Latest news with #ElectionsCommission
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Wisconsin Elections Commission votes to let small communities hand count ballots
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin communities with fewer than 7,500 people can hand count ballots under a decision by the state elections commission this week. However, under the Wisconsin Elections Commission decision, those communities and all other Wisconsin towns, villages and cities must still comply with federal law and provide at least one electronic voting machine at a polling location to accommodate voters with disabilities. The commission's decision Tuesday came in reaction to a complaint against the northwestern Wisconsin town of Thornapple, population about 700, over its decision to hand count ballots in the April 2024 presidential primary or the August state primary. The decision also comes as a federal lawsuit over Thornapple's decision not to have an accessible voting machine continues. A federal judge in October sided with the U.S. Department of Justice and ruled Thornapple was violating 2002's Help America Vote Act, or HAVA. The judge ordered the town to offer disabled people accessible voting machines. An appeal by the town is pending. Under the commission's decision this week, communities with fewer than 7,500 people can choose to have no other electronic vote-casting or tabulating machines other than one for disabled voters. Elections commission staff determined state law makes it optional for communities with fewer than 7,500 people to provide voting machines in every ward in every election. The law says those communities may 'adopt and purchase voting machines or electronic voting systems for use in any ward … at any election.' Republican commissioner Bob Spindell said the decision will give smaller communities more flexibility, especially in low-turnout local elections. But But Democratic Commissioner Ann Jacobs, who cast the lone no vote, said she worried small communities could game the system by selling voting machines purchased with funding from a state grant and then keep the money. The complaint against Thornapple was filed by the liberal law firm Law Forward on behalf of two Thornapple residents. A spokesperson for the law firm did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday. The commission's decision could be appealed to circuit court.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'You can't just throw out Patty Plumb's address': Shasta elections boss faces new storm
Shasta's new top elections official, Clint Curtis, registered to vote in the county using the address of a member of the controversial advisory Elections Commission. County elections records show Curtis registered as a Republican on May 8. The address on his registration is the same as Patty Plumb, a conservative activist and elections skeptic who was re-appointed to the Shasta County Elections Commission by District 3 Supervisor Corkey Harmon in late January. As of Wednesday, Curtis was also registered in Florida as a Democrat, who gave an address in Titusville, Florida, according to the Brevard County elections website. At least one public speaker at Tuesday's Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting, when Curtis was appointed, questioned his place of residence. 'One has to have a residence in Shasta County. You can't just say, 'Oh, I'm going to throw out Patty Plumb's address, the Shasta County elections commissioner and use hers.' Has anybody checked that?' Shasta County retired Public Defender Jeff Gorder said. Election rules in California say residents get to decide what address they want to use to register to vote, Shasta County Assistant Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut said Wednesday morning. She said voters sign an affidavit to confirm their place of residence. She said someone registering to vote could report their address as a street corner. The residency question also came up during District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye's campaign in 2022, when he defeated Erin Resner, who currently sits on the Redding City Council. There were allegations Crye did not live in the district. Former county Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen at the time said Crye submitted the appropriate documents and based on that information, his name was approved for the ballot. Supervisors approved Curtis' appointment as the county's new registrar of voters on Tuesday by a 3-2 vote. Crye, Harmon and Chris Kelstrom voted to appoint Curtis. Supervisors Allen Long and Matt Plummer voted no. Long and Plummer wanted Francescut to get the job. Curtis' first day on the job was Wednesday. Francescut said Curtis took a tour of the office and met the staff. Francescut has said that she wants to continue as assistant registrar of voters. She also has announced her intention to run for registrar of voters when the seat comes up in June 2026. Curtis' appointment goes through 2026. David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He's part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Clint Curtis' voter registration in Shasta County mired in controversy
United News of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Sri Lankan ruling party wins local govt elections
Colombo, May 8 (UNI) Sri Lanka's ruling National People's Power (NPP) secured a victory in the 2025 Local Government Elections, winning 43.26 percent of votes and claiming 3,927 council seats, according to final results released by the Elections Commission on Wednesday. The elections, held nationwide on Tuesday, saw the NPP dominate in 266 out of the island's 339 local government bodies. The main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), came in second with 21.69 percent of votes, won 1,767 seats, and leads in 13 local government bodies. Meanwhile, the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the leading Tamil party, won 377 seats and took control of 37 local government bodies. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) secured 116 seats and leads in five local government bodies. There were 17,156,338 registered voters for the elections, and the turnout was approximately 60 percent, according to the Elections Commission. UNI XINHUA GNK
Boston Globe
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Boston City Councilors question election officials about widespread failures that plagued 2024 November election
