August, 2012 | Protect Our Elections

-By Melissa E. Holsman

August 6, 2012- As the white-hot presidential contest heats up in this battleground state, a newly released national voting equipment study gives Florida passing marks — except for one glaring exception.

Aside from using paper ballots, the ability to recount those ballots is the single most important means to ensure a fair election, many experts say, and Florida falls flat.

At stake are the ballots of 11.4 million Florida voters and 29 electoral votes, more than enough to decide a tight election. After all, the 326-page report written by nonprofit advocacy groups Common Cause and the Verified Voting Foundation, as well as Rutgers Law School's Constitutional Litigation Clinic, points out that George W. Bush won Florida in 2000 by a mere 537 votes.

-By Ned Resnikoff

August 2, 2012- Fifty-seven percent of all super PAC donations in this election has come from a small circle of just 47 donors, says a new report by Demos. Those are the donors who have given over $1 million each; those who have given over $10,000 account for 94 percent of all Super PAC fundraising.

"[O]ur research shows that outside spending groups that aggregate unlimited contributions are distorting our democracy, functioning as megaphones for (sometimes unseen) millionaires and moguls," the report says. The authors, Adam Lioz and Blair Bowie, recommend a Constitutional amendment to allow limits on campaign contributions, among other proposed remedies.

Month: August 2012

TCPalm: Florida falls flat when it comes to rules for tracking paper ballots after elections

MSNBC: Report: Over half of all super PAC spending comes from just 47 millionaires