Election Reforms

Georgia Election Reform

2005-08-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press:

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Friday signed into law a requirement that voters show photo identification before casting ballots, legislation that had prompted most black lawmakers to walk out of the state Capitol.

Previously, registered voters could present a Social Security card or other non-photo ID when they arrived to vote. Republicans, who control both legislative chambers, pushed the plan as a way to crack down on voter fraud.

“I believe this is a reasonable requirement,” said Perdue, also a Republican. “It will not be a hardship on any voter.”

Under the new law, an ID will be given free to people who can’t afford the fee or say they don’t have a driver’s license or other form of photo ID and need one to vote.

(Word is, they will even go to people's house to give them a state issued ID)

Report Card

2005-03-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

Take the Election Reform Taskforce Survey to grade the Governor's Election Reform Taskforce on the job they did addressing your concerns related to our election mess.

New HB on Felon Voting

2005-03-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

HB 2062 - Sponsored by Jeannie Darnel. If you are in jail you don't vote, if you are out of jail you do, REGARDLESS weather you pay your fines, restitution, etc. or not.

This bill has the blessing of the queen!

CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS!!!

Preview - Election Reform Taskforce

2005-03-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

Well, they are only 2 days late, but here is a preview of the Election Reform Task Force report that will be revealed later today at a press conference. Considering the way they count and figure things, I suppose they consider March 3 close enough to March 1 that we probably are not supposed to consider this report late.

Based on the preview, I have the feeling I am going to be very disappointed in their report.

Voting Rights for Ex-Prisoners

2005-02-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

Michael A. Wallace, Americas Voices, lays out the rational used by the left, then exposes the real reasons why they are pushing so hard to win voting rights for felons.

The Pro-Democracy folks have structured their public argument so that they appear to only support ex-prisoners – i.e., felons who have been incarcerated. 7 In public they say ex-prisoners, but their real agenda is felons, the reason being felonies affect the privilege of voting. The fact is that a third of all people facing our criminal justice system never are incarcerated at all – they get straight probation.

Technically, felons on probation and parole cannot vote (the majority for a temporary period of time). The fact that so many felons receive straight probation, or are on probation or parole after incarceration, makes it imperative that checks are put in place at State levels which precludes them from registering and voting until they meet conditions levied upon them. Some States at least are doing precisely that. 8,9

Liberals seem to believe that just because a felon has been released from incarceration that they have finished their sentence. This is not necessarily true. In the majority of cases, there is a conditional period of probation attached to their release, which means in effect their full sentence has not been served. But liberals don’t seem to care about that technicality, or the fact recidivism rates are fairly high for probationers and parolees. 10

Liberals are factually incorrect when they imply that once convicted of a felony, a person never can regain the right to vote. Their literature cites over 4 million Americans who are permanently disenfranchised, "…particularly African Americans who are incarcerated at a disproportionately high rate." They further claim that "these lifetime voting prohibition laws violate citizens’ constitutional voting rights and must be repealed." 11 Further still, there is the claim that the disenfranchisement helps elect Republicans! 12

Liberals are ignoring the fact that States impose conditions for the reinstatement of voting rights depending on the nature of crimes committed and the person’s conviction record. States vary somewhat in terms of sentencing, incarceration, probation, parole, and the process for regaining civil rights, to include voting rights. 13, 14,15, 16 Most recognize that people convicted of crimes should have to prove to their fellow citizens, through demonstrated behavior, that they are good citizens before full restoration of civil rights.

Liberals twist and ignore facts quite easily if they stand in the way of their objective.

What the Issue is Really About: The Census and the Electoral College

The real reason the liberals are pushing the vote for felons so hard is related to the 2000 Census results and its effect in conjunction with other planks in their agenda. They don’t admit this publicly.

Imagine that the liberals successfully secure the right of felons to vote, either within particular States or even nationally. And imagine that liberals successfully alter the manner in which electors are chosen, such as proportional to the popular vote, either within particular States or even nationally. Or imagine that they are successful in dismantling the Electoral College. Got the picture of the setup? This is why the Pro-Democracy Campaign is structured the way it is.

Because of demographic trends, in the next two presidential elections, New York and Pennsylvania, for example, lose two electors each. Those also happen to be two States with high felon populations. If the Democrats have their hopes realized, they will pad their voter rolls with felons and gain, they hope, a virtual "lock" on all elections. That’s the danger. But it can get worse.

If the Electoral College is eliminated and this country moves to direct voting, liberals hope that the felon vote, among other measures, will deliver the Presidency every time. With a difference of a couple hundred thousand popular votes in the last election, figure the odds on the political shift to the left as a result of felons voting. That’s what the Democrats are counting on.

Whether at the State level or national level, liberals are hoping for gains related to the felon’s vote; they desperately want felons to vote because they believe they will vote for the liberal cause. The liberal cause is a lessening of personal responsibility and accountability for one’s choices and actions in life. Certainly the cause includes promoting the cult of victimization and unjust persecution and the offering of sympathetic affirmation that circumstances cause effect, rather than human choice and action. In other words, blame someone or something else for your lot in life. Liberals confuse notions of responsibility, accountability and forgiveness behind a demand for rights.

The intent of their program, my friends, is about power; it is not about altruism and a sense of right and wrong. The liberals are advocating change behind a smokescreen of piety when their true intent is to gain advantage at the polls. 17

7 Felony Sentencing in the United States, 1996, by Jodi M. Brown and Patrick A. Langan (Author's comment: The Pro-Democracy folks confuse the issue as just ex-prisoners when, in fact, many are not ex-prisoners at all. In 1996, for example, only 69% of felons were incarcerated, while 31% received straight probation. If these folks are on probation, they haven’t served their sentence yet. The author's conclusion is the Pro-Democracy folks really want everyone to vote, no matter the crime, no matter if they are incarcerated, no mater if on probation.)

8 Area election officials check felon figures, August 18, 1999 by Sun Staff writer Karen Voyles. "[Florida] Secretary of State Sandra Mortham told reporters Tuesday that the first cross-check of a new statewide voters database with criminal records turned up 50,483 felons registered as voters." "Election supervisors in each county are responsible for verifying whether the 50,483 people on the new felon list are in fact ineligible or whether they've had their civil rights restored." [Author's note: These figures are clearly within Bureau of Justice statistics for the State of Florida. For example, at yearend 1998, there were 240,000 Floridians on probation and 85,000 on parole.]

9 In 1999, Virginia installed a computer system that enables voting registrars to access the list of convicted felons - the intention being of course to maintain the integrity of voter rolls.

10 U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Probation and Parole in the United States, 1998, revised 10/01/99, by Thomas P. Bonczar. At yearend 1998, the total estimated correctional population was 5,890,300. 3,417,613 people were in a supervisory status of probation; 704,964 were in a supervisory status of parole. 584,372 people were incarcerated in jails; 1,232,900 were incarcerated in prison. 57% of all probationers had been convicted of a felony. [Author's note: The preceding figures include both felonies and non-felonies.]

Adults entering probation without incarceration in 1998 - 77%; with incarceration - 17%

Adults leaving probation in 1998:

successfully 59%
returned to incarceration 17%
with a new sentence 9%
with same sentence 9%
absconder 3%
other unsuccessful 9%

Of 423,700 parolees discharged from supervision in 1998, 45% had successfully met the conditions of their supervision, while 42% had been returned to incarceration.

11 Barring Democracy, by Sasha Abramsky, October 17, 2000, Mother Jones Magazine. "Some four million US citizens, most of them minorities, are denied the right to vote because they were once convicted of felonies. The growing number of disenfranchised Americans may be helping elect Republicans, from state legislatures to the White House." [Author's note: Surely Sasha doesn't mean to imply that criminals are likely to be Democrats, or Democrats are likely to be criminals!]…. "Because most of those who can't vote are poor and/or people of color - exactly the demographic groups most likely to vote Democrat – many close elections won by Republicans in recent years might have turned out very differently had ex-felons (sic) had the right to vote." [Author's comment: Total hogwash. First, being poor or a person of color do not by themselves prevent one from voting. Second, there is no such thing as an "ex-felon". Third - does being poor or a person of color make one disposed to be a felon? Is this the implication? If so, the assertion is degrading and racially disparaging.]

12 US Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney, Civil Disabilities of Convicted Felons, Oct 1996. This report provides a state by state analysis of the procedures necessary to have civil rights and voting privileges restored.

13 US Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney, Civil Disabilities of Convicted Felons, Oct 1996. This report provides a state by state analysis of the procedures necessary to have civil rights and voting privileges restored.

14 CBS News National, Felony Voting Ban Called Biased, Washington, September 21, 2000. This article states 2% of all Americans, or 3.9 million have lost the right to vote. (Author's italics) They report 9 States impose lifetime voting bans on convicted felons, and in 32 states they can vote after serving their sentence and completing parole. "Three states, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont - have no prohibition and allow prisoners to vote, but Massachusetts voters will act on a ballot measure in November that will strip prisoners of voting rights." "Six other states impose restrictions based on a felon's prison record or parole status." [Author's note: Massachusetts's voters subsequently approved a measure denying prisoner's voting rights. The issue came up because a local prison population had formed a political action committee and threatened to dominate local politics!]

15 The Sentencing Project, Regaining the Vote: An Assessment of Activity Relating to Felon Disenfranchisement Laws, by Patricia Allard and Marc Mauer, January 2000. http://sentencingproject.org/news/regainvote.htm This reference is a thumbnail sketch of the policy disparity between some states. The report states 46 States and DC deprive inmates the right to vote. [Author's note: Actual number appears to currently be 48 States. The two exceptions are Maine and Vermont.] "In thirty-two states, convicted offenders may not vote while they are on parole, and twenty-nine of these states disenfranchise offenders on probation. In 14 states, ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences nonetheless can be disenfranchised for life." They estimate that 3.9 million have currently or permanently lost the ability to vote. (Italics by author.) [Author's note: Notice the disparity in the facts reported both here and in the citation above, reported the same year. The previous CBS report asserted 3.9 million people have lost the right to vote, whereas The Sentencing Project more correctly notes they estimate 3.9 million people have currently or permanently lost the ability to vote. In yet another Sentencing Project source, Facts About Prisons and Prisoners, they cite dramatically growing numbers of incarcerated and people on probation and parole. "There are now 6.3 million Americans incarcerated or on probation, or parole, and increase of 242 percent since 1980." This figure is cited in current Bureau of Justice reports.]

16 In June 15, 2001, I interviewed Patricia Allard, one of the authors of The Sentencing Project report cited above. I questioned her about State by State differences in how felons are accorded restoration of voting rights, and issues related to portability of a felon's right to vote when moving between States. To her knowledge, she said, there has not been a State-by-State study on portability of the felon's vote. She stated that Delaware once had a lifetime ban, but now felons can register to vote after five years. In Connecticut, probationers cannot vote. (Yet on May 4, 2001, the Governor signed a bill allowing just that.) And in Florida, felons are required to fill out a 12-14 page application. (The author appreciates Ms. Allard's time and thanks Marc Mauer for written permission granted to reference their material.)

17 During the run-up to the 1996 campaign and after, the Clinton Administration went after the immigrant vote in a big way – by relaxing criteria for admission and time requirements for citizenship - all the while aggressively pushing Democrat registration drives. Now that a Gore Administration is prevented from furthering the strategy, the next place for Democrats to turn is inward, to the felon population.

[http://www.americasvoices.org/archives/WallaceM/WallaceLinks.htm]

Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 by Michael A. Wallace & America's Voices, Inc. All rights reserved.
Michael A. Wallace is a registered Republican, a former Eagle Scout, a Lifetime Member of the National Rifle Association, a strong believer in Second Amendment rights, a retired Marine officer, and a pro-life advocate –- all things liberals seem to dislike. In addition to his affiliation with America's Voices, Mike is a founding member of ConservaVets, a conservative veteran's organization (which has since become Rally4America). Mike uses thorough constitutional and historical research to analyze and explain key moral and political issues of the day. He particularly enjoys debunking the myths and lies perpetrated by the many liberal groups who claim to speak for most Americans and by those who misrepresent Constitutional principles to further their own agendas. E-mail Mike at mwallace@americasvoices.org.

History of Sufferage

2005-02-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

SUFFERAGE - A history of voting rights

The history of the right to vote in the United States suggests an inevitable progress toward democracy. In colonial America property qualifications limited the right to vote, whereas suffrage today is open to all citizens at the age of eighteen. The colonists regarded the suffrage as a privilege; Americans today consider it a right. But this interpretation obscures long periods in which various groups—women, black men, and paupers—were disfranchised.

The history of American suffrage begins in England in 1430, when Parliament restricted the vote in county parliamentary elections to persons owning land that generated an annual income of at least forty shillings. English boroughs had a hodgepodge of criteria for their elections. Laws also excluded aliens, servants, non-Anglicans, and women.

The colonies initially established suffrage requirements that resembled the rules of the boroughs, but by the early eighteenth century lawmakers came to emulate the spirit of the law of 1430. For example, Massachusetts at first enfranchised all male adult Congregational church members, but excluded Anglican property owners. Pressure in post-Restoration England compelled the colony to allow propertied Anglicans over the age of twenty-four to vote alongside twenty-one-year-old propertyless Congregational church members.

After the Glorious Revolution, the charter of 1691 established a modified version of the election act of 1430. Elsewhere in New England and in New York, the forty-shilling freehold was reproduced; frequently it involved a freehold of a certain size (often fifty acres) or value (usually forty or fifty pounds). Several New England colonies also allowed a personal estate of forty pounds as a substitute.

Because land was readily available, the application of English standards created a large electorate. Eligibility ranged from about 50 to 80 percent of free males. Moreover, because most free men eventually acquired land, the landholding qualification functioned most often only as an age requirement.

Voters also had to meet religious, racial, and residency requirements. Some colonies disfranchised dissenting Protestants, Catholics, and Jews until 1689; thereafter, most excluded only non-Protestants. Free blacks were disfranchised in every southern colony during part of the colonial era, and ten colonies established residency requirements.

Colonial and revolutionary Americans believed that a man's economic independence earned him membership in the political community. His autonomy supposedly enabled him to make independent political decisions; his economic stake in society would impel him to act in the public interest. The disfranchisement of propertyless males grew partly out of the related belief that economic dependence encouraged corruption, and that economic grievances endangered property rights.

During the crises leading to the Revolution, quarrels about representation caused a reconsideration of relations among property, taxation, and voting. Americans insisted that Parliament lacked the authority to tax unrepresented subjects. Extending this argument, many claimed that taxpayers, not only property holders, needed the vote to protect themselves against excessive taxation. By 1790, five states permitted all male (in some states only white male) taxpayers to vote for all or some offices. The states also relied increasingly upon residency, not land ownership, as evidence of one's attachment to the community. Virtually all set one to two years as the required length of residency.

The Revolution itself and the subsequent turmoil in the states threatened to sever political rights from their economic moorings. During the war many Americans argued that the polity should include those men who supported the Revolution, without reference to property. Tories, no matter how much property they possessed, were denied the vote. After the war, residency requirements took the place of loyalty oaths.

For all the alterations in political rights wrought by the Revolution, far more than half the adult population remained disfranchised. Among them were many propertyless men, women, slaves, some free black men, apprentices, indentured laborers, felons, and those considered mentally incompetent. Slaves and indentured servants were excluded because of their legal dependence upon a master, felons and the mentally impaired because they showed no attachment to the community or were considered incompetent.

Women were excluded because of a presumed incapacity for sound reasoning. Only in New Jersey were women enfranchised. The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 granted the vote to all inhabitants "worth" fifty pounds who had resided in a voting place for one year. In subsequent years, election officials interpreted the provision literally and permitted propertied women to vote. New Jersey, however, was the exception.

But the revolutionary struggle had significantly expanded the electorate. During the Revolution states with poll taxes and taxpayer franchises (such as North Carolina and New Hampshire) established nearly universal free male suffrage. When suffrage qualifications were tied to the value of an estate, wartime inflation eroded barriers. All states ended religious restrictions on voting. At war's end, the eligible electorate numbered from 60 to 90 percent of free males, with most states edging close to the high end of that range.

Between the Revolution and the Civil War, politically active Americans carried forward the Revolution's ambiguous legacy. Because property ownership was widespread, it no longer served as a benchmark for citizenship. Political incapacity continued to be linked to gender. Most men thought of women as politically incompetent and thus connected civic virtue with masculinity. But white Americans also linked civic virtue to race. Blacks were seen as incapable of civic virtue, white men as naturally virtuous. Between 1790 and 1860 almost every state, old and new, disfranchised free blacks while expanding the electorate to include almost all white adult male citizens.

The suffrage requirements of the frontier states were more democratic than eastern ones. Beginning with Kentucky in 1792, all but two western states embraced white male adult suffrage; in the East, all but two states retained either a property or taxpaying qualification for all or part of the period from 1820 to 1860. Several western states even enfranchised aliens who had established permanent residence and Indians who had given up tribal citizenship. The new West's rapid movement toward universal white manhood suffrage was facilitated by insecure land titles, the erosion of social distinctions, the desire to attract new settlers, and the belief that Indians could eventually become enough like whites to exercise political rights intelligently. Electoral competition everywhere also encouraged politicians to lower suffrage qualifications so they could portray themselves as champions of popular democracy.

With the advent of the second American party system, Democrats and Whigs hotly disagreed about the scope of political rights. The Democrats, worried less about civic virtue and more about each man's need to defend himself against governmental tyranny, viewed the suffrage as an inherent right of white males. The Whigs largely accepted republican notions of a hierarchical organic society and therefore treated the suffrage as a privilege. But by 1850, electoral pressure had converted most Whigs to the idea of white male democracy.

Only in the state of Rhode Island did politicians resist the trend. The state's requirement that a man own a $134 freehold in order to vote became increasingly restrictive as the Rhode Island economy shifted from agriculture toward industry. By the early 1840s more than half of the state's male population was disfranchised. But a reform effort led by Thomas Dorr, after holding an extralegal constitutional convention in 1841 and an extralegal gubernatorial election, sparked some liberalization of suffrage requirements.

In Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 three hundred female and male reformers asserted the right of women to vote. The idea of woman suffrage grew in response to the nearly universal enfranchisement of white males and female participation in abolitionism after the 1820s. But in a culture that exalted the domestic role of women, few people argued the merits of female enfranchisement.

Although suffrage had always been regulated by state constitutions and statutes and local ordinances, woman suffragists after the Civil War hoped for national enfranchisement alongside newly freed black men. But they lost as traditional notions of woman's place predominated in Congress: the Fourteenth Amendment tacitly endorsed suffrage restrictions based upon sex.

Congress, in an act unique among postemancipation societies, admitted freedmen to membership in the political community. In so doing, congressmen imagined that the suffrage would give the freedmen the ability to protect themselves and their families from exploitation. The Republican-dominated Congress also enfranchised black men to strengthen Republican control in the southern states. Black male suffrage became national in 1870 when the Fifteenth Amendment prohibited states from discriminating against potential voters because of race or previous condition of servitude (but not sex).

The amendment was partially successful. For most of Reconstruction, blacks voted and often used their resulting political power to protect their other rights. Although white Democrats overthrew Reconstruction by forcibly keeping blacks from the polls, thereafter they generally eschewed violence. Instead, they relied upon discriminatory apportionment and election laws to limit black and poor white political influence, and in the 1890s and 1900s, imposed poll taxes and literacy and property requirements through constitutional revisions. Thus they disfranchised virtually all black men and many poor whites, and thereby ensured Democratic hegemony.

At the same time, northern ballot reformers sought to "purify" the election process, thereby reducing the size of the electorate. The secret ballot eliminated vote-buying, but also voters who were illiterate in English. Formal literacy tests were adopted in a dozen northern states by the early twentieth century. Strict voter registration laws placed the burden of proving eligibility on citizens.

The disfranchisement of growing numbers of blacks and immigrants was applauded by many woman suffragists, who argued that the enfranchisement of native white women would secure the social order, whereas undesirable black and immigrant male voters endangered it. This conservative turn did not appreciably help their cause. Neither did the reunification of the movement in 1890 under a new organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Despite the changing role of women in American society (as more women entered the workplace, became educated, bore fewer children, and spent less time caring for them), the movement met increased resistance from the liquor industry (which feared female support for prohibition) and the textile industry (which feared female support for restrictions on child labor). Beneath such practical concerns lay a more deeply felt anxiety about changing sex roles.

But the adoption of more vigorous tactics and the triumph of progressive reforms throughout the country (which made woman suffrage appear to be less radical) stimulated massive support for woman suffrage. In 1916, the Democratic and Republican parties endorsed female enfranchisement; in 1919 Congress approved, and a year later the states ratified, the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

As women were gaining the suffrage, blacks sought its restoration in the South. The naacp, established in 1909, pursued reenfranchisement through litigation. At first, it successfully closed loopholes in southern disfranchisement that had permitted some poor, illiterate whites to vote. But its most important early success was the Supreme Court's 1944 decision prohibiting the white primary. The Court ruled that Texas had made the party primary part of the public electoral process; therefore the white-only primary violated black rights under the Fifteenth Amendment.

Despite that victory, poll taxes, literacy tests, and the manipulation of election laws by local registrars effectively excluded the vast majority of black adults. The struggle for southern enfranchisement (a major goal of the civil rights movement) accelerated after World War II for several reasons, among them the belief that the United States was hypocritical in claiming that it was defending freedom against Soviet communism while oppressing African-Americans at home. But the most important reason was the migration of millions of black southerners to the North, where blacks already voted. That circumstance gave blacks political leverage on both parties. But because Democrats hoped to retain the allegiance of southern white voters and Republicans wished to attract those voters, weak compromises resulted in the form of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, which ineffectually authorized federal protection of black voting rights.

The civil rights struggle intensified in the early 1960s. After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, activists focused increasingly on the suffrage. The Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964 registered few black Mississippians but drew national attention to black disfranchisement. Then, in March 1965, the Alabama State Troopers' assault on marchers outside the town of Selma generated so much support for national protection of black voters that President Lyndon B. Johnson demanded passage of an effective voting rights act, which he signed into law in August. When combined with prohibition of the poll tax in federal elections by the Twenty-third Amendment and a sweeping Supreme Court decision in 1966, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 sparked the registration of the vast majority of eligible black southerners.

Thus, amendments to the U.S. Constitution and federal law enfranchised virtually all male and female citizens at the age of twenty-one. But U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War revived a claim made since the Revolution that men old enough to fight were also old enough to vote: in 1971 the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the voting age to eighteen.

Absurdity = Clarity

2005-02-25T09:40:00.000-08:00

Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas appeared on Fox & Friends on September 28, 2004, to discuss fair elections. A commentary on her remarks includes the following statement:

Notice that Hutchison's biggest concern was not with whether the votes that are cast are counted, but with keeping people from voting who may not be eligible.

In an article on National Review, David Lampo cites a study by sociologists Christopher Uggen of the University of Minnesota and Jeff Manza of Northwestern which shows that felons vote overwhelmingly for Democrats — at a rate approaching 70 percent. (In fact, this estimate may be low. In some Florida counties more than 80 percent of the felons who voted illegally were registered Democrats.) Therefore, had Florida's felons voted in the 2000 presidential election at a rate comparable to the rest of the Florida electorate, Al Gore would have won the state by more than 60,000 votes.

This same article goes on to say to point out that overwhelming public opposition has not deterred felon-vote advocates. They've simply resorted to a receptive judiciary to achieve their objective. Several recent lawsuits throughout the country assert that state felon-disenfranchisement laws violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and the equal-protection guarantees in state constitutions. Typical among these suits is Farrakhan v. State of Washington, a case that had been dismissed by the U.S. District Court in Spokane, but revived a short time ago by the Ninth Circuit. Farrakhan was brought by minority inmates challenging the state of Washington's constitutional prohibition against voting by imprisoned felons. The inmates maintain that racial disparities in the state's criminal-justice system effectively result in a denial of the right to vote on the basis of race. The court noted that while constituting only 3 percent of the state's population, blacks represent 37 percent of those adjudicated "persistent offenders." The Ninth Circuit remanded the case to the district court for a full hearing on the issue of whether racial bias in the criminal-justice system, combined with the denial of voting rights to inmates, violates the Voting Rights Act.

