Election Reform, Fraud and Related News. 05/23/08

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Bush Nominates Senate Rules Panel Insider to Federal Election Commission Post
By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff

President Bush on Thursday raised the stakes in the standoff with the Senate over filling empty Federal Election Commission seats, but no action is expected for weeks.

Bush announced his intention to nominate someone from within the Senate itself — Matthew S. Petersen, Republican chief counsel of the Rules and Administration Committee.

That committee is in charge of vetting nominees to the FEC, so the choice of Petersen will make it difficult for senators to argue that they need a lot of time or more information before voting.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R‑Ky., said the Petersen selection “provides a path toward seating a fully functioning, bipartisan commission.”

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002882229



1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web. Here's the link to the News Directory:
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2. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

3. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.


Recommendations are much appreciated. :hi:

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1. The Nation.

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5. Absentee Voting Campaign Kicks Off

Absentee Voting Campaign Kicks Off

May 22, 2008
BY Carrie McLeroy

Soldiers overseas register to vote during a unit voting assitance drive. Photo by U.S. Army

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 22, 2008) - The nation will not only select a president in the 2008 elections, but also 34 senators, 435 congressmen, 13 state governors and thousands of local officials. As in the past, officials said the military vote promises to play an integral role in the democratic process.

In the 2004 general election, 79 percent of servicemembers voted, compared to 64 percent of the general public, according to the Department of Defense's 2005 Federal Voting Assistance Program report. Those numbers were up 15 percent from 2000.

Fifty-three percent of the military vote was as a result of absentee ballots, and 20 percent of uniformed men and women voted in person. The same report showed that 6 percent of military voters attempted to vote but failed for various reasons, down 6 percent from the previous general election.
"The Army hopes that by making information more accessible, and the way it is disseminated timelier and more efficient, the voting process will be even more successful this time around," said Alton Perry, the Army voting action officer.

"Voting assistance officers are working hard to ensure absentee ballots get into the hands of our Soldiers, DA civilians, and their family members who need them, in a timely manner," said Brig. Gen. Reuben Jones, the adjutant general of the Army and senior service voting representative.

Voting rights of servicemembers, Merchant Marines, eligible family members and other citizens residing outside the U.S. are covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The FVAP carries out the responsibilities of the Act, and each service must ensure those responsibilities are met.

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/05/22/9360-absentee-voting-campaign-kicks-off/

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6. UTC may rethink Diebold bid

UTC may rethink Diebold bid
STEPHEN SINGER Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/21/2008 11:22:30 AM EDT

HARTFORD — United Technologies Corp.'s new chief executive said Tuesday the industrial conglomerate may drop its $2.6 billion bid for Diebold Inc. without more financial information from the ATM manufacturer.

Diebold in late April issued revenue estimates for the first quarter, but did not release any profit figures. Diebold, which also makes business security systems and voting machines, has not filed completed financial statements, including earnings, since the first quarter of 2007, as regulators review the way the company reports revenue.

"I will also say that you can expect UTC-style discipline always and we'll not buy that property without appropriate due diligence," Louis Chenevert, who took over as UTC's chief executive on April 9, told investor analysts at the Electrical Products Group conference in Longboat Key, Fla.

"They've not published financials," he added. "For a public company, this is a must and I would say we will not get lured in and just buy a company without going in and understanding."

He said UTC likes Diebold's business model a lot, but noted it was not "a must have."

http://www.connpost.com/ci_9328243?source=most_emailed

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9. Senators: No need for paper e-voting trails, 'electronic' ones are OK

Senators: No need for paper e-voting trails, 'electronic' ones are OK
Posted by Anne Broache
May 23, 2008 12:20 PM PDTt


Computer scientists have pressed for e-voting paper trails for years, in peer reports and in testimony on Capitol Hill. Now it looks like Congress is poised to ignore this idea: forthcoming legislation will say that a backup "electronic" record is OK too.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah), who lead a Senate committee charged with overseeing election law, said they plan to introduce a bill in the next few weeks that would require voters casting ballots on touch-screen or so-called "direct recording electronic" machines to have the ability to verify their selections through "an independent paper, electronic, audio, video, or pictorial record." That's according to a press release that came out Thursday--a copy of the bill's text is not yet available because it's still being drafted, a Feinstein aide said.