Evaul, 29, and his colleagues first reached out to the city's elections department to ask for more around 10 a.m. 'We knew we needed to call early because we wanted to get that message out and let the elections department have enough time to be able to get us ballots,' Evaul told the city council in a public hearing Friday. 'And then we still didn't receive the ballots [until the evening], so that was where it was extremely frustrating.' Evaul shared his Election Day experience with the Boston City Council during a hearing Friday, in which the city's top election officials told councilors the department received around 16,000 calls on Election Day, many of which went unanswered. Advertisement The council scheduled Friday's hearing to voting machine breakdowns, then struggled to get in touch with the city's elections department to report the problems. Related : Eneida Tavares, commissioner of the city's elections department, assured the council Friday the department is committed to ensuring the city does not experience a repeat of those issues during the upcoming general election. Advertisement 'No one wants to fail, no one wants to fail publicly, but ... we're going to demonstrate to everyone why we are the Boston election department and why we are the best election department across the state and across the country,' Tavares said. 'I am passionate about democracy and making sure that every voter has the access to vote, so I am just focused right now at making sure that we implement whatever we need to implement, so that going forward, this does not happen ever again,' she continued. Related : The department has hired a national, non-partisan consulting firm called The Election Group on a $50,000 contract to help the city improve training for poll workers and volunteers, develop new internal and external communication plans for elections, and adjust the protocol for determining how many ballots each polling location receives. One option the city is considering is leveraging its 311 system on Election Day to ensure calls to the elections department are answered, but is open to any and all ideas for improvement, Tavares said. Mayor Michelle Wu's administration has also proposed increasing the department's budget to help with those efforts next fiscal year from around $6.5 million to $7.4 million, a 13.6 percent increase. Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin earlier this year placed the city's Elections Commission into state receivership after his office Galvin's office also issued a list of fixes the city has to make moving forward to avoid a repeat of the problems in November, and appointed Related : Advertisement Niki Griswold can be reached at
Chicago Tribune
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Wisconsin clerk who failed to count almost 200 ballots is suspended
The mayor of Wisconsin's capital city said Wednesday that she has placed the municipal clerk on leave as investigators work to determine how she failed to count almost 200 absentee ballots in the November election. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement that the city has launched an investigation and that she needed to suspend City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl to maintain public confidence in the clerk's office. The mayor added that the city will spare no expense to ensure every vote is counted heading into the swing state's spring election. The state Elections Commission also is investigating whether Witzel-Behl violated any state laws or abused her discretion. The uncounted ballots did not change the results of any races but four Madison voters whose ballots weren't counted filed claims last week for $175,000 each from the city and Dane County, the first step toward initiating a lawsuit. The mayor's spokesperson, Dylan Brogan, said Witzel-Behl will continue to be paid during her suspension. She makes $152,300 annually. No listing for her personal contact information could be immediately found. The suspension comes with the state's April 1 general election just weeks away. The highest-profile race is between conservative Brad Schimel and liberal Susan Crawford for an open state Supreme Court seat. The outcome will determine the ideological balance of the court as it ponders cases involving abortion, the strength of public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries. Early voting begins next week. Rhodes-Conway said in her statement that she has appointed City Attorney Michael Haas as interim city clerk and that she expects he will ensure the election runs smoothly in Madison. Haas has previously worked as administrator and attorney for the state elections commission. Aides for Democratic and Republican legislative leaders didn't immediately respond to messages Wednesday inquiring about whether Witzel-Behl's suspension has affected their confidence in how the city will conduct the spring election. According to commission investigators, Wiztel-Behl's office discovered 67 unprocessed absentee ballots in a courier bag that had been placed in a security cart. The discovery came on Nov. 12, seven days after the election, while county workers were conducting the official count of election results. Witzel-Behl said she told two employees to notify the elections commission, but neither did. A third city worker visited the Dane County Clerk's Office to inform officials there, but that employee said the county didn't want the ballots for the count, known as a canvass. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell has said he knew nothing of the uncounted ballots until they were reported in the media. Witzel-Behl's office found another 125 uncounted absentee ballots in a sealed courier bag in a supply tote on Dec. 2. According to commission investigators, Witzel-Behl said she didn't inform county canvassers because the canvass was finished. She added that based on the county's response to the Nov. 12 discovery she didn't think the county would be interested. The commission wasn't notified of either discovery until Dec. 18. Witzel-Behl told investigators that the employees she asked to notify the commission waited until reconciliation was completed. That's a routine process in which poll workers and elections officials ensure an election's accuracy, including checking the number of ballots issued at the polls against the number of voters. She couldn't explain why she didn't contact county officials or the elections commission herself, according to the investigators. On Wednesday afternoon the elections commission unanimously approved sending a memo to clerks around the state outlining best practices for ensuring all ballots get counted in the spring election. The recommendations include documenting election day incidents; making sure all materials are returned from polling sites; checking voting equipment ballot bins for anything that might have been missed; and immediately reporting any mistakes to county officials and the commission. Commission Chair Ann Jacobs noted that all the recommendations are already part of the panel's election day manuals but said the guidelines put them all in one place. Originally Published: March 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM CDT
