By Luther Weeks on March 25, 2014
Yesterday, the Government Elections and Administration (GAE) held its last meeting of the year to approve bills originating in the Committee. Today we will recap three of be seven election bills we are tracking.
It is hard to compare and prioritize the importance and impact of bills for good or ill. Today’s three bills provide an instructive contrast. All three are well intended, yet ill conceived. One is extremely threatening to democracy, yet the threat may be way off or ultimately avoided. Another sets a bad precedent for Connecticut and the Nation, flaunts reason, with a message almost the opposite of that intended. The third aimed at fairness is unfair to most of those seeking redress for an imagined unfairness. UPDATED.
Posted in Internet Voting, Legislature 2014, National Popular Vote, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 18, 2014
Yesterday, I testified against two bills. I do not particularly like testifying against bills that promote concepts that I support, like electronic check-in, yet like all technology, it can be done in a way that helps, without adding risks.
On the other hand, it is a privilege to defend the Secret Vote, one of many, often under-appreciated, keystones of democracy. Also appreciated is the many thoughtful questions presented by the Committee which gave me an opportunity to stand for the Secret Vote.
Posted in Internet Voting, Legislature 2014
By Luther Weeks on March 17, 2014
We are opposed to the National Popular Vote Compact, primarily because it would tend to make the current risky system for determining the President by the Electoral College, much more risky and subject us to open-season for vote suppression, insider fraud, outsider fraud, and legal challenges likely to end with the Supreme Court choosing the President. Paul Choiniere of The Day provides a graphic depiction of a related scenario.
Posted in Legislature 2014, National Popular Vote, Other Editorials
By Luther Weeks on March 11, 2014
Today I testified on three elections bills before the Government Elections and Administration Committee (GAE). There was also testimony against another assault on Freedom Of Information (FOI). Very appropriate since access to information, transparency, public accountability, and serving the public played a role in my testimony on each bill.
Posted in CT Law, Legislature 2014, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 8, 2014
Some contend that Connecticut has the Nation’s toughest post-election audit law. We contend it has several holes, is not well executed by officials, and if a voting machine were ever to count inaccurately the audit would be unlikely to recognize that. Almost certainly, there will be bills and proposals to weaken and strengthen the audit debated this year. Today, we will focus on:
WWWSD (What would Willie Sutton do?)
Posted in Legislature 2014, Mail/Absentee Voting
By Luther Weeks on March 3, 2014
Crosspost: Observation Report – Flaws Remain after Seven Years
Citizen Audit Finds Little Improvement In Election Audits
Post-Election Audit Flaws Remain After Seven Years and Twelve Audits
The report concluded that the official audit results do not inspire confidence because of the continued:
- Lack of consistency, reliability, and transparency in the conduct of the audit.
- Discrepancies between machine counts and hand counts reported to the Secretary of the State by municipalities.
- Lack of investigation of such discrepancies, and the lack of standards for triggering such investigations.
- Weaknesses in the ballot chain-of-custody.
- An unsatisfactory improvement in the random audit drawing integrity vs. the November 2012 audit, as reported in our recent Districts In Drawing Study.
Coalition spokesperson Luther Weeks noted, “When compared with audits in 2011 and 2012 we found little difference, positive or negative, on the issues previously identified and the level of concerns affecting confidence.
<Full Report (.pdf)> <Press Release> <Review detail data and municipal reports>
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on March 2, 2014
Some contend that Connecticut has the Nation’s toughest post-election audit law. We contend it has several holes, is not well executed by officials, and if a voting machine were ever to count inaccurately the audit would be unlikely to recognize that. Almost certainly, there will be bills and proposals to weaken and strengthen the audit debated this year. Today, we will focus on:
A Very Critical Vote That will Not Be Audited
Posted in Legislature 2014, Post-Election Audits
By Luther Weeks on February 25, 2014
Yesterday was the annual public hearing on the National Popular Vote Compact. Yet it was different, the most thorough and thoughtful hearing I have seen in ten years of testifying and observing the Government Elections and Administration Committee. Unfortunately, it was not televised – you really needed to be there.
Posted in Legislature 2014, National Popular Vote
By Luther Weeks on February 23, 2014
So may the 1st and 2nd Elected Registrars
The Courant has long been opposed to a third and even a second Registrar in Hartford. The Editorial Board would rather see the Council appoint registrars, as authorized in a Charter Revision last year. As we explained at that time, contrary to claims by the Courant, the proposal could result in an untrained, unqualified, politically appointed registrar or registrars.
Now we learn that the Courant and supporters now believe they got something else wrong in explaining the Charter Revision to the public.
Posted in Legislature 2014, Other Editorials
By Luther Weeks on February 19, 2014
Crosspost: Coalition Districts in the Random Drawing Study, Nov 2013
Citizen Study Finds State Audit Flawed From the Start
Post-Election Audit Flawed from the Start by Inaccurate List of Election Districts
Based on concerns with the integrity of the random drawing in previous elections, the Coalition initiated a project to thoroughly check the integrity of the list of districts in the drawing for the November 2013 election.
Coalition spokesperson Luther Weeks noted, “The credibility of our elections depends on the integrity of the Post-Election Audits. The integrity of the audits in-turn depends on the integrity of the drawing.”
The report found,
- Fewer discrepancies in the random drawing list than were found in November 2012 and efforts by the Secretary of the State’s Office to improve the accuracy of the list.
- Seventeen (17) voting districts missing from the drawing list or recanvass list. The selection of two (2) fewer districts for audit than required by law.
- The audit law calling for the random selection and auditing of 10% of voting districts is not being faithfully executed, leaving the integrity and credibility of the audit and our election system open to question and expose it to the potential of future manipulation.
- The law intended to fix past problems is not being followed. — A failure rate of 67
- Fully complying with the law is complicated by the loose definition of voting district in the law.
<Full Report (.pdf)> <Press Release> <Backup Data>
Posted in CT, Post-Election Audits