Groups like the Association for Computing Machinery have long advocated for use of "hybrid" systems containing both electronic and paper components, which are designed to enable independent audits and provide a backup record in the event of buggy or hacked voting machine software. Princeton University computer science professor Edward Felten, an ACM advisory committee member who studies e-voting security, said Friday that he couldn't comment on the new bill without seeing more details.

The bill's approach seems to indicate that the senators feel some sympathy toward arguments that paper trails aren't the only option for independently verifying a voter's pick and that other innovative alternatives could emerge down the line. Michael Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and consultant to the Pennsylvania government, is one such skeptic who has argued that paper ballots are susceptible to problems and rigging of their own.

The decision may also be a nod to state and local election officials who have complained about the costs associated with outfitting their machines with paper trails.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9951458-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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2. By State.

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12. AR: Monroe Co. tabulating error changes totals in circuit judge races

Monroe Co. tabulating error changes totals in circuit judge races

Published: May 22, 2008
Kendall Owens, T-H Staff Writer

A change in the unofficial results of Tuesday’s judge’s elections may have adjusted the totals, but had no impact on the eventual outcome of the races that saw Ann Beane Hudson, of Forrest City, win the First Judicial District Circuit Judge Division 5 seat and Judge Richard Proctor of Wynne taking the Circuit Judge Division 2, Sub-District 1.2 seat.

The totals changed after an error was discovered in absentee and early vote tabulating in Monroe County.

On Wednesday, the Times-Herald contacted each of the county clerks offices in the First Judicial District and reported that Hudson defeated Forrest City attorney Preston Hicky by 300 votes, taking a 9,059 to 8,759 win. It was also reported that Proctor defeated Helena-West Helena attorney Todd Murray by 210 votes, with Proctor taking 5,557 votes to Murray’s 5,347 votes.

After questions arose regarding the results, the Times-Herald again contacted the county clerk’s offices, and the results, as given this morning, are being reported today.

In Cross County, Hudson received 2,100 votes to Hicky’s 1,639. In Lee County, Hicky defeated Hudson by taking 1,554 votes to her 801 votes. Hicky also took Monroe County with 802 votes to Hudson’s 794 votes, and Hicky took Phillips County with 2,602 votes to Hudson’s 2,184 votes. In St. Francis County, Hudson received 2,001 votes to Hicky’s 1,605 votes, and in Woodruff County, Hudson took 1,140 votes compared to Hicky’s 540 votes. The unofficial totals give Hudson a 278-vote margin of victory, with a total of 9,020 votes to Hicky’s 8,742 votes.

http://www.thnews.com/article.php?id=5514

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13. AR: White County election day turns into nightmare

White County election day turns into nightmare

Associated Press - May 22, 2008 5:44 PM ET

SEARCY, Ark. (AP) - If White County Election Coordinator Leslie Bellamy hadn't been on maternity leave, primary election day might not have turned into one long nightmare for officials at Searcy (SUR'-see).

Voting machines apparently weren't programmed properly Tuesday at any of the county's 32 polling sites, resulting in delays and inaccurate figures. Election officials had to recount the votes. And in at least one judge's race, the apparent winner turned out to be the apparent loser.

White County Election Commission Chair Dianne Thomas said that, if Bellamy had been working, she probably would have known what needed to be done.

Candidates, supporters and residents waited at the county courthouse until 1 a.m. yesterday to get the results. Then the election commission noticed some discrepancies and did a recount that was not completed until last night. The recount changed the numbers in every race.

Mark Derrick initially was the apparent winner in the race for circuit judge for the 17th Judicial District, which covers Prairie and White counties. The unofficial total showed Derrick leading Tom Hughes by 91 votes. After the recount, Hughes was ahead by 527 votes.

http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8367705&nav=menu1344_2

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14. CA: McCarthy pushing bill to protect voting rights of military personn

McCarthy pushing bill to protect voting rights of military personnel
Posted: Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Josh Petray 5-23-08

Overseas military voters may receive added protection that their votes are being tracked and delivered on time.

