The Miami Herald reports: In the final seconds of the new HBO movie Recount, a box labeled Palm Beach County ballots is shown sitting inside a gigantic warehouse. As the camera pulls slowly back, it reveals row after row of boxes stacked to the ceiling.

While the image is a pure Hollywood creation, the truth is the ballots from the chaotic 2000 presidential election are still around.

Five years ago, the state of Florida gathered up boxes of ballots from 65 of the 67 counties and stashed them inside the cramped, air-conditioned confines of the state archives in Tallahassee.

After much hand-wringing and debate, state officials decided in 2003 that they should hold onto the more than six million votes cast in the historic election between Al Gore and George W. Bush that Bush ultimately won by just 537 votes. Normally, ballots are destroyed after 22 months.

But now Secretary of State Kurt Browning says he would just as soon junk them and free up the space in his archives that hold the ballots -- more than 4,000 cubic feet. -- Future uncertain for Florida s Bush-Gore ballots from 2000 race - 06/01/2008 - MiamiHerald.com

Note: We all know Justice Scalia's advice: "Get over it."

Posted by Ed at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pacific News Center reports: The Democrat Party Nominating Committee said officials will look over the large amount of spoiled ballots in the coming days.

At issue is the small margin of victory of Senator Barack Obama. He beat his rival, Senator Hillary Clinton by 7 votes, but well over 500 ballots were deemed invalid during the tabulation process.

Herbie Perez, chairman of the nominating committee, said she will not certify the results because the Committee needs to ensure that all the uncounted ballots were properly identified as spoiled. -- Pacific News Center

Hat-tip to TalkLeft for the link.

Posted by Ed at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters reports: Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Monday challenged the results of his party's weekend caucus in Washington state, where he ran a close second to likely Republican nominee John McCain.

The Huckabee campaign said it was exploring all available legal options to ensure a full accounting of the Saturday vote after "dubious final results." Lawyers for the campaign arrived in Washington on Sunday evening. ...

He said Republican party officials stopped counting with only 87 percent of the vote in. McCain was leading Huckabee by only 242 votes out of approximately 12,000 at the time, with 1,500 votes uncounted, according to the Huckabee campaign. -- Huckabee protests Washington state caucus vote | Reuters

Posted by Ed at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Birmingham News reports: Patrick Cooper's appeal challenging Larry Langford's election as Birmingham mayor may be argued before the Alabama Supreme Court by mid-January, one of Cooper's lawyers said Tuesday.

Cooper filed notice last week that he would appeal a Jefferson County judge's ruling upholding Langford's Oct. 9 election, when he won 50.3 percent of the vote in a 10-person race.

On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Allwin Horn ordered an expedited deadline of Dec. 12 to prepare the trial transcript and court record and file it with the Alabama Supreme Court, said Jim Ward, one of Cooper's lawyers.

Ward said he plans to ask the Alabama Supreme Court to fast-track the schedule for Cooper's and Langford's sides to file briefs. -- Patrick Cooper wants appeal to be fast-tracked in suit challenging Larry Langford's election as Birmingham mayor- al.com

Posted by Ed at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I requested that each of the parties in the election contest, Cooper v. Langford, dealing with the residency of the new Mayor of Birmingham, make their briefs available to me for uploading here. Mayor Langford's side has provided the following:

Brief in support of Motion to Dismiss PDF
Langford Reply Brief PDF
Langford Supplement to Reply Brief (without the attached case) PDF

Posted by Ed at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Washington Post reports: Virginia's tightest General Assembly race of the year, for a state Senate seat from Fairfax County, is headed into overtime.

Democrat Janet S. Oleszek, trailing Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R) by about a quarter of a percentage point in unofficial returns, announced yesterday that she will seek a recount of the more than 37,000 votes cast in the Nov. 6 election. Ninety-two votes separate the two candidates. ...

