Latest news with #electionintegrity
Fox News
3 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Red state tops annual Heritage Foundation scorecard for strongest election integrity: 'Hard to cheat'
FIRST ON FOX: The Heritage Foundation released its annual Election Integrity Scorecard on Tuesday, which ranks the states it believes are strongest in terms of election integrity in a review that resulted in Arkansas topping the list. Arkansas, led by GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, moved up from #8 and earned the #1 ranking in the new report that was compiled by looking at factors including voter ID implementation, accuracy of voting lists, absentee ballot management, verification of citizenship, and other attributes. In a press release, Sanders touted several accomplishments in a recent legislative session including Act 240, Act 241, and 218 which the state says "strengthened protections on Arkansas' ballot amendment process so that bad actors cannot influence and change the Natural State's Constitution." Sanders also signed legislation to prevent foreign entities from funding state and local measures. b "My goal this session was simple: make it easy to vote and hard to cheat," Sanders said in a statement. "I was proud to work with my friend, Secretary of State Cole Jester, to make Arkansas ballot boxes the safest and most secure in America and end petition fraud to protect our Constitution. Today's announcement shows that all our hard work paid off." In a statement, Jester said, "As Secretary of State, I have said from day one we would have the most secure elections in the country." "I'm proud of the work my team has completed implementing new procedures and technology. None of this would be possible without the great work of Governor Sanders and the men and women of the Arkansas legislature." Jason Snead, Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital that Sanders and the state of Arkansas "deserve serious credit" for their efforts at election integrity. "States across the country should follow Arkansas' lead by implementing these critical election reforms that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat," Snead said. Red states made up the entirety of the top 10 ranking and included Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The last three of the states on the list included Oregon, Vermont, California, and Hawaii. Earlier this year, Snead's Honest Elections Project released a guide, first reported by Fox News Digital, outlining what it says are must-needed reforms to be taken up in states across the country to ensure election integrity. The report listed over a dozen "critical" measures, ranging from voter ID to cleaning up voter rolls to banning foreign influence in elections. "Election integrity ballot issues passed with flying colors across the board on election night," Snead said at the time. "Now that state legislative sessions are starting up, lawmakers have a duty to fulfill the mandate the American people gave to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat."
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Conservative fundraiser casts doubt on whether all votes were 'accurate and counted' in leaked call
Social Sharing A caller raising money for the Conservative Party cast doubt on the validity of the recount process in the recent federal election, according to a recording obtained by CBC News. In the fundraising call, which happened on Saturday, an official identifying herself as being from the Conservative Party's supporter services claimed that Liberals and media seek to "attack" Conservatives and "scrutinize" the results of two judicial recounts won by Conservatives. Later in the call, she suggested to a potential donor that the results of the recounts were not final. "We need to stand up. We need to make sure all the votes are accurate and counted," she said. The caller appeared to be referencing two tight races that were ultimately won by Conservatives — the Newfoundland riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas and the Ontario riding Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore. She made the call a week after the judicial recounts finished, and after both Liberal candidates had conceded their losses. The call was recorded by the recipient, who previously supported the Conservative Party of Canada. CBC News is not identifying the donor, who fears reprisal for speaking out. He said he shared the audio from the call because he felt frustrated and insulted that the party cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral process. Fundraising strategy It's not the first time the Conservatives have sought to fundraise by suggesting Liberals are trying to affect the outcome of elections after the ballots were cast. Shortly after the election, the party sent an email to its mailing list suggesting that their rivals sought to " flip just enough seats to edge closer to a majority" and were trying to "tip the scales" in the recounts. "It is part of a very common but unsavoury technique to get people to donate," said Chris Tenove, assistant director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at University of British Columbia. "You both ring an emergency bell and say urgent funding is needed to address it. And that can put people into a state of mind where they're perhaps more likely to give money … big picture, I think this strategy of political advertising is corrosive." Conservative spokeswoman Sarah Fischer said in a statement that the party did not question the results, but "wanted to ensure the recounts were accurate and fair." Under Canadian law, recounts are automatically triggered when the difference in the number of votes received by the top-finishing candidates is 0.1 per cent or less of the total number of votes cast. Recounts are overseen by Elections Canada, an independent agency. There are costs for parties and candidates during recounts, and legitimate reasons for parties to help scrutinize results. However, the recounts were already over at the time of the call, with winners confirmed. "It made me wonder, was this an effective fundraising approach that was used in recent weeks? And this individual just isn't ready to let it go?" said Tenove. "A few weeks ago, it made sense that you did need scrutineers and maybe legal representatives right there to advance the Conservatives' position and the process. It's not at all clear why that would be necessary now." A recent Leger poll found that 25 per cent of Conservative supporters said they don't trust the election results. The public's trust in election results has become a flashpoint in political discourse following the 2021 "stop the steal" movement in the United States, based on the debunked conspiracy that former president Joe Biden's win was rigged. A call that backfired CBC News has verified the veracity of the audio. The phone number associated with the call directs to a voicemail message identifying it as the voter outreach and funding office for the Conservative Party of Canada. The caller is first heard saying hello, and thanking the supporter for past donations. Then the topic turns to the recounts. "We won the two major election recounts all across the country, but the media liberals are trying to attack us and scrutinize the result. So now we have political operators on the ground," she said before asking for a $1,750 donation to the "Recount the Fight" fund. The supporter questioned what the party official was saying, noting that the recounts were completed and the Conservatives won them. "I didn't really like your message. The recounts are already over. And I don't believe in a media conspiracy, so you're not selling me today," he said. The party official doubled down. "Right now, the Liberal media is attacking us. They're trying to scrutinize our results here. So we need to stand up, we need to make sure all the votes are accurate and counted." "I don't believe that message, I'm sorry," said the former donor. Then the party official hung up and the line went dead.