In light of a statistic that 10 percent of all uncounted military and overseas absentee ballots are rejected due to late receipt, Congressman Kevin McCarthy has introduced an act geared to protect their votes. The act would ensure that when military personnel submit their absentee ballots, they’re delivered to the correct state election officials in a timely fashion by allowing them to be delivered in a variety of ways.

On Tuesday, McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, announced that the act, dubbed the Military Voting Protection Act of 2008, was circulating in the house for bipartisan support.

“There is no higher calling than protecting the very constitutional freedoms of those who are protecting our constitutional freedoms,” he said in a statement. “We can, and we must, work to protect the votes of our troops serving abroad and ensure they are counted.”

A press release highlights the fact that military personnel have little control over their geographic assignments.

http://www.pasoroblespress.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=&story_id=2096

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15. DC: Mayor shakes up D.C. elections board

Mayor shakes up D.C. elections board
May 22, 2008 12:00 AM (1 day ago) by Michael Neibauer, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Mayor Adrian Fenty this week replaced the chairman of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, angering a D.C. Council member who argues the middle of an election year is not the time to shake up the key panel.

Errol Arthur, a lawyer and member of the elections board since April, was sworn in Tuesday as the three-member body’s chairman, replacing Charles Lowery, a board member since 2004 and chairman since 2007. The decision was immediately criticized by D.C. Councilwoman Carol Schwartz, who has oversight of election matters as chairwoman of the government operations committee.

“Going into the fall elections, it would seem to me to be the wiser course to stay with a seasoned individual in that role until after the elections,” Schwartz said in a statement. ”I hope the mayor will reconsider.”

Arthur’s promotion continues the ongoing upheaval at the Board of Elections. Alice Miller, the office’s longtime executive director, is leaving June 1, as is Bill O’Field, the agency’s spokesman and poll-worker trainer.

“I know that the mayor has the lawful ability to change leaders, but at this time, why would he?” Schwartz asked. “I would think that the mayor would be more concerned about stabilizing this agency and its board rather than further upsetting the apple cart.”

http://www.examiner.com/a-1403656~Mayor_shakes_up_D_C__elections_board.html

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16. FL: Florida ballot changes concern trouble-shy election officials

Florida ballot changes concern trouble-shy election officials

Secretary of State Kurt Browning warned state election officials that the upcoming presidential election needed to go smoothly, as it ``will make or break Florida.''

Posted on Thu, May. 22, 2008
BY GARY FINEOUT
[email protected]

PENSACOLA BEACH --
Florida's top elections chief, smarting from eight years of negative attention since the chaotic 2000 presidential race, warned county elections officials Wednesday that November's vote ``will make or break Florida.''

Florida counties that have been using touchscreen voting machines -- including Miami-Dade and Broward -- are switching in August to new machines that use paper ballots and optical scanners, after Gov. Charlie Crist pushed through the change last year. For many voters this will be their third voting system in the past decade.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning said that any problems, whether in a large urban county or small county, would make the entire state look bad, reinforcing the image that will be on display this weekend when HBO debuts the film Recount, which covers the 36 days that followed the close election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

The Bush-Gore election exposed serious flaws with the state's election system.

''The reality is this is Florida, this is a presidential election,'' said Browning, who made his remarks at the annual summer conference of elections supervisors. ``The world is literally watching everything you do. . . . We all have had to live down a stigma we did not deserve.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/542414.html

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17. IN: Voter Fraud Follow Up

Voter Fraud Follow Up

Thursday, May 22, 2008 @08:31am CST

The Vanderburgh County Democratic Chairman says the allegation that an election official cast a vote on another woman's ballot is false. It's a follow-up to the story we brought you Tuesday.