To start the process, Oleszek said she will file a petition requesting a recount with the Fairfax County Circuit Court after the State Board of Elections certifies the results at the end of the month. She has 10 days after certification to do so. A special panel of state judges will be set up to monitor the recount. Electronically tabulated ballots make up the majority of ballots. Under state law, recount officials review those votes using printouts. A smaller number of votes -- such as absentee ballots -- were tabulated on paper, and those will be recounted by hand, Fairfax County officials said. -- Senate Challenger to Seek Recount - washingtonpost.com

Posted by Ed at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Washington Post Virginia Politics blog reports: Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II R-Fairfax , who holds a 91 vote lead over Democrat Janet Oleszek, sent an appeal to GOP supporters at 3:30 this morning asking for donations to help him finance an expected recount.

Because Cuccinelli s margin is less than a half percent, Oleszek can ask for a state-funded recount. In his appeal, Cuccinelli says he is also looking for 10 volunteer lawyers who can help him oversee a district canvass of the votes cast in yesterday s election. -- Sen. Ken Cuccinelli preparing for recount - Virginia Politics -

Note: I have a special interest in this race because I used to live in this district.

Posted by Ed at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My co-counsel and I have filed a motion to dismiss or affirm the State of Alabama's appeal in Riley v. Kennedy, No. 07-77 in the U.S. Supreme Court. The State's jurisdictional statement is available here.

The case was brought by my clients under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act for an injunction against the Governor's appointment of a replacement county commissioner in Mobile County. Our suit asserted that the Governor had not obtained preclearance of an Alabama Supreme Court decision before enforcing it.

Earlier posts are here, here, here, here, and here.

Posted by Ed at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Catching up on Birmingham News reports of the mayor's race: Larry Langford was officially certified Tuesday as the winner of Birmingham's Oct. 9 mayoral election, but second-place finisher Patrick Cooper said he plans to contest the election on the grounds Langford didn't meet the residency requirements to run for mayor.

"I'm going to contest it," Cooper said. "Larry Langford has perpetrated a fraud on the residents of Birmingham."

Prior to the election, Langford, a longtime Fairfield resident, rented a loft in downtown Birmingham and had his voter registration changed to that address. He said he intended to buy a house in Birmingham after the election.

While he did keep some clothes in the downtown loft, he said the building didn't allow pets, and he and his wife continued to care for their family dog, Zach, at their Fairfield home. -- Langford certified mayoral winner- al.com

Thursday: Lawyer Patrick Cooper on Wednesday morning challenged Mayor-elect Larry Langford's Oct. 9 victory in the Birmingham mayoral election. Cooper finished second to Langford.

Cooper's contest contends that Langford did not reside in Birmingham on the day he filed papers to run for mayor and thus wasn't qualified to be a candidate in the race. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Allwin Horn was assigned to hear the case. No hearing date has been set.

Wednesday afternoon, Langford asked that the election contest be dismissed. His written response says he was a resident at the time of filing, is a Birmingham voter and was qualified to run for and serve as mayor. -- Cooper challenges mayoral election

Disclosure: I represent the City of Birmingham on election-related matters.

Posted by Ed at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Birmingham News reports: A Rainsville lawyer who first suggested White House influence in the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman told congressional lawyers last month that Siegelman dropped his 2002 election contest after Alabama Republicans promised to end the federal investigation of him.

Jill Simpson told lawyers for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that Rob Riley, the son of Gov. Bob Riley, told her that Siegelman ended his challenge of Riley's gubernatorial victory after receiving assurances that "they would not further prosecute him with the Justice Department."

The statement by Simpson, included in a transcript of her Sept. 14 testimony, is a significant addition to an earlier sworn affidavit of hers that Siegelman supporters used to demand a congressional investigation of his prosecution. ...

Simpson added other disclosures in her congressional testimony given under oath, including that Gov. Riley met with former White House strategist Karl Rove to discuss Siegelman's prosecution; that Rob Riley had frequent contact with Rove; and that Rob Riley and others discussed Rove's direct involvement in the Siegelman prosecution in a conference call she previously said included only references to Rove's interest in the case. -- Lawyer adds to her affidavit on Siegelman- al.com

Posted by Ed at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Michael Richardson writes on OpEdNews.com: The fifth attempt to adopt a constitution for the U.S. Virgin Islands has hit another snag that will likely delay the anticipated October 10th convening of a Constitutional Convention following a ruling by the U.S. Virgin Islands Supreme Court.

