Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Ohio Reduces Early Voting Options


Ohio voters will no longer be able to take part in early voting on Sundays or weekday nights, according to hours set by Secretary of State Jon Husted.

Voters will only get two Saturdays to cast early, in-person ballots during the statewide election this fall.

In a release on the "fair and uniform voting hours," Husted explained the goal of cutting back on opportunities for early voting.

In 2014, absentee voters will have the option of voting in person for four weeks, or they can vote without ever leaving home by completing the absentee ballot request form we will be sending all voters,” Husted said.  “Our goal is to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat and to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity in the voting process no matter which method they choose.

The cuts to early voting hours could negatively impact African-Americans and voters who take part in "Souls to the Polls" drives after church on the Sundays leading up to Election Day.

Cuts to early voting target blacks disproportionately.  In 2008, black voters were 56% of all weekend voters in Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s largest, even though they made up just 28% of the county’s population.

“By completely eliminating Sundays from the early voting schedule, Secretary Husted has effectively quashed successful Souls to the Polls programs that brought voters directly form church to early voting sites,” said Mike Brickner, a spokesman for the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union.

With many states implementing Voter ID laws to stop voter identity fraud, how will OH's absentee voting stop the voting process were the fraud takes place?

Will the Justice Department challenge this change?

CLICK HERE to read the entire release on the decision.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

UTAH's Count My Vote Campaign



Why Change Utah's Election System?



The Count My Vote Campaign give the following reasons Utah should change their voting process:

Utah's Caucus System Hinders Participation

•Utah's historically high rate of voter participation has declined in recent decades.

•From 1960 to 1998, Utah's turnout was always above the national average.  Since 1998, Utah's turnout has been near or below the national average.

•In 1960, over 78% of Utah voters went to the polls.  In 2012, only 51% of Utah's voting age population cast a ballot, ranking Utah 39th nationally in voter turnout.

Utah's Caucus System is the Most Restrictive System in the Nation

•Utah is one of only a few states that still use a convention.

•Of the states that still use a convention, Utah has the highest barrier for candidates - 40% of party delegates' votes (Colorado - 30%, Connecticut - 15%, New Mexico 20%, North Dakota - endorsement only).

•Utah is the only state in which a political party is allowed to preclude a primary election for statewide or Congressional offices.

Utah's Caucus System is Exclusionary and Unfair

•Party delegates are elected at party caucus meetings held once every 2 years.

•Attending this single meeting in person is the only way voters can choose a delegate.

•Utah voters who are out of town, sick, have to work, cannot leave children, or are serving in the military are excluded.

•Groups such as women and younger voters are marginalized and disenfranchised.

Utah's Caucus System is Least Accountable to Utah Voters

•Utah's elected leaders are more concerned with making policies supported by party delegates than policies supported by Utah voters.

•Party delegates and activists have different priorities than voters and do not represent the views of average Utah citizen.

•Utah's system gives the most power and influence to those with the most extreme views.


Romney backs effort to end nominating conventions in Utah.

The Count My Vote campaign must collect almost 102,000 valid signatures to get the initiative on the November ballot.

But Utah’s legislature, which conservatives control by a wide margin, is working on its own legislation that would circumvent the ballot initiative.  A proposal sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble would allow convention nominating processes to continue, with minor changes.  Delegates would be allowed to vote by absentee ballot, and candidates would have to get 65 percent of the vote to avoid a primary; the higher threshold, the thinking goes, would ensure more primary elections.

Bramble’s legislation has passed the Senate and awaits House action.  Gov. Gary Herbert (R) has left open the option to veto the bill.

Meanwhile, opponents of the Count My Vote initiative have challenged the validity of the signatures supporters have collected.  Protect Our Neighborhood Elections, the rival group that supports the current convention system, filed a complaint last week with the lieutenant governor’s office that seeks to invalidate many of the signatures already collected.

CLICK HERE for more information about Count My Vote initiative.

CLICK HERE for more information about Protect Our Neighborhood Elections.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Independent Party is Now a Qualified Party in Hawaii


Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

The Hawaii Independent Party has enough voter signatures to satisfy the requirements for a new party.

The party is led by former Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares and Maui real estate agent Michelle del Rosario.

Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who lost to Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary in 2010, has said that he would seriously consider running for governor as an independent if the new party is certified.

Del Rosario tells the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the party is an option for independent candidates to pool resources and run together.

Hawaii News Now reports that the party estimates it collected about 2,000 signatures.  It needed at least 706 signatures from active registered voters or one-tenth of 1 percent of the number of statewide registered voters in the 2012 general election.

Independent candidates in Hawaii must run in the August primary.  They must poll the lesser of 10% of the vote cast for that office in all party primaries, or the number of votes received by the lowest vote-getting party nominee.

When a minor party runs candidates in its own primary, it is easy for independents to meet this primary vote test.  Traditionally, very few Hawaii voters vote in a minor party primary, so if there is a minor party candidate for a particular office, that almost guarantees that the independent candidate for that same office will outpoll the minor party nominee, and then the independent can be on the November ballot.

