Florida Voters Mission: To ensure that all eligible voters are provided an equal opportunity to cast a private and independent ballot, and have all votes on that ballot recorded and counted accurately. Champion the public interest as primary in elections and resist excessive corporate, political and bureaucratic interests that threaten it. Build strong non-partisan alliances with elections officials, scientific, legal and other technical experts, voters, funders and others throughout Florida and beyond to further our mission.
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INDIANA: 17 September 2009: State appellate court strikes down Indiana's voter ID law that was upheld at the US Supreme Court last year. This case has impacts for similar laws in other states.
Read John Schwartz's piece in the New York Times here
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AUSTRALIA: 17 September 2009: Federal government discontinues electronic voting trials. The Australian government announced it has accepted the recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters from March 2009 to discontinue two trials - the first a trial of electronically assisted voting for blind and vision impaired electors; and the other, a trial of remote electronic voting for selected Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel serving overseas. From the report:
"The combined costs of the trials was over $4 million, with an average cost per vote
cast of $2,597 for the trial of electronically assisted voting for blind and low vision
electors and $1,159 for the remote electronic voting trial for selected defence force
personnel serving overseas. This compares to an average cost per elector at the
2007 election of $8.36.
"The committee has recommended that electronically assisted voting for blind and
vision impaired electors and remote electronic voting for Australian Defence Force
personnel serving overseas be discontinued due to a combination of the
unsustainable costs involved in the delivery of these solutions along with more
general concerns about the low level of participation experienced during the trials
and the ready availability of suitable alternate solutions."
Read the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Interm Report here
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HAWAII 15 September 2009 Judge orders ban on electronic voting machines and electronic transmission of election results.
Court finds Hawaii failed to provide public hearings during rule-making and illegally adopted federal standards - grants permanent injunction.
Read the final order here
Read the original complaint here
Read the 15 September 2009 Star Bulletin story here
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German Constitutional Court Declares Electronic Voting Unconstitutional - English Lanaguage Version of Decision Released
For Germany's highest court it's simple. Electronic voting is not transparent and requires expert knowledge to verify - therefore it is unconstituional. The Court has now released the English language version of their March 2009 decision..
Read the decision in English
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Florida Voters contributes to Principles & Best Practices for Post-Election Audits, continuing to advance this vital component of modern electronic elections along with colleagues around the country. |
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REMOVING OBSTACLES for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens (UOCAVA) voters New Initiatives at Multiple Levels - WATCH THIS SPACE
Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights (AMOVR)
Circulates Survey On Military and Absentee Voter Experiences Group gathering latest data from US military members and their families and overseas civilians on voting. NOTE: Florida Voters is proud to be a member of AMOVR.
TAKE SURVEY HERE: US MILITARY AND THEIR FAMILIES
TAKE SURVEY HERE: OVERSEAS US CIVILIANS
Read AMOVR's Press Release here
Read 2009 Pew Report "No Time To Vote" here
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ANTITRUST ISSUE: Election Systems and Software's (ES&S) Announced Purchase of Diebold/Premier- Number One US Voting System Vendor to Purchase Number Two Vendor
14 September 2009 Number four vendor, Hart InterCivic Inc., files antitrust lawsuit to stop the ES&S purchase of Diebold, claiming injury to itself and other vendors, to state and local jurisdictions and ultimately to "the voters of the United States, in the form of loss of confidence in the integrity and security of the means by which elections are performed"
The Hart lawsuit also seeks damages from ES&S for anticompetitive practices and accuses both ES&S and Diebold of "conspiracy to monopolize the market for voting machines and election systems."
Read the Hart Lawsuit here
14 September 2009 Senator Schumer calls on the Department of Justice to investigate possible antitrust violations in the ES&S/Diebold deal - says it could have “adverse implications on how our country votes.”
Read Senator Schumer's Press Release and Letter to Attorney General Holder here
14 September 2009 Read Kim Zetter's piece in WIRED Magazine, "Antitrust Concerns Swirl Around Sale of Diebold Voting Machines" here.
3 September 2009 Upon completion of this deal, 65 of 67 Florida counties will use one vendor. The other two counties - Palm Beach and Indian River - will likely follow in the next two years because their current vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems, cannont provide them equipment that provides paper ballots for persons with disabilities by a 2012 deadline they must meet. Both ES&S and Premier/Diebold can provide the new equipment.
Nationwide, nearly 70% of US registered voters will find themselves voting on systems manufactured by a single vendor.
Read 3 September ES&S Press Release here
FairVote.org Director, Rob Richie's blog on the merger
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