All this and more in today's voting news below...
US: Parties dispatch staff, money in battle for last 10 House seats
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/128257-parties-scramble-as-recounts-loom-in-several-house-races
AR: "Success' Looks Rough
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/nov/06/success-looks-rough-20101106/
"Election Commission Chairman Bill Williams said final, unofficial results were compiled at 1:54 a.m. Wednesday and posted on the Benton County web site by 2:30 a.m. Despite the technical difficulties and complaints about paper ballots being unavailable at some polling places, Williams regarded the election a success."
...
Next election, go out and hire some six-toed sloths to help with the counting.
Sloths would give the election commission extra toes to count on and probably move faster.
Thursday's report detailed, " ... Internal clock errors, sticky rolls of printer paper and a cutback on paper ballots added up to long lines for some Benton County voters Tuesday ..."
http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/nov/07/how-we-see-it-vote-count-no-disaster-20101107/ Benton County.. Williams told us people are not entitled to paper ballots.
However, there are those who prefer paper because they don't trust the machines. Those people deserve the peace of mind the paper ballot provides them. There's no excuse for failing to provide paper ballots. The commission also had problems with the machines because their internal clocks were on standard time, not Daylight Saving Time, which forced officials to bring numerous machines back to the commission offices to be closed and processed. If the clocks caused problems for any other county, we're not aware; how did it happen here? Lastly, the commission did not have final totals for the night until 2 a.m.
AR: Pettus paying $2,500 for recount
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/nov/07/pettus-paying-2500-recount/?latest
Martin received 10,326 votes to Pettus' 5,120 votes, but talk of voting problems in Russellville spurred Pettus supporters to donate the money for a Monday recount, he said.
AZ: Hispanic civil rights group seeks to force provisional ballot count
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/politics/article_e712b39a-e960-11df-afa8-001cc4c03286.html ...And the reason they didn't show up on the rolls is that they didn't get registered because they didn't provide proof of U.S. citizenship as required by a 2004 voter-approved Arizona law.
On Oct. 26, though, the appellate court declared that requirement invalid. Based on that, MALDEF attorney Nina Perales said those who were wrongfully denied registration should have their votes counted.
CA: 2 California congressional races remain close
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/08/politics/p145541S01.DTL&type=politics
CA: Registrar On Hot Seat Over Smudged Ballot Delay
http://losaltos.patch.com/articles/registrar-on-hot-seat-over-smudged-ballot-delay
As vote counting drags on, Supervisor Liz Kniss calls for an investigation into the response to defective absentee ballots
CA: California Attorney General
http://www.ksro.com/LocalNews/Story.aspx?ID=1308297
It could be weeks before we know who won the race for California Attorney General.
...
Around the state, local elections officials are still counting vote by mail, provisional and other ballots. They have until November 30th to report their final results.
CT: Foley concedes defeat, but GOP wants probe of Bridgeport vote
http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Foley-concedes-defeat-but-GOP-wants-probe-of-803589.php Republican State Central Committee Chairman Chris Healy earlier Monday said he would file a request with the U.S. Justice Department and with state authorities to investigate the way Bridgeport officials handled the Election Day flow.
...
Foley noted at his news conference that photo-copied ballots had been used in six other towns, in addition to Bridgeport, after registrars had run out of ballots and that those ballots combined exceeded the margin of Malloy's victory.
But after reviewing what he described as a chaotic day of voting and a protracted ballot-counting process in Bridgeport, Foley said, "I'm not willing to pursue a legal challenge to exclude the photo-copied ballots in Bridgeport, because I do believe they represent legitimate votes."
CT: EDITORIAL: Scrimping on ballots proved foolish
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/11/08/opinion/doc4cd768b331db8348435098.txt
CT: State Election System Needs Improving, From Ballot Shortage To Counting Third-Party Votes http://www.ctnow.com/news/connecticut/hc-campbell-vote-gone-1109-20101109,0,6149952.column
MD: Currie challenger seeks probe of voting procedures
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2010/11/currie_challenger_seeks_probe.html
Jennifer Lowery-Bell has asked Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler to investigate Prince George's County's handling of write-in votes in the Nov. 2 contest for state senator for the 25th District.
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