But when there is no minor party nominee for a particular office, the typical independent almost never polls enough primary votes to qualify for the November ballot.  Therefore, many would-be independent candidates in 2014 will probably not file as independent candidates, but will instead file to run in the Independent Party primary, because if they win then they are guaranteed to be on the November ballot.

From the state co-chair, Michelle Del Rosario, of the newly certified Hawaii Independent Party (HIP):

"We are a broad based group of individuals, through out the state of Hawai’i who have decided to act and form a new independent party.  My co-chair is former Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares.  Two, neighbor island wahine (women), ready to take politics as usual by storm and give back Hawaii government to the voters."










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Monday, February 24, 2014

The Fight for Campaign Finance Reform in NY


Today, a national group that seeks to lessen the influence of big campaign donors plans to unveil a $1 million advertising campaign aimed at promoting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's public financing plan.  The group hopes that the effort will help persuade the governor and lawmakers to keep it in the spending proposal, which must be approved by April 1, as they negotiate in the coming weeks.

The public financing measure is a top priority of government watchdog groups and liberal activists, who see it as a powerful way to diminish the sway of deep-pocketed donors over New York’s government.

The advertising campaign is being financed by Public Campaign Action Fund, which plans to broadcast a television commercial in targeted areas around the state beginning Monday, and will also advertise online and on mobile devices.


It's time to clean up Albany and raise the voices of everyday New Yorkers.

“The goal of the advertising is to rally the public to support passing comprehensive reform,” said David Donnelly, the executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund.  “It’s clear that Albany is broken. Everyone knows what the answers are, and they could just simply pass something in one day.”

Advocates for a public financing system include government reformers, labor unions and the Working Families Party as well as a number of wealthy individuals, including Jonathan Soros, a son of the billionaire financier George Soros.  Although they are ultimately seeking to reduce the impact of money on politics, they have spent considerable sums over the past two years promoting their proposal in New York.

In his budget, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed setting up a public financing system based on the one used in New York City, where individual contributions of up to $175 are matched at a rate of $6 to $1.  The public financing measure is part of a package of ethics and campaign fund-raising measures Mr. Cuomo included in his budget in an effort to address a series of recent corruption scandals in Albany.

In an interview after he introduced his budget, Mr. Cuomo did not sound optimistic about the chances that the public financing plan would be part of the final spending plan.  He predicted that it would be an issue in the re-election campaigns of state legislators later this year, but said he wanted to draw attention to the issue in the meantime.

New York’s campaign finance system is broken.  Too often big money interests drown out the voices of everyday New Yorkers.  It’s time to change the way politics works in Albany.  It’s time for Fair Elections for New York.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the campaign.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Saturday, February 22, 2014

OH's New Voter Restrictions


Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law two election-related bills.

One bill trims early voting by several days.  The other sets restrictions for mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications.

SB 238 shortens the early, in-person voting period by eliminating the week-long window where voters may simultaneously register to vote and cast an early in-person ballot, otherwise known as the “Golden Week”.

Under SB 205:

- Permits the Secretary of State to mail unsolicited applications for absent voter's ballots only for a general election and only if the General Assembly has made an appropriation for that particular mailing.

- Prohibits any other public official or employee who is acting in an official capacity, and any public office, from mailing any unsolicited applications for absent voter's ballots.

- Permits the Secretary of State to send unsolicited applications for absent voter's ballots for elections in 2014, regardless of whether the General Assembly has made an appropriation for that purpose.

- Prohibits a board of elections from prepaying the return postage for any application for absent voter's ballots and for any absent voter's ballots that it delivers to an elector.

- Generally prohibits an election official from filling out any portion of an absent voter's ballot application, or from filling out any portion of an absent voter's ballot or absent voter's ballot identification envelope, on behalf of a voter.

- Allows the Secretary of State or a board of elections to preprint an applicant's name and address on an application for absent voter's ballots before mailing that application to the applicant.

Democrats believe the measure violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection and the Voting Rights Act and will sue in Federal Court.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Friday, February 21, 2014

The Third Generation of Voting



[This is a demonstration of the Prime III voting system followed by a demo of Balloting.  Balloting is the process of filling out a ballot online or on your phone before an election that results in a QR Code representation of the ballot.  On Election Day the voter brings the QR Code to the voting machine, scans the QR Code on Prime III and the system brings up the review screen with the ballot selections.  This significantly decreases voting times and errors.]

The Prime III software is available for free, and several manufacturers, including the manufacturer of the touch-screen machines currently used statewide in South Carolina, are considering using it, according to Gilbert.

The system will be used in a few select voting precincts in Wisconsin on April 1, marking the second time it is being used in a binding statewide election.  The first time was in 2012 during the presidential primaries in Oregon at several rehabilitation and independent-living centers.

Prime III can also be used through Gilbert’s other voting systems: Balloting and TeleVoting.  The Balloting system enables voters to fill out their ballots online or through their phone.  Once the ballot is completed, the voter will get a QR code that can be scanned at a Prime III-enabled voting machine to speed up the voting process.  According to Gilbert, the Balloting system is already being implemented in several next-generation voting machines.