This is the battle we face ladies and gentlemen.

Bob Williams on Election Reform Taskforce

2005-02-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

What to look for from the election reform task force

By Bob Williams
Washington voters turned out in large numbers and with constructive attitudes at a series of public hearings sponsored by Gov. Christine Gregoire’s election reform task force, chaired by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

When the task force reports its findings on March 1, there are several things all of us should hope to find. If we do not find them, it will be clear that the task force was little more than a smokescreen to preserve the status quo under the guise of meaningful reform and that ineligible voters will continue to be a factor in our state’s future elections.

Task force member Sam Smith, the President Emeritus of Washington State University, took particular pains after each of the hearings to outline those things he heard from voters concerning the need to reform the system. After each point, he asked attendees if they agreed with him. They did.

Chief among the recommendations is the re-registration of all eligible Washington voters – with proof of citizenship. Iraq registered 14.3 million voters that way in only 45 days. Fewer than 3 million voters voted in Washington’s gubernatorial election. If Iraq can do it, so can we!

An argument has been forwarded by our Secretary of State that re-registering all citizens is not possible under the Motor Voter federal law. This is not true. What our state cannot do is drop people from voter lists for federal elections. That said, the federal law applies to people who are legitimate voters. Several ways exist to re-register voters without breaking the federal law and potentially discriminating against legitimate voters. We find nothing in the law that prevents 100 percent re-registration.

We need to clean our voter rolls and remove people who have died, people who are illegally registered, felons, and people who have moved out of state.

People overwhelmingly supported showing state-issued, photo and signature identification when they come in to vote. Some people argue that showing identification is arduous. Others say it is common sense. We side with the folks arguing for common sense.

After all, you cannot even rent a post office box without showing two pieces of identification.

Other hearing participants argued persuasively that state and local officials must be compelled to implement and enforce the federal voter reform measures adopted by the Congress in 2002 and the state legislature in 2003. Unfortunately, those law changes were not implemented in the 2004 election, the result being that local officials frequently were relying on old law books to interpret the law. There is no rationale or justification for that. Most of the 2004 election problems would have been eliminated if state officials had simply followed the law. That is not too much to expect.

While the Secretary of State has spoken at some length about restoring voting rights to felons who have served their sentences, not much has been said about ensuring the timely and accurate count of military ballots. Hearing participants feel strongly about that, and so should our state government.

Hearing participants made several other important points.

They want to repeal or modify the motor-voter law to minimize abuse. When someone applies for a driver’s license in Washington, they are not required to provide proof of citizenship, but they are asked if they would like to register to vote! The potential for abuse is obvious, but nobody has addressed it yet.

People also are leery of computer program generated voting and want a paper trail for all computerized systems for verification purposes. But nobody trusts anything that happens in King County. And that should make us take some time to evaluate the merits of mail-in ballots, which also are prone to abuse and fraud.

Measures before the state legislature right now probably won’t harm the electoral system any more, but they are band-aids designed to cover up existing voter discontent. Too many elections officials hope that the passage of time will change people’s attitudes.

Time may heal all wounds, but the integrity of the elections system will remain at risk. The keystone of a democracy is the trust of the people in the integrity of the system. The integrity of Washington’s voting system is at a new low.

If Governor Gregoire’s task force election report fails to take into account the concerns of citizens who attended the public hearings, we will know that the fix was in…that the task force was yet another smokescreen.

That isn’t good enough.

Bob Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a non-partisan, public policy watchdog organization, focused on advancing individual liberty, a free-market economy, and limited and responsible government.

Contact: Booker Stallworth | Communications Director | 360-956-3482

**Having attended one of these meetings, I can verify that he is exactly right about what the people wanted and their response to Sam Smith as he read off the list of reforms people said they wanted to see.

Democrat Solution on the National Level

2005-02-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

Election reform on the way, the Democrats way

Some good news on electoral reform: Today Senators Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, working together with Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, introduced the Count Every Vote Act, a bill that proposes several necessary improvements to the way Americans conduct democracy. Among other things, the legislation would require that all electronic voting machines print paper ballots; that ex-felons be allowed to vote; and that Election Day be made a federal holiday, so people don't have to worry about the consequences of being away from work while waiting in a line at the polls. The law, Boxer said in a press conference, "is meant to ensure [that] the election debacle of 2000, and the serious election irregularities of 2004, never ever happen again."

It's a helpful start. But election reform is a notoriously tricky thing to get through Congress (people who've already won aren't fans of changing the rules of the game), and, like reform proposals of years past, the Democrats' effort will go nowhere unless it garners the blessing of some Republicans (we mean you, John McCain!) and broad public support. In other words, to all the folks who insisted, last November, that Bush stole the election, we say: Call your representative and push for this bill.

**I think it is obvious at this point that the Democrats have no desire to close doors to fraud. Their desire to be inclusive has made our election process so vulnerable to fraud that the whole election process will soon mean nothing unless we pull together and insist our Legislators close the doors to the cheaters.

We lock the doors of our homes, it is time to lock the door to our vote.

Election Reform Petition

2005-02-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

Click Here to view and sign the Election Reform Petition

How Many Ways To Commit Voter Fraud

2005-02-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

I started wondering recently, just how many ways are there to commit voter fraud. I may be naive, but I am shocked at what has been found thus far and I am beginning to suspect that is just the tip of the iceberg.

My wondering turned into research and over the next few days I will post some of the stories and articles I have found. This is the first. The disinfranchised voter is a blogger.

An attempt at disfranchisement

Well drinkers, it appears your tallglassofmilk is a victim of voter fraud. Turns out that if I hadn't voted early, there's a pretty good chance I might have been hauled off in handcuffs on November 2, for attempting to vote twice. Now it might be somebody else who gets hauled away.

Sometime between the recall election and today, someone other than myself has taken the liberty of registering me as a democrat at an address I do not and have never lived at--and they used or forged my signature to do it.

I am unclear at this time if this is widespread or an isolated indident, random or personal, and if personal, against the tallglassofmilk or her real life persona.

The woman at the polling site was very helpful and referred me to a someone in the Los Angeles Registrar's Office, who was not very helpful and who was surprisingly uninterested in getting to the bottom of the fraud. The woman only seemed concerned with the fact that I was able to cast my vote--which I was. But that doesn't mean a crime hasn't been committed! I requested a copy of the voter registration affidavit, but I won't receive it til later next week.

I do not know if someone intends to show up and vote as if they were me. If they do, they are in for a big surprise. I was assured that any attempt to vote twice under the same name and signature would result in immediate arrest. Of course, I realize that by blogging this, that if the person who perpetrated this fraud is reading and was planning to vote, they will be disuaded and will not be caught. But I think that's unlikely and besides, I thought it more important to make you aware of the lengths that the democrats (seriously, who else would register me as one) are going to "steal back" the vote.

2005-02-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is part of a story about a large number of provisional ballots being cast in one precinct, not an uncommon story, but it points out an interesting side effect of provisional ballots.

"The word we were getting was that students were just being rounded up by groups and brought in," Heim said. "I guess the disappointing thing that was mentioned at Monday's Election Commission meeting is that when groups do that they slow down the line and that potentially disenfranchises folks who actually did what they were supposed to do."

Fraud From the Inside

2005-02-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Voter Registration Probe Unearths Potential Fraud in Wisconsin

By Chad Groening
October 26, 2004

(AgapePress) - An immigration reform organization recently conducted an investigation into possible voter fraud in Wisconsin. The probe revealed that non-citizens of the United States could decide the 2004 presidential election.

Susan Tully, the Midwest field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), says she became concerned about possible voter fraud in the Badger State when an admitted illegal alien suddenly was named a deputy registrar of voters in Racine, Wisconsin. Tully says a year earlier, the woman's picture appeared on the front page of a local newspaper showing her protesting and complaining that she had been fired from her job -- and admitting she was an illegal alien. Things apparently changed over the ensuing months.

"In July, here she was on the front page of the same local newspaper, saying she's a deputy registrar of voters. How could an illegal alien go from [that] status...to a deputy registrar of voters in less than a year?" Tully wonders.

So the FAIR Midwest field director sent one of her activists to take the class in Racine to become a deputy voter registrar. What Tully discovered concerns her.

"At no time was she asked to show identification; at no time was she asked for her Social Security number; and at no time was she asked if she was a citizen of the United States," she says. "I have a real fear, based on my knowledge now, that this election will be decided by foreign nationals and illegal aliens."

And Tully did not stop there. Suspecting voter fraud, FAIR sent two activists from another state to the office of the former illegal alien who is not only a deputy registrar of voters in Racine but also the leader of a Hispanic organization. Tully gave the activists specific instructions.

"I wanted them to specifically tell this person they were illegal aliens, but that they wanted to register to vote -- and she registered them both," she says. The two activists received a similar response at the Milwaukee office of the Hispanic group. "This time one of the men in the office at least said it's a felony to register someone who's not a citizen to vote -- but the office manager went ahead and registered them."

According to Tully, the Hispanic organization had set the goal of registering 20,000 voters between May and the election. She explains why that is significant. In Wisconsin, she notes, Al Gore -- the 2000 Democratic presidential candidate -- won by only 850 votes.

"If this organization, all by itself, managed to hit their goal of 20,000 people, you could see that foreign nationals and illegal aliens, if they actually vote, could throw the election in the state of Wisconsin," she says.

Tully says she has turned over information on the illegal registrations to law enforcement officials.

History of Registration and the Secret Ballot

2005-02-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

From an article written by John Fund How to Steal an Election

As the century closed, however, fraud gradually began to diminish, as popular disgust with vote rigging spurred reforms. States began to require voters to register before Election Day. In Massachusetts, Richard Henry Dana III, son of the author of the classic Two Years Before the Mast, persuaded the Massachusetts legislature to adopt the "Australian" ballot—a government-printed ballot that would list all candidates and that voters would cast in secret in a booth. It became a model for reformers elsewhere. As changes spread to other states, voter "turnout" fell precipitously. Historians Gary Cox and Morgan Krause point out that turnout in New York State elections dropped some 15 percent after the anti-fraud measures took effect.

Kerry Involved In Voter Fraud - GASP

2005-02-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

Kerry Campaign Calls Non-Existent Voters

A blogger finds evidence of voter fraud - the local office of the Kerry campaign has at least six different alleged voters registered at his address:

In the last three or four days, my residence has received a half dozen calls from the Clark County "Kerry" Campaign. My caller ID reads: "OHIO VICTORY 937-323-5158". I'm posting that in it's entirety so that if any web crawler comes across it, they'll get slammed by unsolicited phone calls. Anyhow, every time I answer the person on the other line asks for someone who doesn't live at my residence. It's been a different name every time. Interesting isn't it? Could this be another sign that someone has registered "people" to vote using false information? If so that's at least a half dozen voters with my phone number. I know for certain that they don't have old residents of this house, since it has been in my family for many years with no one by those names.

We have called that number to find out where they are getting their contact lists. Well it so happens that they get their lists from the Clark County Board of Elections. Now the board of elections only maintains lists of people who are registered to vote. This means that there are at least five (or more) individuals who have been registered with my phone number, but do not live at this residence. This may be going somewhere....stay tuned.

And he's not the only person with that experience.

2005-02-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

Republicans challenge 5,600 addresses that may not exist

Posted: Oct. 27, 2004

State Republicans filed a last-minute complaint Wednesday with the Milwaukee Election Commission claiming that 5,600 city addresses on the voter rolls may not exist.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin checked the addresses of more than 300,000 people registered to vote in the city with a software program also used by the U.S. Postal Service.

...Republicans found that 5,619 addresses may be non-existent and then visited a number of the addresses. They snapped photos showing vacant lots, a gyro stand, a park and spots between two houses where the address should have been....

Among the addresses that don't exist, according to the GOP complaint:

1858 W. Fairmount Ave. Someone listing that address voted in November 2000 and November 2002, but a photo shows a street corner with no home.

5754 W. Villard Ave. Someone listing that address voted in April, but a photo shows a gyro stand on a corner with advertisements adorning a chain link fence.

8829 W. Bender Ave. Someone listing that address voted in November 2000, in April, September and November 2002, and in February and April this year, but a photo shows the address would have to be in a small space between two houses.

UPDATE: Just a followup to the Wisconsin challenge to the non-existent addresses. The electoral commission voted 3-0 that the GOP had failed to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the registrations were incorrect (notwithstanding the USPS program and the photos of the Gyros stand and the park)and dismissed the challenge. Gee I wonder what party those 3 folks belong to...

Posted by: Geezer at October 29, 2004 12:21 PM

Not All Links Are URL's

2005-02-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

Here in Colorado at least three groups are involved in registration fraud. ACORN, the New Voters Project and Colorado Progressive Coalition.
ACORN is headed by Wade Rathke. He helped found the United Labor Union in 1979, founded Local 100 of the Service Employees International in New Orleans (affiliated with the AFL-CIO) and sits on the board of both the Tides Foundation and Tides Center. The Tides Foundation receives money from the HEINZ FOUNDATION.

The New Voters Project lists on its' website one of it's main supporters, THE TIDES FOUNDATION.

The Colorado Progressive Coalition has on its' board of directors, Lena Potyondy. She is the Political Director for the Denver Local #105 Service Employees International.

I found all of this information within minutes of searching the internet. I would love for people in other states where ACORN has surfaced or any other group associated with voter registration fraud to search those groups for similar links. If you recall the AFL-CIO was involved with the Oct. 5th "Day of Protests" where several Republican campaign offices were stormed and some people injured. I suspect they may be more involved in a lot of this than many would care to believe. The smell of collusion is almost unavoidable.

Homeless Voters

2005-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Although this article of the constitution does not use the word "homeless", but it does refer to those who have not established residency, which I believe to be the case with the homeless.

ARTICLE VI
ELECTIONS AND ELECTIVE RIGHTS

SECTION 1 QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS.
All persons of the age of eighteen years or over who are citizens of the United States and who have lived in the state, county, and precinct thirty days immediately preceding the election at which they offer to vote, except those disqualified by Article VI, Section 3 of this Constitution, shall be entitled to vote at all elections. [AMENDMENT 63, 1974 Senate Joint Resolution No. 143, p 807. Approved November 5, 1974.]

SECTION 1A VOTER QUALIFICATIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
In consideration of those citizens of the United States who become residents of the state of Washington during the year of a presidential election with the intention of making this state their permanent residence, this Section is for the purpose of authorizing such persons who can meet all qualifications for voting as set forth in Section 1 of this article, except for residence, to vote for presidential electors or for the office of President and Vice-President of the United States, as the case may be, but no other: Provided, That such persons have resided in the state at least sixty days immediately preceding the presidential election concerned. The legislature shall establish the time, manner and place for such persons to cast such presidential ballots. [AMENDMENT 46, 1965 ex.s. Substitute House Joint Resolution No. 4, p 2820. Approved November 8, 1966.]

It seems to me that this article would preclude the homeless from voting on anything but President and Vice President if they cannot provide an address.

Election Reform Taskforce in Pasco

2005-02-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

Last night the temporary Governor's Election Reform Taskforce brought their road show to Pasco. The meeting was probably very much like all the other so far. Sam Reed gave his talk about the election process and the proposals he has put forward etc. then it was turned over to the audience for comments.

The very first guy up was an off the left cliff liberal. He actually said "Everyone who LIVES in Washington State should be allowed to vote and we should not be putting roadblocks in their way." Most of the audience was in shock, the rest either laughed or boo'd. Those in shock came out of it and joined the booers'. Unbelieveable!

That pretty much shut the liberals down. Any remaining presented few and cautious words. For the most part, everyone had the same comments. Delete the current registration rolls, require everyone to re-register, require proof of eligibility, was a constant refrain. Other comments were made regarding the election process that again echo things that most of us have supported.

There were numerous county auditors and their underlings present. I found it interesting that in the end when one of the Taskforce members asked for a show of hands as he read off a list of comments they had received, the majority of the audience raised their hands in agreement, while the auditors etc. were the nay's.

One of the auditors got up and spoke at the end and actually scolded the voters for not taking an interest until there was a close race and their candidate did not win. Hmmmmm. Well guess who that ticked off...so I got my 2nd chance at the mic:/

This is NOT about WHO won this race. It is about HOW they won it. I told her and the audience that I, like most had believed that our elections in this state were run fairly, honestly and accurately. However when the light shone down on the process we discovered that was not the case. They were not fair, they were not honest and they are STILL not accurate.

There was one man there who said his daughter was aware of a situaton in King County where the Democrats went through the registration rolls and found voters who had not voted in the last 4 elections and so took it upon themselves to go vote for them. The actually went to the poll, signed in as this person, and voted.

I give credit to the retired Senator Betti Sheldon. She did ask the guy if his daughter had reported that and he said yes. I talked with him afterwards and it turns out his daughter works for the Rossi campaign so we can be sure they are well aware of it. It amazes me how low these people will stoop in order to cheat...no I am going to use that dreaded F word...in order to commit FRAUD.

Local news coverage was also as expected. It did not begin to portray the attitude of the crowd...just a typical democrat wash.

U. S. Senate Republicans and Election Reform

2005-02-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

The U. S. Senate Republicans are weighing in on Election Reform. The reforms they are suggesting are pretty tame for my liking and essentially ineffective. You can read their reform proposals, and I would suggest dropping them an e-mail to enlighten them on the seriousness of this problem and how desperately we need REAL and EFFECTIVE reforms.

Arizona Leads the Way

2005-02-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

PHOENIX - Arizona has become the first state to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a measure that supporters say is intended to prevent voter fraud.

The law went into effect Tuesday after being approved by voters in November. It requires that people provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, when registering to vote and show specified forms of identification when casting a ballot at a polling place.

A civil-rights group and Democratic legislators recently had urged the Department of Justice to reject the law. They argued the changes will erect barriers that will hinder minorities' participation in elections and hamper grassroots voter registration drives.

**Isn't it interesting that Democrats are the ones that want the law rejected. How does proving citizenship erect barriers, except for people that are not eligible to vote, which is the intent...DUH.

SB 5667

2005-02-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

SB 5667 Making the county auditor an elective office in all counties.

Sponsors: Senators Roach, Mulliken, Johnson, Hewitt, Honeyford, Sheldon, Schmidt

SB 5667 - DIGEST

Declares an intent to make the position of county auditor, and of the chief elections official, however named, in all counties an elective office. This act therefore applies to all counties, including without limitation counties operating under a home rule charter.

**This provides a measure of accountability to the system, however we already have numerous elected auditors and that has not seemed to eliminate the problems.

SB 5315

2005-02-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

SB 5315 Reforming certain election procedures.

Sponsors: Senators Schoesler, Hewitt, Morton, Johnson, Swecker, Oke, Delvin, Carrell, Stevens, Honeyford, Roach, Sheldon, Mulliken, Parlette, Benton

SB 5315 - DIGEST

Revises certain election procedures.

Provides that, if the county auditor receives an absentee or mail ballot in a return identification envelope on which the voter's signature is missing, illegible, or does not match the registration file, only the county auditor or other election officer may contact the voter regarding the signature. The names of voters in these cases is not a matter of public record.

Repeals RCW 29A.24.210, 29A.24.211, and 29A.28.011.

**Well, at least this is a move in the right direction, however I do not see why SB 5315 would repeal the RCW's mentioned in bill. Below are the titles of those bills. Someone enlighten me.

RCW 29A.24.210
Vacancy in partisan elective office -- Special filing period.

RCW 29A.24.211
Lapse of election when no filing for single positions--Effect.

SB 5088

2005-02-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

SB 5088 Allowing voters to indicate abstention from voting on any particular office.

Sponsors: Senators Stevens, Mulliken, Benson, Honeyford, Johnson, Carrell

SB 5088 - DIGEST

Allows voters to indicate abstention from voting on any particular office.

**This is similar to the "None of the Above" proposal, however as usual, it ALLOWS voters, rather than REQUIRES voters to vote in every race. Why the reluctance to be firm about the process??

SB 5080

2005-02-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

SB 5080 Requiring electors to mark ballot envelopes regarding United States' citizenship.

Sponsors: Senators Roach, Mulliken, Swecker, Hewitt, Oke, Parlette, Deccio, Zarelli, Stevens, McCaslin, Pflug, Carrell, Johnson, Honeyford, Benton

SB 5080 - DIGEST

Requires that the provisional ballot envelope or return envelope shall have a place for the voter to mark that he or she is a citizen of the United States and the notation, "Check here if you are a citizen of the United States." Failure to place a mark indicating citizenship on the provisional ballot envelope does not affect the validity of the ballot.

Provides that a person who knowingly falsely marks a provisional ballot envelope or absentee ballot return envelope that he or she is a citizen of the United States, is guilty of a class C felony punishable under RCW 9A.20.021.

**This is ridiculous!! Why have it if not marking it has no effect???

Election Reform Petition

2005-02-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

There is an Election Reform Petition available online. You may read the petition and sign off on it if you wish. This works like the re-vote petition did and will be delivered to the Legislature and the Election Reform Taskforce.

Hopefully enough signatures can be gathered by Wednesday that it can be presented to the Task Force in Pasco on Wednesday.

Tell your friends and neighbors:)

More Proposals from the Democrats

2005-02-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Kudos to Josef K for finding this.

State Rep. Tami Green, who represents the 28th legislative district, has introduced 5 bills proposing changes to our election system. You can make comments to Rep. Green at: green_ta@leg.wa.gov

House Bill 1748

Deals with sharing costs.

House Bill 1749

This one talks about conducting reviews of election-related policies, procedures and practices and deserves a thorough reading. Is seems contradictory to me.

House Bill 1750

Has to do with primaries and filing for office.

House Bill 1752

This one warrants a through reading. It covers Canvassing and Ballot Processing Procedures.

House Bill 1753

This one incorporates Help America Vote Act provisions, and includes voter registration practices and needs a total re-write.

House Bill 1755

This deals with voter pamphlets.

Floating an Idea

2005-02-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

Give me some input on this idea.

When a person registers to vote, a voter registration card is filled out, which contains the signature of the registrant, along with a PIN # assigned to that registrant. The original is kept at the County where the voter is registered and a copy is given to the registrant.

At the time of registration, the registrant has been required to PROVE citizenship, age and residency, using birth certificate or citizenship papers and to provide something with their address on it, such as a utility bill, to prove residency. They will also be required to provide a photo.

Once registered, a letter is mailed to the registrant at the address provided, requiring them to return the letter with their signature and PIN # to verify their registration.

When it comes time to vote, the person must provide their PIN # at the poll or on their absentee ballot along with their signature.

The PIN # provides a way to ensure that the person voting is in fact the person registered and validated to do so, the same as your PIN # on your debit card ensures your identity when you go to draw money out of the ATM.

First Election Reform Meeting

2005-02-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

The first of several meetings of the Election Reform Taskforce took place in Vancouver last night. It seems the turnout was good, and orange. Amazingly it seems Reed continues with the same limited, ineffective list of so called reforms. They include:

1. An earlier primary
2. Requiring absentee ballots to be received by Election Day
3. Allowing counties to conduct their elections entirely by mail

The story in its entirety can be found here.

It strikes me how every single one of Sam Reed's proposals have the same result. That is to make the process EASIER for election officials. They have not proposed a single remedy that address the problems experienced in the 2004 election. Hopefully this series of meetings will wake these people up to the seriousness of this problem.

First KC Election 2005

2005-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

King County acts to avoid counting unverified provisional ballots

On Feb. 8, voters in the Auburn School District in King County voted on two school related propositions. The poll workers were given removeable labels to attach to provisional ballots, which prevent the ballots from being read by the machines until the ballots are verified. Once verified, the ballots can be fed through the machines to be counted. You can read the entire article here.

I just want to know what prevents a dishonest voter from removing the label and dropping it into the ballot box just as before???

Republican Reform Proposals

2005-02-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a digest list of some of the proposals being promoted by the Republicans. We need to get behind these people on some of these.

Election Reform

The Problem

The 2004 governor’s race was the closest governor’s race in state history. At first, Dino Rossi won by 261 votes. The first recount—a machine recount—gave Rossi a win by only 49 votes. The second recount—a hand recount— overturned the other two, giving Christine Gregoire the win by 129 votes.

