US election reform study [electionline.org] News
US election reform study [electionline.org]

Election Reform: What's Changed, What Hasn't and Why 2005-2006, electionline.org, February 7, 2006 [report finding that US states have failed to meet deadlines set by the 2002 Help America Vote Act for updating voting machines and voter databases and possibly establishing free voter ID systems]. Excerpt:

The issue of election reform has matured rapidly in the past five years. Two years ago, few people had even heard of voter-verified paper audit trails; now, states are deciding whether to use them in recounts. In many states, the debate over whether voter ID should be required has evolved into whether voters should be provided IDs free of charge. In those states and others, fears about a lack of federal funding for HAVA mandates have subsided, leaving new concerns about state legislatures' ability (and willingness) to make funds available to maintain federally funded improvements.

Read the full text of the report. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Burma attains independence from UK

On January 4, 1948, Burma became independent of the United Kingdom, regaining national soverignty for the first time since 1885. Fourteen years later, in 1962, a military junta seized power and changed the country's name to Myanmar. Read the Burma Independence Documents, including the independence treaty between the UK and Burma, from the Burma Peace Foundation Archives.

Kent State shootings settlement reached

On January 4, 1979, the state of Ohio reached an out-of-court settlement with victims and relatives of victims shot by National Guardsmen at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Under the settlement, plaintiffs received $675,000. Learn more about the Kent State settlement.