Even though the Goldwater Institute already won injunctive relief against Coconino County, in federal court, over whether voters may wear shirts to the polls that mention the Tea Party, Maricopa County says it is not subject to that ruling. Therefore, the Institute is about to sue Maricopa County over the same issue today. See this story.
On October 27, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld an order of a lower state court, and ruled that voters should choose a new judge in the 13th Judicial Circuit on November 2, 2010, using write-in votes. No names will be printed on the ballot for that office. Here is the opinion, which is called Rayner v Barbour, 2010-EC-1682.
Generally, when Mississippi voters use the write-in to elect someone, there is someone’s name on the ballot. The Circuit Clerks of the various counties in the 13th Circuit had filed the lawsuit against the Secretary of State, alleging that it is not proper to use write-in votes to choose a new judge, in the circumstances that no one’s name is printed on the ballot. The only candidate who had qualified to have his name on the ballot had died before the ballots were printed, so his name does not appear. But there was no time for anyone else to qualify to be listed. The clerks filed the lawsuit because they worry that the voters will not make an informed choice. But the majority decision says, “The Court observes that all Mississippi elections, except for run-off elections, permit voters to vote by write-in vote.”
The Associated Press initially sent out a story about this lawsuit, saying it was in federal court, but that was an error.
On October 29, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, on his own motion, postponed the start of the trial in Washington State Republican Party v Washington State Grange from November 15, 2010, until January 18, 2011. This is the case over the constitutionality of the top-two system.
On October 29, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, on his own motion, postponed the start of the trial in Washington State Republican Party v Washington State Grange from November 15, 2010, until January 18, 2011. This is the case over the constitutionality of the top-two system.
On Friday, October 29, the state chair of the North Carolina Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections, complaining about the accuracy of the iVotronic vote-counting machines that are used in 35 counties. The lawsuit is Fetzer v Bartlett, U.S. District Court, eastern district, 4:10cv-158-H.
On Saturday, October 30, a hearing was held, and the parties settled. The State Board of Elections promises to instruct all polling place officials to orally tell each voter to read a sign, titled “Voter Alert.” The sign says, “Touchscreen voting machines are sensitive. A summary page will appear at the end of your ballot so you can review the choices selected. CAREFULLY (underlined and in bold print) review your ballot to make sure your vote is accurately cast.”
Also, the Board has instructed all local election officials to preserve all programming materials, records and audit logs from the iVotronic machines.
The Democratic Party has the top line on all North Carolina ballots. This is because of a state law that says parties with at least 5% of the voter registration are put on the ballot in alphabetical order. Because only the Democratic and Republican Parties have 5% of the voter registration, and because “D” comes before “R” in the alphabet, this means that all North Carolina ballots always have the Democrats at the top, and Republicans are on the second line. If a voter intends to vote for Republicans, and touches the touch-screen in the area between the Democratic and Republican lines, the machine interprets that as a vote for the party on the top line, even though that voter intended the party on the second line.
On October 29, Pennsylvanians who want ballot access reform held a rally at the State Capitol. State Senator Mike Folmer, sponsor of one of this session’s ballot access reform bills, addressed the group. See this story. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.