Nearly 2.9 million votes were cast. Vast discrepancies and utter chaos between the rules and processes of the various auditors’ offices require legislative involvement with an election reform package. Voter confidence must be restored in the election system. With elections that are too close to call, Washington must ensure an accurate vote count.

Background

Experts have identified several problem areas with Washington’s election system. They include:

Provisional ballots

King County election officials have admitted that roughly 350 provisional ballots were improperly fed into vote-counting machines at the polls. Once provisional ballots go into the vote-counting machine, it is impossible to separate them from other ballots.

Military voters disenfranchised

Many of our soldiers overseas were disenfranchised in this election because they never received their ballots. In many cases, soldiers’ ballots were received late, and they arrived back in the states late.

King County changed its rules in the middle of the election

On Dec. 16, the King County Elections Department announced it was changing its own rules dealing with overvotes. Overvotes were sent to the county’s canvassing board, instead of being tossed out. On Dec. 22, the state Supreme Court ignored state and federal law by allowing King County to count 573 ballots that previously had not been counted because no signatures for them were on file. This ruling changed the recount, which 38 counties had already completed their recounts and certified. King County was the only county that could act on the court ruling.

Voter confidence

Voter confidence has dropped. Several polls indicate people want a revote. A recent Elway poll showed that almost one-third of our voters – 30 percent – felt the outcome of the election flat out was not legitimate. And 47 percent, almost half of those polled, felt that the outcome and process of the recount were unfair. Out of 16,000 respondents to a KIRO-TV poll, 76 percent said there should be a revote in the governor’s race. A KING 5/Survey USA poll showed that 53 percent think Dino Rossi should NOT concede the race. Of those surveyed, 56 percent said they think Rossi won the race. And 59 percent of the Survey USA participants say that a revote is necessary.

Help America Vote Act

SB 6419 was signed into law in 2004. The bill implemented the federal requirements for the Help America Vote Act. HAVA requires the creation of a statewide voter registration data base; provisional voting capabilities; a driver's license or Social Security number from an individual registering to vote; mail-in registration forms to include certain questions relating to citizenship and age; early disability access voting; the establishment of a local government grant program; and applying the administrative complaint procedures to elections.

Top Two Primary

SB 6453 was signed into law in 2004. The bill created a Top Two primary system with a Montana system as a backup.

Military Internet Voting

SB 5463 was signed into law in 2003. The bill authorized a pilot project for military and overseas voters to vote over the Internet. (This project was delayed due to lack of federal funding.)

Mailing of Absentee Ballots

SB 5218 was signed into law in 2003. It required all absentee ballots be prepared at least 18 days before the primary election.

SRC Goals

Serious flaws in the current system provide irregularities and no uniform standards across the state. Senate Republicans are committed to fixing these issues to increase voter confidence and to ensure an accurate vote count. They have outlined several key areas that should be addressed in the election reform package. Those that have been introduced have bill numbers included in their summaries. Others will be introduced in the coming weeks.

SENATOR ROACH

1. REQUIRING A REVOTE IN THE GOVERNOR’S RACE: SB 5079 is the catalyst under which the Legislature can contest the gubernatorial election. Under Article III, Section 4 of the Washington State Constitution, the Legislature is vested with the power to contest an election and create law to decide that election. (SB 5079)
**We can hope and pray!!

2. REQUIRING ELECTION OF ALL COUNTY AUDITORS:
Requires all counties, including charter counties, to elect a county auditor who will act as chief elections officer. The Legislature has the power to govern charter counties if the law is of general concern to the state, and not purely a local issue.
**There also needs to be a definite job description that outlines their specific responsabilities, ie keeping the registry rolls clean.

3. REQUIRING COUNTIES TO RECONCILE THE NUMBER OF BALLOTS TO BE CERTIFIED
WITH THE NUMBER OF VOTES CAST:
Mandates that before a county certifies its results, that county must reconcile the number of ballots with the number of votes recorded, within a set margin of error.
**An election is an accounting process. This should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case at the present time.

4. REQUIRING COUNTY ELECTIONS STAFF TO RANDOMLY INVESTIGATE REGISTERED
VOTERS TO CHECK FOR ACCURACY:
Creates “Voter Vault Verification Technicians,” who will check the rolls, when not administering elections, to ensure that deceased, double-registered, felony and other wrongful voters are removed from the list of registered voters.
**This is ok, however HAVA requires that the County compare against other lists available to the county (deceased, felons, etc.) in order to remove those ineligible. This should be an ongoing (monthly) process.

5. REQUIRING ABSENTEE BALLOTS BE DUE BY ELECTION DAY:
Requires all absentee ballots be due by the close of the polls on Election Day, unless the absentee ballot is from a military or out-of- state voter. Military or outof-state absentee votes must be mailed no later than the date of the election. (SB 5082)
**This relies on the efficiency of the US Postal Service. I am not so sure that is something we can do. It really needs to be cut-off based on the day it is postmarked.

6. REQUIRING MANDATORY TEACHING OF THE ELECTION PROCESS IN HIGH SCHOOL:
Creates a mandatory voter education program that must be taught to high school students. Such education would include, but not be limited to, how to register, how to vote, and education on the voter’s pamphlet.
**Great idea. The voters must take responsability for voting correctly; if they cannot manage that, then their ballots should be rejected.

7. REQUIRING ALL WASHINGTONIANS TO RE-REGISTER TO VOTE:
Cleans the voter registration rolls by requiring that all voters be removed from the registered voter list and re-register to vote. (SB 5078)
**YES, YES, YES!!

8. REQUIRING ALL VOTERS TO SHOW PHOTO ID AT POLLING LOCATIONS:
Requires voters to show photo identification and proof of registration in order to vote at a polling place.
**This is fine, but since more and more people are voting by absentee, what is to ensure the validity of those voters?

9. REQUIRING VOTERS TO REAFFIRM AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE VOTING:
Places a check-box on the ballot envelope which states, “Check here if you are a citizen of the United States.” Failure to mark the check-box does not affect the validity of the ballot. However, fraudulently checking the box is a class C felony. SB 5080)
**What is the point? Check if you are a citizen...but if you don't check it we will still count your ballot. I don't think sooooo.

10. REQUIRING A PAPER TRAIL FOR ALL ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES:
Requires counties to record a paper record for all votes cast at polling locations which offer electronic voting.
**Absolutely

11. PROVIDING A SECURITY FLAP ON ABSENTEE BALLOTS:
Requires counties to add a security flap to the outside envelope of absentee ballots that may be sealed by voters after they sign their ballots to protect the privacy of the voters’ return addresses, as well as the privacy of their signatures.
**Makes sense, especially with all the identity theft going on

12. VERIFYING CITIZENSHIP:
Requires election officials to verify a person’s United States citizenship when registering to vote by requiring that the individual provide certain pieces of identification upon registration.
**I would like to see those pieces of identification specified

13. STUDY TO DETERMINE HOW MANY PEOPLE VOTED WHO SHOULD NOT HAVE:
Requires the secretary of state to study the number of people who
registered to vote in the past election and determine how many did not actually have a right to vote.
**Yes...this is something most of us would be very interested in, and not only the ones that voted, but the ones that were registered that should not have been

SENATOR OKE

1. REQUIRING A DIFFERENT COLORED PROVISIONAL BALLOT:
Prevents the mixing of provisional ballots with other ballots by requiring that provisional ballots and their envelopes be printed on a color of paper that is different than any other ballots or envelopes, including absentee ballots, so that provisional ballots can be better separated and accounted for in the tabulation process.
**This is fine, however they also need to be made so they will not feed into the machines to be counted should they end up there, because once there, you do not know who to attibute the ballot to.

2. CODIFIES PROVISIONAL BALLOTS:
Codifies the rules regarding provisional ballots in the RCWs, so that the Legislature can create a uniform application of provisional ballot laws. Currently, neither the RCWs nor the WACs contain laws or rules that substantively deal with provisional ballots.
**This is fine, but we also need consistendy throughout the state in regard to all the laws and procedures.

SENATOR MORTON

PROTECTING VOTER PRIVACY:
Protects the sanctity and privacy of a person’s vote by discontinuing the ballot enhancement procedure and prohibiting the arbitrary inference of “intent” by canvassing boards. If a ballot is rejected by a tabulation machine for any reason, that ballot is separated from all other validly tabulated ballots and later considered by the canvassing board. If the voter did not follow the rules of the voting procedure provided for in the voting directions, the canvassing board is prohibited from inferring intent and must reject the ballot as invalid.
**YES...Voter Responsability. It seems to me if a person is not capable of correctly filling out a ballot, then perhaps he is not capable of voting responsibly. We restrict the age of voters for this very reason. Why should we then babysit a voter who cannot follow directions?

SENATOR SCHOESLER

REVISES ELECTION LAWS:
Tackles many important election issues, including:
(1) moving the time period for filing for candidacy back to the week prior to the fourth of July,
(2) requiring that absentee ballots be sent out two weeks earlier so that the military receive the ballots within enough time to cast a valid vote,
(3) requiring that absentee ballots be due by Election Day, except for military and overseas voters, whose ballots must be mailed by Election Day,
(4)prohibiting third parties from contacting and delivering affidavits in order to correct previously rejected ballots, (5) making the names of provisional ballots not a matter of public record, and (6) eliminating the practice of creating a special filing period for major-party vacancies after the regular candidate filing period has expired.
** (4)Absolutely. This is an outrageous practice, which should not be done at all let alone by partisan third parties. (5)If I cast an absentee ballot, that is a matter of public record, so why not a provisional ballot?

SENATOR CARRELL

VERIFIES PERSON’S RIGHT TO VOTE:
Verifies voters’ qualifications when they register to vote by requiring that
(1) people provide certain pieces of identification to prove United States citizenship, and
(2) the elections officials review applicable records to verify that people are not deceased, felons, and/or already registered in another jurisdiction.
**Absolutely, however, again I would like to know specifically what documents will be used to prove citizenship. Residency also needs to be established, by show of a utility bill, rent receipt, phone bill...

SENATOR SCHMIDT

1. ORGANIZES ELECTION LAWS:
Cleans up and clarifies elections laws and rules regarding the “voting rights” of military and overseas voters, and requires clear, concise instructions regarding the options for return of ballots to be printed on the outside envelope of ballots sent to military and overseas personnel.
**I think the election laws need to be clarified and cleaned up from A to Z.

2. COUNTING MILITARY VOTES:
Allows military and overseas ballots that are received by the voter after the date of the election or that are received by the county or secretary of state after the date of certification to count toward that election provided that the ballot is accompanied by a superior officer attesting to the late receipt, and that the election process is still ongoing and that a final decision regarding the winner has not been made.
**I think there are better, less complicated solutions to this problem...online voting for example, creating satellite precincts in places like Iraq.

3. PROVIDING A VOTING MANUAL TO HELP ELECTIONS WORKERS:
Requires that during the vote tallying and recount process, counties must have on hand at the counting/tallying location a “user’s manual” that explains all election laws and rules in easy-to-understand, plain language for quick reference.
**If this isn't being done already, I am astounded.

SENATOR STEVENS

ALLOWING VOTERS TO CAST AN ABSTENTION VOTE:
Requires that all ballots give voters the option to choose whether to completely abstain from voting for a particular race by providing instructions and a place on the ballot in each race where the voter can cast an abstention vote. (SB 5088)
**Perfect, a NO VOTE choice. That way we will eliminate the confusion created by all those blanks and close the garage door for fraud that they create.

Senator Kastama's Proposal

2005-02-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2005

Kastama legislation addresses election controversies

OLYMPIA – Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, chairs the Senate Government Operations & Elections Committee, so he’s gotten an earful in recent weeks about what changes the Legislature should make to avoid the controversies that have plagued the 2004 governor’s race.

"Our number one priority must be to increase voter confidence in the legitimacy of our elections process,” said Kastama. “These proposals cover a wide range of issues, but at their heart, they are all about encouraging people to participate in the process knowing that we have consistent rules for counting every vote accurately.”

**According to the Senator, his mission is to imporve voter confidence and make sure every vote counts. Gee, isn't that what we had this past election?

After hearing testimony from Secretary of State Sam Reed, numerous county auditors and elections officials, and talking with the people of his district and around the state, Kastama has introduced legislation to address the most disturbing issues arising from the recent elections. The issues covered in Kastama’s proposals will:

Give members of the military additional time to vote. Extends the time between the primary and general elections by moving the primary date back four weeks, into August. Also, the certification deadline for both primary and general elections will be extended five additional days to give added time for ballots to be received.

**Its funny...this proposal has been in the works for a couple of years. It was even proposed by Sam Reed in 2003, and it never went anywhere. I wonder why.

Provide consistency in vote-counting procedures between counties. Requires the secretary of state to conduct formal reviews of county election offices to ensure the consistency of procedures, adherence to statute and administrative rule, and ballot processing and tabulating processes. County auditors will be responsible for corrective action on all review findings. The secretary of state may withhold state or federal funds for non-compliance.

**This one is ok, however the consistency needs to apply to more than vote counting procedures.

Develop consistent rules for non-conforming signature notification. Voters whose signatures on their absentee and provisional ballots do not match the county’s records shall be informed by the county auditor within three days by mail or phone and sent a new registration form to confirm the signature. Completed forms must be returned by the day before certification. Similarly, voters who fail to sign their absentee or provisional ballots will be contacted within three days by the county auditor so they can sign their ballot affidavits.

**This is NUTS! Your signature on your registration card doesn't match the signature on your ballot so they send you a card so you can "update" the signature on your signature card so it matches the signature on your ballot???

Control “double” voting and voting by felons and the deceased. A voter who attempts to vote more than once will be guilty of a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year confinement and/or $5,000 fine. The statewide voter database set to commence operation by 2006 will provide county auditors with the most up-to-date information on felony convictions and recent deaths.

**Control??? NO NO Senator. Each County Auditor must ensure that their registration rolls are current, clean and accurate AT ALL TIMES!

Prevent provisional ballots from being counted at a polling place. All ballot counting devices must be programmed to reject provisional ballots. Counties may color code ballots for additional security.

**No problem with this as far as it goes, however this is the extent of his ideas about controlling provisional ballots and it is not enough.

Help voters fill out ballots correctly. As today’s voting machines become obsolete as outlined in current replacement schedules, each county will begin to use the same ballot card to bolster voter education efforts and reduce voter confusion.

**And just exactly HOW is WHO going to help voters fill out their ballots correctly? What was that about consistency?

Reduce public confusion over ballot enhancement. Ballot enhancement will no longer occur in Washington. When examining a machine-rejected ballot to determine voter intent, new statewide rules will require guidelines to create a duplicate ballot that will be assigned a control number to tie it to the original ballot. (SB 5499)
Create a paper trail for all ballots. Snohomish and Yakima counties had no paper trail for the votes cast using electronic voting machines in the last election. This provision requires a paper trail and outlines an auditing procedure to ensure accuracy.

**Excuse us, but we the public were not confused. We kenw EXACTLY what was going on. However, no more ballot enhancement...that is good. I also like the idea of ensuring that there is a paper trail for all ballots.

Check all voters’ identification at the polls. Before receiving a ballot at the polls, every voter must provide identification such as government issued photo identification, utility bill or other proof of identity and residence. Voters who cannot prove their identity must use a provisional ballot so that their signatures can be verified against their registration record.

**This may provide some safeguards at the polls, but considering the fact that more and more voters are voting by absentee ballot, stricter rules regarding registration are necessary, yet none have been proposed.

Prevent the destruction of voter registration cards. Destroying or tampering with voter registration cards or signature affidavits shall be a class C felony, punishable by five years confinement and/or $10,000 fine.

**Has this been a problem?

Match all votes to voters. Ten days prior to an election, the county auditors will develop a list of all registered voters. After certification, the auditors will compare the votes cast with the registered voters list.

**Develop a list of registered voters??? Shouldn't that list be an ongoing list from day to day, year to year?

Reinforce faith in the electoral process. The secretary of state will now be a non-partisan position to help guard against any perception of a partisan motivation behind election-related decisions.

**And how is this going to solve a single problem? Even if the position is non-partisan, the person holding the position still has partisan beliefs. That will change NOTHING.

The Picture is Becoming Crystal Clear

2005-02-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

When I was young, I was taught to respect the police and honor the court and our laws. I was taught that the police were the good guys and the court was there to right the wrongs of others.

As an adult I came to realize that the police are law enforcement officers, not knights driving a gleaming white Crown Vic.

After listening to the live feed from the courtroom in Wenatchee yesterday, I realize that the laws were created by legislators, who created the laws as a means to achieve their own ends. How else can you explain a law that says, “If it is unknown which candidate received an illegal vote, it must be treated as a legitimate vote."

We vote by secret ballot, so how can it be known for whom the illegal vote was cast? Are we going to ask the Level 3 sex offender, “Sir, for whom did you cast your vote”? Well, you can ask, but who in the world is going to believe him, regardless what his answer is?? Of course we can also ask the dead people for whom they voted, but I think their voice may be rather difficult to hear.

Judge Bridges said something else however that requires some serious consideration. "Do we as voters and as constituents and candidates want to engage in what one judge referred to as seasons of discontent commencing the moment after the polls closed on Election Day?"

The answer of course, is NO. And I can see where once an election is challenged and the challenge is successful, there will surely be more elections challenged, and perhaps for not very good reason, other than the fact that certain people didn’t like the outcome, so they attempt to use the court to reverse the outcome, and we most certainly don’t want to go there, or even close to there.

The whole thing is very disturbing and just goes to make it perfectly clear that we need Election Reforms that will prevent ineligible people from registering in the first place, and reforms that will put processes and procedures in place that will prevent the other anomalies that took place during this last election from happening.

Below you will find a series of threads which tackle different aspects of our election process. Share your ideas and join in the debate, and lets see what we can come up with.

Proof of Identification

2005-02-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

I think the first step in fixing the problems is to require every registrant PROVE citizenship, age, and residency. I do not think a registrant should have to prove they are not a felon, nor should they have to prove they are not dead. That responsibility should rest with the auditor in each County as they do have resources readily available if they will just use them.

I think we all agree that it should be mandatory that every person provide PROOF of citizenship, residency and age when they register to vote.

I do not think a registrant should have to prove they are not a felon, nor should they have to prove they are not dead. That responsibility should rest with the auditor in each County as they do have resources readily available if they will just use them. I intend to search the existing law and see just what, if any responsibility in this regard is currently assigned to the auditor or anyone else.

Proof of citizenship etc. can be a complicated thing. What constitutes proof? What documents would provide proof that cannot easily be forged.

Election Online.org lists the Voter ID Requirements for Each State. Which of these can be considered PROOF?

Having a clean registry will mean one voter, one ballot, and regardless what kind of shenanigans people try to pull, there cannot be more ballots than there are legitimate registered voters.

HAVA

2005-02-05T03:26:00.000-08:00

HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002

Public Law 107-252
107th Congress

An Act

To establish a program to provide funds to States to replace punch card
voting systems, to establish the Election Assistance Commission to
assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise
provide assistance with the administration of certain Federal election
laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration
standards for States and units of local government with responsibility
for the administration of Federal elections, and for other
purposes. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of <Act of 2002.>> Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short <> Title.--This Act may be cited
as the ``Help America Vote Act of 2002''.

(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I--PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENTS AND
REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH CARD AND LEVER VOTING MACHINES

Sec. 101. Payments to States for activities to improve administration of
elections.
Sec. 102. Replacement of punch card or lever voting machines.
Sec. 103. Guaranteed minimum payment amount.
Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 105. Administration of programs.
Sec. 106. Effective date.

TITLE II--COMMISSION

Subtitle A--Establishment and General Organization

Part 1--Election Assistance Commission

Sec. 201. Establishment.
Sec. 202. Duties.
Sec. 203. Membership and appointment.
Sec. 204. Staff.
Sec. 205. Powers.
Sec. 206. Dissemination of information.
Sec. 207. Annual report.
Sec. 208. Requiring majority approval for actions.
Sec. 209. Limitation on rulemaking authority.
Sec. 210. Authorization of appropriations.

Part 2--Election Assistance Commission Standards Board and Board of
Advisors

Sec. 211. Establishment.
Sec. 212. Duties.
Sec. 213. Membership of Standards Board.
Sec. 214. Membership of Board of Advisors.
Sec. 215. Powers of Boards; no compensation for service.
Sec. 216. Status of Boards and members for purposes of claims against
Board.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1667]]

Part 3--Technical Guidelines Development Committee

Sec. 221. Technical Guidelines Development Committee.
Sec. 222. Process for adoption.

Subtitle B--Testing, Certification, Decertification, and Recertification
of Voting System Hardware and Software

Sec. 231. Certification and testing of voting systems.

Subtitle C--Studies and Other Activities To Promote Effective
Administration of Federal Elections

Sec. 241. Periodic studies of election administration issues.
Sec. 242. Study, report, and recommendations on best practices for
facilitating military and overseas voting.
Sec. 243. Report on human factor research.
Sec. 244. Study and report on voters who register by mail and use of
social security information.
Sec. 245. Study and report on electronic voting and the electoral
process.
Sec. 246. Study and report on free absentee ballot postage.
Sec. 247. Consultation with Standards Board and Board of Advisors.

Subtitle D--Election Assistance

Part 1--Requirements Payments

Sec. 251. Requirements payments.
Sec. 252. Allocation of funds.
Sec. 253. Condition for receipt of funds.
Sec. 254. State plan.
Sec. 255. Process for development and filing of plan; publication by
Commission.
Sec. 256. Requirement for public notice and comment.
Sec. 257. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 258. Reports.

Part 2--Payments to States and Units of Local Government To Assure
Access for Individuals With Disabilities

Sec. 261. Payments to States and units of local government to assure
access for individuals with disabilities.
Sec. 262. Amount of payment.
Sec. 263. Requirements for eligibility.
Sec. 264. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 265. Reports.

Part 3--Grants for Research on Voting Technology Improvements

Sec. 271. Grants for research on voting technology improvements.
Sec. 272. Report.
Sec. 273. Authorization of appropriations.

Part 4--Pilot Program for Testing of Equipment and Technology

Sec. 281. Pilot program.
Sec. 282. Report.
Sec. 283. Authorization of appropriations.

Part 5--Protection and Advocacy Systems

Sec. 291. Payments for protection and advocacy systems.
Sec. 292. Authorization of appropriations.

Part 6--National Student and Parent Mock Election

Sec. 295. National Student and Parent Mock Election.
Sec. 296. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE III--UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY ELECTION TECHNOLOGY AND
ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Subtitle A--Requirements

Sec. 301. Voting systems standards.
Sec. 302. Provisional voting and voting information requirements.
Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements
and requirements for voters who register by mail.
Sec. 304. Minimum requirements.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1668]]

Sec. 305. Methods of implementation left to discretion of State.

Subtitle B--Voluntary Guidance

Sec. 311. Adoption of voluntary guidance by Commission.
Sec. 312. Process for adoption.

TITLE IV--ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 401. Actions by the Attorney General for declaratory and injunctive
relief.
Sec. 402. Establishment of State-based administrative complaint
procedures to remedy grievances.

TITLE V--HELP AMERICA VOTE COLLEGE PROGRAM

Sec. 501. Establishment of program.
Sec. 502. Activities under program.
Sec. 503. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE VI--HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION

Sec. 601. Help America Vote Foundation.

TITLE VII--VOTING RIGHTS OF MILITARY MEMBERS AND OVERSEAS CITIZENS

Sec. 701. Voting assistance programs.
Sec. 702. Designation of single State office to provide information on
registration and absentee ballots for all voters in State.
Sec. 703. Report on absentee ballots transmitted and received after
general elections.
Sec. 704. Extension of period covered by single absentee ballot
application.
Sec. 705. Additional duties of Presidential designee under Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
Sec. 706. Prohibition of refusal of voter registration and absentee
ballot applications on grounds of early submission.
Sec. 707. Other requirements to promote participation of overseas and
absent uniformed services voters.

