Salon.com > Early voting

Chris Christie vetoes early voting bill

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:28:00 +0000

Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have allowed early voting by 15 days in New Jersey, calling it "hasty, counterproductive and less reliable."

"I support responsible and cost-efficient election reform that increases voter participation because democracy works best when the most people vote," he said of the veto. "But this bill risks the integrity and orderly administration of our elections by introducing a new voting method and process."

From the Star-Ledger:

Christie, who is seeking re-election, raised the ire of unions and the Democratic Governors Association, who are backing his likely opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex).

"The governor’s veto shamefully silences the voices of an untold number of New Jersey families," New Jersey AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said. The Democratic Governors Association immediately issued a statement likening Christie to what it called "shameless Republican governors restricting voting rights for partisan political gain," citing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and others.

Arizona elections still not over as suspicion builds

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The election may have ended almost two weeks ago, but in Arizona, it goes on. Perhaps it’s fitting for a state with its own time zone, but as of last night, there remained over 100,000 uncounted votes in the state’s two largest counties, leaving election officials unable to officially certify the results of a number of the state’s high profile races, including the Senate race, several House contests, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's reelection bid. Friday was the deadline for counties to finish counting ballots, but the state blew past it yesterday when Maricopa, which contains Phoenix, and Pima County, which contains Tucson, said they needed more time.

In most cases, the margins are the large enough by this point that candidates have declared victory or conceded defeat, even if the results aren’t official. And late Friday night, the Arizona Republic newspaper declared Democrat Ron Barber the winner in the highest profile race outstanding, the one to replace Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords. That contest had been too close to call for over 10 days, with fewer than 1,000 votes separating Barber from Republican Martha McSally, but the remaining outstanding ballots come from heavily Democratic areas so the paper was able to project Barber's victory.

“I’ve never been more hopeful”

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 01:56:00 +0000

What are you seeing and hearing in your state and at the polling place? Send information and photos to readermail@salon.com.

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Florida Dems sue state government on early voting

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:01:00 +0000

This election's getting litigious fast.

Ohio isn’t the only battleground where Democrats see their voting rights being curtailed. The Florida Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit Sunday to extend early voting hours in the quintessential swing state, the New York Times reports.

The lawsuit followed a stream of complaints from voters who sometimes waited nearly seven hours to vote or who did not vote at all because they could not wait for hours to do so.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, local election supervisors in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties, where queues sometimes snaked out the door and around buildings, said they would allow voters to request and cast absentee ballots on Sunday. Voters in three other Florida counties also will be able to pick up and drop off absentee ballots. State election law permits election offices to receive absentee ballots through Tuesday so long as they are cast in person.

But later on Sunday, Miami-Dade’s county election supervisor closed down the line for absentee ballots at its Doral office after two hours because too many people showed up.

Less early voting in Wisconsin?

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:36:00 +0000

After Barack Obama won Wisconsin by 14 points in 2008, state Republicans fought back, using voter access laws to thwart the Obama coalition. One in five Wisconsin voters cast ballots early four years ago, as polls opened a month before Election Day. Last year Republicans in the state Legislature changed that. Now there are only two weeks of early voting, and instead of going through the Monday before the election (including the weekend), it shuts down Friday Nov. 2.

That left only one weekend for Wisconsin Democrats to get out their voters on a Saturday and Sunday, when people are more likely to have time off from work. At a "Souls to the Polls" rally in Milwaukee on Sunday, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock shook up some Democrats by declaring, “If the election was held today, President Barack Obama would lose the state of Wisconsin because where his base is, we have not turned out the vote early. The suburbs and rural parts of Wisconsin – the Republican base – are voting. President Obama’s base has yet to go vote. We've got to get our people to go vote."