Election-Campaign Law

Machines delay Riverside County election results

Posted on February 06, 2008
Things are moving slow in Riverside, where there was another theft but fortunately not of the ballots as in Thermal California.At times, one or two of the six ballot-counting machines in the Moreno Valley office broke down. At most times, one could not operate, delaying the final results...

Ballot Box Stolen Outside Thermal CA Polling Place

Posted on February 06, 2008
So here is a great story about election security and the ephemeral nature of all ballots, but especially paper ones. Deputies are looking for the men responsible for stealing a ballot box from an election worker who was about to drive the box to the Indio Courthouse Tuesday night...

Chicago polls go well -- despite punches, broken machines, wrong ballots and 'invisible ink'

Posted on February 06, 2008
Why don't we ever monitor elections in Chicago? They have all of the fun!Chicago elections wouldn't be Chicago elections without a few hiccups, even though voting throughout the region went smoothly overall Tuesday. Still, some voting machines broke down...

High demand for Democratic ballots catches election officials by surprise

Posted on February 06, 2008
Are we supposed to be comforted by the idea that photocopied ballots are being used in elections when they run out of paper ballots? What is the chain of custody rules for such ballots? How are they inventoried? How are they numbered and made distinct?(California) County officials across the state were caught by surprise Tuesday by the number of "decline to state" voters who wanted to vote Democratic in the presidential primary...

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Photos from Election Day Adventures in L.A. and O.C.

Posted on February 06, 2008
More pics to come, but for now here are some of the photos I took while out with the guys yesterday, visiting various polling locations in Orange and Los Angeles counties.View photo slideshow.

Will there be a lot of drop-off ballots today in California's Super Tuesday

Posted on February 05, 2008
Hard to know, but here's one indication: I went to a Pasadena-area polling place this morning at 7:45am, and saw at least four absentee ballots being dropped off in the two minutes I was at the polling place ...

Early voter remorse ...

Posted on February 05, 2008
There's a story in this morning's Los Angeles Times with some interesting interviews with voters who have already cast their absentee ballots --- for candidates who have dropped out of the race.

Polling machine problems at Corzine's voting station

Posted on February 05, 2008
The only election problem noted online this morning is this story:HOBOKEN -- Gov. Corzine cast his vote in the state's presidential primary after neither of the voting machines worked at his Hoboken polling place. Eyewitness News is told Corzine was originally scheduled to cast his ballot at 6:15 a...

Political advertising in Peru

Posted on February 05, 2008
Former Caltech student Erin Hartman (now a graduate student at UC Berkeley) was recently in Peru, and she sent along this link of some great photos she took of political advertising in Peru. Some of this material looks very similar to political communications I photographed recently in Argentina, especially in the Salta area...

Super Tuesday in California --- Quick Updates From LA and the OC

Posted on February 05, 2008
In the coming days, we'll have much more to say about what we learned in our field work today. A number of us spent much of the day in the field in Southern California (Paul Gronke, Morgan Llewellyn, Melissa Slemin and myself). We went to polling places in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, speaking mainly with pollworkers and a few voters...

Update from the field, pt. 2

Posted on February 05, 2008
It looks like it's going to be a looong night for ballot counters in L.A. County. Mike is reporting 'brisk turnout'--the voters are getting out there! And, again, he is witnessing more provisional voting than in past years. This will make provisional ballot counting/verification a daunting and time-consuming task for election officials this evening.

Pollworker training still needed

Posted on February 05, 2008
A voter in Silverlake (in L.A. county) was asked to produce identification by a pollworker before he was allowed to cast a vote today. He is a naturalized citizen and informed the pollworker that he wasn't required to do so, but the pollworker disagreed, so he complied.

Update from the field

Posted on February 05, 2008
Mike, Morgan, Paul and I witnessed slow to moderate voter turnout at the pollsites we observed this morning, but it looks as though things are picking up. Mike and Morgan are at a site on Vermont Street and are reporting that it is very busy, with voters waiting in line for about 10 minutes in line due to the volume of voters...

Georgia May Break Record

Posted on February 05, 2008
Georgia election officials are expecting record voter turnout in their state today.

Georgia Voters Face Long Lines, Some Glitches on Super Tuesday

Posted on February 05, 2008
This Fox News story discusses the voter registration system problems that have occurred in Georgia, as well as one Georgia county having a "I forgot to include the correct keys for the voting machines" problem.

Democrats Abroad Jump into the Primary

Posted on February 05, 2008
NPR has a really neat story about voting by Democrats abroad, who are voting in both overseas polling places and using the Internet.

Confused Voters in Virginia & Texas

Posted on February 05, 2008
The Boards of Elections in Virginia and Texas have received record amounts of calls from voters today asking why their pollsites weren't open. They were informed that Election Day for their respective state is not in fact today. These are some eager voters!!

Why California Exit Polls are Meaningless

Posted on February 05, 2008
Mark Blumenthal and Charles Franklin have a piece today in Slate Magazine explaining why exit polls in California are meaningless. The short version:Poll junkies beware: California exit polls are not to be trusted.California has issued 5.5 million absentee ballots for today's primary, reaching more than one-third of the 15...