Last week the island high court reversed an earlier decision by Superior Court Judge James Carroll III to seat Harry Daniels, a resident of St. John, as a delegate following a disputed June election. Confusing legislative language apportioning delegates from St. Thomas and St. John was at the heart of Daniels' electoral appeal.

The Constitutional Convention was originally slated to begin in July but was delayed by Judge Carroll while he considered Daniels' case. The Supreme Court reversal of the decision to seat Daniels as a delegate drew stinging criticism from Justice Ive Arlington Swan in sharply worded dissent calling for a new election. -- U.S. Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention stalled in delegate election dispute over voting machine ballot design

The case is St. Thomas-St. John Board of Elections v. Daniel.

Posted by Ed at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Herald reports: The Scotland Office has indicated that it is willing to change the law to let the Holyrood election inquiry see the thousands of ballot papers which were spoiled on May 3.

Concerns have been raised that the inquiry, under the leadership of the Canadian election expert Ron Gould, may be toothless because it has no statutory powers to order the release of the 142,000 discarded ballots.

But The Herald has learned that the Scotland Office would be willing to introduce a piece of secondary legislation at Westminster which would allow the spoiled papers to be made available. -- The Herald : Politics: MAIN POLITICS

Posted by Ed at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Scotsman reported on last Satruday: THE GREENS have demanded to examine every spoiled ballot paper from the election as a major inquiry into Scotland's election fiasco gets underway.

The party emerged from the election with just two MSPs - co-leader of the party Robin Harper, who retained his seat on the Lothians list, and Patrick Harvie, who kept his seat in Glasgow.

This was a dramatic drop from the seven MSPs elected at the 2003 count, and the party confirmed it had submitted a Freedom of Information request to look at the 100,000 spoiled ballot papers to try to work out what went wrong. ...

It also emerged last night that Labour was taking legal advice on whether or not to mount a legal challenge to the result in Cunninghame North, which saw Deputy Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Minister Allan Wilson lose by just 48 to the SNP's Kenneth Gibson. -- Greens demand to see spoiled ballots after dramatic fall in seats

Posted by Ed at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Bradenton Herald reports: Another memo from the maker of Sarasota County's touch-screen voting machines has mysteriously surfaced, with critics questioning whether this one showed the company tried to influence a review of the machines' source code.

In a Dec. 15 e-mail sent to a top Florida elections official, an Election Systems & Software vice president outlined several "guidelines" the company wanted an independent team of computer scientists to follow in its review. Among them were prohibitions against any statements about possible causes of more than 18,000 blank votes in the disputed 13th Congressional District race, which prompted the review.

The company also said it wanted to review the team's findings before they were made public, and that anything that violated a confidentiality agreement would be "destroyed (all copies hard of (sic) soft) and rewritten."

Critics quickly pounced Monday on the memo, first posted on a Wired magazine reporter's blog last week. -- Bradenton Herald | 03/27/2007 | Company's memo involving District 13 draws criticism

Posted by Ed at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Paul Lehto writes exclusively for Votelaw.com: I was lead counsel in this case along with Ken Simpkins assisting in this unpublished 2-1 decision, and at trial and on appeal we expressly argued and pointed to the various and severable kinds of relief available in an election contest, and we expressly waived one small part of that relief, that of an order directing Congress to unseat Bilbray -- since that would be unconstitutional for any Court to do under Art. I, sec. 5.

But despite carving this out of the case, many other issues remain, like vindicating the strong public policy in accuracy in elections, and the many other issues that could be summed up by saying: THE TRUTH IN ELECTIONS STILL MATTERS. The voters still have a California constitutional right to have their votes counted properly and tabulated properly, and time has not run out to have a look at vindicating those rights. The Court of Appeals ignored them, however, thus ignoring the voters.

Continue reading "More on the Bilbray decision" »

Posted by Ed at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The North County Times reports: The appeal of a lawsuit that challenged the June 2006 election of Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, to fill the remaining six months of disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's term in office was dismissed Tuesday because Bilbray already has completed that term.

