Tagged: elections

BOSTON (AP) — State officials say it is expected to cost Massachusetts at least $13.5 million to hold the special election to fill the U.S. Senate formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry.

State Auditor Suzanne Bump has estimated that it will cost cities and towns nearly $8.3 million to run the April 30 primary election and the June 25 final. The special election has been classified by the auditor's office as an "unfunded local mandate," meaning the state must reimburse local communities for the costs they incur.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israelis voted Tuesday in an election likely to keep hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of government for a third term despite a turbulent record: no peace process with Palestinians, growing diplomatic isolation and signs of economic trouble ahead.

The balloting capped a lackluster three-month campaign that was expected to leave Netanyahu at the helm of a coalition dominated by hard-liners opposed to concessions that could bring Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Secretary of State William Galvin says a record number of Massachusetts voters cast ballots on Election Day.

Galvin says 3,184,196 people voted on Nov. 6, or 73.3 percent of the state's 4.3 million voters. That was about 81,000 more than participated in the elections of November 2008.

The final vote tallies are scheduled to be submitted to the Governor's Council on Wednesday for certification.

Vote certification means that the right to repair and medical marijuana ballot questions approved take effect Jan. 1.

Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home is a new book that chronicles the ways in which ordinary people have mobilized to find local solutions to local problems. It invites us to bring the advantages of "slow" to our community decision-making.

The release of the documentary, SPLIT: A Deeper Divide couldn't be more timely. The film is a thorough investigation into the partisanship that is paralyzing American politics. Writer, director and producer Kelly Nyks has spent eight years traveling the country to ask questions that go to the heart of why our democracy has become so passionately divided. The U.S. State Department used the film to launch an Election 2012 program that introduces high school students abroad to American democracy and our political process.