Follow the Procedures or I will Kick Your.....

Posted on February 05, 2008
What is it about elections that bring out the best in voters and election judges? This is perhaps the best story I have seen about elections since the voting machine took a beating in Cuyahoga County in 2006. Clearly, one judge was pretty adamant about the rules of the election!An election judge was charged with battery Tuesday morning after punching another judge at a 42nd Ward West Loop polling place, according to Chicago police...

Wait, It was the Poll Worker Not the Machine

Posted on February 05, 2008
So the malfunctioning voting machines in Governor Corzine's polling place were actually malfunctioning poll workers. Why am I not shocked? Here is the updated AP story.New Jersey officials said Tuesday that they were getting more complaints than usual about problems at polling places , including some early-morning confusion at Gov...

Super Tuesday in the news

Posted on February 05, 2008
After spending the better part of the day pollwatching, I'm back in the office checking the news for status reports of how Super Tuesday is going. Here are some stories.Georgia reports long lines, but mostly due to high turnout, not problems.New Jersey Governor's voting delayed by polling problems...

Pierce County to pull 230 names off voter list

Posted on February 04, 2008
This is an interesting story from Washington State.Pierce County is slated to strike 230 names from its voter rolls this week as it wraps up an investigation of voter-registration fraud. The investigation centered on registrations submitted by employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, a national advocacy group for low-income people...

Matching Problems in Indiana?

Posted on February 04, 2008
The Indianapolis Star reports today thatThe Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles could revoke driver's licenses for as many as 56,000 people later this month after a database check showed discrepancies in some of their information. The state also will send notices warning of a similar revocation to about 35,000 people with identification cards...

"Super Tuesday": The Song, by Hearts of Palm UK

Posted on February 03, 2008
Weekend America broadcast this great song, Super Tuesday --- by Hearts of Palm UK, this weekend. Go to the Weekend America page for the song.Or just read the lyrics:Elections for party nominationsTo represent our nationWho you gonna vote for?You know it's Super Tuesday!Super Tuesday!Coming soon to a state near youIn Alabama and IdahoGeorgia and DelawareUtah and TennesseeNew York, New Mexico tooAnd Oklahoma, North DakotaWest Virginia, MinnesotaObama has got a certain "je ne sais quoi"But I've seen him on a few too many TV talk showsIs Bill running vicariously through Hillary?And I just found out about Mike GravelElections for party nominationsTo represent our nationWho you gonna vote for?You know it's Super Tuesday!Super Tuesday!Coming soon to a state near youIn Arizona and Illinois,Kansas, Montana, CaliforniaConnecticut, Alaska and Arkansas tooand Colorado, New jersey, Missouri and MassachusettsGiuliani couldn't stand the heat and so he dropped outMike Huckabee has got that righteous Christian act down patMitt Romney seems to change positions like the windJohn McCain is really old so this is his last chanceGlobalization is changing the worldAnd no one knows quite what to do about itThe dollar's not what it once wasAnd so everything costs moreThere's a seething war in IraqIs it time to bring our troops home?Privatize social security,Or equal taxes for all?Elections for party nominationsTo represent our nationWho you gonna vote for?You know it's Super Tuesday!Super duper Tuesday!Coming soon to a state near youSuper Tuesday!Super duper Tuesday!Coming soon to a state near you.

Super Tuesday Update: "Independent Voters May Be Vexed At Polls"

Posted on February 02, 2008
This is from a story on stateline.org, "Independent Voters May Be Vexed At Polls":In delegate-rich California, it was state political parties ? not state lawmakers ? that set the rules for how ?decline-to-state,? or independent, voters can participate...

Another Potential Procedural Snag in the California Primary for Decline-To-State Voters

Posted on February 01, 2008
A former student of mine read my recent post on the potential issues facing "decline-to-state" voters in California's primary next week. He pointed out another potential problem these voters might face:I noticed your post about decline-to-state voters needing to request Democratic ballots, and thought you might be interested in some LA-specific issues...

Why I am not a gambler...early voting in TN nearly tripled!

Posted on February 01, 2008
So my Tennessee prediction was off by more than 50,000 votes. Amazing climb in early voting over the past three days. It went straight up! If only this was the stock market...My best guess would have to be excitement after Florida. I wonder again at the party breakdowns...

PA allows "regret" voting

Posted on February 01, 2008
From Molly Reynolds at Brookings, from her home county in PA:I voted by absentee ballot (or received a ballot but did not use it). May I vote in person? Yes. In fact, the Election Code provides that unless you are 65 years of age or older, you must vote in person if possible...

"Do Over" Voting

Posted on February 01, 2008
Rick Hasen alerted readers to a court ruling in New Jersey allowing absentee voters to re-vote if their candidate has dropped out of the race.I haven't seen the decision, but have a few comments:The wording of the story is odd. A voter can re-vote "if their candidate has dropped out...

TN Early vote up 100%, two days to go

Posted on January 31, 2008
Two more days to go and Tennessee's early voting numbers continue their climb. I think my estimate of 250,000 looks to be a good call. If only I could call the Super Bowl so well.

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