Bilbray won the election in November 2006 to his own full, two-year term in office.

A state appeals court in San Diego ruled Tuesday that the appeal of a judge's dismissal of the lawsuit was moot. ...

Voters Barbara Gail Jacobson and Lillian M. Ritt filed a lawsuit July 31, 2006, in which they alleged problems existed with the voting machines used in the June 2006 election and asked for a hand-recount of the votes and a declaration that the candidate who received the most votes be declared elected to congress, the appeals court's written opinion stated. -- Appeals court dismisses challenge to Bilbray election - North County Times - San Diego / County -

Posted by Ed at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters reports: Black Cherokee Indians said on Tuesday they will challenge a weekend vote to kick them out of the tribe that once owned their ancestors as slaves.

They threatened legal action to overturn the vote on Saturday in which 77 percent of those who cast ballots said they should no longer be Cherokees. ...

The vote would remove from tribal rolls 2,800 people who were mostly "freedmen," or descendants of slaves owned by the tribe before the U.S. Civil War brought their freedom.

They were adopted into the tribe under a 1866 treaty with the United States, but there has long been controversy among Cherokees about whether they belonged. -- Black Cherokees to challenge ouster from tribe | U.S. | Reuters

Posted by Ed at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times reports: Florida election officials announced yesterday that an examination of voting software did not find any malfunctions that could have caused up to 18,000 votes to be lost in a disputed Congressional race in Sarasota County, and they suggested that voter confusion over a poor ballot design was mainly to blame.

The finding, reached unanimously by a team of computer experts from several universities, could finally settle last fall’s closest federal election. The Republican candidate, Vern Buchanan, was declared the winner by 369 votes, but the Democrat, Christine Jennings, formally contested the results, claiming that the touch-screen voting machines must have malfunctioned.

Legal precedents make it difficult to win a lawsuit over ballot design, but a substantial error in the software might have been grounds for a new election.

The questions about the electronic machines arose because many voters complained that they had had trouble getting their votes to register for Ms. Jennings, and the machines did not have a back-up paper trail that might have provided clues about any problems. The report said some voters might have accidentally touched the screen twice, thus negating their votes, while most of the others probably overlooked the race on the flawed ballot. -- Panel Cites Voter Error, Not Software, in Loss of Votes - New York Times

Posted by Ed at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AP reports: Three county elections workers conspired to avoid a more thorough recount of ballots in the 2004 presidential election, a prosecutor told jurors during opening statements Thursday.

"The evidence will show that this recount was rigged, maybe not for political reasons, but rigged nonetheless," Prosecutor Kevin Baxter said. "They did this so they could spend a day rather than weeks or months" on the recount, he said.

Jacqueline Maiden, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections' coordinator, faces six counts of misconduct over how the ballots were reviewed. Rosie Grier, manager of the board's ballot department, and Kathleen Dreamer, an assistant manager, face the same charges. ...

Ohio law states that during a recount each county is supposed to randomly choose 3 percent of its ballots and tally them by hand and by machine. If there are no discrepancies in those counts, the rest of the votes can be recounted by machine. ...

Baxter said testimony in the case will show that instead of conducting a random count, the workers chose sample precincts for the Dec. 16, 2004, recount that did not have questionable results to ensure that no discrepancies would emerge. -- AP Wire | 01/18/2007 | Ohio elections workers on trial

Posted by Ed at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Shreveport Times reports: A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit seeking to disqualify U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, but challenger Patti Cox is not deterred.

"It's not over. It's called appeal," Cox said Monday.

In a one-page judgment, U.S. District Judge Tom Stagg said the U.S. House of Representatives is the only institution permitted by the Constitution to decide Cox's challenge to McCrery's qualifications.

Cox, one of three contenders who tried to unseat McCrery on Nov. 7, filed suit in state and federal court in November claiming McCrery was not a Louisiana resident when he won the election. McCrery sold his Shreveport home in 2004 and moved his family to McLean, Va. McCrery has said he maintained residency in Shreveport. -- The Shreveport Times

Posted by Ed at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Shreveport Times reported yesterday: When Rep. Jim McCrery takes the congressional oath of office today, he'll be one of three Republican lawmakers whose elections to the House are still in dispute because of challenges filed by candidates they defeated.

