Next up on the agenda: “Kobach said the bigger issue that needs to be addressed was the counties where there are more registered voters than eligible voting-age population.”
“Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says fewer than expected registered voters cast provisional ballots in the Nov. 6 general election in response to the new state photo identification law… only 717 provisional ballots were cast because of photo ID issues.*”
More here.
*The AP story also states that the referenced 717 provisional ballots represent .6 percent of the 1.15 million votes cast. It’s unclear whether this mistake is attributable to Kobach or the AP reporter, but the correct figure is .06 percent.
Author Archives: J Christian Adams
NAACP and ACLU Concur: No Pennsylvania Voter ID. Ever.
Now, the push is on from the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and other civic groups to permanently defeat the new law — which would require voters to show photo ID at the polls beginning next year. “We view it as a poll tax,” said Jerome Mondesire, the president of the state NAACP conference, who said the organization is gearing up to reverse the law. If the group loses, it will appeal as far as it can — perhaps even to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. Never mind that the Supreme Court has already ruled that a provided-for-free Voter ID is not a poll tax. The anti-ID crowd remains undeterred.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
Virginia Voter ID Alert Correction
CORRECTION, Nov. 21, 2012, 8:50 p.m. PT: Updated to clarify that 5% of provisional voters, not all voters, cast provisional ballots due to the new ID requirement. We email subscribers who don’t read the Blog missed the correction. (And still uncorrected is the bill number, which is 1337, not 1377.) But I can now update to clarify that, of the options previously posited, Project Vote’s sloppy reporting apparently was a simple mistake and not a deliberate misrepresentation on the part of Ms. Lee. At issue now is whether the correct numbers, evidencing a miniscule .015 percent of Virginia voters casting provisional ballots due to Voter ID requirements, will persuade anti-ID groups including Project Vote to reconsider their opposition.
When inaccurate information is reported, as in Project Vote’s November 21 “Bill Alert” email, the mistake ought to be acknowledged by the same method, so the correction reaches the same audience. An alert reader, however, not another “Alert” email, advised that the major misquote about Virginia’s Voter ID law, which I called attention to here on November 22, was in fact corrected by Project Vote late on the 21st via its Blog site:
NAACP seeks to recuse conservative North Carolina Justice from redistricting case
If you don’t think you can win on the merits, this is one “burn to the ground” strategy to give your client a chance to achieve the necessary result.
Groups challenging Republican-drawn redistricting maps before the N.C.
Supreme Court are pushing for the recusal of a conservative justice who
won reelection with the aid of nearly $2 million in political ads paid
for by GOP-aligned organizations.
…The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and other groups have sued top
Republican lawmakers over 2011 congressional and state legislative maps,
contending they are illegally gerrymandered to favor GOP candidates.
Link to story.
“Election adds to debate over (Arizona) redistricting”
Link to an article in the Arizona Republic.
Arizona’s redrawn political map is still sparking controversy, even after the first election using it has been settled.The results, particularly in the U.S. House races, have added fuel to
complaints that the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission was
rigged to favor Democrats. Others, however, point to close races in
three toss-up districts as an indication that the commission did a
balanced job.All three toss-up House races went for Democrats. As a result, the
state’s delegation to Washington will be led 5-4 by a rare Democratic
majority.
The article reveals rare bipartisan agreement. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the “independent” redistricting commission drew lines last year resulted in Democrats now controlling a majority of the nine congressional seats and make some inroads in the state legislature that has been solidly controlled by Republicans. As “independent” academics feign their objectivity by pointing out how close and “competitive” the races were that Republicans lost, Senior Democratic congressman Ed Pastor (Phoenix) chuckles and points out that “the maps performed as designed.”
Arizona Republicans should take note of the chuckling of the “rare Democratic majority.”
“Military vote system needs streamlining”
Link to Express-News Editorial Board.
Iowa Secretary of State pushing for voter ID and voter fraud investigations
Ohio Man Allowed to Vote Twice
The Lorain County Board of Elections is investigating a Henrietta Township man who cast two ballots during the presidential election. The man, who could potentially face criminal charges for voter fraud, requested an absentee ballot on Oct. 23, and the ballot was returned to the elections board Nov. 3, according to board records. The man then voted at his polling place Nov. 6. Elections board Director Paul Adams said the voting book at the polling location indicated that he already cast an absentee ballot but was allowed to sign the book over where it said “absentee sent.” Adams said the voter should have been told that he had already voted and was denied a ballot or given a provisional ballot if he insisted. The presiding judge at the polling place told elections officials that she did not recall what happened with the voter, but Adams said her conduct also is under review. “This is definitely a problem for this poll worker,” he said. And a problem for our electoral system. Whether due to poor training, indifference, or collusion, the effect of poll workers ignoring the law is the same: election results that don’t reflect the will of the voters.
More than just exposing a single fraudster casting multiple votes (votes that cannot be uncast), this Chronicle-Telegram story reveals a more fundamental challenge to election integrity: poll workers who do not follow election laws.
Virginia Voter ID a Success – Project Vote Alerts Otherwise
“Virginia Voter ID House Bill 1377 was filed yesterday. The bill would eliminate the use of utility bills, bank statements, government checks, or paychecks as proof of residence to vote.” Or rather, Lee misquotes – what the Post actually reported: “Preliminary figures indicate that most Virginians came to the polls on Election Day prepared to comply with the state’s new voter identification law. State Board of Elections figures show less than 5 percent of the 11,581 provisional ballots recorded as of Thursday were cast because the voter didn’t have the proper ID.” That’s less than 600 provisional ballots attributed to Voter ID (not 190,000) out of over 3.8 million votes cast, or about .015 percent. A 30,000 percent mistake, or a deliberate dishonest exaggeration? The anti-ID crowd is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own math.
In her November 21 Election Legislation Bill Alert email, Project Vote’s Erin Ferns Lee alerts:
Lee then quotes a startling figure: “About five percent of voters had to vote provisional ballots on November 6 as a result of the new law, according to a November 18 Washington Post report.”
Representative Jackson resigns amid investigation into misuse of campaign funds for personal use
Link.