Latest news with #electionsecurity
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mediation ordered in Michigan House lawsuit against Secretary of State Benson on subpoenas
A Michigan Court of Claims judge ordered mediation in the lawsuit the Michigan House filed against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over subpoenas to obtain training materials for election administrators, the release of which Benson fears could compromise election security. Benson has provided some of the material sought by the Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee but has expressed concerns that some of the information requested could end up in the wrong hands. The Michigan House filed its lawsuit against Benson in June, arguing that they have a right to review the material to ensure that election officials receive proper training that complies with Michigan election law. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel on July 25 ordered the parties in the case to appear for mediation with Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford, requiring Benson and House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland, to attend unless they have a valid excuse. The order followed a July 22 hearing during which Patel made the ruling from the bench. Two weeks before the mediation conference, the parties in the case must list the remaining materials subpoenaed that the Secretary of State's office hasn't delivered with a description of each. Michigan Politics: President Donald Trump endorses Mike Rogers in Michigan U.S. Senate race Benson said during a May news conference before the lawsuit was filed that she welcomed going to court over the fight with the Michigan House for election training materials and previously proposed having a third-party mediator from the judicial branch join a meeting with House legal counsel. She said handing over some of the information sought by lawmakers could make Michigan elections vulnerable to attacks such as an effort to tamper with equipment or impersonate an election official. Michigan House Oversight Chair Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, has characterized the lawsuit as a way to hold Benson accountable and ensure government transparency. Michigan House Election Integrity Committee Chair Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin, has said that lawmakers want to review the training materials following new election administration procedures. In recent elections, Michigan voters have given every voter the right to vote by an absentee ballot and established a new early voting system. "With how much has changed in state election law over the last few years, our legislators need to review those materials and ensure there aren't any holes or confusion in the training process," Smit wrote in a March statement. Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@ or 313-296-5743. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mediation ordered in Michigan fight over election training materials
The Independent
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Richard Tice claims he's seen people carrying ‘bags and bags' of postal votes to a polling station
Richard Tice claimed he has seen "people carry bag loads of postal votes to a polling station on election day" during a House of Commons urgent question on Labour 's strategy for elections on Thursday (17 July). Describing Reform UK's opposition against giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote at the next general election, the party's deputy leader said they have "grave concerns about the risks to security and the risks of impersonation of postal voting." Responding, democracy minister Rushanara Ali reassured Mr Tice: "Personating another voter is a deliberate act of fraud. It completely undermines our democracy and is a serious criminal offence that will continue to be prosecuted. If he has examples, he should report them to the police."
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cook County clerk trying out a ‘smart' ballot drop box for next election, expanding language access
Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon unveiled a new 'smart' ballot drop box on Tuesday, stating she intends to use it for the March 2026 primary election and see if it can be implemented on a larger scale for future elections. The $15,000 tamper-proof drop box features a surveillance camera to record who drops off ballots, an electronic screen to confirm successful deposits and a scanner to record the outside envelopes of the ballots. Clerk officials described it as the first of its kind nationally. During the primary election, the new ballot box is expected to be located at the county's primary election site at 69 W. Washington St., according to a report from the clerk. The box's scanning feature is expected to save clerk employees from having to manually scan envelopes when they are received, while automatically updating the online status of ballots for voters. The envelopes are still transported and processed — taken out of the envelope where votes are scanned and counted — by clerk employees. The machine, according to the clerk's office, strengthens 'election security in response to rising concerns surrounding drop box tampering as reported in other American jurisdictions.' 'Some people … may think, 'Oh, it's my vote. I'm dropping this off. Is my vote really being counted? Is it being tallied? So this provides them some assurance in a secure way,' Gordon said at a Tuesday news conference. The prototype was built by Runbeck Election Services, which also manufactured the large-scale Agilis mail ballot sorting machine the clerk's office currently uses. At the clerk's request, Runbeck utilized the same technology that's used for the Agilis machine on the smart ballot drop boxes to help 'improve coordination and tracking using the integrated system,' said Sally Daly, a spokesperson for the clerk's office. The U.S. Postal Service tracks ballots sent to the clerk via traditional mail, according to Deputy Clerk of Elections Edmund Michalowski. However, drop-box deposits typically take a few days to be scanned and have their status updated online. Ballots dropped in a smart box can be tracked immediately, Michalowski said. 