Ballot Access News

Virginia is one of twenty-one states in which the voter registration form doesn’t ask the voter to choose a party (that includes North Dakota, which does not even have voter registration). According to this story, both the Virginia Governor, Robert McDonnell, and the Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling, favor switching Virginia from a state without registration by party, to a state that has registration by party. Both McDonnell and Bolling are Republicans, and the legislature has a Republican majority.

The Virginia legislature is more active in even-numbered years than in odd-numbered years, so it is plausible a bill to make that change will pass during 2012, although of course it would not take effect until 2013.

The story also notes that the Virginia Republican Party will meet on January 21 and may scrap the “loyalty oath” administered to voters in the Republican presidential primary of March 6.

The Americans Elect web page now lets members sign in, and complete procedures designed to identify oneself and also to enable Americans Elect to verify that the member is a registered voter. Americans Elect already has approximately 400,000 members. A member is someone who has signed up to vote in the organization’s on-line presidential primary in June 2012. Once members complete this procedure, the member is a “delegate.”

Members complete this process by signing in, and then going to “My account” and then choosing “Voting Security.” Four activities are then required. First, the member confirms his or her e-mail address by entering it and having Americans Elect send a confirming e-mail. Then, the member chooses a strong PIN, which must be a number that is at least six digits. Then, the member chooses four security questions and provides the answers. These are similar to the security questions that banks use to know the identity of their on-line customers; the idea is that only the individual will know the answers to the chosen security questions. Finally, the member enters the residence address at which he or she is registered to vote, so that Americans Elect can cross-check with voter registration records that the member really is a registered voter.

According to this story, the South Carolina Republican Party primary will cost taxpayers $1,500,000, but the South Carolina Election Commission does not now have that much money. The Commission will still go ahead with the primary, and hopes the state legislature will appropriate more money for it.