All three elections may be scrutinized by the House Administration Committee, but in the meantime, McCrery and the other two House members will be allowed to serve.

Their challengers stand only a slim chance of victory.

More than 100 election challenges have been filed by losing candidates since 1933, but nearly all have been dismissed by the House. -- The Shreveport Times

Posted by Ed at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Herald-Tribune reports: Arguing that her challenge of the outcome of the Congressional District 13 race will be “crippled” if she cannot review voting machine computer codes and hardware, Democrat Christine Jennings on Wednesday asked a state appellate court to overturn a judge’s decision denying her access to that information.

Jennings’ filing at the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee came the day before Republican Vern Buchanan is scheduled to be sworn in as the new representative for the congressional seat previously held by U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Longboat Key.

Buchanan has been declared the winner in the race by a 369-vote margin, although Jennings has legally contested the election outcome.

She contends that the fact that 18,000 voters in Sarasota County went to the polls but didn’t cast a ballot in the race is an indication that the electronic touch-screen voting machines malfunctioned. -- Jennings appeals ruling on voting machines

Posted by Ed at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AP reports: The Democrat who narrowly lost to a Republican in the race to replace Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) asked Congress on Wednesday for an investigation.

The state has declared that Democrat Christine Jennings lost to Republican Vern Buchanan by 369 votes. But 18,000 Sarasota County electronic ballots did not record a choice in the race, and Jennings contends that the number is abnormally high and that the machines lost the votes.

She filed with the House clerk an official contest of the election results in Florida's 13th Congressional District.

She said she will ask Congress to consider ordering a revote if her legal challenge in Florida fails. She is seeking to obtain the programming code for the touch-screen voting machines to determine whether a bug or malicious programming could have lost votes. The state has found no evidence of malfunction. -- Congress asked to intervene in Fla. race - Yahoo! News

Posted by Ed at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AP reports: State attorneys Thursday withdrew a motion to dismiss a lawsuit calling for a new election in a long-contested Southwest Florida congressional race.

Democrat Christine Jennings' lawsuit claims ATM-style, touch-screen voting machines in Sarasota County lost up to 18,000 votes in the congressional contest to replace U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris. State officials declared Republican Vern Buchanan the winner of the 13th District seat by a margin of just 369 votes.

The Department of State decided that trying to get the case thrown out wasn't the most efficient use of resources, said Secretary of State spokeswoman Jenny Nash. ...

Jennings' lawyers are now focusing on a Tuesday hearing to persuade a judge to give them access to the source code that runs the electronic voting booths used in the contested election. Voting machine manufacturer Elections Systems & Software has argued in court that the software is a trade secret. -- State Drops Motion In Jennings Lawsuit

Posted by Ed at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Economist reports: SINCE it is a place where alligator wrestling is a recognised pastime and tourists wear hats with Mickey Mouse ears, you might think that Florida would be immune to embarrassment. But after its punch-card ballots threw the 2000 presidential election into chaos, the state made a decisive move. It outlawed punch-cards and spent millions of dollars on touch-screen voting machines instead.

“There'll never be a hanging, dangling, or pregnant chad again,” vowed Katherine Harris who was Florida's secretary of state at the time of the election. In 2002, Ms Harris was elected to the national House of Representatives.

But now voters are realising that a mangled paper record is better than none at all. “At least we had the ability to determine a voter's intentions,” said Dan Smith of the University of Florida. This year's election to Florida's 13th congressional district provides a handy lesson in the pitfalls of electronic voting. Weeks after election day, it is still being contested. In an odd coincidence, it is the seat Ms Harris decided to vacate to pursue a disastrous Senate run. -- Electronic voting | Another election mess in Florida | Economist.com

Note: Dan Smith (quoted in the third graf) called this article to my attention (I wonder why?). I decided to quote because of the wonderful first paragraph. (I wonder what snarky remark they would have about Alabama?)