'The fact that we can reconcile an actual received ballot in one of our early voting sites sooner — it just will increase voter confidence,' Michalowski said. A 2025-26 Election and Voter Registration grant from the Illinois State Board of Elections is helping the clerk cover the cost of the machine. Gordon said the office hopes to install smart drop boxes across all 60 early voting locations in suburban Cook County, which would cost $900,000. The clerk's office advertised its new ballot box as being fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, although Michalowski acknowledged it needed to be adjusted to fit that description. Michalowski said the office was working on lowering the design of the ballot boxes for the final products. As part of a news conference marking the first six months of her full term, Gordon also announced the introduction of 11 'Pocketalk' boxes — small devices the size of a smartphone — at clerk offices that offer instant translation services in up to 89 languages. The devices, which cost $250 each, are available in the vital records, recording, real estate and tax division and elections divisions. Gordon, a former member of the Cook County Board, was appointed to fill the seat of the late Karen Yarbrough in April 2024 and was subsequently elected to a full term in November. The office manages birth, death and marriage certificates, suburban elections, legislation and proceedings of the county board and property transfer paperwork. Among the recommendations included in Gordon's final transition report are hiring other multilingual election judges to serve in areas with a substantial population that speaks the same language, 'removing bureaucratic red tape' for high school students who want to work as election judges and working with the National Association of Counties to advocate for reducing or eliminating federal income taxes for election workers who only work for one day. Also recommended are: Giving office walk-ins a virtual place in line to reduce wait times at clerk offices, exploring self-service kiosks at major offices and reviewing fees for purchasing vital records.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County applying for election reimbursement grant
Parker County could get a little over $31,000 in reimbursement funds. Commissioners Monday gave Elections Administrator Crickett Miller the green light to apply for the 2025 Help America Vote Act election security grant. Ten million dollars has been allocated for the state. Each county can apply, and reimbursements are based on the number of registered voters, with a 20-percent match. 'It can only be used on certain things,' Miller said, noting the most obvious would be the purchase of electronic poll books purchased last year. 'It would be $31,355 and you wouldn't have to put up a match because we've already paid for this item.' Precinct 2 Commissioner Jacob Holt cautioned the elections administrator to keep an eye on the cost associated with moving back to paper ballots, as well, citing examples in Collin County, where voters will use hand-marked ballots beginning in November. 'There's a big number of folks asking the commissioners to continue being vigilant,' he said. Miller clarified that the move to paper ballots came after a presidential executive order eliminating machines that use bar codes tied to a ballot or voter. Machines like the ones Parker County uses from Hart InterCivic, she said, use a QR code that only ties to a precinct. 'Our scanner reads the words on the ballot, they don't read a bar code,' Miller added. 'All Hart counties are good to go, as far as I know.' The court Monday also approved the 2024 annual financial report by Weaver and Tidwell. 'These are very positive results ... each year, we continue to see improvements in processes and timing,' CPA Jackie Gonzalez said.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Justice Dept. Weighs Seeking Criminal Charges as It Presses States for Election Data
Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether they can bring criminal charges against state or local election officials if the Trump administration determines they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems, according to people familiar with the discussions. The department's effort, which is still in its early stages, is not based on new evidence, data or legal authority, according to the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Instead, it is driven by the unsubstantiated argument made by many in the Trump administration that American elections are easy prey to voter fraud and foreign manipulation, these people said. Such a path could significantly raise the stakes for federal investigations of state or county officials, thrusting the Justice Department and the threat of criminalization into the election system in a way that has never been done before. Federal voting laws place some mandates on how elections are conducted and ballots counted. But that work has historically been managed by state and local officials, with limited involvement or oversight from Washington. In recent days, senior officials have directed Justice Department lawyers to examine the ways in which a hypothetical failure by state or local officials to follow security standards for electronic voting could be charged as a crime, appearing to assume a kind of criminally negligent mismanagement of election systems. Already, the department has started to contact election officials across the country, asking for information on voting in the state. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