It involves travel board member Jessica Kohtala who says she along with Louise Williams collected an absentee ballot from a holiday nursing home resident named Margaret on May 2nd. Kohtala says Margaret did not vote in the race for president, but Williams opened the ballot marking the voting spot for presidential candidate Barack Obama. Williams is a democrat and Owens says he believes the accusations are politically motivated. Owen also says he questions why Kohtala talked to republican officials and then waited before notifying election officials.

Meanwhile, Republican Party Chairman Nicholas Hermann says this case is not politically motivated but he does want it investigated.

http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=6910

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18. MS: Senate approves voter ID measure

Senate approves voter ID measure
Chamber also OKs metal-theft restrictions, boost in jobless benefits
Natalie Chandler • [email protected] • May 23, 2008

The second day of a special session ended Thursday with the Senate approving a voter-identification bill, a hike in unemployment benefits, metal-theft restrictions and the reauthorization of the state employment agency.

House members remained absent after they abruptly adjourned Wednesday. But the unemployment-benefits increase, pushed by House Democrats, cleared the Senate on the same day Gov. Haley Barbour agreed to add it to his agenda.

If the House signs off, Mississippi’s unemployed will receive $15 more per week starting July 1 and an additional $10 per week starting July 2009. Some Democrats said rising gas prices should prompt a bigger increase, and House leaders said they may attempt to provide such.

“Especially in rural areas where people have to travel to look for jobs, is this the best we can do?” asked Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland.

The costly special session isn’t over, and it appears House lawmakers will be required to return over the Memorial Day weekend. They had hoped to reconvene Tuesday along with the Senate, but House staffers said the rules require permission from either Barbour or the Senate.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080523/NEWS010504/805230365/1001/news

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19. OH: Election machines still in question for November

OH: Election machines still in question for November
BY ED GEBERT

Times Bulletin News Writer
[email protected]

Van Wert County is still waiting to find out if the November 2008 election will cost an additional $8,000-9,000.

Board of Elections Director Linda Stutz reported that she still has not received word on the county's request to count all the ballots cast at the board office, as has been done for years. Van Wert County, along with Mercer and Cuyahoga counties have requested that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner petition the Legislature to amend current law and allow counting to be done at a central location instead of at each polling place. If lawmakers turn down that request, the county will have to rent additional equipment for vote counting this fall, and the cash-strapped county budget simply does not have the funds to do it.

"Right now our appropriations are zeroed out," reported Commissioner Harold Merkle. "Even though we had one good month with sales, that was followed by two months of low figures. We're just barely above where we were last year, and that was below where we were the year before that."

However, if the county's request is rejected, optical scanning machines will have to be rented to put at each polling place. Those machines tally paper ballots turned in by voters. Stutz reported that at present rates, the scanners are renting for $750 each and that the county would need to rent 10 of them to handle the election. With shipping and possible price increases, the county could easily be stuck with a bill of more than $8,000.

Brunner has fought against the use of electronic voting machines due to the possibility of tampering. She also wants votes to be scanned and counted at the precinct level so that an error in marking the ballot can be immediately detected and corrected by the individual voter. She has been leading the call for combining groups of precincts into "vote centers" in much the same way the residents of the City of Van Wert all vote at the fairgrounds.

http://timesbulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=147016&TM=153.773

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20. OH: Rolling in poll changes

Rolling in poll changes
Thursday, 22 May 2008


State working with county board to improve handicap accessibility at polls
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer

A representative of Ohio’s Secretary of State’s Office reported his findings on handicap accessibility after recent visits to Auglaize County polling locations.

Brett Harbage, coordinator for Americans with Disabilities for the office, Wednesday discussed areas of concern found at the 19 polling locations with the Auglaize County Elections Board members. He plans to return before July to meet with owners of the polling places to see if they are interested in making any of the improvements to make the locations better equipped to handle those with disabilities.
The state is providing some grant funding to election boards to make improvements at the locations, but all work must be temporary to the buildings, for them to pay for it. The changes would have to be rolled in and rolled out on election day.

“He had a lot of good suggestions for how to correct the problems,” Auglaize County Elections Board Director Carolyn Campbell said. “When he meets with the (owners) of the polling locations, we’ll see what they want to do, if they want to help.”

