" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors of Voting News,or its allied organizations. Articles are selected for inclusion to inform subscribers'ability to draw their own conclusions based on noteworthy and credible news,research, legislation, and debate bearing on the integrity of elections.

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Editor of the Voting News. The Voting News is a free national newsletter about election integrity issues, voting machines, election fraud, voter access and legislation in United States and international news.