TITLE VIII--TRANSITION PROVISIONS

Subtitle A--Transfer to Commission of Functions Under Certain Laws

Sec. 801. Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
Sec. 802. National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
Sec. 803. Transfer of property, records, and personnel.
Sec. 804. Effective date; transition.

Subtitle B--Coverage of Commission Under Certain Laws and Programs

Sec. 811. Treatment of Commission personnel under certain civil service
laws.
Sec. 812. Coverage under Inspector General Act of 1978.

TITLE IX--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 901. State defined.
Sec. 902. Audits and repayment of funds.
Sec. 903. Clarification of ability of election officials to remove
registrants from official list of voters on grounds of change
of residence.
Sec. 904. Review and report on adequacy of existing electoral fraud
statutes and penalties.
Sec. 905. Other criminal penalties.
Sec. 906. No effect on other laws.

TITLE I--PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENTS AND
REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH CARD AND LEVER VOTING MACHINES

SEC. 101. <> PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR ACTIVITIES TO
IMPROVE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.

(a) In <> General.--Not later than
45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator
of General Services

[[Page 116 STAT. 1669]]

(in this title referred to as the ``Administrator'') shall establish a
program under which the Administrator shall make a payment to each State
in which the chief executive officer of the State, or designee, in
consultation and coordination with the chief State election official,
notifies the Administrator not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act that the State intends to use the payment in
accordance with this section.

(b) Use of Payment.--
(1) In general.--A State shall use the funds provided under
a payment made under this section to carry out one or more of
the following activities:
(A) Complying with the requirements under title III.
(B) Improving the administration of elections for
Federal office.
(C) Educating voters concerning voting procedures,
voting rights, and voting technology.
(D) Training election officials, poll workers, and
election volunteers.
(E) Developing the State plan for requirements
payments to be submitted under part 1 of subtitle D of
title II.
(F) Improving, acquiring, leasing, modifying, or
replacing voting systems and technology and methods for
casting and counting votes.
(G) Improving the accessibility and quantity of
polling places, including providing physical access for
individuals with disabilities, providing nonvisual
access for individuals with visual impairments, and
providing assistance to Native Americans, Alaska Native
citizens, and to individuals with limited proficiency in
the English language.
(H) Establishing toll-free telephone hotlines that
voters may use to report possible voting fraud and
voting rights violations, to obtain general election
information, and to access detailed automated
information on their own voter registration status,
specific polling place locations, and other relevant
information.
(2) Limitation.--A State may not use the funds provided
under a payment made under this section--
(A) to pay costs associated with any litigation,
except to the extent that such costs otherwise
constitute permitted uses of a payment under this
section; or
(B) for the payment of any judgment.

(c) Use of Funds To Be Consistent With Other Laws and
Requirements.--In order to receive a payment under the program under
this section, the State shall provide the Administrator with
certifications that--
(1) the State will use the funds provided under the payment
in a manner that is consistent with each of the laws described
in section 906, as such laws relate to the provisions of this
Act; and
(2) the proposed uses of the funds are not inconsistent with
the requirements of title III.

(d) Amount of Payment.--
(1) In general.--Subject to section 103(b), the amount of
payment made to a State under this section shall be the minimum
payment amount described in paragraph (2) plus

[[Page 116 STAT. 1670]]

the voting age population proportion amount described in
paragraph (3).
(2) Minimum payment amount.--The minimum payment amount
described in this paragraph is--
(A) in the case of any of the several States or the
District of Columbia, one-half of 1 percent of the
aggregate amount made available for payments under this
section; and
(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
Guam, American Samoa, or the United States Virgin
Islands, one-tenth of 1 percent of such aggregate
amount.
(3) Voting age population proportion amount.--The voting age
population proportion amount described in this paragraph is the
product of--
(A) the aggregate amount made available for payments
under this section minus the total of all of the minimum
payment amounts determined under paragraph (2); and
(B) the voting age population proportion for the
State (as defined in paragraph (4)).
(4) Voting age population proportion defined.--The term
``voting age population proportion'' means, with respect to a
State, the amount equal to the quotient of--
(A) the voting age population of the State (as
reported in the most recent decennial census); and
(B) the total voting age population of all States
(as reported in the most recent decennial census).

SEC. 102. <> REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH CARD OR LEVER
VOTING MACHINES.

(a) Establishment of Program.--
(1) In <> general.--Not later than 45 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator
shall establish a program under which the Administrator shall
make a payment to each State eligible under subsection (b) in
which a precinct within that State used a punch card voting
system or a lever voting system to administer the regularly
scheduled general election for Federal office held in November
2000 (in this section referred to as a ``qualifying precinct'').
(2) Use of funds.--A State shall use the funds provided
under a payment under this section (either directly or as
reimbursement, including as reimbursement for costs incurred on
or after January 1, 2001, under multiyear contracts) to replace
punch card voting systems or lever voting systems (as the case
may be) in qualifying precincts within that State with a voting
system (by purchase, lease, or such other arrangement as may be
appropriate) that--
(A) does not use punch cards or levers;
(B) is not inconsistent with the requirements of the
laws described in section 906; and
(C) meets the requirements of section 301.
(3) Deadline.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), a State receiving a payment under the program under
this section shall ensure that all of the punch card
voting systems or lever voting systems in the qualifying
precincts

[[Page 116 STAT. 1671]]

within that State have been replaced in time for the
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office
to be held in November 2004.
(B) Waiver.--If a State certifies to the
Administrator not later than January 1, 2004, that the
State will not meet the deadline described in
subparagraph (A) for good cause and includes in the
certification the reasons for the failure to meet such
deadline, the State shall ensure that all of the punch
card voting systems or lever voting systems in the
qualifying precincts within that State will be replaced
in time for the first election for Federal office held
after January 1, 2006.

(b) Eligibility.--
(1) In general.--A State is eligible to receive a payment
under the program under this section if it submits to the
Administrator a notice not later than the date that is 6 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act (in such form as the
Administrator may require) that contains--
(A) certifications that the State will use the
payment (either directly or as reimbursement, including
as reimbursement for costs incurred on or after January
1, 2001, under multiyear contracts) to replace punch
card voting systems or lever voting systems (as the case
may be) in the qualifying precincts within the State by
the deadline described in subsection (a)(3);
(B) certifications that the State will continue to
comply with the laws described in section 906;
(C) certifications that the replacement voting
systems will meet the requirements of section 301; and
(D) such other information and certifications as the
Administrator may require which are necessary for the
administration of the program.
(2) Compliance of states that require changes to state
law.--In the case of a State that requires State legislation to
carry out an activity covered by any certification submitted
under this subsection, the State shall be permitted to make the
certification notwithstanding that the legislation has not been
enacted at the time the certification is submitted and such
State shall submit an additional certification once such
legislation is enacted.

(c) Amount of Payment.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2) and section
103(b), the amount of payment made to a State under the program
under this section shall be equal to the product of--
(A) the number of the qualifying precincts within
the State; and
(B) $4,000.
(2) Reduction.--If the amount of funds appropriated pursuant
to the authority of section 104(a)(2) is insufficient to ensure
that each State receives the amount of payment calculated under
paragraph (1), the Administrator shall reduce the amount
specified in paragraph (1)(B) to ensure that the entire amount
appropriated under such section is distributed to the States.

(d) Repayment of Funds for Failure To Meet Deadlines.--
(1) In general.--If a State receiving funds under the
program under this section fails to meet the deadline applicable

[[Page 116 STAT. 1672]]

to the State under subsection (a)(3), the State shall pay to the
Administrator an amount equal to the noncompliant precinct
percentage of the amount of the funds provided to the State
under the program.
(2) Noncompliant precinct percentage defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``noncompliant precinct percentage'' means,
with respect to a State, the amount (expressed as a percentage)
equal to the quotient of--
(A) the number of qualifying precincts within the
State for which the State failed to meet the applicable
deadline; and
(B) the total number of qualifying precincts in the
State.

(e) Punch Card Voting System Defined.--For purposes of this section,
a ``punch card voting system'' includes any of the following voting
systems:
(1) C.E.S.
(2) Datavote.
(3) PBC Counter.
(4) Pollstar.
(5) Punch Card.
(6) Vote Recorder.
(7) Votomatic.

SEC. 103. <> GUARANTEED MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.

(a) In General.--In addition to any other payments made under this
title, the Administrator shall make a payment to each State to which a
payment is made under either section 101 or 102 and with respect to
which the aggregate amount paid under such sections is less than
$5,000,000 in an amount equal to the difference between the aggregate
amount paid to the State under sections 101 and 102 and $5,000,000. In
the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and
the United States Virgin Islands, the previous sentence shall be applied
as if each reference to ``$5,000,000'' were a reference to
``$1,000,000''.
(b) Pro Rata Reductions.--The Administrator shall make such pro rata
reductions to the amounts described in sections 101(d) and 102(c) as are
necessary to comply with the requirements of subsection (a).

SEC. 104. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for
payments under this title $650,000,000, of which--
(1) 50 percent shall be for payments under section 101; and
(2) 50 percent shall be for payments under section 102.

(b) Continuing Availability of Funds After Appropriation.--Any
payment made to a State under this title shall be available to the State
without fiscal year limitation (subject to subsection (c)(2)(B)).
(c) Use of Returned Funds and Funds Remaining Unexpended for
Requirements Payments.--
(1) In general.--The amounts described in paragraph (2)
shall be transferred to the Election Assistance Commission
(established under title II) and used by the Commission to make
requirements payments under part 1 of subtitle D of title II.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1673]]

(2) Amounts described.--The amounts referred to in this
paragraph are as follows:
(A) Any amounts paid to the Administrator by a State
under section 102(d)(1).
(B) Any amounts appropriated for payments under this
title which remain unobligated as of September 1, 2003.

(d) Deposit of Amounts in State Election Fund.--When a State has
established an election fund described in section 254(b), the State
shall ensure that any funds provided to the State under this title are
deposited and maintained in such fund.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations for Administrator.--In addition
to the amounts authorized under subsection (a), there are authorized to
be appropriated to the Administrator such sums as may be necessary to
administer the programs under this title.

SEC. 105. <> ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS.

In administering the programs under this title, the Administrator
shall take such actions as the Administrator considers appropriate to
expedite the payment of funds to States.

SEC. 106. <> EFFECTIVE DATE.

The Administrator shall implement the programs established under
this title in a manner that ensures that the Administrator is able to
make payments under the program not later than the expiration of the 45-
day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

TITLE II--COMMISSION

Subtitle A--Establishment and General Organization

PART 1--ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION

SEC. 201. <> ESTABLISHMENT.

There is hereby established as an independent entity the Election
Assistance Commission (hereafter in this title referred to as the
``Commission''), consisting of the members appointed under this part.
Additionally, there is established the Election Assistance Commission
Standards Board (including the Executive Board of such Board) and the
Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors under part 2 (hereafter
in this part referred to as the ``Standards Board'' and the ``Board of
Advisors'', respectively) and the Technical Guidelines Development
Committee under part 3.

SEC. 202. <> DUTIES.

The Commission shall serve as a national clearinghouse and resource
for the compilation of information and review of procedures with respect
to the administration of Federal elections by--
(1) carrying out the duties described in part 3 (relating to
the adoption of voluntary voting system guidelines), including
the maintenance of a clearinghouse of information on the
experiences of State and local governments in implementing the
guidelines and in operating voting systems in general;

[[Page 116 STAT. 1674]]

(2) carrying out the duties described in subtitle B
(relating to the testing, certification, decertification, and
recertification of voting system hardware and software);
(3) carrying out the duties described in subtitle C
(relating to conducting studies and carrying out other
activities to promote the effective administration of Federal
elections);
(4) carrying out the duties described in subtitle D
(relating to election assistance), and providing information and
training on the management of the payments and grants provided
under such subtitle;
(5) carrying out the duties described in subtitle B of title
III (relating to the adoption of voluntary guidance); and
(6) developing and carrying out the Help America Vote
College Program under title V.

SEC. 203. <> MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.

(a) Membership.--
(1) In <> general.--The Commission shall
have four members appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate.
(2) Recommendations.--Before the initial appointment of the
members of the Commission and before the appointment of any
individual to fill a vacancy on the Commission, the Majority
Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall each
submit to the President a candidate recommendation with respect
to each vacancy on the Commission affiliated with the political
party of the Member of Congress involved.
(3) Qualifications.--Each member of the Commission shall
have experience with or expertise in election administration or
the study of elections.
(4) Date of <> appointment.--The
appointments of the members of the Commission shall be made not
later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Term of Service.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and
(3), members shall serve for a term of 4 years and may be
reappointed for not more than one additional term.
(2) Terms of initial appointees.--As designated by the
President at the time of nomination, of the members first
appointed--
(A) two of the members (not more than one of whom
may be affiliated with the same political party) shall
be appointed for a term of 2 years; and
(B) two of the members (not more than one of whom
may be affiliated with the same political party) shall
be appointed for a term of 4 years.
(3) Vacancies.--
(A) In general.--A vacancy on the Commission shall
be filled in the manner in which the original
appointment was made and shall be subject to any
conditions which applied with respect to the original
appointment.
(B) Expired terms.--A member of the Commission shall
serve on the Commission after the expiration of the
member's term until the successor of such member has
taken office as a member of the Commission.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1675]]

(C) Unexpired terms.--An individual appointed to
fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the unexpired term
of the member replaced.

(c) Chair and Vice Chair.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall select a chair and
vice chair from among its members for a term of 1 year, except
that the chair and vice chair may not be affiliated with the
same political party.
(2) Number of terms.--A member of the Commission may serve
as the chairperson and vice chairperson for only 1 term each
during the term of office to which such member is appointed.

(d) Compensation.--
(1) In general.--Each member of the Commission shall be
compensated at the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level
IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5,
United States Code.
(2) Other activities.--No member appointed to the Commission
under subsection (a) may engage in any other business, vocation,
or employment while serving as a member of the Commission and
shall terminate or liquidate such business, vocation, or
employment before sitting as a member of the Commission.

SEC. 204. <> STAFF.

(a) Executive Director, General Counsel, and Other Staff.--
(1) Executive director.--The Commission shall have an
Executive Director, who shall be paid at a rate not to exceed
the rate of basic pay for level V of the Executive Schedule
under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Term of service for executive director.--The Executive
Director shall serve for a term of 4 years. An Executive
Director may serve for a longer period only if reappointed for
an additional term or terms by a vote of the Commission.
(3) Procedure for appointment.--
(A) In general.--When a vacancy exists in the
position of the Executive Director, the Standards Board
and the Board of Advisors shall each appoint a search
committee to recommend at least three nominees for the
position.
(B) Requiring consideration of nominees.--Except as
provided in subparagraph (C), the Commission shall
consider the nominees recommended by the Standards Board
and the Board of Advisors in appointing the Executive
Director.
(C) Interim service of general counsel.--If a
vacancy exists in the position of the Executive
Director, the General Counsel of the Commission shall
serve as the acting Executive Director until the
Commission appoints a new Executive Director in
accordance with this paragraph.
(D) Special rules for interim executive director.--
(i) Convening of search committees.--The
Standards Board and the Board of Advisors shall
each appoint a search committee and recommend
nominees for the position of Executive Director in
accordance

[[Page 116 STAT. 1676]]

with subparagraph (A) as soon as practicable after
the appointment of their members.
(ii) Interim initial appointment.--
Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), the Commission
may appoint an individual to serve as an interim
Executive Director prior to the recommendation of
nominees for the position by the Standards Board
or the Board of Advisors, except that such
individual's term of service may not exceed 6
months. Nothing in the previous sentence may be
construed to prohibit the individual serving as
the interim Executive Director from serving any
additional term.
(4) General counsel.--The Commission shall have a General
Counsel, who shall be appointed by the Commission and who shall
serve under the Executive Director. The General Counsel shall
serve for a term of 4 years, and may serve for a longer period
only if reappointed for an additional term or terms by a vote of
the Commission.
(5) Other staff.--Subject to rules prescribed by the
Commission, the Executive Director may appoint and fix the pay
of such additional personnel as the Executive Director considers
appropriate.
(6) Applicability of certain civil service laws.--The
Executive Director, General Counsel, and staff of the Commission
may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5,
United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive
service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions of
chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title
relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates,
except that an individual so appointed may not receive pay in
excess of the annual rate of basic pay for level V of the
Executive Schedule under section 5316 of that title.

(b) Experts and Consultants.--Subject to rules prescribed by the
Commission, the Executive Director may procure temporary and
intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States
Code, by a vote of the Commission.
(c) Staff of Federal Agencies.--Upon request of the Commission, the
head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable
basis, any of the personnel of that department or agency to the
Commission to assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act.
(d) Arranging for Assistance for Board of Advisors and Standards
Board.--At the request of the Board of Advisors or the Standards Board,
the Commission may enter into such arrangements as the Commission
considers appropriate to make personnel available to assist the Boards
with carrying out their duties under this title (including contracts
with private individuals for providing temporary personnel services or
the temporary detailing of personnel of the Commission).
(e) Consultation With Board of Advisors and Standards Board on
Certain Matters.--In preparing the program goals, long-term plans,
mission statements, and related matters for the Commission, the
Executive Director and staff of the Commission shall consult with the
Board of Advisors and the Standards Board.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1677]]

SEC. 205. <> POWERS.

(a) Hearings and Sessions.--The Commission may hold such hearings
for the purpose of carrying out this Act, sit and act at such times and
places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission
considers advisable to carry out this Act. The Commission may administer
oaths and affirmations to witnesses appearing before the Commission.
(b) Information From Federal Agencies.--The Commission may secure
directly from any Federal department or agency such information as the
Commission considers necessary to carry out this Act. Upon request of
the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such
information to the Commission.
(c) Postal Services.--The Commission may use the United States mails
in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments
and agencies of the Federal Government.
(d) Administrative Support Services.--Upon the request of the
Commission, the Administrator of General Services shall provide to the
Commission, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative support services
that are necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its duties
under this Act.
(e) Contracts.--The Commission may contract with and compensate
persons and Federal agencies for supplies and services without regard to
section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (41 U.S.C. 5).

SEC. 206. <> DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

In carrying out its duties, the Commission shall, on an ongoing
basis, disseminate to the public (through the Internet, published
reports, and such other methods as the Commission considers appropriate)
in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of chapter 19 of
title 44, United States Code, information on the activities carried out
under this Act.

SEC. 207. <> ANNUAL REPORT.

Not <> later than January 31 of each year
(beginning with 2004), the Commission shall submit a report to the
Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate detailing its
activities during the fiscal year which ended on September 30 of the
previous calendar year, and shall include in the report the following
information:
(1) A detailed description of activities conducted with
respect to each program carried out by the Commission under this
Act, including information on each grant or other payment made
under such programs.
(2) A copy of each report submitted to the Commission by a
recipient of such grants or payments which is required under
such a program, including reports submitted by States receiving
requirements payments under part 1 of subtitle D, and each other
report submitted to the Commission under this Act.
(3) Information on the voluntary voting system guidelines
adopted or modified by the Commission under part 3 and
information on the voluntary guidance adopted under subtitle B
of title III.
(4) All votes taken by the Commission.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1678]]

(5) Such other information and recommendations as the
Commission considers appropriate.

SEC. 208. <> REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR
ACTIONS.

Any action which the Commission is authorized to carry out under
this Act may be carried out only with the approval of at least three of
its members.

SEC. 209. <> LIMITATION ON RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.

The Commission shall not have any authority to issue any rule,
promulgate any regulation, or take any other action which imposes any
requirement on any State or unit of local government, except to the
extent permitted under section 9(a) of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(a)).

SEC. 210. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

In addition to the amounts authorized for payments and grants under
this title and the amounts authorized to be appropriated for the program
under section 503, there are authorized to be appropriated for each of
the fiscal years 2003 through 2005 such sums as may be necessary (but
not to exceed $10,000,000 for each such year) for the Commission to
carry out this title.

PART 2--ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION STANDARDS BOARD AND BOARD OF
ADVISORS

SEC. 211. <> ESTABLISHMENT.

There are hereby established the Election Assistance Commission
Standards Board (hereafter in this title referred to as the ``Standards
Board'') and the Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors
(hereafter in this title referred to as the ``Board of Advisors'').

SEC. 212. <> DUTIES.

The Standards Board and the Board of Advisors shall each, in
accordance with the procedures described in part 3, review the voluntary
voting system guidelines under such part, the voluntary guidance under
title III, and the best practices recommendations contained in the
report submitted under section 242(b).

SEC. 213. <> MEMBERSHIP OF STANDARDS BOARD.

(a) Composition.--
(1) In general.--Subject to certification by the chair of
the Federal Election Commission under subsection (b), the
Standards Board shall be composed of 110 members as follows:
(A) Fifty-five shall be State election officials
selected by the chief State election official of each
State.
(B) Fifty-five shall be local election officials
selected in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) List of local election officials.--Each State's local
election officials, including the local election officials of
Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, shall select
(under a process supervised by the chief election official of
the State) a representative local election official from the
State for purposes of paragraph (1)(B). In the case of the
District of Columbia, Guam, and American Samoa, the chief
election official shall establish a procedure for selecting an
individual to serve as a local election official for purposes of
such paragraph,

[[Page 116 STAT. 1679]]

except that under such a procedure the individual selected may
not be a member of the same political party as the chief
election official.
(3) Requiring mix of political parties represented.--The two
members of the Standards Board who represent the same State may
not be members of the same political party.

(b) Procedures for Notice and Certification of Appointment.--
(1) Notice <> to chair of federal election
commission.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the chief State election official of the
State shall transmit a notice to the chair of the Federal
Election Commission containing--
(A) the name of the State election official who
agrees to serve on the Standards Board under this title;
and
(B) the name of the representative local election
official from the State selected under subsection (a)(2)
who agrees to serve on the Standards Board under this
title.
(2) <> Certification.--Upon receiving a
notice from a State under paragraph (1), the chair of the
Federal Election Commission shall publish a certification that
the selected State election official and the representative
local election official are appointed as members of the
Standards Board under this title.
(3) Effect of failure to provide notice.--If a State does
not transmit a notice to the chair of the Federal Election
Commission under paragraph (1) within the deadline described in
such paragraph, no representative from the State may participate
in the selection of the initial Executive Board under subsection
(c).
(4) Role of commission.--Upon the appointment of the members
of the Election Assistance Commission, the Election Assistance
Commission shall carry out the duties of the Federal Election
Commission under this subsection.

(c) Executive Board.--
(1) <> In general.--Not later than 60 days
after the last day on which the appointment of any of its
members may be certified under subsection (b), the Standards
Board shall select nine of its members to serve as the Executive
Board of the Standards Board, of whom--
(A) not more than five may be State election
officials;
(B) not more than five may be local election
officials; and
(C) not more than five may be members of the same
political party.
(2) Terms.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), members of
the Executive Board of the Standards Board shall serve for a
term of 2 years and may not serve for more than 3 consecutive
terms.
(3) Staggering of initial terms.--Of the members first
selected to serve on the Executive Board of the Standards
Board--
(A) three shall serve for 1 term;
(B) three shall serve for 2 consecutive terms; and
(C) three shall serve for 3 consecutive terms,
as determined by lot at the time the members are first
appointed.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1680]]

(4) Duties.--In addition to any other duties assigned under
this title, the Executive Board of the Standards Board may carry
out such duties of the Standards Board as the Standards Board
may delegate.

SEC. 214. <> MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD OF ADVISORS.

(a) In General.--The Board of Advisors shall be composed of 37
members appointed as follows:
(1) Two members appointed by the National Governors
Association.
(2) Two members appointed by the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
(3) Two members appointed by the National Association of
Secretaries of State.
(4) Two members appointed by the National Association of
State Election Directors.
(5) Two members appointed by the National Association of
Counties.
(6) Two members appointed by the National Association of
County Recorders, Election Administrators, and Clerks.
(7) Two members appointed by the United States Conference of
Mayors.
(8) Two members appointed by the Election Center.
(9) Two members appointed by the International Association
of County Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers.
(10) Two members appointed by the United States Commission
on Civil Rights.
(11) Two members appointed by the Architectural and
Transportation Barrier Compliance Board under section 502 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792).
(12) The chief of the Office of Public Integrity of the
Department of Justice, or the chief's designee.
(13) The chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice or the chief's designee.
(14) The director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program
of the Department of Defense.
(15) Four members representing professionals in the field of
science and technology, of whom--
(A) one each shall be appointed by the Speaker and
the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives; and
(B) one each shall be appointed by the Majority
Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate.
(16) Eight members representing voter interests, of whom--
(A) four members shall be appointed by the Committee
on House Administration of the House of Representatives,
of whom two shall be appointed by the chair and two
shall be appointed by the ranking minority member; and
(B) four members shall be appointed by the Committee
on Rules and Administration of the Senate, of whom two
shall be appointed by the chair and two shall be
appointed by the ranking minority member.