Problems discovered did not mean that those who are disabled cannot get into polling places, but rather suggest ways to make accessibility to the polls, from parking to opening doors, easier.

http://www.wapakdailynews.com/content/view/55683/1/

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21. OK: Democrats kill voter ID legislation

Democrats kill voter ID legislation
May 22nd, 2008

Republican state senators expressed their disappointment that Senate Democrats voted along party lines to kill a bill designed to stamp out election fraud by requiring voters to show a form of identification at the polls.

Senate Bill 1150 received 24 votes in favor, and 23 votes opposed, but 25 votes were required to pass the bill and send it to the governor’s desk.

The leader of Democrats in the Oklahoma State Senate – President Pro Tem Mike Morgan of Stillwater – skipped the vote despite being on the floor moments earlier and voting for a procedural motion that brought SB 1150 to a final vote.

By skipping the vote, Morgan prevented a tie that could have required Lt. Gov. Jari Askins to break the tie.

The bill’s author, Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, said, “I am very disappointed that this bill failed, especially that it was defeated by Democrats on a partisan, party-line vote. Oklahoma citizens – both Democrats and Republicans – want to be assured that our elections are fair. SB 1150 helped ensure fairness, and would not have disenfranchised any group or individual. I will keep fighting for voter ID and voter integrity in Oklahoma,” he said.

http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=412

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22. OR: Unexplored territory down the ballot

Unexplored territory down the ballot
This year's huge undervote below the presidency leaves a huge public growth opportunity
Friday, May 23, 2008

E normous, pride-inspiring numbers of Oregonians voted in the Democratic primary. But almost equally remarkable numbers didn't vote in the Democratic primary.

That is, didn't vote for any office besides president.

Calculations by The Oregonian's Betsy Hammond found that of 590,000 Democratic voters for president, 84,000 apparently skipped the U.S. Senate primary, 94,000 bypassed the secretary of state primary, and the attorney general's race had an undervote of 120,000.

Was it something the statewide candidates said?

Or didn't say?

More likely, as The Oregonian's Jeff Mapes suggests, it's tens of thousands of voters, many of them new voters, who came into the system to vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, filled in one box and then stopped. The 84,000 undervote in the Senate race was more than five times the gap between winner Jeff Merkley and runner-up Steve Novick.

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/121150230874070.xml&coll=7

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23. TX: Upgrades To Voting System Discussed

Upgrades To Voting System Discussed
The Hill County Elections Commission discussed training costs for employees of the elections administrator’s office at its regular meeting Thursday afternoon, May 15.

Updates to firmware and software used by the Unity Election Report Management System and the iVotronic electronic-voting machines will be installed on the equipment before the November election.

An onsite instruction on the system will be conducted at a cost of $1,500 a day.

Elections Administrator Patsy Damschen said that the training will take two days and that they have requested a June date.

Members of the commission asked the administrator to check with the Texas Secretary of State’s office to see if funds from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Grant could be used to pay for the training.

http://www.hillsbororeporter.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=54&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=9510&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1012&hn=hillsbororeporter&he=.com

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24. WV: Complaint filed on Wayne voting machines

Complaint filed on Wayne voting machines
May 22, 2008 @ 11:04 PM
By BRYAN CHAMBERS
The Herald-Dispatch

WAYNE -- Wayne County Commissioner Rick Wellman has filed a complaint with the Secretary of State's Office claiming that the county's touch-screen voting machines malfunctioned during the primary election.

Several residents have come forward to complain they had difficulty selecting the candidate they wanted to vote for on the touch screen, Wellman said Thursday. He also said in his complaint that he believes unauthorized people accessed some of the voting machines at the polls on election day, which was May 13.

Wayne County Clerk Bob Pasley, however, says Wellman's complaint is part of an ongoing effort to smear Pasley's reputation. Pasley defeated longtime County Commissioner Jim Booton 5,476 to 4,504 in the Democratic primary, according to unofficial results.