Televoting allows military and overseas voters to fill out their ballots through Prime III online and have it printed back at their home precinct.  The system will be introduced this year through a pilot program in Okaloosa County, Fla.

CLICK HERE for more information about Prime III.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Thursday, February 20, 2014

Independent Voters Grow In Arizona



On February 05, 2014 the host of the NPR station, KJZZ’s local edition of Here and Now, Steve Goldstein wrote:

This year's gubernatorial race is shaping up to be one of Arizona's more competitive ones in several elections, especially in the Republican primary.  What sort of impact could independents have in that and other primary races?

Over the past three years or so, independent voter registrations in Arizona have gone up by 140,000.  Democrats have lost more than 40,000, and Republicans are down a few hundred.  The growth of independents is not limited to Arizona.  It has become a nationwide phenomenon.

So how can independents seriously affect elections?  Have they already done so?


Recently Jackie Salit, the president of IndependentVoting.org and author of the book "Independents Rising" spoke with Steve on the Phoenix airwaves on a segment called Independent Voters Grow in Arizona, Can Make An Impact.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

Arizona's primary system lets independents choose either a Republican or Democratic ballot, but a small percentage take advantage of the opportunity.

But today, voters want to select candidates not parties.  So Arizona needs a new primary system.  For me, that would be a Blanket Primary.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Nebraska Democratic Party Opens Statewide Primary to Independents


The Nebraska Democratic Party leadership has decided to open its statewide May primary to independents.

"This vote emphasizes the openness of our party and the great importance we place on the political process and voter participation in all elections," State Party Chairman Vince Powers said.

Before independent voters, officially nonpartisan, could vote on party ballots only in federal primary elections, such as those for U.S. senator.

In the General Election of 2012, Republicans made up 48 percent of registered voters, Democrats made up about 32 percent, and independents about 20 percent.

Republican state chairman J.L. Spray says his party isn't likely to make a similar change.

I prefer a blanket primary were all registered voters' vote on one ballot but in party elections only party members vote.  This would require some voters to get two ballots.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Sunday, February 16, 2014

CA Voters Forgot About the Top-Two Statute


Thanks to Richard Winger from Ballot Access News for the information for this post.

In February 2009, the California legislature, in a all-night session, passed Top-Two Primaries with two bills, one a constitutional amendment to put Top-Two on the June 2010 ballot, and another that was just a statute, and which would only go into effect if the voters approved the Top-Two constitutional amendment.

The Voters Pamphlet only had the text of the proposed constitutional amendment, so the voters did not know what was in the implementing legislation statute.

The statute included:

1. Changing the number of signatures in lieu of filing fee was implicit in the constitutional amendment itself.  Once all candidates were "voter-nominated", and could get signatures in lieu of the filing fee from all registered voters, it would have been obviously unconstitutional to have different numbers of signatures for different kinds of candidates for the same office.  So the Secretary of State issued a regulation saying that from now on, the 10,000 (for statewide office), 3,000 (for US House and State Senate) and 1,500 (for Assembly) apply to all candidates, whereas formerly they only applied to members of parties that had more than 5% of the registration (i.e., Republicans and Democrats).

2. Alternatively, they can pay a filing fee, which ranges from $2,600 to $3,500.  The fee is fixed by state law at “two percent of the first-year salary” of state officeholders and “one percent of the first-year salary” for members of Congress, the Board of Equalization, State Senate and State Assembly.

3. Write-in votes would not be counted.

Before Top-Two, independent candidates didn't need any signatures in lieu of filing fee, because independent candidates needed a ballot access petition just to get on the November ballot, so the law said a signature on an independent petition would be deemed to also count as a signature in lieu of a filing fee.  So, effectively, there was no filing fee for independent candidates.

So the bad stuff was mostly in the implementing legislation statute that the voters didn't vote on and didn't know about when the voted in 2010.

Taking away the label "independent" was part of the implementing legislation passed in 2009.  The implementing legislation had said write-ins could never be counted, but had left write-in space on the ballot.

In 2012 the legislature passed AB 1413, putting that into the law.  AB 1413 took away write-in space from the general election ballot for Congress and state office.

So in 2014, many independent candidates will need many more signatures or larger funding for filing fees, to get on the primary ballot.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Friday, February 14, 2014

NYC CFB Approves 2017 Spending Limits For Top Elections


The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) on Thursday approved increases to how much candidates can spend in the 2017 races for mayor, public advocate, controller, borough president and City Council, along with the maximum they can get in taxpayer-funded matching funds.

The spending cap in the mayor's race now comes to just about $7 million, while the max-out on public funds, which must be 55% of the expenditure limit, increases to about $3.83 million.

The increases are set by law and are pegged to the consumer price index for the New York/New Jersey region, the CFB said in a release.


With these increases, we wonder how it will affect Gov. Cuomo's attempt to get the state to use the city's campaign finance system?










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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