Posted by Ed at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The AP reports: A state panel agreed Wednesday to recount votes in four Indiana House races whose ultimate outcomes could threaten Democratic control of the chamber or widen the party’s majority.

The Indiana Recount Commission also granted Libertarian Steve Osborn’s request to retally ballots in 10 precincts in his statewide race for the U.S. Senate against Dick Lugar, even though Osborn lost by more than 1 million votes on Nov. 7 and he acknowledged the recount gives him no chance of winning.

Democrats gained a 51-49 majority in the Indiana House, according to totals cited by the Secretary of State’s Office. Recount requests were made by three Democratic candidates who each lost by fewer than 30 votes, and by former Republican Rep. Billy Bright of North Vernon, who challenged results that show he lost by about 1,600 votes.

Democrats could only lose control of the chamber if a recount determines that Bright won and outcomes in the other races stand. That would give each party 50 members, and under a tie-breaking rule, Republicans would control the chamber. -- Journal Gazette | 11/30/2006 | Recounts granted in 4 races; House in balance

Posted by Ed at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports: The computer source code that tells touch-screen voting machines how to run will be analyzed in the next phase of a state audit to determine what, if anything, went wrong in the Nov. 7 election.

The source code analysis has not started yet, but it is already generating controversy in the contested Congressional District 13 race, in which Republican Vern Buchanan was certified the winner by 369 votes.

The state Division of Elections' top choice for heading the review is Florida State University associate computer science professor Alec Yasinsac, an outspoken Republican who has advocated paperless voting machines in the past.

Democrats and voting rights activists charge that Yasinsac is too partisan to conduct an objective investigation. -- Audit to review computer code

Posted by Ed at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Providence Journal reports: Almost a decade ago, Rhode Island retired its mechanical voting machines, peddling the 1,000-pound, 6-foot-tall behemoths for scrap.

The five-decade-old lever machines were replaced by a compact optical scanner called the Optech Eagle in a decision heralded as a leap forward for accurately tallying votes. For years, Rhode Island considered itself in the vanguard of electoral reform, and many states did not integrate similar electronic systems until after witnessing the 2000 presidential-election controversies.

For five election cycles, the new system went largely unchallenged. But last month, candidates in several unusually tight races questioned whether the state went too far in its rush to modernize elections.

On Wednesday, a Superior Court judge agreed, ruling that the state Board of Elections had ceded too much authority to the Optech scanners and mandating that candidates be permitted to view ballots rejected during recounts to determine whether the voter’s intent could be discerned.

State election officials denounced the ruling, saying manual reviews of ballots would undermine the objectivity of the new system. -- Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal | Local News

Posted by Ed at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Tuesday kicked off the state's testing of the touch-screens at the center of the dispute. But by the end of the day, few answers had materialized.

The results of the test varied from Election Day totals by five votes, but it was unclear what that meant. Jennings' camp said it suggested the machines were fallible; Buchanan's team said the differing numbers proved nothing.

Today, officials will review videotapes of the tests -- to ensure testers selected the correct candidates -- and the scripts that the testers worked from. At first blush, the five-vote variance didn't alarm state election officials.

"The machines performed as they should," said Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Elections. Any discrepancies, she said, are likely to be "human error." -- Testers re-enact Election Day -- results differ - Orlando Sentinel : State News Testers re-enact Election Day -- results differ - Orlando Sentinel : State News

Comment: Oh, I get it: conclusion first, evidence later.

Posted by Ed at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hotline reports: It seems good news for Democrats just keeps coming. Going into the election, the party held 94 seats out of 203 in the Pennsylvania State House. The party picked up enough seats to earn a 101-100 lead after most ballots were counted, though two seats – both previously controlled by Republicans – were close enough to require recounts.

Republican Duane Milne kept a narrow 144-vote lead after provisional, overseas and absentee ballots were all cast, creating a 101-101 tie and putting control of the chamber in the hands of the 156th House District. In that race, Republican Shannon Royer led his Democratic opponent, Barbara Smith, by just 19 votes (out of close to 30K cast) going into today’s final counts.

