UNCONSTITUTIONAL VOTING!! VA Constitution stipulates: No secret vote counting!

[L. Coyote]

Original Message -----
From: Vickie Karp
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 2:41 PM
Subject: VA Constitution stipulates: No secret vote counting!

I have just been contacted by a Virginia resident named Mike Eck who has researched the Virginia state Constitution after hearing Mark Adams on the radio talking about S. Carolina's prohibition on secret vote counting in their Constitution.

Mike has researched and found the clauses in Virginia's state Constitution which specifically prohibit secret vote counting.

He is looking for assistance, saying "This is a violation of the law and somebody should be held responsible". He has found no other real support for his position in his state so far. The Virginia primary election is about to held in violation of its own state Constitution.

......

Vickie

forward from: www.coalitionforvisibleballots.org

[LiberalFighter]

1. Only applies to their state elections. Federal elections are different.

I've read in historical books that voters use to go to the county seat and their names would be called out. They would respond verbally with their vote.

[Land Shark]

4. Wrong, state law applies to ALL elections unless affirmatively displaced by federal law

as to federal elections only. See Art I, secs. 4 and 5 of the US Constitution. As a practical matter, states and counties are the only entities that actually administer elections on the ground, and state law provides the vast majority of the law applicable to federal cases. In 2006 I was lead attorney on a congressional election challenge and I spent more time with the state law than the federal law, though there were considerable federal issues involved.

PS Sometimes federal law effects state elections but this is due to the expense and hassle of having separate elections which states avoid and thus when they get machines under HAVA or do motor voter things, it affects state registration as well since they choose not to have separate systems for practical reasons.

[LiberalFighter]

2. What are the clauses in their constitution?

[Land Shark]

3. Here's some additional info on clauses

I found the SC provision before Mark Adams did and shared it with others, but kudos for getting on the radio and talking about it to Mark Adams. If there were an action in SC I'd support it, here's the specific clause in question reprinted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=177&topic_id=1382&mesg_id=1383

SECTION 1. Elections to be by secret ballot; protection of right of suffrage.

All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot, but the ballots shall not be counted in secret. The right of suffrage, as regulated in this Constitution, shall be protected by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or improper conduct.

SECTION 2. Free exercise of right of suffrage.

No power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage in this State.

In Virginia it's the article I, sec. 15. Here again, none of us are the first to ever read these state constitutions, but on the other hand some of the more obvious violations tend to show that no one is paying attention to them frequently enough. In the VA constitution it says

Virginia Const. Art. II, sec. 3, para. 2 Secrecy in casting votes shall be maintained, except as provision may be made for assistance to handicapped voters, but the ballot box or voting machine shall be kept in public view and shall not be opened, nor the ballots canvassed nor the votes counted, in secret. Votes may be cast in person or by absentee ballot as provided by law.

Comparing the two, the SC is a little stronger, since in an unquoted provision VA's constitution does mention voting machines, yet the no secrecy provision should require at least discovery on an expedited basis of the workings of the hard drives that did the counting so experts could try to interpret that, which is much more than we have now. (though to anyone not fluent in computers it is the same as having info provided in greek)