(b) Manner of Appointments.--Appointments shall be made to the Board
of Advisors under subsection (a) in a manner which ensures that the
Board of Advisors will be bipartisan in nature and will reflect the
various geographic regions of the United States.
(c) Term of Service; Vacancy.--Members of the Board of Advisors
shall serve for a term of 2 years, and may be reappointed.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1681]]

Any vacancy in the Board of Advisors shall be filled in the manner in
which the original appointment was made.
(d) Chair.--The Board of Advisors shall elect a Chair from among its
members.

SEC. 215. <> POWERS OF BOARDS; NO COMPENSATION FOR
SERVICE.

(a) Hearings and Sessions.--
(1) In general.--To the extent that funds are made available
by the Commission, the Standards Board (acting through the
Executive Board) and the Board of Advisors may each hold such
hearings for the purpose of carrying out this Act, sit and act
at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such
evidence as each such Board considers advisable to carry out
this title, except that the Boards may not issue subpoenas
requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the
production of any evidence.
(2) Meetings.--The Standards Board and the Board of Advisors
shall each hold a meeting of its members--
(A) not less frequently than once every year for
purposes of voting on the voluntary voting system
guidelines referred to it under section 222;
(B) in the case of the Standards Board, not less
frequently than once every 2 years for purposes of
selecting the Executive Board; and
(C) at such other times as it considers appropriate
for purposes of conducting such other business as it
considers appropriate consistent with this title.

(b) Information From Federal Agencies.--The Standards Board and the
Board of Advisors may each secure directly from any Federal department
or agency such information as the Board considers necessary to carry out
this Act. Upon request of the Executive Board (in the case of the
Standards Board) or the Chair (in the case of the Board of Advisors),
the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to
the Board.
(c) Postal Services.--The Standards Board and the Board of Advisors
may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same
conditions as a department or agency of the Federal Government.
(d) Administrative Support Services.--Upon the request of the
Executive Board (in the case of the Standards Board) or the Chair (in
the case of the Board of Advisors), the Administrator of the General
Services Administration shall provide to the Board, on a reimbursable
basis, the administrative support services that are necessary to enable
the Board to carry out its duties under this title.
(e) No Compensation for Service.--Members of the Standards Board and
members of the Board of Advisors shall not receive any compensation for
their service, but shall be paid travel expenses, including per diem in
lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under
subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away
from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of
services for the Board.

SEC. 216. <> STATUS OF BOARDS AND MEMBERS FOR
PURPOSES OF CLAIMS AGAINST BOARD.

(a) <> In General.--The provisions of
chapters 161 and 171 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply with
respect to the liability

[[Page 116 STAT. 1682]]

of the Standards Board, the Board of Advisors, and their members for
acts or omissions performed pursuant to and in the course of the duties
and responsibilities of the Board.

(b) Exception for Criminal Acts and Other Willful Conduct.--
Subsection (a) may not be construed to limit personal liability for
criminal acts or omissions, willful or malicious misconduct, acts or
omissions for private gain, or any other act or omission outside the
scope of the service of a member of the Standards Board or the Board of
Advisors.

PART 3--TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

SEC. 221. <> TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE.

(a) Establishment.--There is hereby established the Technical
Guidelines Development Committee (hereafter in this part referred to as
the ``Development Committee'').
(b) Duties.--
(1) In general.--The Development Committee shall assist the
Executive Director of the Commission in the development of the
voluntary voting system guidelines.
(2) Deadline for initial set of recommendations.--The
Development Committee shall provide its first set of
recommendations under this section to the Executive Director of
the Commission not later than 9 months after all of its members
have been appointed.

(c) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Development Committee shall be composed
of the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (who shall serve as its chair), together with a group
of 14 other individuals appointed jointly by the Commission and
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, consisting of the following:
(A) An equal number of each of the following:
(i) Members of the Standards Board.
(ii) Members of the Board of Advisors.
(iii) Members of the Architectural and
Transportation Barrier Compliance Board under
section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 792).
(B) A representative of the American National
Standards Institute.
(C) A representative of the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers.
(D) Two representatives of the National Association
of State Election Directors selected by such Association
who are not members of the Standards Board or Board of
Advisors, and who are not of the same political party.
(E) Other individuals with technical and scientific
expertise relating to voting systems and voting
equipment.
(2) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Development
Committee shall constitute a quorum, except that the Development
Committee may not conduct any business prior to the appointment
of all of its members.

(d) No Compensation for Service.--Members of the Development
Committee shall not receive any compensation for their service, but
shall be paid travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of
subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies

[[Page 116 STAT. 1683]]

under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while
away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance
of services for the Development Committee.
(e) Technical Support From National Institute of Standards and
Technology.--
(1) In general.--At the request of the Development
Committee, the Director of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology shall provide the Development Committee with
technical support necessary for the Development Committee to
carry out its duties under this subtitle.
(2) Technical support.--The technical support provided under
paragraph (1) shall include intramural research and development
in areas to support the development of the voluntary voting
system guidelines under this part, including--
(A) the security of computers, computer networks,
and computer data storage used in voting systems,
including the computerized list required under section
303(a);
(B) methods to detect and prevent fraud;
(C) the protection of voter privacy;
(D) the role of human factors in the design and
application of voting systems, including assistive
technologies for individuals with disabilities
(including blindness) and varying levels of literacy;
and
(E) remote access voting, including voting through
the Internet.
(3) No private sector intellectual property rights in
guidelines.--No private sector individual or entity shall obtain
any intellectual property rights to any guideline or the
contents of any guideline (or any modification to any guideline)
adopted by the Commission under this Act.

(f) Publication of Recommendations in Federal Register.--At the time
the Commission adopts any voluntary voting system guideline pursuant to
section 222, the Development Committee shall cause to have published in
the Federal Register the recommendations it provided under this section
to the Executive Director of the Commission concerning the guideline
adopted.

SEC. 222. <> PROCESS FOR ADOPTION.

(a) <> General Requirement
for Notice and Comment.--Consistent with the requirements of this
section, the final adoption of the voluntary voting system guidelines
(or modification of such a guideline) shall be carried out by the
Commission in a manner that provides for each of the following:
(1) Publication of notice of the proposed guidelines in the
Federal Register.
(2) An opportunity for public comment on the proposed
guidelines.
(3) An opportunity for a public hearing on the record.
(4) Publication of the final guidelines in the Federal
Register.

(b) Consideration of Recommendations of Development Committee;
Submission of Proposed Guidelines to Board of Advisors and Standards
Board.--
(1) Consideration of recommendations of development
committee.--In developing the voluntary voting system guidelines
and modifications of such guidelines under this section,

[[Page 116 STAT. 1684]]

the Executive Director of the Commission shall take into
consideration the recommendations provided by the Technical
Guidelines Development Committee under section 221.
(2) Board of advisors.--The Executive Director of the
Commission shall submit the guidelines proposed to be adopted
under this part (or any modifications to such guidelines) to the
Board of Advisors.
(3) Standards board.--The Executive Director of the
Commission shall submit the guidelines proposed to be adopted
under this part (or any modifications to such guidelines) to the
Executive Board of the Standards Board, which shall review the
guidelines (or modifications) and forward its recommendations to
the Standards Board.

(c) Review.--Upon receipt of voluntary voting system guidelines
described in subsection (b) (or a modification of such guidelines) from
the Executive Director of the Commission, the Board of Advisors and the
Standards Board shall each review and submit comments and
recommendations regarding the guideline (or modification) to the
Commission.
(d) Final Adoption.--
(1) In general.--A voluntary voting system guideline
described in subsection (b) (or modification of such a
guideline) shall not be considered to be finally adopted by the
Commission unless the Commission votes to approve the final
adoption of the guideline (or modification), taking into
consideration the comments and recommendations submitted by the
Board of Advisors and the Standards Board under subsection (c).
(2) Minimum period for consideration of comments and
recommendations.--The Commission may not vote on the final
adoption of a guideline described in subsection (b) (or
modification of such a guideline) until the expiration of the
90-day period which begins on the date the Executive Director of
the Commission submits the proposed guideline (or modification)
to the Board of Advisors and the Standards Board under
subsection (b).

(e) Special Rule for Initial Set of Guidelines.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of this part, the most recent set of voting system
standards adopted by the Federal Election Commission prior to the date
of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have been adopted by the
Commission as of the date of the enactment of this Act as the first set
of voluntary voting system guidelines adopted under this part.

Subtitle B--Testing, Certification, Decertification, and Recertification
of Voting System Hardware and Software

SEC. 231. <> CERTIFICATION AND TESTING OF VOTING
SYSTEMS.

(a) Certification and Testing.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall provide for the
testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of
voting system hardware and software by accredited laboratories.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1685]]

(2) Optional use by states.--At the option of a State, the
State may provide for the testing, certification,
decertification, or recertification of its voting system
hardware and software by the laboratories accredited by the
Commission under this section.

(b) Laboratory Accreditation.--
(1) Recommendations by national institute of standards and
technology.--Not <> later than 6
months after the Commission first adopts voluntary voting system
guidelines under part 3 of subtitle A, the Director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall conduct an
evaluation of independent, non-Federal laboratories and shall
submit to the Commission a list of those laboratories the
Director proposes to be accredited to carry out the testing,
certification, decertification, and recertification provided for
under this section.
(2) Approval by commission.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall vote on the
accreditation of any laboratory under this section,
taking into consideration the list submitted under
paragraph (1), and no laboratory may be accredited for
purposes of this section unless its accreditation is
approved by a vote of the Commission.
(B) Accreditation laboratories not on director
list.-- <> The Commission shall
publish an explanation for the accreditation of any
laboratory not included on the list submitted by the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology under paragraph (1).

(c) Continuing Review by National Institute of Standards and
Technology.--
(1) In general.--In cooperation with the Commission and in
consultation with the Standards Board and the Board of Advisors,
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology shall monitor and review, on an ongoing basis, the
performance of the laboratories accredited by the Commission
under this section, and shall make such recommendations to the
Commission as it considers appropriate with respect to the
continuing accreditation of such laboratories, including
recommendations to revoke the accreditation of any such
laboratory.
(2) Approval by commission required for revocation.--The
accreditation of a laboratory for purposes of this section may
not be revoked unless the revocation is approved by a vote of
the Commission.

(d) Transition.--Until such time as the Commission provides for the
testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of voting
system hardware and software by accredited laboratories under this
section, the accreditation of laboratories and the procedure for the
testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of voting
system hardware and software used as of the date of the enactment of
this Act shall remain in effect.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1686]]

Subtitle C--Studies and Other Activities To Promote Effective
Administration of Federal Elections

SEC. 241. <> PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION
ADMINISTRATION ISSUES.

(a) <> In General.--On such periodic
basis as the Commission may determine, the Commission shall conduct and
make available to the public studies regarding the election
administration issues described in subsection (b), with the goal of
promoting methods of voting and administering elections which--
(1) will be the most convenient, accessible, and easy to use
for voters, including members of the uniformed services and
overseas voters, individuals with disabilities, including the
blind and visually impaired, and voters with limited proficiency
in the English language;
(2) will yield the most accurate, secure, and expeditious
system for voting and tabulating election results;
(3) will be nondiscriminatory and afford each registered and
eligible voter an equal opportunity to vote and to have that
vote counted; and
(4) will be efficient and cost-effective for use.

(b) Election Administration Issues Described.--For purposes of
subsection (a), the election administration issues described in this
subsection are as follows:
(1) Methods and mechanisms of election technology and voting
systems used in voting and counting votes in elections for
Federal office, including the over-vote and under-vote
notification capabilities of such technology and systems.
(2) Ballot designs for elections for Federal office.
(3) Methods of voter registration, maintaining secure and
accurate lists of registered voters (including the establishment
of a centralized, interactive, statewide voter registration list
linked to relevant agencies and all polling sites), and ensuring
that registered voters appear on the voter registration list at
the appropriate polling site.
(4) Methods of conducting provisional voting.
(5) Methods of ensuring the accessibility of voting,
registration, polling places, and voting equipment to all
voters, including individuals with disabilities (including the
blind and visually impaired), Native American or Alaska Native
citizens, and voters with limited proficiency in the English
language.
(6) Nationwide statistics and methods of identifying,
deterring, and investigating voting fraud in elections for
Federal office.
(7) Identifying, deterring, and investigating methods of
voter intimidation.
(8) Methods of recruiting, training, and improving the
performance of poll workers.
(9) Methods of educating voters about the process of
registering to vote and voting, the operation of voting
mechanisms, the location of polling places, and all other
aspects of participating in elections.
(10) The feasibility and advisability of conducting
elections for Federal office on different days, at different
places, and

[[Page 116 STAT. 1687]]

during different hours, including the advisability of
establishing a uniform poll closing time and establishing--
(A) a legal public holiday under section 6103 of
title 5, United States Code, as the date on which
general elections for Federal office are held;
(B) the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in
November, in every even numbered year, as a legal public
holiday under such section;
(C) a date other than the Tuesday next after the 1st
Monday in November, in every even numbered year as the
date on which general elections for Federal office are
held; and
(D) any date described in subparagraph (C) as a
legal public holiday under such section.
(11) Federal and State laws governing the eligibility of
persons to vote.
(12) Ways that the Federal Government can best assist State
and local authorities to improve the administration of elections
for Federal office and what levels of funding would be necessary
to provide such assistance.
(13)(A) The laws and procedures used by each State that
govern--
(i) recounts of ballots cast in elections for
Federal office;
(ii) contests of determinations regarding whether
votes are counted in such elections; and
(iii) standards that define what will constitute a
vote on each type of voting equipment used in the State
to conduct elections for Federal office.
(B) The best practices (as identified by the Commission)
that are used by States with respect to the recounts and
contests described in clause (i).
(C) Whether or not there is a need for more consistency
among State recount and contest procedures used with respect to
elections for Federal office.
(14) The technical feasibility of providing voting materials
in eight or more languages for voters who speak those languages
and who have limited English proficiency.
(15) Matters particularly relevant to voting and
administering elections in rural and urban areas.
(16) Methods of voter registration for members of the
uniformed services and overseas voters, and methods of ensuring
that such voters receive timely ballots that will be properly
and expeditiously handled and counted.
(17) The best methods for establishing voting system
performance benchmarks, expressed as a percentage of residual
vote in the Federal contest at the top of the ballot.
(18) Broadcasting practices that may result in the broadcast
of false information concerning the location or time of
operation of a polling place.
(19) Such other matters as the Commission determines are
appropriate.

(c) Reports.--The Commission shall submit to the President and to
the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate a report on
each study conducted under subsection (a) together with such
recommendations for administrative and legislative action as the
Commission determines is appropriate.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1688]]

SEC. 242. <> STUDY, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON
BEST PRACTICES FOR FACILITATING MILITARY AND OVERSEAS
VOTING.

(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Commission, in consultation with the
Secretary of Defense, shall conduct a study on the best
practices for facilitating voting by absent uniformed services
voters (as defined in section 107(1) of the Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) and overseas voters (as
defined in section 107(5) of such Act).
(2) Issues considered.--In conducting the study under
paragraph (1) the Commission shall consider the following
issues:
(A) The rights of residence of uniformed services
voters absent due to military orders.
(B) The rights of absent uniformed services voters
and overseas voters to register to vote and cast
absentee ballots, including the right of such voters to
cast a secret ballot.
(C) The rights of absent uniformed services voters
and overseas voters to submit absentee ballot
applications early during an election year.
(D) The appropriate preelection deadline for mailing
absentee ballots to absent uniformed services voters and
overseas voters.
(E) The appropriate minimum period between the
mailing of absentee ballots to absent uniformed services
voters and overseas voters and the deadline for receipt
of such ballots.
(F) The timely transmission of balloting materials
to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters.
(G) Security and privacy concerns in the
transmission, receipt, and processing of ballots from
absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters,
including the need to protect against fraud.
(H) The use of a single application by absent
uniformed services voters and overseas voters for
absentee ballots for all Federal elections occurring
during a year.
(I) The use of a single application for voter
registration and absentee ballots by absent uniformed
services voters and overseas voters.
(J) The use of facsimile machines and electronic
means of transmission of absentee ballot applications
and absentee ballots to absent uniformed services voters
and overseas voters.
(K) Other issues related to the rights of absent
uniformed services voters and overseas voters to
participate in elections.

(b) <> Report and Recommendations.--Not later than
the date that is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a report on
the study conducted under subsection (a)(1) together with
recommendations identifying the best practices used with respect to the
issues considered under subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 243. <> REPORT ON HUMAN FACTOR RESEARCH.

Not <> later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Director
of the

[[Page 116 STAT. 1689]]

National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall submit a report to
Congress which assesses the areas of human factor research, including
usability engineering and human-computer and human-machine interaction,
which feasibly could be applied to voting products and systems design to
ensure the usability and accuracy of voting products and systems,
including methods to improve access for individuals with disabilities
(including blindness) and individuals with limited proficiency in the
English language and to reduce voter error and the number of spoiled
ballots in elections.

SEC. 244. <> STUDY AND REPORT ON VOTERS WHO
REGISTER BY MAIL AND USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION.

(a) Registration by Mail.--
(1) Study.--
(A) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a
study of the impact of section 303(b) on voters who
register by mail.
(B) Specific issues studied.--The study conducted
under subparagraph (A) shall include--
(i) an examination of the impact of section
303(b) on first time mail registrant voters who
vote in person, including the impact of such
section on voter registration;
(ii) an examination of the impact of such
section on the accuracy of voter rolls, including
preventing ineligible names from being placed on
voter rolls and ensuring that all eligible names
are placed on voter rolls; and
(iii) an analysis of the impact of such
section on existing State practices, such as the
use of signature verification or attestation
procedures to verify the identity of voters in
elections for Federal office, and an analysis of
other changes that may be made to improve the
voter registration process, such as verification
or additional information on the registration
card.
(2) <> Report.--Not later than 18 months
after the date on which section 303(b)(2) takes effect, the
Commission shall submit a report to the President and Congress
on the study conducted under paragraph (1)(A) together with such
recommendations for administrative and legislative action as the
Commission determines is appropriate.

(b) <> Use of Social Security Information.--Not
later than 18 months after the date on which section 303(a)(5) takes
effect, the Commission, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social
Security, shall study and report to Congress on the feasibility and
advisability of using Social Security identification numbers or other
information compiled by the Social Security Administration to establish
voter registration or other election law eligibility or identification
requirements, including the matching of relevant information specific to
an individual voter, the impact of such use on national security issues,
and whether adequate safeguards or waiver procedures exist to protect
the privacy of an individual voter.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1690]]

SEC. 245. <> STUDY AND REPORT ON ELECTRONIC VOTING
AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS.

(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct a thorough
study of issues and challenges, specifically to include the
potential for election fraud, presented by incorporating
communications and Internet technologies in the Federal, State,
and local electoral process.
(2) Issues to be studied.--The Commission may include in the
study conducted under paragraph (1) an examination of--
(A) the appropriate security measures required and
minimum standards for certification of systems or
technologies in order to minimize the potential for
fraud in voting or in the registration of qualified
citizens to register and vote;
(B) the possible methods, such as Internet or other
communications technologies, that may be utilized in the
electoral process, including the use of those
technologies to register voters and enable citizens to
vote online, and recommendations concerning statutes and
rules to be adopted in order to implement an online or
Internet system in the electoral process;
(C) the impact that new communications or Internet
technology systems for use in the electoral process
could have on voter participation rates, voter
education, public accessibility, potential external
influences during the elections process, voter privacy
and anonymity, and other issues related to the conduct
and administration of elections;
(D) whether other aspects of the electoral process,
such as public availability of candidate information and
citizen communication with candidates, could benefit
from the increased use of online or Internet
technologies;
(E) the requirements for authorization of
collection, storage, and processing of electronically
generated and transmitted digital messages to permit any
eligible person to register to vote or vote in an
election, including applying for and casting an absentee
ballot;
(F) the implementation cost of an online or Internet
voting or voter registration system and the costs of
elections after implementation (including a comparison
of total cost savings for the administration of the
electoral process by using Internet technologies or
systems);
(G) identification of current and foreseeable online
and Internet technologies for use in the registration of
voters, for voting, or for the purpose of reducing
election fraud, currently available or in use by
election authorities;
(H) the means by which to ensure and achieve equity
of access to online or Internet voting or voter
registration systems and address the fairness of such
systems to all citizens; and
(I) the impact of technology on the speed,
timeliness, and accuracy of vote counts in Federal,
State, and local elections.

(b) Report.--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1691]]

(1) <> Submission.--Not later than 20
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall transmit to the Committee on House
Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Rules and Administration of the Senate a report on the
results of the study conducted under subsection (a), including
such legislative recommendations or model State laws as are
required to address the findings of the Commission.
(2) Internet posting.--In addition to the dissemination
requirements under chapter 19 of title 44, United States Code,
the Election Administration Commission shall post the report
transmitted under paragraph (1) on an Internet website.

SEC. 246. <> STUDY AND REPORT ON FREE ABSENTEE
BALLOT POSTAGE.

(a) Study on the Establishment of a Free Absentee Ballot Postage
Program.--
(1) In general.--The Commission, in consultation with the
Postal Service, shall conduct a study on the feasibility and
advisability of the establishment of a program under which the
Postal Service shall waive or otherwise reduce the amount of
postage applicable with respect to absentee ballots submitted by
voters in general elections for Federal office (other than
balloting materials mailed under section 3406 of title 39,
United States Code) that does not apply with respect to the
postage required to send the absentee ballots to voters.
(2) Public survey.--As part of the study conducted under
paragraph (1), the Commission shall conduct a survey of
potential beneficiaries under the program described in such
paragraph, including the elderly and disabled, and shall take
into account the results of such survey in determining the
feasibility and advisability of establishing such a program.

(b) Report.--
(1) <> Submission.--Not later than the
date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the study
conducted under subsection (a)(1) together with recommendations
for such legislative and administrative action as the Commission
determines appropriate.
(2) Costs.--The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall
contain an estimate of the costs of establishing the program
described in subsection (a)(1).
(3) Implementation.--The report submitted under paragraph
(1) shall contain an analysis of the feasibility of implementing
the program described in subsection (a)(1) with respect to the
absentee ballots to be submitted in the general election for
Federal office held in 2004.
(4) Recommendations regarding the elderly and disabled.--The
report submitted under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) include recommendations on ways that program
described in subsection (a)(1) would target elderly
individuals and individuals with disabilities; and
(B) identify methods to increase the number of such
individuals who vote in elections for Federal office.

(c) Postal Service Defined.--The term ``Postal Service'' means the
United States Postal Service established under section 201 of title 39,
United States Code.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1692]]

SEC. 247. <> CONSULTATION WITH STANDARDS BOARD AND
BOARD OF ADVISORS.

The Commission shall carry out its duties under this subtitle in
consultation with the Standards Board and the Board of Advisors.

Subtitle D--Election Assistance

PART 1--REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

SEC. 251. <> REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.

(a) In General.--The Commission shall make a requirements payment
each year in an amount determined under section 252 to each State which
meets the conditions described in section 253 for the year.
(b) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a
State receiving a requirements payment shall use the payment
only to meet the requirements of title III.
(2) Other activities.--A State may use a requirements
payment to carry out other activities to improve the
administration of elections for Federal office if the State
certifies to the Commission that--
(A) the State has implemented the requirements of
title III; or
(B) the amount expended with respect to such other
activities does not exceed an amount equal to the
minimum payment amount applicable to the State under
section 252(c).