After all the ballots were tallied, Smith reversed the gap and emerged with a 23-vote victory, handing control of the State House to Democrats in a chamber few thought they had a chance of picking off. -- Hotline On Call: Dems Pick Up PA State House

Posted by Ed at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times Regional Newspapers reported on 19 November: Democratic state Sen. Larry Means of Attalla has filed amended campaign finance reports following a lawsuit seeking to nullify his Nov. 7 election win over a last-minute write-in candidate.

It’s the second lawsuit seeking to nullify the re-elections of state senators based on alleged noncompliance with Alabama campaign finance disclosure laws. ...

Means originally filed five waivers showing no campaign activity because he didn’t have primary or general election opposition.

“We did what the Secretary of State’s Office told us to do [file waivers] so we went ahead and filed," Means said. “If [the secretary of state] had told us that, that’s what we would have done." -- Senators test campaign finance laws - Tuscaloosa

Posted by Ed at 7:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Deseret Morning News reports: Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, will have one fewer Republican in his caucus during the 2007 Legislature, provided Curtis survives an election recount.

After counting provisional and by-mail absentee ballots and having the vote canvass approved by the Salt Lake County Council, Curtis officially defeated Democratic challenger Jay Seegmiller by 19 votes, it was learned Tuesday. That final result was closer than the tallies following Election Day, when Curtis led by 46 votes.

While Democrats likely missed a golden opportunity to take out one of the most powerful Republicans in the state, the minority party in the Legislature did keep another one of its incumbents when Rep. Carl Duckworth, D-Magna, defeated challenger Deena Ely. Duckworth had trailed by 25 votes before the additional ballots were counted but ended up winning by 33 votes, a total large enough to avoid a recount. -- deseretnews.com | Recounts on in 2 races

Posted by Ed at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: Control of the state House could hinge on whether a handful of Chester County voters used their middle initials when they signed their absentee ballots.

That's the kind of technicality being argued in the county over 20 ballots in two elections that are too close to call.

Republicans, who have an edge in both races after unofficial Election Night returns, want to exclude some provisional and absentee ballots from the final vote total, while Democrats want them counted.

Both sides made their cases yesterday during six hours of testimony before the county commissioners, who are acting as the Board of Elections. Testimony was expected to continue today and a decision on whether to include those ballots could come as soon as Tuesday.

Then, the challenged ballots that are deemed admissible, along with 529 other sealed absentee ballots in the two races, will be opened and counted. -- Control of state House may hinge on technicalities

Posted by Ed at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AP reports: A Republican defeated in his re-election bid for a legislative seat from southern Indiana has filed a challenge to the election results that could threaten Democratic control of the Indiana House.

The challenge by Republican Billy Bright of North Vernon brings to four the number of election reviews expected in the closely divided Indiana House, which Democrats control 51-49 based on preliminary returns of the Nov. 7 election.

Those results showed Democrat Dave Cheatham, who was sworn into office Tuesday, defeating Bright 10,861 to 9,244 in District 69, but Bright is questioning the high number of absentee ballots in Jennings County.

He said 30 percent of the votes cast in Jennings County were absentee ballots, compared with the statewide average of 9 percent.

“We believe that the unbelievably high number of absentee ballots are a concern,” Bright said Tuesday. “We believe there were some real irregularities in Jennings County, and we will find the truth.” -- Journal Gazette | 11/22/2006 | Latest election challenge could split House 50-50

Posted by Ed at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CQPolitics reports: The number of Nov. 7 House general elections in which the winner has not been firmly established has dwindled to four. But at least one of these, the controversy-plagued contest for the open seat in Florida’s 13th District, is unlikely to be decided for weeks — and even has the potential to kick off the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress in January with a dispute over whether to seat the certified winner.

That candidate is Republican Vern Buchanan: The Florida secretary of state’s office yesterday certified the wealthy car dealer as the victor, by a margin of 369 votes, over Democrat Christine Jennings, a former bank president.

Jennings immediately filed a lawsuit in Leon County, which is well north of the 13th District but includes the state capital of Tallahassee. The crux of Jennings’ complaint — which demands that a new election be called — is that there were more than 18,000 “undervotes” in Sarasota County, the district’s largest jurisdiction and the source of Jennings’ greatest electoral strength.

