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II. Election News This Week
- Two years after Clark County, Nev. launched it, online voter registration is now available throughout The Silver State. Douglas County was the last of the state’s 17 counties to come online late last week. The entire project cost the state $248,000 with most of the money coming from the state’s HAVA funds.
- Apparently size does matter — at least when it comes to fonts. In the latest installment of the saga of voter ID in South Carolina, the U.S. Dept. of Justice recently accused lawyers for the state of using the wrong font size — 12pt instead of 13pt — for the state’s finding of facts. The dispute arose over the weekend with lawyers for both sides exchanging emails late into Saturday night and the DOJ filing an emergency motion with the D.C. court a bit before 11pm. On Sunday, two of the three judges presiding over the case allowed the DOJ to re-file its court papers in 12pt font, but that moving forward most parties must use 13pt.
- With an almost 10-page ballot facing them in November, voters in Florida have a decision to make: Potentially longer lines at polling places as fellow voters wade through the ballots or spending up to $1.50 in postage to vote-by-mail. Elections supervisors are encouraging Floridians to vote early or by mail. "This is the longest ballot I can remember," Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark told the Miami Herald. "The voter who sees this ballot the first time may need smelling salts."
- Former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White, who earlier this year was removed from office after being convicted on six felony charges including for vote fraud, began the appeal process late last week in the Indiana Court of Appeals. White is appealing three of the six convictions—perjury on a marriage license application, submitting a false voter registration application and casting a fraudulent ballot.
- Personnel News: Rhine McLin and John Doll have been tapped to replace the two fired Democrats on the Montgomery County, Ohio board of elections. And on a related note, the fired Democratic board of elections members are suing Secretary of State Jon Husted in federal court charging that they were unjustly fired. Several secretaries of state are overseas this week to learn from members of the military about the struggles to cast an overseas ballot. Those getting their passports stamped include Louisiana’s Tom Schedler, Nevada’s Ross Miller and Kentucky’s Alison Lundergan Grimes. John Irish has been appointed to the Lucas County, Ohio board of elections. Carl P. Davis was appointed to the Campbell County, Va. electoral board this week.
- Award Nomination: IFES' Joe C. Baxter Award recognizes the contribution of a professional whose skills, dedication and sacrifices to the field of election administration epitomizes the mission of IFES and embodies the spirit of former IFES Senior Adviser for Election Administration Joe C. Baxter.We encourage you to submit a nominee for the 2012 Joe C. Baxter Award. IFES looks for an individual whose work has focused on building local ownership and capacity; improving election administration procedures; and creating sustainable democratic processes. This year's award will be presented at a special reception on Monday, November 5, in Washington, D.C.Submit a name for the 2012 Joe C. Baxter Award. The nomination period closes on September 19 at 9:00 a.m. EST.Learn more about IFES' Baxter Award.