(c) Retroactive Payments.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this
subtitle, including the maintenance of effort requirements of
section 254(a)(7), a State may use a requirements payment as a
reimbursement for costs incurred in obtaining voting equipment
which meets the requirements of section 301 if the State obtains
the equipment after the regularly scheduled general election for
Federal office held in November 2000.
(2) Special rule regarding multiyear contracts.--A State may
use a requirements payment for any costs for voting equipment
which meets the requirements of section 301 that, pursuant to a
multiyear contract, were incurred on or after January 1, 2001,
except that the amount that the State is otherwise required to
contribute under the maintenance of effort requirements of
section 254(a)(7) shall be increased by the amount of the
payment made with respect to such multiyear contract.

(d) Adoption of Commission Guidelines and Guidance Not Required To
Receive Payment.--Nothing in this part may be construed to require a
State to implement any of the voluntary voting system guidelines or any
of the voluntary guidance adopted by the Commission with respect to any
matter as a condition for receiving a requirements payment.
(e) Schedule of Payments.--As soon as practicable after the initial
appointment of all members of the Commission (but in no event later than
6 months thereafter), and not less frequently than once each calendar
year thereafter, the Commission shall make requirements payments to
States under this part.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1693]]

(f) Limitation.--A State may not use any portion of a requirements
payment--
(1) to pay costs associated with any litigation, except to
the extent that such costs otherwise constitute permitted uses
of a requirements payment under this part; or
(2) for the payment of any judgment.

SEC. 252. <> ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (c), the amount of a
requirements payment made to a State for a year shall be equal to the
product of--
(1) the total amount appropriated for requirements payments
for the year pursuant to the authorization under section 257;
and
(2) the State allocation percentage for the State (as
determined under subsection (b)).

(b) State Allocation Percentage Defined.--The ``State allocation
percentage'' for a State is the amount (expressed as a percentage) equal
to the quotient of--
(1) the voting age population of the State (as reported in
the most recent decennial census); and
(2) the total voting age population of all States (as
reported in the most recent decennial census).

(c) Minimum Amount of Payment.--The amount of a requirements payment
made to a State for a year may not be less than--
(1) in the case of any of the several States or the District
of Columbia, one-half of 1 percent of the total amount
appropriated for requirements payments for the year under
section 257; or
(2) in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam,
American Samoa, or the United States Virgin Islands, one-tenth
of 1 percent of such total amount.

(d) Pro Rata Reductions.--The Administrator shall make such pro rata
reductions to the allocations determined under subsection (a) as are
necessary to comply with the requirements of subsection (c).
(e) Continuing Availability of Funds After Appropriation.--A
requirements payment made to a State under this part shall be available
to the State without fiscal year limitation.

SEC. 253. <> CONDITION FOR RECEIPT OF FUNDS.

(a) In General.--A State is eligible to receive a requirements
payment for a fiscal year if the chief executive officer of the State,
or designee, in consultation and coordination with the chief State
election official, has filed with the Commission a statement certifying
that the State is in compliance with the requirements referred to in
subsection (b). A State may meet the requirement of the previous
sentence by filing with the Commission a statement which reads as
follows: ``____________ hereby certifies that it is in compliance with
the requirements referred to in section 253(b) of the Help America Vote
Act of 2002.'' (with the blank to be filled in with the name of the
State involved).
(b) State Plan Requirement; Certification of Compliance With
Applicable Laws and Requirements.--The requirements referred to in this
subsection are as follows:
(1) The State has filed with the Commission a State plan
covering the fiscal year which the State certifies--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1694]]

(A) contains each of the elements described in
section 254 with respect to the fiscal year;
(B) is developed in accordance with section 255; and
(C) meets the public notice and comment requirements
of section 256.
(2) The State has filed with the Commission a plan for the
implementation of the uniform, nondiscriminatory administrative
complaint procedures required under section 402 (or has included
such a plan in the State plan filed under paragraph (1)), and
has such procedures in place for purposes of meeting the
requirements of such section. <> If the
State does not include such an implementation plan in the State
plan filed under paragraph (1), the requirements of sections
255(b) and 256 shall apply to the implementation plan in the
same manner as such requirements apply to the State plan.
(3) <> The State is in compliance
with each of the laws described in section 906, as such laws
apply with respect to this Act.
(4) To the extent that any portion of the requirements
payment is used for activities other than meeting the
requirements of title III--
(A) the State's proposed uses of the requirements
payment are not inconsistent with the requirements of
title III; and
(B) the use of the funds under this paragraph is
consistent with the requirements of section 251(b).
(5) The State has appropriated funds for carrying out the
activities for which the requirements payment is made in an
amount equal to 5 percent of the total amount to be spent for
such activities (taking into account the requirements payment
and the amount spent by the State) and, in the case of a State
that uses a requirements payment as a reimbursement under
section 251(c)(2), an additional amount equal to the amount of
such reimbursement.

(c) Methods of Compliance Left to Discretion of State.--The specific
choices on the methods of complying with the elements of a State plan
shall be left to the discretion of the State.
(d) Timing for Filing of Certification.--A State may not file a
statement of certification under subsection (a) until the expiration of
the 45-day period (or, in the case of a fiscal year other than the first
fiscal year for which a requirements payment is made to the State under
this subtitle, the 30-day period) which begins on the date the State
plan under this subtitle is published in the Federal Register pursuant
to section 255(b).
(e) Chief State Election Official Defined.--In this subtitle, the
``chief State election official'' of a State is the individual
designated by the State under section 10 of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-8) to be responsible for
coordination of the State's responsibilities under such Act.

SEC. 254. <> STATE PLAN.

(a) In General.--The State plan shall contain a description of each
of the following:
(1) How the State will use the requirements payment to meet
the requirements of title III, and, if applicable under section
251(a)(2), to carry out other activities to improve the
administration of elections.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1695]]

(2) How the State will distribute and monitor the
distribution of the requirements payment to units of local
government or other entities in the State for carrying out the
activities described in paragraph (1), including a description
of--
(A) the criteria to be used to determine the
eligibility of such units or entities for receiving the
payment; and
(B) the methods to be used by the State to monitor
the performance of the units or entities to whom the
payment is distributed, consistent with the performance
goals and measures adopted under paragraph (8).
(3) How the State will provide for programs for voter
education, election official education and training, and poll
worker training which will assist the State in meeting the
requirements of title III.
(4) How the State will adopt voting system guidelines and
processes which are consistent with the requirements of section
301.
(5) How the State will establish a fund described in
subsection (b) for purposes of administering the State's
activities under this part, including information on fund
management.
(6) The State's proposed budget for activities under this
part, based on the State's best estimates of the costs of such
activities and the amount of funds to be made available,
including specific information on--
(A) the costs of the activities required to be
carried out to meet the requirements of title III;
(B) the portion of the requirements payment which
will be used to carry out activities to meet such
requirements; and
(C) the portion of the requirements payment which
will be used to carry out other activities.
(7) How the State, in using the requirements payment, will
maintain the expenditures of the State for activities funded by
the payment at a level that is not less than the level of such
expenditures maintained by the State for the fiscal year ending
prior to November 2000.
(8) How the State will adopt performance goals and measures
that will be used by the State to determine its success and the
success of units of local government in the State in carrying
out the plan, including timetables for meeting each of the
elements of the plan, descriptions of the criteria the State
will use to measure performance and the process used to develop
such criteria, and a description of which official is to be held
responsible for ensuring that each performance goal is met.
(9) A description of the uniform, nondiscriminatory State-
based administrative complaint procedures in effect under
section 402.
(10) If the State received any payment under title I, a
description of how such payment will affect the activities
proposed to be carried out under the plan, including the amount
of funds available for such activities.
(11) How the State will conduct ongoing management of the
plan, except that the State may not make any material change in
the administration of the plan unless the change--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1696]]

(A) is developed and published in the Federal
Register in accordance with section 255 in the same
manner as the State plan;
(B) is subject to public notice and comment in
accordance with section 256 in the same manner as the
State plan; and
(C) takes effect only after the expiration of the
30-day period which begins on the date the change is
published in the Federal Register in accordance with
subparagraph (A).
(12) In the case of a State with a State plan in effect
under this subtitle during the previous fiscal year, a
description of how the plan reflects changes from the State plan
for the previous fiscal year and of how the State succeeded in
carrying out the State plan for such previous fiscal year.
(13) A description of the committee which participated in
the development of the State plan in accordance with section 255
and the procedures followed by the committee under such section
and section 256.

(b) Requirements for Election Fund.--
(1) Election fund described.--For purposes of subsection
(a)(5), a fund described in this subsection with respect to a
State is a fund which is established in the treasury of the
State government, which is used in accordance with paragraph
(2), and which consists of the following amounts:
(A) Amounts appropriated or otherwise made available
by the State for carrying out the activities for which
the requirements payment is made to the State under this
part.
(B) The requirements payment made to the State under
this part.
(C) Such other amounts as may be appropriated under
law.
(D) Interest earned on deposits of the fund.
(2) Use of fund.--Amounts in the fund shall be used by the
State exclusively to carry out the activities for which the
requirements payment is made to the State under this part.
(3) Treatment of states that require changes to state law.--
In the case of a State that requires State legislation to
establish the fund described in this subsection, the Commission
shall defer disbursement of the requirements payment to such
State until such time as legislation establishing the fund is
enacted.

(c) Protection Against Actions Based on Information in Plan.--
(1) In general.--No action may be brought under this Act
against a State or other jurisdiction on the basis of any
information contained in the State plan filed under this part.
(2) Exception for criminal acts.--Paragraph (1) may not be
construed to limit the liability of a State or other
jurisdiction for criminal acts or omissions.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1697]]

SEC. 255. <> PROCESS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND FILING OF
PLAN; PUBLICATION BY COMMISSION.

(a) In General.--The chief State election official shall develop the
State plan under this subtitle through a committee of appropriate
individuals, including the chief election officials of the two most
populous jurisdictions within the States, other local election
officials, stake holders (including representatives of groups of
individuals with disabilities), and other citizens, appointed for such
purpose by the chief State election official.
(b) <> Publication of Plan by
Commission.--After receiving the State plan of a State under this
subtitle, the Commission shall cause to have the plan published in the
Federal Register.

SEC. 256. <> REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC NOTICE AND
COMMENT.

For purposes of section 251(a)(1)(C), a State plan meets the public
notice and comment requirements of this section if--
(1) not later than 30 days prior to the submission of the
plan, the State made a preliminary version of the plan available
for public inspection and comment;
(2) the State publishes notice that the preliminary version
of the plan is so available; and
(3) the State took the public comments made regarding the
preliminary version of the plan into account in preparing the
plan which was filed with the Commission.

SEC. 257. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--In addition to amounts transferred under section
104(c), there are authorized to be appropriated for requirements
payments under this part the following amounts:
(1) For fiscal year 2003, $1,400,000,000.
(2) For fiscal year 2004, $1,000,000,000.
(3) For fiscal year 2005, $600,000,000.

(b) Availability.--Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authority of subsection (a) shall remain available without fiscal year
limitation until expended.

SEC. 258. <> REPORTS.

Not <> later than 6 months after the end of each
fiscal year for which a State received a requirements payment under this
part, the State shall submit a report to the Commission on the
activities conducted with the funds provided during the year, and shall
include in the report--
(1) a list of expenditures made with respect to each
category of activities described in section 251(b);
(2) the number and type of articles of voting equipment
obtained with the funds; and
(3) an analysis and description of the activities funded
under this part to meet the requirements of this Act and an
analysis and description of how such activities conform to the
State plan under section 254.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1698]]

PART 2--PAYMENTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO ASSURE
ACCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

SEC. 261. <> PAYMENTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT TO ASSURE ACCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
make a payment to each eligible State and each eligible unit of local
government (as described in section 263).
(b) Use of Funds.--An eligible State and eligible unit of local
government shall use the payment received under this part for--
(1) making polling places, including the path of travel,
entrances, exits, and voting areas of each polling facility,
accessible to individuals with disabilities, including the blind
and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same
opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and
independence) as for other voters; and
(2) providing individuals with disabilities and the other
individuals described in paragraph (1) with information about
the accessibility of polling places, including outreach programs
to inform the individuals about the availability of accessible
polling places and training election officials, poll workers,
and election volunteers on how best to promote the access and
participation of individuals with disabilities in elections for
Federal office.

(c) Schedule of Payments.--As soon as practicable after the date of
the enactment of this Act (but in no event later than 6 months
thereafter), and not less frequently than once each calendar year
thereafter, the Secretary shall make payments under this part.

SEC. 262. <> AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.

(a) In General.--The amount of a payment made to an eligible State
or an eligible unit of local government for a year under this part shall
be determined by the Secretary.
(b) Continuing Availability of Funds After Appropriation.--A payment
made to an eligible State or eligible unit of local government under
this part shall be available without fiscal year limitation.

SEC. 263. <> REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.

(a) Application.--Each State or unit of local government that
desires to receive a payment under this part for a fiscal year shall
submit an application for the payment to the Secretary at such time and
in such manner and containing such information as the Secretary shall
require.
(b) Contents of Application.--Each application submitted under
subsection (a) shall--
(1) describe the activities for which assistance under this
section is sought; and
(2) provide such additional information and certifications
as the Secretary determines to be essential to ensure compliance
with the requirements of this part.

(c) Protection Against Actions Based on Information in
Application.--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1699]]

(1) In general.--No action may be brought under this Act
against a State or unit of local government on the basis of any
information contained in the application submitted under
subsection (a).
(2) Exception for criminal acts.--Paragraph (1) may not be
construed to limit the liability of a State or unit of local
government for criminal acts or omissions.

SEC. 264. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry
out the provisions of this part the following amounts:
(1) For fiscal year 2003, $50,000,000.
(2) For fiscal year 2004, $25,000,000.
(3) For fiscal year 2005, $25,000,000.

(b) Availability.--Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authority of subsection (a) shall remain available without fiscal year
limitation until expended.

SEC. 265. <> REPORTS.

(a) Reports by <> Recipients.--Not later than the 6
months after the end of each fiscal year for which an eligible State or
eligible unit of local government received a payment under this part,
the State or unit shall submit a report to the Secretary on the
activities conducted with the funds provided during the year, and shall
include in the report a list of expenditures made with respect to each
category of activities described in section 261(b).

(b) Report by Secretary to Committees.--With respect to each fiscal
year for which the Secretary makes payments under this part, the
Secretary shall submit a report on the activities carried out under this
part to the Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the
Senate.

PART 3--GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 271. <> GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING
TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.

(a) In General.--The Commission shall make grants to assist entities
in carrying out research and development to improve the quality,
reliability, accuracy, accessibility, affordability, and security of
voting equipment, election systems, and voting technology.
(b) Eligibility.--An entity is eligible to receive a grant under
this part if it submits to the Commission (at such time and in such form
as the Commission may require) an application containing--
(1) certifications that the research and development funded
with the grant will take into account the need to make voting
equipment fully accessible for individuals with disabilities,
including the blind and visually impaired, the need to ensure
that such individuals can vote independently and with privacy,
and the need to provide alternative language accessibility for
individuals with limited proficiency in the English language
(consistent with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act of
1965); and

[[Page 116 STAT. 1700]]

(2) such other information and certifications as the
Commission may require.

(c) Applicability of Regulations Governing Patent Rights in
Inventions Made With Federal Assistance.--Any invention made by the
recipient of a grant under this part using funds provided under this
part shall be subject to chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code
(relating to patent rights in inventions made with Federal assistance).
(d) Recommendation of Topics for Research.--
(1) <> In general.--The Director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (hereafter in
this section referred to as the ``Director'') shall submit to
the Commission an annual list of the Director's suggestions for
issues which may be the subject of research funded with grants
awarded under this part during the year.
(2) Review of grant applications received by commission.--
The Commission shall submit each application it receives for a
grant under this part to the Director, who shall review the
application and provide the Commission with such comments as the
Director considers appropriate.
(3) Monitoring and adjustment of grant activities at request
of commission.--After the Commission has awarded a grant under
this part, the Commission may request that the Director monitor
the grant, and (to the extent permitted under the terms of the
grant as awarded) the Director may recommend to the Commission
that the recipient of the grant modify and adjust the activities
carried out under the grant.
(4) Evaluation of grants at request of commission.--
(A) In general.--In the case of a grant for which
the Commission submits the application to the Director
under paragraph (2) or requests that the Director
monitor the grant under paragraph (3), the Director
shall prepare and submit to the Commission an evaluation
of the grant and the activities carried out under the
grant.
(B) Inclusion in reports.--The Commission shall
include the evaluations submitted under subparagraph (A)
for a year in the report submitted for the year under
section 207.

(e) Provision of Information on Projects.--The Commission may
provide to the Technical Guidelines Development Committee under part 3
of subtitle A such information regarding the activities funded under
this part as the Commission deems necessary to assist the Committee in
carrying out its duties.

SEC. 272. <> REPORT.

(a) In General.--Each entity which receives a grant under this part
shall submit to the Commission a report describing the activities
carried out with the funds provided under the grant.
(b) Deadline.--An entity shall submit a report required under
subsection (a) not later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal year
for which the entity received the grant which is the subject of the
report.

SEC. 273. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for grants
under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1701]]

(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under this section shall remain available, without fiscal
year limitation, until expended.

PART 4--PILOT <> PROGRAM FOR TESTING OF EQUIPMENT AND
TECHNOLOGY

SEC. 281. <> PILOT PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--The Commission shall make grants to carry out pilot
programs under which new technologies in voting systems and equipment
are tested and implemented on a trial basis so that the results of such
tests and trials are reported to Congress.
(b) Eligibility.--An entity is eligible to receive a grant under
this part if it submits to the Commission (at such time and in such form
as the Commission may require) an application containing--
(1) certifications that the pilot programs funded with the
grant will take into account the need to make voting equipment
fully accessible for individuals with disabilities, including
the blind and visually impaired, the need to ensure that such
individuals can vote independently and with privacy, and the
need to provide alternative language accessibility for
individuals with limited proficiency in the English language
(consistent with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act of
1965 and the requirements of this Act); and
(2) such other information and certifications as the
Commission may require.

(c) Recommendation of Topics for Pilot Programs.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (hereafter in this section referred to
as the ``Director'') shall submit to the Commission an annual
list of the Director's suggestions for issues which may be the
subject of pilot programs funded with grants awarded under this
part during the year.
(2) Review of grant applications received by commission.--
The Commission shall submit each application it receives for a
grant under this part to the Director, who shall review the
application and provide the Commission with such comments as the
Director considers appropriate.
(3) Monitoring and adjustment of grant activities at request
of commission.--After the Commission has awarded a grant under
this part, the Commission may request that the Director monitor
the grant, and (to the extent permitted under the terms of the
grant as awarded) the Director may recommend to the Commission
that the recipient of the grant modify and adjust the activities
carried out under the grant.
(4) Evaluation of grants at request of commission.--
(A) In general.--In the case of a grant for which
the Commission submits the application to the Director
under paragraph (2) or requests that the Director
monitor the grant under paragraph (3), the Director
shall prepare and submit to the Commission an evaluation
of the grant and the activities carried out under the
grant.
(B) Inclusion in reports.--The Commission shall
include the evaluations submitted under subparagraph (A)
for a year in the report submitted for the year under
section 207.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1702]]

(d) Provision of Information on Projects.--The Commission may
provide to the Technical Guidelines Development Committee under part 3
of subtitle A such information regarding the activities funded under
this part as the Commission deems necessary to assist the Committee in
carrying out its duties.

SEC. 282. <> REPORT.

(a) In General.--Each entity which receives a grant under this part
shall submit to the Commission a report describing the activities
carried out with the funds provided under the grant.
(b) Deadline.--An entity shall submit a report required under
subsection (a) not later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal year
for which the entity received the grant which is the subject of the
report.

SEC. 283. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for grants
under this part $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under this section shall remain available, without fiscal
year limitation, until expended.

PART 5--PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS

SEC. 291. <> PAYMENTS FOR PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY
SYSTEMS.

(a) In General.--In addition to any other payments made under this
subtitle, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall pay the
protection and advocacy system (as defined in section 102 of the
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42
U.S.C. 15002)) of each State to ensure full participation in the
electoral process for individuals with disabilities, including
registering to vote, casting a vote and accessing polling places. In
providing such services, protection and advocacy systems shall have the
same general authorities as they are afforded under subtitle C of title
I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of
2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
(b) Minimum Grant Amount.--The minimum amount of each grant to a
protection and advocacy system shall be determined and allocated as set
forth in subsections (c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(5), (e), and (g) of section 509
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794e), except that the
amount of the grants to systems referred to in subsections (c)(3)(B) and
(c)(4)(B) of that section shall be not less than $70,000 and $35,000,
respectively.
(c) Training and Technical Assistance Program.--
(1) <> In general.--Not later than 90 days
after the date on which the initial appropriation of funds for a
fiscal year is made pursuant to the authorization under section
292, the Secretary shall set aside 7 percent of the amount
appropriated under such section and use such portion to make
payments to eligible entities to provide training and technical
assistance with respect to the activities carried out under this
section.
(2) Use of funds.--A recipient of a payment under this
subsection may use the payment to support training in the use of
voting systems and technologies, and to demonstrate and evaluate
the use of such systems and technologies, by individuals with
disabilities (including blindness) in order to

[[Page 116 STAT. 1703]]

assess the availability and use of such systems and technologies
for such individuals. At least one of the recipients under this
subsection shall use the payment to provide training and
technical assistance for nonvisual access.
(3) Eligibility.--An entity is eligible to receive a payment
under this subsection if the entity--
(A) is a public or private nonprofit entity with
demonstrated experience in voting issues for individuals
with disabilities;
(B) is governed by a board with respect to which the
majority of its members are individuals with
disabilities or family members of such individuals or
individuals who are blind; and
(C) submits to the Secretary an application at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as
the Secretary may require.

SEC. 292. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General.--In addition to any other amounts authorized to be
appropriated under this subtitle, there are authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2003, 2004, 2005,
and 2006, and for each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be
necessary, for the purpose of making payments under section 291(a);
except that none of the funds provided by this subsection shall be used
to initiate or otherwise participate in any litigation related to
election-related disability access, notwithstanding the general
authorities that the protection and advocacy systems are otherwise
afforded under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
(b) Availability.--Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authority of this section shall remain available until expended.

PART 6--NATIONAL STUDENT AND PARENT MOCK ELECTION

SEC. 295. <> NATIONAL STUDENT AND PARENT MOCK
ELECTION.

(a) In General.--The <> Election Assistance
Commission is authorized to award grants to the National Student and
Parent Mock Election, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
that works to promote voter participation in American elections to
enable it to carry out voter education activities for students and their
parents. Such activities may--
(1) include simulated national elections at least 5 days
before the actual election that permit participation by students
and parents from each of the 50 States in the United States, its
territories, the District of Columbia, and United States schools
overseas; and
(2) consist of--
(A) school forums and local cable call-in shows on
the national issues to be voted upon in an ``issues
forum'';
(B) speeches and debates before students and parents
by local candidates or stand-ins for such candidates;
(C) quiz team competitions, mock press conferences,
and speech writing competitions;
(D) weekly meetings to follow the course of the
campaign; or

[[Page 116 STAT. 1704]]

(E) school and neighborhood campaigns to increase
voter turnout, including newsletters, posters, telephone
chains, and transportation.

(b) Requirement.--The <> National Student and Parent
Mock Election shall present awards to outstanding student and parent
mock election projects.

SEC. 296. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions
of this subtitle $200,000 for fiscal year 2003 and such sums as may be
necessary for each of the 6 succeeding fiscal years.

TITLE III--UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY ELECTION TECHNOLOGY AND
ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Subtitle A--Requirements

SEC. 301. <> VOTING SYSTEMS STANDARDS.