Associated Press
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Trump order targets barcodes on ballots. They've long been a source of misinformation
ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to overhaul how U.S. elections are run includes a somewhat obscure reference to the way votes are counted. Voting equipment, it says, should not use ballots that include 'a barcode or quick-response code.' Those few technical words could have a big impact. Voting machines that give all voters a ballot with one of those codes are used in hundreds of counties across 19 states. Three of them -- Georgia, South Carolina and Delaware -- use the machines statewide. Some computer scientists, Democrats and left-leaning election activists have raised concerns about their use, but those pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election have been the loudest, claiming without evidence that manipulation has already occurred. Trump, in justifying the move, said in the order that his intention was 'to protect election integrity.' Even some election officials who have vouched for the accuracy of systems that use coded ballots have said it's time to move on because too many voters don't trust them. Colorado's secretary of state, Democrat Jena Griswold, decided in 2019 to stop using ballots with QR codes, saying at the time that voters 'should have the utmost confidence that their vote will count.' Amanda Gonzalez, the elections clerk in Colorado's Jefferson County, doesn't support Trump's order but believes Colorado's decision was a worthwhile step. 'We can just eliminate confusion,' Gonzalez said. 'At the end of the day, that's what I want -- elections that are free, fair, transparent.' Target for misinformation Whether voting by mail or in person, millions of voters across the country mark their selections by using a pen to fill in ovals on paper ballots. Those ballots are then fed through a tabulating machine to tally the votes and can be retrieved later if a recount is needed. In other places, people voting in person use a touch-screen machine to mark their choices and then get a paper record of their votes that includes a barcode or QR code. A tabulator scans the code to tally the vote. Election officials who use that equipment say it's secure and that they routinely perform tests to ensure the results match the votes on the paper records, which they retain. The coded ballots have nevertheless become a target of election conspiracy theories. 'I think the problem is super exaggerated,' said Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice. 'I understand why it can appeal to certain parts of the public who don't understand the way this works, but I think it's being used to try to question certain election results in the past.' Those pushing conspiracy theories related to the 2020 election have latched onto a long-running legal battle over Georgia's voting system. In that case, a University of Michigan computer scientist testified that an attacker could tamper with the QR codes to change voter selections and install malware on the machines. The testimony from J. Alex Halderman has been used to amplify Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, even though there is no evidence that any of the weaknesses he found were exploited. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has defended the state's voting system as secure. In March, the judge who presided over Halderman's testimony declined to block the use of Georgia's voting equipment but said the case had 'identified substantial concerns about the administration, maintenance and security of Georgia's electronic in-person voting system.' Can the executive order ban coded ballots? Trump's election executive order is being challenged in multiple lawsuits. One has resulted in a preliminary injunction against a provision that sought to require proof of citizenship when people register to vote. The section banning ballots that use QR or barcodes relies on a Trump directive to a federal agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which sets voluntary guidelines for voting systems. Not all states follow them. Some of the lawsuits say Trump doesn't have the authority to direct the commission because it was established by Congress as an independent agency. While the courts sort that out, the commission's guidelines say ballots using barcodes or QR codes should include a printed list of the voters' selections so they can be checked. Trump's order exempts voting equipment used by voters with disabilities, but it promises no federal money to help states and counties shift away from systems using QR or barcodes. 'In the long run, it would be nice if vendors moved away from encoding, but there's already evidence of them doing that,' said Pamela Smith, president of the group Verified Voting. Counties in limbo Kim Dennison, election coordinator of Benton County, Arkansas, estimated that updating the county's voting system would cost around $400,000 and take up to a year. Dennison said she has used equipment that relies on coded ballots since she started her job 15 years ago and has never found an inaccurate result during postelection testing. 'I fully and completely trust the equipment is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing and not falsifying reports,' she said. 'You cannot change a vote once it's been cast.' In Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, voting machines that produce a QR code will be used in this year's primary. But officials expect a manufacturer's update later this year to remove the code before the November elections. County Manager Romilda Crocamo said officials had not received any complaints from voters about QR codes but decided to make the change when Dominion Voting Systems offered the update. The nation's most populous county, Los Angeles, uses a system with a QR code that it developed over a decade and deployed in 2020 after passing a state testing and certification program. The county's chief election official, Dean Logan, said the system exceeded federal guidelines at the time and meets many of the standards outlined in the most recent ones approved in 2021. He said postelection audits have consistently confirmed its accuracy. Modifying or replacing it would be costly and take years, he said. The county's current voting equipment is valued at $140 million. 