Tag Archives: Secretary of State

We speak again of an elections administrator

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I’ve been wondering when this might happen. Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said he will ask the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to examine his office’s election processes after a “human error” in his office caused erroneous … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Voter ID trial, day one

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off, with the state bringing the funny math as part of its case. A Justice Department lawyer, Elizabeth Westfall, argued that the law has the potential to prevent 1.4 million Texans from voting who are eligible but lack … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

We apparently will have a candidate in SBOE1 after all

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reviews the bidding on the Martha Dominguez situation in SBOE 1. According to the Texas Election Code, primary candidates have until 63 days before the primary election to apply to have their name withdrawn (this year it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

You sure you’re registered?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Your voter registration could get cancelled without you realizing what’s happening. More than 300,000 valid voters were notified they could be removed from Texas rolls from November 2008 to November 2010 – often because they were mistaken for someone else … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Your voter registration card is in the mail

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Someone was just asking me about this, so I’m glad to see that they’re on their way. Harris County officials prepared to ship out 1.7 million voter registration cards Tuesday – after an unprecedented nearly five-month delay resulting from a … Continue reading →

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“Phantom” voters

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This is a molehill, not a mountain. Sixteen small counties across Texas appear to have more registered voters on their rolls as of 2010 than qualified citizens of voting age – a phenomenon prompting conservative Washington, D.C., watchdog group to … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why do we make it so hard to vote?

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

News item: Many voter registrations around the country are outdated or incorrect. Some 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors, including about 1.8 million dead people still on the rolls and many more approved to vote … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Texas files suit to preclear voter ID

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They’re a mighty busy bunch at the OAG these days. The Texas attorney general’s office today filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to have the state’s controversial voter ID law implemented without further … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

SOS sends voter registration info to DOJ

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Took them long enough, not that I’m complaining. Two weeks after Texas’ voter ID law was scheduled to go into effect, the measure is back in the U.S. Department of Justice’s hands. The Texas secretary of state’s office on Thursday … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Your voter registration card is not in the mail just yet

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Another side effect of the Supreme Court stay. Even if you’ve registered to vote in Texas, you won’t be getting a new voter registration certificate until February. Although the latest blue cards expired at the end of the year, counties … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Look out, here comes The Donald

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Make of this what you will. Donald Trump supporters have met an official ballot deadline in Texas, paving the way for the business mogul to become a third-party candidate there, a source close to Trump tells The Blaze. Trump himself … Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

DOJ defers again on voter ID

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to the interim maps, we got some more good news yesterday. Texas provided “incomplete” information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

It’s not “he said, she said” if one of them is factually correct

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story from Monday about a mishap at the County Clerk’s office really annoys me for what it doesn’t say. A manual being using to train election judges for next week’s elections contains inaccurate information, reflecting a new voter … Continue reading →

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DOJ defers on County Commissioners map

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More information, please. The U.S. Department of Justice, charged with considering whether Harris County’s redistricting map meets the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, has asked the county for more information to make its ruling. The DOJ letter is here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

News flash: Voter ID will mean fewer people can vote

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I’m as shocked as you are. As many as a quarter of voters in some small Texas counties might not be able to cast ballots if the federal government allows the new state voter ID law to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The SOS responds to DOJ on voter ID

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Two weeks ago, the Justice Department asked some questions about Texas’ voter ID law as a condition for preclearance. The Secretary of State has now given some answers, though they may not be what DOJ was looking for. Under section … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Making it harder for veterans to vote

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Well done, Republicans. Ann McGeehan, director of the Secretary of State’s elections division, said last week at a seminar in Austin that photo ID cards issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are not acceptable forms of military ID … Continue reading →

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Texas Supreme Court dismisses voting machine lawsuit

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This came out late Friday. Dealing a blow to critics of electronic voting machines, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a case brought by Travis County voters that alleged the machines were not secure or reliable. The machines “are … Continue reading →

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More on Sumners and the LWV

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve got some updates on the change in policy by Tax Assessor-to-be Don Sumners regarding voter registrations at naturalization ceremonies. First, Sumners has acknowledged the need to get pre-clearance from the Justice Department for any changes to voter registration procedures, … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Were the Green signatures obtained illegally?

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Wayne Slater follows up his previous reporting on the petition signatures that were gathered by an outside organization for the Green Party with the question about the legality of it. It’s unclear who paid for the petition drive, but funding … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Here come the Greens

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As Perry noted the other day, the Green Party of Texas submitted petitions to the Secretary of State to get on the ballot in certain races in Texas. They failed to do so in 2006, so this will be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

No official guess on turnout

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The Secretary of State doesn’t want to speculate about turnout for today’s election. “We are not making a projection on the turnout for tomorrow,” Russell Dillard, spokesman for Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade, said Monday. “It’s pretty difficult to … Continue reading →

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What happens now in HCC District 8?

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, after the filing-deadline shenanigans in the HCC Trustee District 8 race, brother-in-law candidate Arturo Aguilar said he was withdrawing from the ballot. As I noted at the time, that meant there were no other candidates who had … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Lone Star Project on Bohac

Posted on August 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, the Lone Star Project took a look at how now-reassigned Associate Voter Registrar Ed Johnson got his hands on drivers license data, which he and his business partner State Rep. Dwayne Bohac then used to sell campaign data … Continue reading →

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Hochberg responds to Perry’s veto

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I missed this last week, but State Rep. Scott Hochberg sent out a press release, which is posted on the House website about Governor Perry’s veto of his bill HB1457. If Governor Perry was denied a voter registration certificate because … Continue reading →

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Not dead yet

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Just a little reminder that sometimes voters are removed from the rolls erroneously. Alegria Arce Hibbetts of Austin got a letter in late March saying that she might be dead. Or more specifically, the Texas secretary of state’s Texas Election … Continue reading →

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Senate wraps up voter ID

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, after more debate and a bunch of Democratic amendments that were rejected by the same 19-12 vote, SB362 itself was passed on second reading in the Senate on a 19-12 party line vote. There were two amendments … Continue reading →

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