(a) Requirements.--Each voting system used in an election for
Federal office shall meet the following requirements:
(1) In general.--
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
voting system (including any lever voting system,
optical scanning voting system, or direct recording
electronic system) shall--
(i) permit the voter to verify (in a private
and independent manner) the votes selected by the
voter on the ballot before the ballot is cast and
counted;
(ii) provide the voter with the opportunity
(in a private and independent manner) to change
the ballot or correct any error before the ballot
is cast and counted (including the opportunity to
correct the error through the issuance of a
replacement ballot if the voter was otherwise
unable to change the ballot or correct any error);
and
(iii) if the voter selects votes for more than
one candidate for a single office--
(I) notify the voter that the voter
has selected more than one candidate for
a single office on the ballot;
(II) notify the voter before the
ballot is cast and counted of the effect
of casting multiple votes for the
office; and
(III) provide the voter with the
opportunity to correct the ballot before
the ballot is cast and counted.
(B) A State or jurisdiction that uses a paper ballot
voting system, a punch card voting system, or a central
count voting system (including mail-in absentee ballots
and mail-in ballots), may meet the requirements of
subparagraph (A)(iii) by--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1705]]

(i) establishing a voter education program
specific to that voting system that notifies each
voter of the effect of casting multiple votes for
an office; and
(ii) providing the voter with instructions on
how to correct the ballot before it is cast and
counted (including instructions on how to correct
the error through the issuance of a replacement
ballot if the voter was otherwise unable to change
the ballot or correct any error).
(C) The voting system shall ensure that any
notification required under this paragraph preserves the
privacy of the voter and the confidentiality of the
ballot.
(2) Audit capacity.--
(A) In general.--The voting system shall produce a
record with an audit capacity for such system.
(B) Manual audit capacity.--
(i) The voting system shall produce a
permanent paper record with a manual audit
capacity for such system.
(ii) The voting system shall provide the voter
with an opportunity to change the ballot or
correct any error before the permanent paper
record is produced.
(iii) The paper record produced under
subparagraph (A) shall be available as an official
record for any recount conducted with respect to
any election in which the system is used.
(3) Accessibility for individuals with disabilities.--The
voting system shall--
(A) be accessible for individuals with disabilities,
including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and
visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same
opportunity for access and participation (including
privacy and independence) as for other voters;
(B) satisfy the requirement of subparagraph (A)
through the use of at least one direct recording
electronic voting system or other voting system equipped
for individuals with disabilities at each polling place;
and
(C) if purchased with funds made available under
title II on or after January 1, 2007, meet the voting
system standards for disability access (as outlined in
this paragraph).
(4) Alternative language accessibility.--The voting system
shall provide alternative language accessibility pursuant to the
requirements of section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. 1973aa-1a).
(5) Error rates.--The error rate of the voting system in
counting ballots (determined by taking into account only those
errors which are attributable to the voting system and not
attributable to an act of the voter) shall comply with the error
rate standards established under section 3.2.1 of the voting
systems standards issued by the Federal Election Commission
which are in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(6) Uniform definition of what constitutes a vote.--Each
State shall adopt uniform and nondiscriminatory standards that
define what constitutes a vote and what will be

[[Page 116 STAT. 1706]]

counted as a vote for each category of voting system used in the
State.

(b) Voting System Defined.--In this section, the term ``voting
system'' means--
(1) the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical,
or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and
documentation required to program, control, and support the
equipment) that is used--
(A) to define ballots;
(B) to cast and count votes;
(C) to report or display election results; and
(D) to maintain and produce any audit trail
information; and
(2) the practices and associated documentation used--
(A) to identify system components and versions of
such components;
(B) to test the system during its development and
maintenance;
(C) to maintain records of system errors and
defects;
(D) to determine specific system changes to be made
to a system after the initial qualification of the
system; and
(E) to make available any materials to the voter
(such as notices, instructions, forms, or paper
ballots).

(c) Construction.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in this section shall be construed
to prohibit a State or jurisdiction which used a particular type
of voting system in the elections for Federal office held in
November 2000 from using the same type of system after the
effective date of this section, so long as the system meets or
is modified to meet the requirements of this section.
(2) Protection of paper ballot voting systems.--For purposes
of subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), the term ``verify'' may not be
defined in a manner that makes it impossible for a paper ballot
voting system to meet the requirements of such subsection or to
be modified to meet such requirements.

(d) Effective Date.--Each State and jurisdiction shall be required
to comply with the requirements of this section on and after January 1,
2006.

SEC. 302. <> PROVISIONAL VOTING AND VOTING
INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Provisional Voting Requirements.--If an individual declares that
such individual is a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which the
individual desires to vote and that the individual is eligible to vote
in an election for Federal office, but the name of the individual does
not appear on the official list of eligible voters for the polling place
or an election official asserts that the individual is not eligible to
vote, such individual shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot as
follows:
(1) <> An election official at the
polling place shall notify the individual that the individual
may cast a provisional ballot in that election.
(2) The individual shall be permitted to cast a provisional
ballot at that polling place upon the execution of a written
affirmation by the individual before an election official at the
polling place stating that the individual is--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1707]]

(A) a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which
the individual desires to vote; and
(B) eligible to vote in that election.
(3) An election official at the polling place shall transmit
the ballot cast by the individual or the voter information
contained in the written affirmation executed by the individual
under paragraph (2) to an appropriate State or local election
official for prompt verification under paragraph (4).
(4) If the appropriate State or local election official to
whom the ballot or voter information is transmitted under
paragraph (3) determines that the individual is eligible under
State law to vote, the individual's provisional ballot shall be
counted as a vote in that election in accordance with State law.
(5)(A) At the time that an individual casts a provisional
ballot, the appropriate State or local election official shall
give the individual written information that states that any
individual who casts a provisional ballot will be able to
ascertain under the system established under subparagraph (B)
whether the vote was counted, and, if the vote was not counted,
the reason that the vote was not counted.
(B) The appropriate State or local election official shall
establish a free access system (such as a toll-free telephone
number or an Internet website) that any individual who casts a
provisional ballot may access to discover whether the vote of
that individual was counted, and, if the vote was not counted,
the reason that the vote was not counted.

States described in section 4(b) of the National Voter Registration Act
of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-2(b)) may meet the requirements of this
subsection using voter registration procedures established under
applicable State law. The appropriate State or local official shall
establish and maintain reasonable procedures necessary to protect the
security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal information
collected, stored, or otherwise used by the free access system
established under paragraph (5)(B). Access to information about an
individual provisional ballot shall be restricted to the individual who
cast the ballot.
(b) Voting Information Requirements.--
(1) Public posting on election day.--The appropriate State
or local election official shall cause voting information to be
publicly posted at each polling place on the day of each
election for Federal office.
(2) Voting information defined.--In this section, the term
``voting information'' means--
(A) a sample version of the ballot that will be used
for that election;
(B) information regarding the date of the election
and the hours during which polling places will be open;
(C) instructions on how to vote, including how to
cast a vote and how to cast a provisional ballot;
(D) instructions for mail-in registrants and first-
time voters under section 303(b);
(E) general information on voting rights under
applicable Federal and State laws, including information
on the right of an individual to cast a provisional
ballot and instructions on how to contact the
appropriate officials if these rights are alleged to
have been violated; and

[[Page 116 STAT. 1708]]

(F) general information on Federal and State laws
regarding prohibitions on acts of fraud and
misrepresentation.

(c) Voters Who Vote After the Polls Close.--Any individual who votes
in an election for Federal office as a result of a Federal or State
court order or any other order extending the time established for
closing the polls by a State law in effect 10 days before the date of
that election may only vote in that election by casting a provisional
ballot under subsection (a). Any such ballot cast under the preceding
sentence shall be separated and held apart from other provisional
ballots cast by those not affected by the order.
(d) Effective Date for Provisional Voting and Voting Information.--
Each State and jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the
requirements of this section on and after January 1, 2004.

SEC. 303. <> COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER
REGISTRATION LIST REQUIREMENTS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS
WHO REGISTER BY MAIL.

(a) Computerized Statewide Voter Registration List Requirements.--
(1) Implementation.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), each State, acting through the chief State election
official, shall implement, in a uniform and
nondiscriminatory manner, a single, uniform, official,
centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter
registration list defined, maintained, and administered
at the State level that contains the name and
registration information of every legally registered
voter in the State and assigns a unique identifier to
each legally registered voter in the State (in this
subsection referred to as the ``computerized list''),
and includes the following:
(i) The computerized list shall serve as the
single system for storing and managing the
official list of registered voters throughout the
State.
(ii) The computerized list contains the name
and registration information of every legally
registered voter in the State.
(iii) Under the computerized list, a unique
identifier is assigned to each legally registered
voter in the State.
(iv) The computerized list shall be
coordinated with other agency databases within the
State.
(v) Any election official in the State,
including any local election official, may obtain
immediate electronic access to the information
contained in the computerized list.
(vi) All voter registration information
obtained by any local election official in the
State shall be electronically entered into the
computerized list on an expedited basis at the
time the information is provided to the local
official.
(vii) The chief State election official shall
provide such support as may be required so that
local election

[[Page 116 STAT. 1709]]

officials are able to enter information as
described in clause (vi).
(viii) The computerized list shall serve as
the official voter registration list for the
conduct of all elections for Federal office in the
State.
(B) Exception.--The requirement under subparagraph
(A) shall not apply to a State in which, under a State
law in effect continuously on and after the date of the
enactment of this Act, there is no voter registration
requirement for individuals in the State with respect to
elections for Federal office.
(2) Computerized list maintenance.--
(A) In general.--The appropriate State or local
election official shall perform list maintenance with
respect to the computerized list on a regular basis as
follows:
(i) If an individual is to be removed from the
computerized list, such individual shall be
removed in accordance with the provisions of the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
1973gg et seq.), including subsections (a)(4),
(c)(2), (d), and (e) of section 8 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1973gg-6).
(ii) For purposes of removing names of
ineligible voters from the official list of
eligible voters--
(I) under section 8(a)(3)(B) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6(a)(3)(B)), the
State shall coordinate the computerized
list with State agency records on felony
status; and
(II) by reason of the death of the
registrant under section 8(a)(4)(A) of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6(a)(4)(A)),
the State shall coordinate the
computerized list with State agency
records on death.
(iii) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions
of this subparagraph, if a State is described in
section 4(b) of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-2(b)), that State
shall remove the names of ineligible voters from
the computerized list in accordance with State
law.
(B) Conduct.--The list maintenance performed under
subparagraph (A) shall be conducted in a manner that
ensures that--
(i) the name of each registered voter appears
in the computerized list;
(ii) only voters who are not registered or who
are not eligible to vote are removed from the
computerized list; and
(iii) duplicate names are eliminated from the
computerized list.
(3) Technological security of computerized list.--The
appropriate State or local official shall provide adequate
technological security measures to prevent the unauthorized
access to the computerized list established under this section.
(4) Minimum standard for accuracy of state voter
registration records.--The State election system shall include
provisions to ensure that voter registration records in the
State are accurate and are updated regularly, including the
following:

[[Page 116 STAT. 1710]]

(A) A system of file maintenance that makes a
reasonable effort to remove registrants who are
ineligible to vote from the official list of eligible
voters. Under such system, consistent with the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et
seq.), registrants who have not responded to a notice
and who have not voted in 2 consecutive general
elections for Federal office shall be removed from the
official list of eligible voters, except that no
registrant may be removed solely by reason of a failure
to vote.
(B) Safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are
not removed in error from the official list of eligible
voters.
(5) Verification of voter registration information.--
(A) Requiring provision of certain information by
applicants.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause
(ii), notwithstanding any other provision of law,
an application for voter registration for an
election for Federal office may not be accepted or
processed by a State unless the application
includes--
(I) in the case of an applicant who
has been issued a current and valid
driver's license, the applicant's
driver's license number; or
(II) in the case of any other
applicant (other than an applicant to
whom clause (ii) applies), the last 4
digits of the applicant's social
security number.
(ii) Special rule for applicants without
driver's license or social security number.--If an
applicant for voter registration for an election
for Federal office has not been issued a current
and valid driver's license or a social security
number, the State shall assign the applicant a
number which will serve to identify the applicant
for voter registration purposes. To the extent
that the State has a computerized list in effect
under this subsection and the list assigns unique
identifying numbers to registrants, the number
assigned under this clause shall be the unique
identifying number assigned under the list.
(iii) Determination of validity of numbers
provided.--The State shall determine whether the
information provided by an individual is
sufficient to meet the requirements of this
subparagraph, in accordance with State law.
(B) Requirements for state officials.--
(i) <> Sharing information
in databases.--The chief State election official
and the official responsible for the State motor
vehicle authority of a State shall enter into an
agreement to match information in the database of
the statewide voter registration system with
information in the database of the motor vehicle
authority to the extent required to enable each
such official to verify the accuracy of the
information provided on applications for voter
registration.
(ii) Agreements with commissioner of social
security.--The official responsible for the State
motor vehicle authority shall enter into an
agreement with

[[Page 116 STAT. 1711]]

the Commissioner of Social Security under section
205(r)(8) of the Social Security Act (as added by
subparagraph (C)).
(C) Access to federal information.--Section 205(r)
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

``(8)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, upon the request
of the official responsible for a State driver's license agency pursuant
to the Help America Vote Act of 2002--
``(i) <> enter into an agreement with
such official for the purpose of verifying applicable
information, so long as the requirements of subparagraphs (A)
and (B) of paragraph (3) are met; and
``(ii) <> include in such agreement
safeguards to assure the maintenance of the confidentiality of
any applicable information disclosed and procedures to permit
such agency to use the applicable information for the purpose of
maintaining its records.

``(B) Information provided pursuant to an agreement under this
paragraph shall be provided at such time, in such place, and in such
manner as the Commissioner determines appropriate.
``(C) <> The Commissioner shall develop methods
to verify the accuracy of information provided by the agency with
respect to applications for voter registration, for whom the last 4
digits of a social security number are provided instead of a driver's
license number.

``(D) For purposes of this paragraph--
``(i) the term `applicable information' means information
regarding whether--
``(I) the name (including the first name and any
family forename or surname), the date of birth
(including the month, day, and year), and social
security number of an individual provided to the
Commissioner match the information contained in the
Commissioner's records, and
``(II) such individual is shown on the records of
the Commissioner as being deceased; and
``(ii) the term `State driver's license agency' means the
State agency which issues driver's licenses to individuals
within the State and maintains records relating to such
licensure.

``(E) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require the
provision of applicable information with regard to a request for a
record of an individual if the Commissioner determines there are
exceptional circumstances warranting an exception (such as safety of the
individual or interference with an investigation).
``(F) Applicable information provided by the Commission pursuant to
an agreement under this paragraph or by an individual to any agency that
has entered into an agreement under this paragraph shall be considered
as strictly confidential and shall be used only for the purposes
described in this paragraph and for carrying out an agreement under this
paragraph. <> Any officer or employee or former
officer or employee of a State, or any officer or employee or former
officer or employee of a contractor of a State who, without the written
authority of the Commissioner, publishes or communicates any applicable
information in such individual's possession by reason of such employment
or position as such an officer, shall be guilty of a felony and upon
conviction

[[Page 116 STAT. 1712]]

thereof shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, as described in section
208.''.
(D) Special rule for certain states.--In the case of
a State which is permitted to use social security
numbers, and provides for the use of social security
numbers, on applications for voter registration, in
accordance with section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5
U.S.C. 552a note), the provisions of this paragraph
shall be optional.

(b) Requirements for Voters Who Register by Mail.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 6(c) of the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-4(c))
and subject to paragraph (3), a State shall, in a uniform and
nondiscriminatory manner, require an individual to meet the
requirements of paragraph (2) if--
(A) the individual registered to vote in a
jurisdiction by mail; and
(B)(i) the individual has not previously voted in an
election for Federal office in the State; or
(ii) the individual has not previously voted in such
an election in the jurisdiction and the jurisdiction is
located in a State that does not have a computerized
list that complies with the requirements of subsection
(a).
(2) Requirements.--
(A) In general.--An individual meets the
requirements of this paragraph if the individual--
(i) in the case of an individual who votes in
person--
(I) presents to the appropriate
State or local election official a
current and valid photo identification;
or
(II) presents to the appropriate
State or local election official a copy
of a current utility bill, bank
statement, government check, paycheck,
or other government document that shows
the name and address of the voter; or
(ii) in the case of an individual who votes by
mail, submits with the ballot--
(I) a copy of a current and valid
photo identification; or
(II) a copy of a current utility
bill, bank statement, government check,
paycheck, or other government document
that shows the name and address of the
voter.
(B) Fail-safe voting.--
(i) In person.--An individual who desires to
vote in person, but who does not meet the
requirements of subparagraph (A)(i), may cast a
provisional ballot under section 302(a).
(ii) By mail.--An individual who desires to
vote by mail but who does not meet the
requirements of subparagraph (A)(ii) may cast such
a ballot by mail and the ballot shall be counted
as a provisional ballot in accordance with section
302(a).
(3) Inapplicability.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply in the
case of a person--

[[Page 116 STAT. 1713]]

(A) who registers to vote by mail under section 6 of
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
1973gg-4) and submits as part of such registration
either--
(i) a copy of a current and valid photo
identification; or
(ii) a copy of a current utility bill, bank
statement, government check, paycheck, or
government document that shows the name and
address of the voter;
(B)(i) who registers to vote by mail under section 6
of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42
U.S.C. 1973gg-4) and submits with such registration
either--
(I) a driver's license number; or
(II) at least the last 4 digits of the
individual's social security number; and
(ii) with respect to whom a State or local election
official matches the information submitted under clause
(i) with an existing State identification record bearing
the same number, name and date of birth as provided in
such registration; or
(C) who is--
(i) entitled to vote by absentee ballot under
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1 et seq.);
(ii) provided the right to vote otherwise than
in person under section 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the
Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and
Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee-1(b)(2)(B)(ii));
or
(iii) entitled to vote otherwise than in
person under any other Federal law.
(4) Contents of mail-in registration form.--
(A) In general.--The mail voter registration form
developed under section 6 of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-4) shall
include the following:
(i) The question ``Are you a citizen of the
United States of America?'' and boxes for the
applicant to check to indicate whether the
applicant is or is not a citizen of the United
States.
(ii) The question ``Will you be 18 years of
age on or before election day?'' and boxes for the
applicant to check to indicate whether or not the
applicant will be 18 years of age or older on
election day.
(iii) The statement ``If you checked `no' in
response to either of these questions, do not
complete this form.''.
(iv) A statement informing the individual that
if the form is submitted by mail and the
individual is registering for the first time, the
appropriate information required under this
section must be submitted with the mail-in
registration form in order to avoid the additional
identification requirements upon voting for the
first time.
(B) <> Incomplete forms.--If
an applicant for voter registration fails to answer the
question included on the mail voter registration form
pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i), the registrar shall
notify the applicant of the failure and provide the
applicant with an opportunity to complete the form in a
timely manner to allow for the completion of

[[Page 116 STAT. 1714]]

the registration form prior to the next election for
Federal office (subject to State law).
(5) Construction.--Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to require a State that was not required to comply
with a provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
(42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.) before the date of the enactment of
this Act to comply with such a provision after such date.

(c) Permitted Use of Last 4 Digits of Social Security Numbers.--The
last 4 digits of a social security number described in subsections
(a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II) shall not be considered to be a
social security number for purposes of section 7 of the Privacy Act of
1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a note).
(d) Effective Date.--
(1) Computerized statewide voter registration list
requirements.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), each State and jurisdiction shall be required to
comply with the requirements of subsection (a) on and
after January 1, 2004.
(B) <> Waiver.--If a State or
jurisdiction certifies to the Commission not later than
January 1, 2004, that the State or jurisdiction will not
meet the deadline described in subparagraph (A) for good
cause and includes in the certification the reasons for
the failure to meet such deadline, subparagraph (A)
shall apply to the State or jurisdiction as if the
reference in such subparagraph to ``January 1, 2004''
were a reference to ``January 1, 2006''.
(2) Requirement for voters who register by mail.--
(A) In general.--Each State and jurisdiction shall
be required to comply with the requirements of
subsection (b) on and after January 1, 2004, and shall
be prepared to receive registration materials submitted
by individuals described in subparagraph (B) on and
after the date described in such subparagraph.
(B) Applicability with respect to individuals.--The
provisions of subsection (b) shall apply to any
individual who registers to vote on or after January 1,
2003.

SEC. 304. <> MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.

The requirements established by this title are minimum requirements
and nothing in this title shall be construed to prevent a State from
establishing election technology and administration requirements that
are more strict than the requirements established under this title so
long as such State requirements are not inconsistent with the Federal
requirements under this title or any law described in section 906.

SEC. 305. <> METHODS OF IMPLEMENTATION LEFT TO
DISCRETION OF STATE.

The specific choices on the methods of complying with the
requirements of this title shall be left to the discretion of the State.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1715]]

Subtitle B--Voluntary Guidance

SEC. 311. <> ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY
COMMISSION.

(a) In General.--To assist States in meeting the requirements of
subtitle A, the Commission shall adopt voluntary guidance consistent
with such requirements in accordance with the procedures described in
section 312.
(b) Deadlines.--The Commission shall adopt the recommendations under
this section not later than--
(1) in the case of the recommendations with respect to
section 301, January 1, 2004;
(2) in the case of the recommendations with respect to
section 302, October 1, 2003; and
(3) in the case of the recommendations with respect to
section 303, October 1, 2003.

(c) Quadrennial Update.--The Commission shall review and update
recommendations adopted with respect to section 301 no less frequently
than once every 4 years.

SEC. 312. < USC 15502.>> PROCESS FOR ADOPTION.

The adoption of the voluntary guidance under this subtitle shall be
carried out by the Commission in a manner that provides for each of the
following:
(1) Publication of notice of the proposed recommendations in
the Federal Register.
(2) An opportunity for public comment on the proposed
recommendations.
(3) An opportunity for a public hearing on the record.
(4) Publication of the final recommendations in the Federal
Register.

TITLE IV--ENFORCEMENT

SEC. 401. <> ACTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR
DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.

The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any State or
jurisdiction in an appropriate United States District Court for such
declaratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary restraining
order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be
necessary to carry out the uniform and nondiscriminatory election
technology and administration requirements under sections 301, 302, and
303.

SEC. 402. <> ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE-BASED
ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT PROCEDURES TO REMEDY GRIEVANCES.

(a) Establishment of State-Based Administrative Complaint Procedures
To Remedy Grievances.--
(1) Establishment of procedures as condition of receiving
funds.--If a State receives any payment under a program under
this Act, the State shall be required to establish and maintain
State-based administrative complaint procedures which meet the
requirements of paragraph (2).
(2) Requirements for procedures.--The requirements of this
paragraph are as follows:
(A) The procedures shall be uniform and
nondiscriminatory.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1716]]

(B) Under the procedures, any person who believes
that there is a violation of any provision of title III
(including a violation which has occurred, is occurring,
or is about to occur) may file a complaint.
(C) Any complaint filed under the procedures shall
be in writing and notarized, and signed and sworn by the
person filing the complaint.
(D) The State may consolidate complaints filed under
subparagraph (B).
(E) At the request of the complainant, there shall
be a hearing on the record.
(F) If, under the procedures, the State determines
that there is a violation of any provision of title III,
the State shall provide the appropriate remedy.
(G) If, under the procedures, the State determines
that there is no violation, the State shall dismiss the
complaint and publish the results of the procedures.
(H) <> The State shall make a
final determination with respect to a complaint prior to
the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the
date the complaint is filed, unless the complainant
consents to a longer period for making such a
determination.
(I) <> If the State fails to meet
the deadline applicable under subparagraph (H), the
complaint shall be resolved within 60 days under
alternative dispute resolution procedures established
for purposes of this section. <> The
record and other materials from any proceedings
conducted under the complaint procedures established
under this section shall be made available for use under
the alternative dispute resolution procedures.