'Train Wreck' in Georgia? Perhaps nowhere has the issue been more contentious than Georgia, a presidential battleground. It uses the same QR code voting system across the state. Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a lead plaintiff in the litigation over the system, said her group has not taken a position on Trump's executive order but said the federal Election Assistance Commission should stop certifying machines that use barcodes. The secretary of state said the voting system follows Georgia law, which requires federal certification at the time the system is bought. Nevertheless, the Republican-controlled legislature has voted to ban the use of QR codes but did not allocate any money to make the change — a cost estimated at $66 million. Republicans said they want to replace the system when the current contract expires in 2028, but their law is still scheduled to take effect next year. GOP state Rep. Victor Anderson said there is no realistic way to 'prevent the train wreck that's coming.' ___ Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy contributed to this report. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Shasta County's new election official under scrutiny for election denial ties
Shasta County's new elections chief is less than a week into the job and already facing scrutiny for his past job experience, beliefs about election interference and evolving political affiliation. Clint Curtis was selected as the county's interim clerk and registrar of voters on April 30 and formally appointed by the Board of Supervisors May 13 when a background check cleared. He'll oversee the rural North State county's elections office, which in recent years has weathered turbulent claims of election interference and efforts to hand-count elections. The retired attorney ran a law firm with offices in New York, Florida and the Dominican Republic. He has no experience overseeing elections, but according to his cover letter has worked on cases challenging election results, including a '2016 challenge to President Trump's election results in Florida.' 'As such, I have in depth knowledge of every aspect of Election Administrators (sic) duties including absentee mail voting, early voting, election day voting, voter registration rolls(,) accuracy and campaign finance,' he wrote in his application for the Shasta County job. The self-described 'election integrity advocate' said his work spans the political spectrum: he has spoken at events hosted by MyPillow founder and election denier Mike Lindell, and he claimed to have worked on a recount team for Kamala Harris during her first election for California attorney general in 2010 — however, there was no recount for that election. Curtis, who has a background in computer programming, claimed in a documentary that a Florida congressman asked him to create vote-rigging software. According to local media reports, Curtis' appointment faced pushback from two supervisors and several residents. The new elections head is registered as a Democrat in Florida and recently registered as a Republican in California. As he explained to Redding's Action News Now, Curtis ran for Congress in Florida as a Democrat, but said today he 'could be a Trump Republican.' Shasta supervisors appointed Curtis to fill the post until early 2027. The previous registrar, Tom Toller resigned after less than a year due to health concerns. Toller had replaced the previous elections head, Cathy Darling Allen, who also cited her health when she resigned after two decades. The supervisors selected Curtis from a pool of five finalists that included Shasta County's current deputy registrar of voters and top elections workers from around the country.
South China Morning Post
12-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippine midterm elections: casino-linked cash seizure and poll-day disruptions raise alarms
The midterm elections in the Philippines proceeded without major disruption in most areas on Monday, according to officials and observers, but the seizure of nearly half a billion pesos in undeclared cash from foreign nationals, along with isolated incidents of deadly violence and technical glitches, has raised concerns over the integrity of the vote. Advertisement One of the most startling developments occurred late Friday, when six Chinese nationals, three foreigners and two Filipinos were intercepted at Cebu International Airport while attempting to board a private jet to Manila. Authorities discovered 441.9 million pesos (US$7.6 million) in local currency, along with US$168,730 and HK$1,000 in undeclared cash – raising suspicions of illicit election-related activity. Brigadier General Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, said investigators were pursuing multiple leads, including the possibility that the money was intended to influence the polls. 'Is this money part of a plan to influence or at least interfere in our elections?' she said at a Sunday briefing. 'Maybe these foreign nationals might be a conduit to be used to interfere or at least influence our elections.' Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, centre right, and his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, centre left, prepare to cast their votes at a polling station in Batac City, Ilocos Norte province, on Monday. Photo: AP Police officials said the foreign nationals – including a Malaysian, an Indonesian and a Kazakh citizen – had declared only three of seven hard-shell suitcases during check-in. X-ray scans and inspection revealed the undeclared currency.
