Letter to the Editor, Mark Halvorson, Director, Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and the Star Tribune's Nov. 26 editorial both weighed in on critical issues posed by paperless electronic voting machines.
Krugman focused on Sarasota County, Florida, where 18,000 votes went unrecorded in the 13th Congressional District race.
In 2004, complaints about voting machines changing or losing votes were reported by voters across the country.
Brad Swenson Bemidji Pioneer
A test of Beltrami Countys voting integrity on Thursday found a single glitch, one easily explained and which raised no red flags.
Not only am I happy with the outcome, but this was also an opportunity to test the system and build public trust, Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack said after the nearly two-hour post-election review.
By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor, Crookston Daily Times
A handful of Polk County election officials got a taste of how ballot counting was done in the old days - more than two decades ago - when they conducted the newly mandated Post Election Equipment Review (PEER) Monday afternoon. The group spent 2 1/2 hours hand counting 476 ballots, but only for the offices of governor, U. S. senator and U. S. representative.
By JUNE KRONHOLZ, The Wall Street Journal, Page B1
When Americans go to vote tomorrow, a new breed of activist will be on guard, monitoring polling stations for everything from voting-machine glitches to long lines to registration snafus.
Energized by disputed results in 2000 and 2004, they have left jobs as music conductors, real-estate agents and software engineers to form groups that expect to turn out thousands of volunteers who don't trust the country's ability to count its votes and have decided to do something about it.
The state's system has safeguards, lacking in other states, to allay worries of fraud and malfunction.
John Reinan, Star Tribune
Minnesota officials aren't fretting about new voting technology
Linda Mickelson hopes to go home early on election night -- say, around midnight.
That's a better deal than it sounds. Mickelson, deputy auditor in Grant County, usually gets to bed about 4 a.m. on Election Night after counting more than 3,000 votes by hand.
By Helen Palmer and Mark Halvorson, St. Paul Pioneer Press
When Minnesotans are asked to raise their hands if they think our electronic voting machines accurately count their votes, almost all hands go up. However, when asked if they think votes in other states are counted accurately, only a few hands go up. Voters in our state have confidence in our voting machines.
Austin Daily Herald
Columnists: Sheila Donnelly
Published on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 by the Star Tribune / Minneapolis
We May Never Know What Happened in the Ohio Vote
by Mark Halvorson and Kirk Lund
The right to vote and to have each vote count is the cornerstone of democracy, but deep cracks are showing in this cornerstone.
Disturbing reports of voting irregularities in Ohio recently led nine of us from Minnesota to monitor the recount of its presidential election. The recount was not only to verify the outcome of the Ohio vote but also to ensure accountability in a flawed system.
This document addresses a wide range of recount topics, including counting methods, transparency, impartiality, initiating methods, targeted recounts, and rules for determining voter intent. CEIMN convened four nationally recognized, bipartisan authors and a blue-ribbon panel of advisors to create these key principles and best practices.
Mpls., MN 5/28/2013. Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota.
Last week Governor Dayton signed into law the 2013 omnibus elections bill (HF 894, Chapter 131). This was the culmination of a bipartisan legislative process that resulted in the law’s passage in the Minnesota House 99-32, and in the Minnesota Senate 56-9. As HF 894 passed through the committee process, it evolved to include changes that CEIMN has supported for years.