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Suspicious voter registration forms found in 10 Florida counties

Florida elections officials said Friday that at least 10 counties have identified suspicious and possibly fraudulent voter registration forms turned in by a firm working for the Republican Party of Florida, which has filed an election fraud complaint with the the state Division of Elections against its one-time consultant. The controversy in Florida — which…

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New Democratic poll shows Hassan, Lamontagne in statistical dead heat

A new internal poll commissioned by the state Democratic Party shows Democrat Maggie Hassan and Republican Ovide Lamontagne in a statistical dead heat in the race for the open governor’s seat but Hassan in a “good position to win.” Hassan holds a 48 to 46 percent edge in the Sept. 15 to 19 poll of…

GOP looks for voter fraud, finds little

Republican election officials who promised to root out voter fraud so far are finding little evidence of a widespread problem. State officials in key presidential battleground states have found only a tiny fraction of the illegal voters they initially suspected existed. Searches in Colorado and Florida have yielded numbers that amount to less than one-tenth…

Brown OKs election-day voter registration for future contests

Californians will someday be able to register to vote on election day under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) wrote the measure to increase voter participation in elections. The current law says voters must register at least 15 days before an election. “Voting — the sacred right of…

Chris Christie, failing up the Republican party from New Jersey

Not too long ago, Chris Christie, the obstreperous governor of New Jersey, liked to tout something he called a “Jersey Comeback”. But that phrase somehow didn’t make it into his keynote speech at last month’s GOP convention. And no wonder: unemployment in the Garden State is at a 35-year high of 9.8% – the fourth-worst…

Tomblin touts successes of state, region

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin cited several success stories both locally and statewide during a meeting Friday with The Herald-Dispatch Editorial Board. He talked about the partnership between the city of Huntington, National Guard and Division of Highways to tear down more than 50 abandoned homes; how community and technical colleges statewide have been matched up…

Ken Cuccinelli bullies a state board into surrender

IN THREE YEARS as Virginia’s attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II (R) has demeaned his office by using it as a blatantly partisan bully pulpit to attack Obamacare, illegal immigrants, homosexuals and climate-change scientists. Now he has managed to bully Virginia’s Board of Health into a stance — unprecedented in state history — that could force…

McCrory defends 47% remark

Some North Carolina GOP candidates, like Mark Meadows who is running in the 11th District, are seeking to distance themselves from comments made by Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser, which surfaced in a video released earlier this week. Others are taking a somewhat different approach. Pat McCrory, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, downplayed Romney’s claim…