All this and more in today's voting news below...
Editor's note:The PacMan Voting Machine story and video has become viral.
One voting news reader writes: "My hair exploded about the pac man program!!"
AZ: Maricopa County Elections Sued Over Alleged Voting Violations
http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/2010/08/maricopa-county-elections-sued-over.html
A group of diverse individuals including Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Barry Hess, former Republican state Senator Karen Johnson, and voting activist John Brakey are suing Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, alleging that Maricopa County Elections is involved in various voting shenanigans.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-voter-registration-20100821,0,3294207.story
The start of the program has been pushed back to June 2014 as the secretary of state seeks a new contractor.
...
She (SOS Bowen) said other states' efforts are not comparable to California's. "There is no precedent in any other state for this, because California is enormous," she said.
CT: Greenwich picked - yet again - to audit primary results
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Greenwich-picked-yet-again-to-audit-primary-622620.php Six of the seven times since the state started mandating audits three years ago, the town has been picked for a recount, irking its two registrars of voters.
...
Despite the hassle of conducting frequent audits, DeCaro said it was much better than the alternative of no checks and balances.
(Fred DeCaro III, Stamford's Republican registrar).
FL: Early-voting machine malfunctions* (Sarasota - Dominion opscan machines)
http://www.yourobserver.com/news/sarasota/Front-Page/081920107656/Early-voting-machine-malfunctions...One of the inspectors noticed this week that the system count on the machine was different than the number of ballots that had been inputted.
...
But Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota County, said he is concerned.
"This proves the need to have paper ballots, so there's concrete evidence, so no one could question the outcome," he said. "Two thousand votes could decide a race."
Rita Ferrandino, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Sarasota County, said issues such as this are why she has election observers watching every step of the process.
NV: The incredibly true, bizarre story of Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian and $35
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/aug/19/incredibly-true-bizarre-story-scott-ashjian-and-35/...
Wrong. Colorado ain't nothin'; in Nevada, Ashjian needed only need 250 signatures to get his name on the ballot for national office.
NY: Democracy, the Hard Way*
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/nyregion/22critic.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
The new system compounds the shortcomings of print media with those of electronic media -- and makes matters worse with hard-to-read, hard-to-understand instructions and a lot of extraneous nonsense.
OH: Cuyahoga County Board of Elections posts bilingual ballots
http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2010/08/cuyahoga_board_of_elections_posts_bilingual_ballots.html
In response to a recent U.S. Department of Justice push for bilingual ballots, 70 precincts in council districts 2, 3, 4 and 7 will offer instructions, political parties and offices in both English and Spanish.
OH: The price is wrong (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100822/OPINION02/8210358
"We all expect judges to be accountable to the law rather than political supporters or special interests. But elected judges in many states are compelled to solicit money for their election campaigns, sometimes lawyers and parties appearing before them. Whether or not these contributions actually tilt the scales of justice, three out of four Americans believe that campaign contributions affect courtroom decisions.
TN: Any Election Review Should Benefit Voters
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=52259
The problems voters experienced Aug. 5 were serious, although probably doesn't change the beating the Democratic slate endured. Voters of all political persuasions appear to have been told they had already voted early when they hadn't.
TN: EDITORIAL: Voting mistake hurts trust*
http://www.dnj.com/article/20100822/OPINION01/8220301
The Rutherford County Election Commission's failure to meet state guidelines for early voting guidelines is an embarrassing mistake, one the county can hardly afford to ensure elections are fair and balanced
TN: 'Hot Button' readers respond: Do you have faith in the elections system? *
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/22/hot-button-sunday/
I am 80 and have voted in pretty much every election. They finally gave me a paper ballot. Then I received a letter from Shelby County Election Commission administrator Richard Holden saying the vote could not be counted as I was not a registered voter. When I called him asking questions, he was hostile and told me the vote was counted. I later received a new voter card (I still have the previous one) but never got any explanation as to why my voter record vanished.
TN: Dems protesting election mistakes
http://www.tennessean.com/article/D4/20100821/NEWS03/8210322/Dems-protesting-election-mistakes...The mistakes come after Republicans replaced the Secretary of State, the state coordinator of elections and dozens of county election administrators after the GOP won control of the state House of Representatives in the 2008 elections. These election officials replaced long-serving Democrats who had more experience and were more even-handed, party officials say.