Electionline Weekly October-17-2019

2019 Election Updates

Louisiana: Things did Not go as smoothly as folks would have hoped during Louisiana’s 2019 General Election. In St. George Parish, Ballot Confusion prompted calls to the Registrar’s Office. A Computer glitch led to Late Results in St. Tammany Parish. A Computer Problem held up the Inclusion of Absentee Ballots in Lafayette Parish. And Officials are set to Recount 1,500 Paper Ballots in a State Senate Race. Franklin Foil, whose Eight-Vote Lead over fellow Republican Steve Carter in a State Senate Race evaporated after an Apparent Double-Counting of Ballots was discovered Saturday night, formally asked for a Recount in the Race Tuesday in hopes of Breaking the current Tie and Avoiding a Historic Three-way Runoff.

Legislative Updates

California: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has Vetoed SB212 that would have Allowed Counties and Cities Statewide to move to a Ranked-Choice Voting system. Newsom was a County Supervisor in San Francisco when Ranked-Choice Voting was Approved and he did Not Support that move. “Ranked choice is an experiment that has been tried in several charter cities in California,” Newsom said in his Veto Message Sunday. “Where it has been implemented, I am concerned that it has often led to voter confusion and that the promise that ranked-choice voting leads to greater democracy is not necessarily fulfilled.”

Maine: The Portland City Council will hold a Public Hearing Next Month on a Proposed Charter Amendment to Extend Ranked-Choice Voting to All City and School Board Elections. That Discussion could Lead to a Citywide Referendum in March.

Legal Updates

Kentucky: The Kentucky Democratic Party Sued the State Board of Elections, claiming it Unlawfully placed 175,000 Registered Voters on an “Inactive” List that might Infringe on their Right to Vote. “After weeks of conversations with the State Board of Elections staff that raised more questions than it provided answers, we determined that we had no choice but to file this lawsuit in order to protect Kentucky voters from facing unfair burdens at the polls,” Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Ben Self said in a Statement. A Judge has Temporarily Reinstated the Voters.

West Virginia: An October 28th Court Date has been set in the Ongoing Dispute over whether the Harpers Ferry Board of Canvassers should have Counted Provisional Ballots in an Election held earlier this year.










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