Elections

12 November 2007 -- Danish parliamentary elections Tuesday appear headed for a close finish, with voter surveys showing the ruling center-right coalition facing a tough opposition challenge driven by immigration and welfare issues.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rassmussen, in power since 2001, called elections 15 months early, hoping to take advantage of high approval ratings and an alliance with a new center-right party, the New Alliance.

His minority two-party government has ruled with the backing of the right-wing Danish People's Party, known for its hardline stance on immigration.    » read more »

9 November 2007 -- "I am disturbed by the unprecedented restrictions to credible international election observation contained in the Russian Federation's invitation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) election observation body," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, founder of The Carter Center.    » read more »

November 8, 2007 -- INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Two more people charged with vote fraud by the Lake County Joint Vote Fraud Task Force have plead guilty and another person has been sentenced announced Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter. There are now 37 convictions against 53 defendants for vote fraud. Trial dates or pre-trial hearings are scheduled for 11 remaining cases brought by AG Carter and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard A. Carter.    » read more »

Off-year elections offer clues on parties’ strengths heading into 2008

07 November 2007 -- Washington -- “All registered voters should exercise their constitutional right,” a November 5 editorial in the Reading Eagle, a newspaper in Berks County, Pennsylvania, urged. “Tuesday is Election Day, but because it’s an off-year election, voter turnout will be low … and that’s a shame,” the editorial stated, adding that even though national races attract more interest, “local races in the off-year elections have a greater impact on the daily lives” of average citizens.    » read more »

November 07, 2007 -- Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo announced today that his Election Fraud Hotline received a total of 38 calls with 41 issues on election day from voters between 6a.m.and 7p.m. EST.

Eight calls regarded voting machines; six calls regarded election officials; five callers had legal or procedural questions; three related to voter assistance; two calls each pertained to electioneering and allegations of disrupting polls. The remaining fifteen complaints were general in nature. There were an additional 18 calls in the days leading up to the election.    » read more »

Leading presidential candidates propose ways to improve cost, quality

06 November 2007 -- Washington -- When American voters are asked which domestic issues most matter to them, health care is among the top answers.

The United States is expected to spend about $2.3 trillion on health care in 2007, or about 16 percent of the country's gross domestic product -- significantly more per capita than any other nation. It is the only industrialized country that does not mandate access to health insurance for all citizens.    » read more »

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Nov. 6, 2007) -- Rhode Island Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis will spend today promoting voter registration. The goal is to improve turnout among 18-to-24-year-olds leading up to the 2008 elections.

At 9 a.m., Mollis will be at Pawtucket's Shea High School to cast the first vote in a mock election that more than 3,600 Pawtucket high school and middle school students are expected to take part in.    » read more »

Whitehouse Legislation Would Sharply Limit Frivolous Challenges to Voter Eligibility

November 5, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. – Challenging a person’s right to vote because a letter sent to him or her was returned as undeliverable would be illegal under a Senate bill introduced today. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) joined 12 other senators to unveil legislation aimed at preventing the practice of “voter caging,” a long-recognized voter suppression tactic which has often been used to target minority voters.    » read more »

Campaign finance monitoring, public funding top commission’s duties

05 November 2007 -- Washington -- Candidates for president of the United States come from all walks of life. Many are career politicians; others are political activists, wealthy businessmen, or even professional entertainers.    » read more »

November 1, 2007 -- (MONTGOMERY) — Alabama Attorney General Troy King today filed a motion asking the Court of Criminal Appeals to order Hale County Circuit Court Marvin Wiggins to recuse himself from a case involving an investigation of voter fraud in Hale County. In his motion, Attorney General King states that Wiggins "who has a history of obstructing voter fraud investigations*, has revealed his personal bias against the State and its investigation and/or his commitment to impede this investigation and thereby protect members of his family."    » read more »

Oct. 30, 2007 -- Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today is encouraging voters to cast their ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and reminds them of the new voter identification requirement.

"School districts, cities and community colleges in 75 Michigan counties are among those holding elections this November," said Land, the state's chief elections officer. "Decisions that affect you are made at the local level on a daily basis, and that means your participation in the voting process is vital. I urge you to stop by your polling place on Election Day and cast your ballot."    » read more »

October 31, 2007 -- Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says a pilot program currently underway in three Maine communities makes it easier than ever for Mainers to cast their ballots. “Three communities have opened their polls more than a week early, allowing residents to cast their ballots just as they ordinarily would on Election Day,” Dunlap said. “It’s called Early Voting, and it is a major effort to make exercising your Constitutional right to vote as convenient as possible.”    » read more »

Some unlikely candidates win, others bring important issues to light

25 October 2007 -- Portland, Oregon -- “I would rather be right than president,” the 19th-century American statesman Henry Clay once said, and many candidates lagging behind the leaders in the 2008 presidential race may take consolation in his words as they contemplate their situation.    » read more »

Comments about minority voters offensive, dangerous

October 19, 2007 -- WASHINGTON , D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent the following letter to Acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler calling on him to immediately replace John Tanner, the chief of the voting rights section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, for offensive and erroneous comments he made about minorities.    » read more »

October 12, 2007 -- (Washington, DC) - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released a statement in response to news reports that Department of Justice (DOJ) Voting Section Chief John Tanner's investigation of the 2004 election in Ohio concluded that long lines and late voting precincts were due to the fact that white voters tend to cast ballots in the morning (i.e., before work) and black voters cast ballots in the afternoon (i.e., after work). The news report appeared online at the popular blog, TPMmuckraker.com.    » read more »