Latest news with #HelpAmericaVoteAct
3 days ago
- Politics
Wisconsin Elections Commission votes to let small communities hand count ballots
MADISON, Wis. -- 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
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
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.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free 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
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump DOJ sues NC over voter rolls, echoing Jefferson Griffin's arguments
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday in a complaint whose arguments closely mirror those used by Jefferson Griffin in his failed attempt to throw out over 65,000 ballots in the 2024 state Supreme Court election. While the DOJ's lawsuit doesn't seek to change any election results, it could endanger the registration status of nearly a quarter-million voters. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges that the board violated the federal law known as the Help America Vote Act by registering some voters who did not provide a driver's license or the last four digits of a Social Security number. 'Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud,' Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement. 'The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws.' The board — newly controlled by Republicans — has already indicated it is working on a plan to coordinate with county election boards to obtain any necessary voter information that is lacking, but the DOJ's lawsuit seeks to expedite the process. It asks a judge to give the elections board 30 days to either contact the affected voters and get the information or remove them from the rolls. 'We are still reviewing the complaint, but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented,' Sam Hayes, executive director of the board, said in a statement. 'Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law.' At an unrelated event on Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein defended the challenged voters. 'We know those are legitimate North Carolina voters,' he told reporters. 'I don't have any problem with (them) going back and submitting the numbers according to the law. But what I worry about is the new State Board of Elections using this as an opportunity to just erase these people from the rolls when they did absolutely nothing wrong.' While the DOJ's complaint doesn't state a specific number of voters it believes lack the information, an earlier case alleged that as many as 225,000 voters should be purged from the state's rolls because they lacked the required identifying information. Griffin, a Republican judge on the state Court of Appeals, argued that the missing identification numbers should disqualify over 60,000 ballots cast in 2024, potentially flipping the Supreme Court election in his favor after he lost by 734 votes. Griffin eventually lost his legal battle to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, who was certified as the victor of the election earlier this month. The DOJ's case is forward-looking and will not affect the results of the 2024 election. Tuesday's lawsuit comes just weeks after Republicans took control of the State Board of Elections for the first time since 2016. In its first action, the board ousted longtime Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell, replacing her with Hayes, a lawyer who has worked for the state's top Republican lawmakers. The General Assembly forced the partisan shift by passing a law stripping Stein of his power to appoint the board's members and giving it to the Republican state auditor instead. North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, said Wednesday he was confident the new board would work with the DOJ to address its complaint. 'If we don't have clean voter rolls, we don't have fair elections,' Hall wrote on social media. 'North Carolina must lead on election integrity. No excuses.' Capitol Bureau Chief Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
DOJ sues North Carolina over voter rolls
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday for allegedly failing to maintain an accurate voter list. The Trump administration claims the Tar Heel State is in violation of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that did not make clear whether an applicant must provide a driver's license number, or if the applicant does not have a driver's license, the last four digits of the applicant's social security number. If an applicant has neither, the law says the state must assign a special identifying number. The lawsuit says, "a significant number of North Carolina voters who did not provide a driver's license number or the last four digits of a social security number using that voter registration form were nonetheless registered by their election officials, in violation of HAVA" and the defendants "only took limited actions to prevent further violations." Federal Judge Orders Nc To Certify Supreme Court Election Results With Democrat Leading "Upon information and belief there currently are a significant number of voters that do not have a driver's license number, last four digits of a social security number, or any other identifying number, as required by Section 303 of HAVA, listed in North Carolina's state voter registration file," according to the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. "Those violations will continue absent relief from this Court." "Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws." Read On The Fox News App A previous edition of the state elections board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the voter registration form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers. According to the lawsuit, the board indicated that such information would be accumulated on an ad hoc basis as voters appeared at polling places. It is unclear exactly how many voters' records still lack identifying numbers. Lawyers from the DOJ Civil Rights Division want a judge to give the state 30 days to develop a plan to contact voters with records that do not comply with federal law, obtain an identifying number for each and add that to the electronic list. The state and national GOP last year sued over the lack of identifying numbers, which they estimated could have affected 225,000 registrants. However, federal judges declined to make changes so close to the general election. The lawsuit also referred to President Donald Trump's executive order on elections in March to "guard against illegal voting, unlawful discrimination, and other forms of fraud, error, or suspicion." Federal Judge Kicks Battle Over Nc Supreme Court Election Back To State Court After Election Day, formal protests were filed by Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for a seat on the state Supreme Court, who challenged about 65,500 ballots. He contended that about 60,000 were cast by registrants whose records failed to contain one of the two identifying numbers. The state election board said earlier this year at least roughly half of those voters actually did provide an identifying number. Griffin also challenged another 5,500 ballots belonging to overseas military personnel and their family members who were not required to attach a copy of their photo IDs, as well those in a category of "Never Residents," or U.S. citizens with family ties to North Carolina who have never lived in the United States. A state appeals court criticized the board's handling of the registration records but ultimately ruled the challenged ballots had to remain in the final election tally. Six months passed during what amounted to be the nation's last contested 2024 election. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs was ultimately certified as the winner over Griffin by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast. Griffin conceded earlier this month but said he did not fully agree with the court's analysis. This month, the state election board's composition changed to reflect a 2024 law approved by the GOP-dominated General Assembly that shifted the board's appointment powers from the now-Democratic governor to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek. A previous 3-2 Democratic majority is now a 3-2 Republican majority. The new iteration of the board sounds open to embracing the Justice Department's wishes. Executive Director Sam Hayes said late Tuesday the lawsuit was being reviewed, "but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented." "Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law," he said, according to The Associated Press. Local elections start in September. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: DOJ sues North Carolina over voter rolls