The “undervotes” refer to ballots in which votes were registered for other offices but not for the House race between Buchanan and Jennings. -- Legal Fight in Florida's 13th Could Stretch Into 2007 - Yahoo! News

Posted by Ed at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CQPolitics reports: New Mexico Republican Rep. Heather A. Wilson (news, bio, voting record) has survived her toughest race of a House career that dates to 1998. Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid on Tuesday conceded the 1st District contest, in which she trailed Wilson by fewer than 900 votes.

Madrid, the state attorney general, said at an Albuquerque press conference that she did not intend to seek a full recount, even though Wilson led by just 105,916 votes to 105,037, according to the Associated Press.

That 879-vote difference produced a margin of victory of less than one-half of 1 percentage point, a threshold that in several states would have triggered an automatic recount. But New Mexico does not have such a provision, so Madrid’s campaign would have had to bear the cost of a recount unless it changed the outcome of the election. ...

Despite Madrid’s decision to pass up a full recanvass, the vote counting and numbers in the contest still are not completely finalized. New Mexico Democratic Party Executive Director Matt Farrauto told CQPolitics.com it was “reasonably likely” that party officials would request a partial recount, a possibility party Chairman John Wertheim raised in Tuesday’s news conference. -- Madrid Concedes, But New Mexico Dems Aren't Done Yet - Yahoo! News

Posted by Ed at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

WISH-TV reports: The verdict is still out in the race for the seat in the State House of Representatives on the south side of Indianapolis. Democratic incumbent Ed Mahern trails Republican Jon Elrod by just five votes. However there are seven votes not in the final total that could change the outcome.

Several hundred provisional ballots in Marion County are still being sorted. There are four provisional ballots in District 97 that have not yet been counted and may not be. Those four voters did not have the proper id on Election Day. But it is not too late for those votes to be counted..

"They have until Friday at noon to bring that identification, to bring that id to the clerk's office, show it to us. If they do that we will open the ballot and get it counted," Marion County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler said.

Democrats are working to find those voters to urge them to get to the clerk's office. Those votes could potentially change the results. ...

The Democrats want the courts to get involved and open those ballots, again potentially changing the outcome of the race. Republicans say the Democrats do not have the right to ask the court to decide. -- WISH-TV - Indianapolis News and Weather - Parties Have 24 Hours to Submit Proposals on Absentee Ballots

Posted by Ed at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Orlando Sentinel reports: As officials begin a manual recount Thursday of more than 18,000 disputed ballots in the race for the 13th Congressional District, a handful of voting-rights and ballot-reform groups seeking to force a new election have put out a call to unhappy voters.

The organizations are holding a public hearing Thursday at a downtown hotel to hear from residents who fear their votes were incorrectly recorded or who failed to choose a candidate in the race because the ballot design was confusing. ...

More than 18,000 ballots cast in Sarasota County showed no choice was made in the hotly contested congressional race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings. The so-called "undervote" in that race - which Buchanan now leads by 401 votes - was about 15 percent among voters who used computer touch-screen machines. That compares to undervotes of less than 3 percent in parts of the district with different voting machines.

Dozens of voters complained that they may have inadvertently missed the race because they were confused by the layout of the computer screen ballot. Others - some have sworn out affidavits - insist they made a choice, but noticed on a final review page that it had not registered. -- KRT Wire | 11/16/2006 | Florida officials begin manual recount of 18,000 ballots

Posted by Ed at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CQPolitics reports: Wyoming Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record) staved off a close challenge by Democrat Gary Trauner, winning a seventh term as the state’s lone House member. Cubin was called the winner of the contest — eight days after Election Day — by the Associated Press based on the vote certified by state officials Wednesday.

It was by far the closest House race ever faced by Cubin in a state that typically is a Republican stronghold, an outcome that was testimony both to the tough political atmosphere for Republicans nationwide and some self-inflicted problems that Cubin brought on herself.

The final tally by the Wyoming Canvassing Board gave Cubin 93,336 votes (48.3 percent) to Trauner’s 92,324 votes (47.8 percent). Libertarian candidate Thomas Ranki