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Domain: azsos.gov

Stories and comments across the archive that link to azsos.gov.

Comments · 6

  1. Re: So no used ebay phones any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Bill Introduced To Require ID When Purchasing "Burner Phones" (house.gov)

    http://www.azsos.gov/elections...

    Whole list of identification types that can be used, but if asked, you have to provide ID to vote in AZ.

    I think it is stupid and limits people from voting. I think that Voter Fraud is basically non-existent, but that Election Fraud is more likely happening. Showing an ID doesn't deal with Election Fraud at all.

  2. Re:Use Tax by ShatteredArm · · Score: 1 · on Calling B.S. On Amazon's Taxation Arguments

    I think the real problem is that since nobody does this, they expect Amazon to do the legwork.

    I don't think it's so much expecting Amazon to do the legwork, as not knowing there is legwork to be done. Out of curiosity, I just looked up use tax laws for the state in which I reside:

    Use tax is imposed on tangible personal property brought into Arizona for storage, use, or consumption in the state when the seller did not collect tax on the sale of the property. The tax rates due are the same rates as for sales tax. Returns are to be filed on or before the 20th day of the month following the month in which the purchases were made.

    That's news to me. Methinks documents like this could at least partially account for people not paying a use tax.

    Really, Amazon should be obligated charge (a) taxes for the state where the buyer resides, or at least (b) charge taxes where the business is physically located. The company I am working on a project for does business in several countries, and they have to keep track of various taxes in each one, so it's not like it's impossible.

  3. Re:Dems vs GOP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative · on California to Start Review of Voting Machines
    I once heard from a former election official (county level) that, generally:
    1. Republicans favor anything that makes voting harder since their constituency is more likely to show up and vote (e.g. Arizona requiring IDs and "proof of citizenship" such as a driver's license (haha) at the polls)
    2. Democrats favor anything that increases turnout
    Maybe this somehow figures in here? For instance, if people get disenfranchised through long lines at the polls, turnout is reduced. Poor people are also more likely to have trouble using a computer, which also disfavors Democrats. (I don't know how the non-English ballots factor in here, though.) Another hypothetical explanation would be a vast number of disabled Republican voters, but I doubt that's the case...
  4. Re:Yeah sure.. can't break that. by pilsner.urquell · · Score: 1 · on Florida to Scrap Touch Screen Voting?

    Paper ballots marked with a felt tip pen then scanned into a machine is the system used here in Maricopa county, Arizona. System seems to work well with great conference among voters with 60% turnout for the 2006 General Election.

  5. Re:The procedure is what matters. by kbielefe · · Score: 1 · on Help Black Box Voting Examine ES&S Software
    their small size - usually much less than 100 people per precinct

    I was going to ask where you live, then I saw that infinadyne is in Chandler, right next door to me in Gilbert. Most precincts are about 1000-1500 voters. In Maricopa County, there are only 14 out of 1142 precincts with less than 100 voters. The average precinct size is 1298. Our biggest precinct (0996 in NW Peoria) had 4414 registered voters, and the smallest (1142 in Bartlett Canyon area) had zero registered voters as of the last primary election.

    Still, considering turnout varies widely depending on the election, it's still well within easy manual count range. For example, only 57 republicans and 18 democrats went to the polls in my precinct in the September primary, but turnout for presidential elections is in the 600's.

  6. Re:You do not know that. by maynard · · Score: 1 · on Man's Vote for Himself Missing In E-Vote Count

    Then do you have information on the nature of these "statistical methods?"

    Rules differ from state to state and are generally set and enforced by each Secretary's of State. For example, the state of Arizona has online the entire election procedures in pdf form. Check pages 112 and 113 for the rules dealing with ballot spoilage due to over and undervotes and other problems. These ballots are all tossed unless a manual recount is deemed necessary. As a result, election officials will perform a statistical analysis of race results to ascertain whether the electronic results are within out outside the known margin of error. If they are outside, then the race is called without any manual recount.

    Different states set differing acceptable margins of error. For example, in the VA senate race George Allen lost by ~9000 votes. However, the margin of error used in VA is 2.5% of total ballots, which if the race is called within that margin, the losing candidate can then request a manual recount at state expense. I seem to remember press reports stating that 2.5% of the VA voting population ran ~12,000 votes, however, Allen conceded, and therefore the recount was not done. In Montana, where Burns lost to Talent, I believe the margin of error standard is set at .5%. So, even though Talent was ahead by ~1700 votes, because the margin of error was so much smaller, Talent was unable to request a manual recount at state expense.

    Then do you know the federal cases where this standard came from?

    No. But if you dig through this thread one poster was kind enough to link to a federal statute that defines these sorts of procedures. I haven't read his link so I can't speak to its veracity, but it looked good. Note that states control the mainstay of election procedures, however.