"I beat Jim Booton, and that's the bottom line," Pasley said. "Rick Wellman didn't get his way, so now he is on a campaign to smear my name, my honesty and integrity after I have spent 31 years in this office."

Pasley, who has been at odds with county commissioners over the past several years, also said Wellman posted inaccurate comments and "flat-out lies" about him on local blogs before the election.

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x1266665102

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25. WV: Independents Drive Up Registration

Independents Drive Up Registration
By JOSELYN KING Political Writer
POSTED: May 22, 2008

WHEELING — Voter registration is up in West Virginia, especially among those not affiliated with any political party who now can vote either a Democratic or Republican ballot.

Data from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office shows there are 46,000 more voters in West Virginia today than there were 18 months ago, and that there are about 25,000 more voters in the state who aren’t Democrats or Republicans.

Since the November 2006 general election, voter registration has jumped in the state from 1,137,371 to 1,183,495 — an increase of 46,124 registered voters, according to the information.

But the May 13 primary election was the first in which voters not affiliated with the Democrats or Republicans could choose to vote either party’s primary ballot, and this could be the reason why more voters have chosen not to register with either party.

The rise in voter registration has actually been across the board, with Democrats and Republicans in West Virginia gaining in membership.

http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/509815.html

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3. International.

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8. The stakes are high (India)

The stakes are high
M Veerappa Moily

Posted online: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 0009 hrs Print Email The Karnataka assembly elections are finally over and the verdict is sealed in the electronic voting machines. The strict enforcement of the model code of conduct by the Election Commission has been welcomed by one and all but it could still not fully prevent the blatant use of money power, especially in Central Karnataka, where the mining lobbies were in full operation. The bomb blasts at Hubli and Jaipur also created a flutter.

The people of Karnataka are eagerly looking towards an integrated and holistic approach to planning for sustained development, combining environmental, economic, cultural and social aspects along with political stability. IT has become the heart and soul of Karnataka, especially Bangalore and Mysore. Any government that takes over must take forward the IT revolution that was started by the Congress in 1976, with the Electronic City Initiative, followed by the International Technology Park in 1993 and the e-governance initiatives in 2000.

However, the problems associated with rapid urbanisation in Bangalore has led to a number of social and economic problems, including poverty, hunger, homelessness, crime, and diseases.

The citizens of Bangalore keenly await the formation of a new government which will address the important issue of an independent regulatory authority for the real estate sector, property tax reforms and repeal of the capital value based system. Traffic is also a key issue in Bangalore and every citizen wants the new government to come out with a comprehensive Integrated Traffic Management Plan for the city. Now that the new airport at Devanahalli has become operational, high speed connectivity will be the prime concern for the incoming government.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/313789.html

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11. Nigeria: Electoral Reforms - Towards a Flawless Electoral Process in Country

Nigeria: Electoral Reforms - Towards a Flawless Electoral Process in Country

Vanguard (Lagos)
22 May 2008
Posted to the web 23 May 2008

When President Umar Musa Yar' Adua inaugurated the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) on August 28, 2007, the effort was received with mixed reactions from so many Nigerians, especially the opposition political parties who believed that President Yar'Adua has no moral obligation and the constitutional power to put the committee in place, especially when the process that brought him to power is still being challenged in court.

Yar'Adua at the inauguration ceremony said the agenda to reform the nation's electoral process is high on the agenda of his administration.The committee, last week began a public hearing across the country which will eventually produce a blue print for the government on how to resolve the nation's problematic electoral process.

In his address at the opening of the committee's three-day public hearing in Lagos, the chairman, and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, said the public hearing would afford the government and Nigerians the opportunity to review the country's history regarding the conduct of general elections and identify where the problems are with a view to rectifying them.

Justice Uwaism Chairman Electoral Reform Committee

Prominent Nigerians from the South-West, including former governors, political office holders, representatives of political parties and governmental agencies and civil society groups made submissions, both oral and written before the committee. Those who made presentations included former Ogun state governor Chief Olusegun Osoba, his counterpart from Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Osun state governorship candidate for the Action Congress (AC), Chairman of the Lagos state Electoral Reform commission, Prof Adebayo Williams, the former Minister of works, Senator Adesewe Ogunlewe and a host of others.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805230102.html

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4. OpEd.

