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E-Voting From Mississippi To California
by Michael Martinez
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Tuesday signed into a law a bill to allow elections officials to buy 2,000 new voting machines. The law authorizes the state to issue $6 million in bonds toward the purchase of updated equipment in counties.
Secretary of State Eric Clark previously had announced plans to buy 5,000 e-voting machines this year to satisfy a 2002 federal law. Clark's spokesman, David Blount, said the new state bonds would allow the purchase of 2,000 machines.
All but five of Mississippi's 82 counties have joined a statewide contract with Diebold for new touch-screen voting devices. But the law also provides funding for the counties that have opted out of the Diebold deal.
Blount said state officials have worked closely with U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., to push federal legislation to repair and replace damaged voting infrastructure in states affected by hurricanes last summer. Lott introduced a bill in December that would authorize $50 million to repair voting equipment in the states in the Gulf region.
The Senate passed the bill, S. 2166, by voice vote Feb. 9. A House version has been referred to the House Administration Committee.
In California, meanwhile, elections officials last Friday conditionally approved Diebold voting machines, closing a controversial certification process that was extended multiple times. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson certified Diebold's touch-screen and optical-scan systems for use in elections this year. But the company will have to adopt recommendations from federal and state testing authorities to modify the equipment.
McPherson delayed certifying the machines last December after reports surfaced that their source code could be manipulated to change election results. He called for an additional federal evaluation of the equipment, which is still underway.
A separate review completed by computer-science experts at the University of California at Berkeley was cited in last week's announcement. Problems identified in the source code of the machines are manageable, and the risks of using the equipment can be "mitigated through appropriate use procedures," according to the evaluation.
McPherson established a certification process for voting systems after taking office in 2005. The process requires equipment to pass a 10-standard test, as well as a test designed to measure the machines' ability to handle high amounts of activity.
"The decision to certify voting systems is a very serious responsibility, and a number of factors must be carefully weighed before I determine whether to grant certification," McPherson said in a statement. "This is precisely why I created 10 strict standards that must be met for a voting system to be certified, making California's process the most stringent in the nation."
Kansas Eyes Telephone Deregulation
Lawmakers in Kansas this week moved forward a measure that would loosen regulations for the state's telephone market.
A Senate panel cleared a proposal to terminate pricing rules for bundled phone services in several urban areas, including Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita. The bill, S.B. 350, would strip the Kansas Corporation Commission of its ability to control prices on packaged phone offerings that include features such as high-speed Internet service and caller identification.
Pricing plans for cable and wireless companies operating in Kansas are not regulated by the state. Proponents of the bill claim that deregulation would lower prices for consumers and stimulate competition among phone, cable and wireless providers.
Arizona Advances Digital Education Measure
Arizona students soon might spend less time at school and more time online at home.
An Arizona Senate Committee on Tuesday passed a bill to create a digital curriculum for the state's public school system that would combine classroom instruction with online learning. The bill, S.B. 1512, would appropriate $5.9 million to establish a digital curriculum that would incorporate subject-specific online coursework through various applications, including personal computers and digital television sets.
The Arizona Education Department would have to develop and support a data system for e-learning that could be accessed by all state public schools. A digital curriculum institute would be charged with evaluating the effects of e-learning on student performance.
Supporters of the measure argue that online learning would save the state money by reducing the student population that schools need to accommodate on a daily basis. Critics have expressed concern about reducing the interaction between teachers and students.
Alabama Looks To Expand Child Porn Rules
The Alabama Legislature on Wednesday cleared a measure to expand the state's rules governing child pornography.
Both the House and Senate passed a bill to update the state's current law against child porn to include videocassettes, tapes, records, digital videodiscs, video compilations, and items generated or stored in computers or other electronic devices. Alabama's current statute only applies to materials in books and magazines.
Gov. Bob Riley identified the fight against child porn as a legislative priority in his State of the State address last month. He is expected to sign the measure into law this week.
The measure would treat the discovery of individual porn images as separate offenses. "If you're caught with 500 computer images, I want you to get punished for committing 500 crimes against children, not just one," he said in last month's speech.
Minnesota Targets Unregistered Sex Offenders
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday announced a statewide initiative to locate and apprehend 1,349 predatory offenders who have not complied with state registration requirements.
Pawlenty called for the posting of the names of all noncompliant sex offenders on a state-sponsored Web site to notify the public of criminals who have violated the terms of their release. According to the governor's Web site, more than 17,000 predatory offenders are currently required to register with the state.
"Although Minnesota's compliance rate is higher than nearly all other states, more can be done," Pawlenty said in a statement. "Public accountability is a proven method to encourage noncompliant offenders to comply and keep compliant offenders law-abiding."
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