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7. Soothing or Salting Wounds From Election 2000

Soothing or Salting Wounds From Election 2000

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: May 23, 2008

“Every vote counts” is one of those platitudes, like “Watch your step,” that doesn’t have much meaning until that first really bad
Kevin Spacey plays Ron Klain, the senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore.

It certainly had resonance in the 2000 presidential election, when the Florida voting ended in a hairline finish that took 36 days and a Supreme Court decision to resolve. It was historic and historically awful, until the Sept. 11 attacks wiped away much of the anguish and slapstick. For a while, at least, the Florida vote count seemed as trivial and irrelevant as the results of the Henley Regatta after August 1914.

Not this year, however. “Recount,” an astute and deliciously engrossing film on HBO this Sunday night, retells the tale of Florida in all its bizarre and inglorious moments, from haggling over the “hanging chad” and “butterfly ballots” to the ruckus between the Florida secretary of state, Katherine Harris, and the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board. “Recount” is not satire; it’s a mordantly serious look at a moment when character, political influence and luck fatefully collided.

And it comes at a time when Americans are once again passionately interested in elections and at a juncture where Florida is once again a critical factor in yet another tight and tenaciously fought contest for the Oval Office.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/arts/television/23reco.html?_r=2&ref=television&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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10. Thrilling! But No Sequel, Please

Thrilling! But No Sequel, Please
Michael Waldman

Posted May 23, 2008 | 12:56 PM (EST)


I just sat through a nail-biting, emotionally exhausting two hour TV movie. The opening ten minutes were especially nerve-wracking. The film begins with elderly Floridians squinting at their butterfly ballots, then stabbing at the , scary music playing, over and over, as they vote by accident for Pat Buchanan. Think of the shower scene in Psycho with your grandmother instead of Janet Leigh. Even more exciting: would the panting, lurching advance man catch up with Al Gore before he walked onstage to concede?

Maybe not everybody would find this as thrilling. But Recount, which airs on HBO this Sunday, is one of the better political movies I've ever seen. It "gets" the motives and methods of political players better than anything in years. More relevant to the work of the Brennan Center, it brings to life the ways our elections can go wrong, and the rickety and often corrupt machinery by which we still cast and count votes.

(Full disclosure: I am an old colleague and friend of Ron Klain, the protagonist; I see GOP lawyer Ben Ginsberg at the beach many summers; and I go duck hunting with James Baker every year. Well, that part isn't true. But like anyone involved in politics, back then I had a rooting interest in the outcome of the recount.)

The narrative crackles and does a good job portraying the legal machinations that led to the Supreme Court's 5-4 intervention to stop the counting, thus making George W. Bush President. It's all here, from the "Brooks Brothers riot" in which Republican congressional staffers shut down the counting in Miami, to the frenzied efforts to read and understand the Supreme Court opinion that announced its reasoning only applied to this case. The acting is terrific, and the dialogue is sharp and as profane as real life politics (and HBO).

More relevant to today, Recount shows the scary and appalling flaws in the election itself, before the world ever heard of a "hanging chad." One example: the lawyers discover with horror that Florida has purged 20,000 suspected felons from the rolls, many of whom were actually fully eligible to vote. Not surprisingly, the voting machine problems turn out to be worse in poorer counties. Election administration is rife with partisanship and amateurism. Even the flaws in ballot design are well portrayed. It is a little known fact that across America, counties each design their own ballots. The well-meaning but hamfisted effort to make the type large enough for elderly voters led to the butterfly ballot. In all, in 2000, according to the best study, millions of votes were lost in Florida and elsewhere due to bad voter lists and problems with the polls.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-waldman/thrilling-but-no-sequel-p_b_103285.html

[livvy]

26. Off to the Greatest with you!

Thank you, Beth!

[EFerrari]

27. Thanks, livvy!

I've never done Friday before. :)

[Wilms]

28. .