(b) Requiring Attorney General Approval of Compliance Plan for
States Not Receiving Funds.--
(1) <> In general.--Not later than January
1, 2004, each nonparticipating State shall elect--
(A) to certify to the Commission that the State
meets the requirements of subsection (a) in the same
manner as a State receiving a payment under this Act; or
(B) to submit a compliance plan to the Attorney
General which provides detailed information on the steps
the State will take to ensure that it meets the
requirements of title III.
(2) States without approved plan deemed out of compliance.--
A nonparticipating State (other than a State which makes the
election described in paragraph (1)(A)) shall be deemed to not
meet the requirements of title III if the Attorney General has
not approved a compliance plan submitted by the State under this
subsection.
(3) Nonparticipating state defined.--In this section, a
``nonparticipating State'' is a State which, during 2003, does
not notify any office which is responsible for making payments
to States under any program under this Act of its intent to
participate in, and receive funds under, the program.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1717]]

TITLE V--HELP AMERICA VOTE COLLEGE PROGRAM

SEC. <> 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

(a) <> In General.--Not later than 1 year after
the appointment of its members, the Election Assistance Commission shall
develop a program to be known as the ``Help America Vote College
Program'' (hereafter in this title referred to as the ``Program'').

(b) Purposes of Program.--The purpose of the Program shall be--
(1) to encourage students enrolled at institutions of higher
education (including community colleges) to assist State and
local governments in the administration of elections by serving
as nonpartisan poll workers or assistants; and
(2) to encourage State and local governments to use the
services of the students participating in the Program.

SEC. 502. <> ACTIVITIES UNDER PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--In carrying out the Program, the Commission (in
consultation with the chief election official of each State) shall
develop materials, sponsor seminars and workshops, engage in advertising
targeted at students, make grants, and take such other actions as it
considers appropriate to meet the purposes described in section 501(b).
(b) Requirements for Grant Recipients.--In making grants under the
Program, the Commission shall ensure that the funds provided are spent
for projects and activities which are carried out without partisan bias
or without promoting any particular point of view regarding any issue,
and that each recipient is governed in a balanced manner which does not
reflect any partisan bias.
(c) Coordination With Institutions of Higher Education.--The
Commission shall encourage institutions of higher education (including
community colleges) to participate in the Program, and shall make all
necessary materials and other assistance (including materials and
assistance to enable the institution to hold workshops and poll worker
training sessions) available without charge to any institution which
desires to participate in the Program.

SEC. 503. <> AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

In addition to any funds authorized to be appropriated to the
Commission under section 210, there are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this title--
(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
(2) such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal
year.

TITLE VI--HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION

SEC. 601. HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION.

(a) In General.--Part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 1525 the following:

[[Page 116 STAT. 1718]]

``CHAPTER 1526--HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION

``Sec.
``152601. Organization.
``152602. Purposes.
``152603. Board of directors.
``152604. Officers and employees.
``152605. Powers.
``152606. Principal office.
``152607. Service of process.
``152608. Annual audit.
``152609. Civil action by Attorney General for equitable relief.
``152610. Immunity of United States Government.
``152611. Authorization of appropriations.
``152612. Annual report.

``Sec. 152601. Organization

``(a) Federal Charter.--The Help America Vote Foundation (in this
chapter, the `foundation') is a federally chartered corporation.
``(b) Nature of Foundation.--The foundation is a charitable and
nonprofit corporation and is not an agency or establishment of the
United States Government.
``(c) Perpetual Existence.--Except as otherwise provided, the
foundation has perpetual existence.

``Sec. 152602. Purposes

``(a) In General.--The purposes of the foundation are to--
``(1) mobilize secondary school students (including students
educated in the home) in the United States to participate in the
election process in a nonpartisan manner as poll workers or
assistants (to the extent permitted under applicable State law);
``(2) place secondary school students (including students
educated in the home) as nonpartisan poll workers or assistants
to local election officials in precinct polling places across
the United States (to the extent permitted under applicable
State law); and
``(3) establish cooperative efforts with State and local
election officials, local educational agencies, superintendents
and principals of public and private secondary schools, and
other appropriate nonprofit charitable and educational
organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as an organization described in
section 501(c)(3) of such Code to further the purposes of the
foundation.

``(b) Requiring Activities To Be Carried Out on Nonpartisan Basis.--
The foundation shall carry out its purposes without partisan bias or
without promoting any particular point of view regarding any issue, and
shall ensure that each participant in its activities is governed in a
balanced manner which does not reflect any partisan bias.
``(c) Consultation With State Election Officials.--The foundation
shall carry out its purposes under this section in consultation with the
chief election officials of the States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United States
Virgin Islands.

``Sec. 152603. Board of directors

``(a) General.--The board of directors is the governing body of the
foundation.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1719]]

``(b) Members <> and Appointment.--(1) The board
consists of 12 directors, who shall be appointed not later than 60 days
after the date of the enactment of this chapter as follows:
``(A) Four directors (of whom not more than two may be
members of the same political party) shall be appointed by the
President.
``(B) Two directors shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
``(C) Two directors shall be appointed by the Minority
Leader of the House of Representatives.
``(D) Two directors shall be appointed by the Majority
Leader of the Senate.
``(E) Two directors shall be appointed by the Minority
Leader of the Senate.

``(2) In addition to the directors described in paragraph (1), the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House
Administration of the House of Representatives (or their designees) and
the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules and
Administration of the Senate (or their designees) shall each serve as an
ex officio nonvoting member of the board.
``(3) A director is not an employee of the Federal Government and
appointment to the board does not constitute appointment as an officer
or employee of the United States Government for the purpose of any law
of the United States (except as may otherwise be provided in this
chapter).
``(4) The terms of office of the directors are 4 years.
``(5) A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the manner in which
the original appointment was made.
``(c) Chair.--The directors shall select one of the directors as the
chair of the board. The individual selected may not be a current or
former holder of any partisan elected office or a current or former
officer of any national committee of a political party.
``(d) Quorum.--The number of directors constituting a quorum of the
board shall be established under the bylaws of the foundation.
``(e) Meetings.--The board shall meet at the call of the chair of
the board for regularly scheduled meetings, except that the board shall
meet not less often than annually.
``(f) Reimbursement of Expenses.--Directors shall serve without
compensation but may receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu
of subsistence, in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5.
``(g) Liability of Directors.--Directors are not personally liable,
except for gross negligence.

``Sec. 152604. Officers and employees

``(a) Appointment of Officers and Employees.--The board of directors
appoints, removes, and replaces officers and employees of the
foundation.
``(b) Status and Compensation of Employees.--
``(1) In general.--Officers and employees of the
foundation--
``(A) are not employees of the Federal Government
(except as may otherwise be provided in this chapter);
``(B) shall be appointed and removed without regard
to the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in
the competitive service; and

[[Page 116 STAT. 1720]]

``(C) may be paid without regard to chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
``(2) Availability of federal employee rates for travel.--
For purposes of any schedules of rates negotiated by the
Administrator of General Services for the use of employees of
the Federal Government who travel on official business, officers
and employees of the foundation who travel while engaged in the
performance of their duties under this chapter shall be deemed
to be employees of the Federal Government.

``Sec. 152605. Powers

``(a) In General.--The foundation may--
``(1) adopt a constitution and bylaws;
``(2) adopt a seal which shall be judicially noticed; and
``(3) do any other act necessary to carry out this chapter.

``(b) Powers as Trustee.--To carry out its purposes, the foundation
has the usual powers of a corporation acting as a trustee in the
District of Columbia, including the power--
``(1) to accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, and use
any gift, devise, or bequest, either absolutely or in trust, of
property or any income from or other interest in property;
``(2) to acquire property or an interest in property by
purchase or exchange;
``(3) unless otherwise required by an instrument of
transfer, to sell, donate, lease, invest, or otherwise dispose
of any property or income from property;
``(4) to borrow money and issue instruments of indebtedness;
``(5) to make contracts and other arrangements with public
agencies and private organizations and persons and to make
payments necessary to carry out its functions;
``(6) to sue and be sued; and
``(7) to do any other act necessary and proper to carry out
the purposes of the foundation.

``(c) Encumbered or Restricted Gifts.--A gift, devise, or bequest
may be accepted by the foundation even though it is encumbered,
restricted, or subject to beneficial interests of private persons, if
any current or future interest is for the benefit of the foundation.
``(d) Contracts.--The foundation may enter into such contracts with
public and private entities as it considers appropriate to carry out its
purposes.
``(e) Annual Conference in Washington Metropolitan Area.--During
each year (beginning with 2003), the foundation may sponsor a conference
in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to honor secondary school
students and other individuals who have served (or plan to serve) as
poll workers and assistants and who have otherwise participated in the
programs and activities of the foundation.

``Sec. 152606. Principal office

``The principal office of the foundation shall be in the District of
Columbia unless the board of directors determines otherwise. However,
the foundation may conduct business throughout the States, territories,
and possessions of the United States.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1721]]

``Sec. 152607. Service of process

``The foundation shall have a designated agent to receive service of
process for the foundation. Notice to or service on the agent, or mailed
to the business address of the agent, is notice to or service on the
foundation.

``Sec. 152608. <> Annual audit

``The foundation shall enter into a contract with an independent
auditor to conduct an annual audit of the foundation.

``Sec. 152609. Civil action by Attorney General for equitable relief

``The Attorney General may bring a civil action in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia for appropriate equitable
relief if the foundation--
``(1) engages or threatens to engage in any act, practice,
or policy that is inconsistent with the purposes in section
152602 of this title; or
``(2) refuses, fails, or neglects to carry out its
obligations under this chapter or threatens to do so.

``Sec. 152610. Immunity of United States Government

``The United States Government is not liable for any debts,
defaults, acts, or omissions of the foundation. The full faith and
credit of the Government does not extend to any obligation of the
foundation.

``Sec. 152611. Authorization of appropriations

``There are authorized to be appropriated to the foundation for
carrying out the purposes of this chapter--
``(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
``(2) such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding
fiscal year.

``Sec. 152612. Annual report

``As soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, the
foundation shall submit a report to the Commission, the President, and
Congress on the activities of the foundation during the prior fiscal
year, including a complete statement of its receipts, expenditures, and
investments. Such report shall contain information gathered from
participating secondary school students describing the nature of the
work they performed in assisting local election officials and the value
they derived from the experience of educating participants about the
electoral process.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for part B of
subtitle II of title 36, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to chapter 1525 the following new item:

``1526. Help America Vote Foundation...........................152601''.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1722]]

TITLE VII--VOTING RIGHTS OF MILITARY MEMBERS AND OVERSEAS CITIZENS

SEC. 701. VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

(a) Voting Assistance Officers.--Subsection (f) of section 1566 of
title 10, United States Code, as added by section 1602(a) of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107-
107; 115 Stat. 1274), is amended--
(1) by striking ``Voting assistance'' in the first sentence
and inserting ``(1) Voting assistance''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

``(2) <> Under regulations and
procedures (including directives) prescribed by the Secretary, a member
of the armed forces appointed or assigned to duty as a voting assistance
officer shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be given the time and
resources needed to perform the member's duties as a voting assistance
officer during the period in advance of a general election when members
and their dependents are preparing and submitting absentee ballots.''.

(b) <> Postmarking of Overseas Voting
Materials.--Subsection (g)(2) of such section is amended by adding at
the end the following: ``The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, implement measures to ensure that a postmark or other
official proof of mailing date is provided on each absentee ballot
collected at any overseas location or vessel at sea whenever the
Department of Defense is responsible for collecting mail for return
shipment to the United States. The Secretary shall ensure that the
measures implemented under the preceding sentence do not result in the
delivery of absentee ballots to the final destination of such ballots
after the date on which the election for Federal office is
held. <> Not later than the date that is 6
months after the date of the enactment of the Help America Vote Act of
2002, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
measures to be implemented to ensure the timely transmittal and
postmarking of voting materials and identifying the persons responsible
for implementing such measures.''.

(c) Providing Notice of Deadlines and Requirements.--Such section is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h) Notice of Deadlines and Requirements.--The Secretary of each
military department, utilizing the voting assistance officer network
established for each military installation, shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, provide notice to members of the Armed Forces stationed at
that installation of the last date before a general Federal election for
which absentee ballots mailed from a postal facility located at that
installation can reasonably be expected to be timely delivered to the
appropriate State and local election officials.''.
(d) Registration and Voting Information for Members and
Dependents.--Such section is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(i) Registration and Voting Information for Members and
Dependents.--(1) The Secretary of each military department, using a
variety of means including both print and electronic media, shall,

[[Page 116 STAT. 1723]]

to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that members of the Armed
Forces and their dependents who are qualified to vote have ready access
to information regarding voter registration requirements and deadlines
(including voter registration), absentee ballot application requirements
and deadlines, and the availability of voting assistance officers to
assist members and dependents to understand and comply with these
requirements.
``(2) The Secretary of each military department shall make the
national voter registration form prepared for purposes of the Uniformed
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act by the Federal Election
Commission available so that each person who enlists shall receive such
form at the time of the enlistment, or as soon thereafter as
practicable.
``(3) Where practicable, a special day or days shall be designated
at each military installation for the purpose of informing members of
the Armed Forces and their dependents of election timing, registration
requirements, and voting procedures.''.

SEC. 702. DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON
REGISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR ALL VOTERS IN STATE.

Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``Each
State''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

``(b) Designation of Single State Office To Provide Information on
Registration and Absentee Ballot Procedures for All Voters in State.--
``(1) In general.--Each State shall designate a single
office which shall be responsible for providing information
regarding voter registration procedures and absentee ballot
procedures to be used by absent uniformed services voters and
overseas voters with respect to elections for Federal office
(including procedures relating to the use of the Federal write-
in absentee ballot) to all absent uniformed services voters and
overseas voters who wish to register to vote or vote in any
jurisdiction in the State.
``(2) Recommendation regarding use of office to accept and
process materials.--Congress recommends that the State office
designated under paragraph (1) be responsible for carrying out
the State's duties under this Act, including accepting valid
voter registration applications, absentee ballot applications,
and absentee ballots (including Federal write-in absentee
ballots) from all absent uniformed services voters and overseas
voters who wish to register to vote or vote in any jurisdiction
in the State.''.

SEC. 703. REPORT ON ABSENTEE BALLOTS TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED AFTER
GENERAL ELECTIONS.

(a) In General.--Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1), as amended by section 702, is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Report on Number of Absentee Ballots Transmitted and
Received.--Not <> later than 90
days after the date of each regularly scheduled general election for
Federal office, each State and unit of local government which
administered the election shall

[[Page 116 STAT. 1724]]

(through the State, in the case of a unit of local government) submit a
report to the Election Assistance Commission (established under the Help
America Vote Act of 2002) on the combined number of absentee ballots
transmitted to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters for
the election and the combined number of such ballots which were returned
by such voters and cast in the election, and shall make such report
available to the general public.''.

(b) <> Development of Standardized
Format for Reports.--The Election Assistance Commission, working with
the Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors and the Election
Assistance Commission Standards Board, shall develop a standardized
format for the reports submitted by States and units of local government
under section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act (as added by subsection (a)), and shall make the format
available to the States and units of local government submitting such
reports.

SEC. 704. EXTENSION OF PERIOD COVERED BY SINGLE ABSENTEE BALLOT
APPLICATION.

Section 104(a) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1), <> as amended
by section 1606(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2002 (Public Law 107-107; 115 Stat. 1279), is amended by striking
``during that year,'' and all that follows and inserting the following:
``through the next 2 regularly scheduled general elections for Federal
office (including any runoff elections which may occur as a result of
the outcome of such general elections), the State shall provide an
absentee ballot to the voter for each such subsequent election.''.

SEC. 705. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF PRESIDENTIAL DESIGNEE UNDER UNIFORMED AND
OVERSEAS CITIZENS ABSENTEE VOTING ACT.

(a) Educating Election Officials on Responsibilities Under Act.--
Section 101(b)(1) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the
end and inserting the following: ``, and ensure that such officials are
aware of the requirements of this Act;''.
(b) Development of Standard Oath for Use With Materials.--
(1) In general.--Section 101(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
1973ff(b)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(6) and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(7) prescribe a standard oath for use with any document
under this title affirming that a material misstatement of fact
in the completion of such a document may constitute grounds for
a conviction for perjury.''.
(2) Requiring states to use standard oath.--Section 102(a)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1(b)), as amended by section 702,
is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(4) and inserting ``; and''; and

[[Page 116 STAT. 1725]]

(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(5) if the State requires an oath or affirmation to
accompany any document under this title, use the standard oath
prescribed by the Presidential designee under section
101(b)(7).''.

(c) Providing Statistical Analysis of Voter Participation for Both
Overseas Voters and Absent Uniformed Services Voters.--Section 101(b)(6)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(6)) is amended by striking ``a general
assessment'' and inserting ``a separate statistical analysis''.

SEC. 706. PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF VOTER REGISTRATION AND ABSENTEE
BALLOT APPLICATIONS ON GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION.

(a) In General.--Section 104 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens
Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-3), as amended by section 1606(b)
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public
Law 107-107; 115 Stat. 1279), is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(e) Prohibition of Refusal of Applications on Grounds of Early
Submission.--A State may not refuse to accept or process, with respect
to any election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter
registration application or absentee ballot application (including the
postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by an absent
uniformed services voter during a year on the grounds that the voter
submitted the application before the first date on which the State
otherwise accepts or processes such applications for that year submitted
by absentee voters who are not members of the uniformed services.''.
(b) <> Effective
Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to
elections for Federal office that occur after January 1, 2004.

SEC. 707. OTHER REQUIREMENTS TO PROMOTE PARTICIPATION OF OVERSEAS AND
ABSENT UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS.

Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1), as amended by the preceding provisions of this
title, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Registration Notification.--With respect to each absent
uniformed services voter and each overseas voter who submits a voter
registration application or an absentee ballot request, if the State
rejects the application or request, the State shall provide the voter
with the reasons for the rejection.''.

TITLE VIII--TRANSITION PROVISIONS

Subtitle A--Transfer to Commission of Functions Under Certain Laws

SEC. 801. FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.

(a) <> Transfer of Functions of Office of
Election Administration of Federal Election Commission.--There are
transferred to the Election Assistance Commission established under
section 201 all functions which the Office of Election Administration,

[[Page 116 STAT. 1726]]

established within the Federal Election Commission, exercised before the
date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 311(a) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by inserting ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
period; and
(3) by striking paragraph (10) and the second and third
sentences.

SEC. 802. <> NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF
1993.

(a) Transfer of Functions.--There are transferred to the Election
Assistance Commission established under section 201 all functions which
the Federal Election Commission exercised under section 9(a) of the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(a)) before
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 9(a) of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(a)) is amended by striking
``Federal Election Commission'' and inserting ``Election Assistance
Commission''.

SEC. 803. <> TRANSFER OF PROPERTY, RECORDS, AND
PERSONNEL.

(a) Property and Records.--The contracts, liabilities, records,
property, and other assets and interests of, or made available in
connection with, the offices and functions of the Federal Election
Commission which are transferred by this subtitle are transferred to the
Election Assistance Commission for appropriate allocation.
(b) Personnel.--
(1) In general.--The personnel employed in connection with
the offices and functions of the Federal Election Commission
which are transferred by this subtitle are transferred to the
Election Assistance Commission.
(2) Effect.--Any full-time or part-time personnel employed
in permanent positions shall not be separated or reduced in
grade or compensation because of the transfer under this
subsection during the 1-year period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 804. <> EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION.

(a) Effective Date.--This title and the amendments made by this
title shall take effect upon the appointment of all members of the
Election Assistance Commission under section 203.
(b) Transition.--With the consent of the entity involved, the
Election Assistance Commission is authorized to utilize the services of
such officers, employees, and other personnel of the entities from which
functions have been transferred to the Election Assistance Commission
under this title or the amendments made by this title for such period of
time as may reasonably be needed to facilitate the orderly transfer of
such functions.
(c) No Effect on Authorities of Office of Election Administration
Prior to Appointment of Members of Commission.--During the period which
begins on the date of the enactment of this Act and ends on the
effective date described in subsection (a), the Office of Election
Administration of the Federal Election Commission shall continue to have
the authority to carry out any of the functions (including the
development of voluntary standards for voting systems and procedures for
the certification of voting

[[Page 116 STAT. 1727]]

systems) which it has the authority to carry out as of the date of the
enactment of this Act.

Subtitle B--Coverage of Commission Under Certain Laws and Programs

SEC. 811. TREATMENT OF COMMISSION PERSONNEL UNDER CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE
LAWS.

(a) Coverage Under Hatch Act.--Section 7323(b)(2)(B)(i)(I) of title
5, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or the Election
Assistance Commission'' after ``Commission''.
(b) Exclusion From Senior Executive Service.--Section 3132(a)(1)(C)
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or the
Election Assistance Commission'' after ``Commission''.

SEC. 812. COVERAGE UNDER INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.

(a) In General.--Section 8G(a)(2) of the Inspector General Act of
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting ``the Election Assistance
Commission,'' after ``Federal Election Commission,''.
(b) <> Effective Date.--The amendment
made by subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the appointment
of all members of the Election Assistance Commission under section 203.

TITLE IX--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SEC. 901. <> STATE DEFINED.

In this Act, the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United
States Virgin Islands.

SEC. 902. <> AUDITS AND REPAYMENT OF FUNDS.

(a) Recordkeeping Requirement.--Each recipient of a grant or other
payment made under this Act shall keep such records with respect to the
payment as are consistent with sound accounting principles, including
records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by such
recipient of funds, the total cost of the project or undertaking for
which such funds are used, and the amount of that portion of the cost of
the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other
records as will facilitate an effective audit.
(b) Audits and Examinations.--
(1) Audits and examinations.--Except as provided in
paragraph (5), each office making a grant or other payment under
this Act, or any duly authorized representative of such office,
may audit or examine any recipient of the grant or payment and
shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to
any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipient which
in the opinion of the entity may be related or pertinent to the
grant or payment.
(2) Recipients of assistance subject to provisions of
section.-- <> The provisions of this
section shall apply to all recipients of grants or other
payments under this Act, whether by direct grant, cooperative
agreement, or contract under this

[[Page 116 STAT. 1728]]

Act or by subgrant or subcontract from primary grantees or
contractors under this Act.
(3) Mandatory audit.--In addition to audits conducted
pursuant to paragraph (1), all funds provided under this Act
shall be subject to mandatory audit by the Comptroller General
at least once during the lifetime of the program involved. For
purposes of an audit under this paragraph, the Comptroller
General shall have access to books, documents, papers, and
records of recipients of funds in the same manner as the office
making the grant or payment involved has access to such books,
documents, papers, and records under paragraph (1).
(4) Special rule for payments by general services
administration.--With respect to any grant or payment made under
this Act by the Administrator of General Services, the Election
Assistance Commission shall be deemed to be the office making
the grant or payment for purposes of this section.
(5) Special rule.--In the case of grants or payments made
under section 251, audits and examinations conducted under
paragraph (1) shall be performed on a regular basis (as
determined by the Commission).
(6) Special rules for audits by the commission.--In addition
to the audits described in paragraph (1), the Election
Assistance Commission may conduct a special audit or special
examination of a recipient described in paragraph (1) upon a
vote of the Commission.

(c) Recoupment of Funds.--If the Comptroller General determines as a
result of an audit conducted under subsection (b) that--
(1) a recipient of funds under this Act is not in compliance
with each of the requirements of the program under which the
funds are provided; or
(2) an excess payment has been made to the recipient under
the program,

the recipient shall pay to the office which made the grant or payment
involved a portion of the funds provided which reflects the proportion
of the requirements with which the recipient is not in compliance, or
the extent to which the payment is in excess, under the program
involved.

SEC. 903. CLARIFICATION OF ABILITY OF ELECTION OFFICIALS TO REMOVE
REGISTRANTS FROM OFFICIAL LIST OF VOTERS ON GROUNDS OF
CHANGE OF RESIDENCE.

Section 8(b)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42
U.S.C. 1973gg-6(b)(2)) is amended by striking the period at the end and
inserting the following: ``, except that nothing in this paragraph may
be construed to prohibit a State from using the procedures described in
subsections (c) and (d) to remove an individual from the official list
of eligible voters if the individual--
``(A) has not either notified the applicable
registrar (in person or in writing) or responded during
the period described in subparagraph (B) to the notice
sent by the applicable registrar; and then
``(B) has not voted or appeared to vote in 2 or more
consecutive general elections for Federal office.''.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1729]]

SEC. 904. <> REVIEW AND REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF
EXISTING ELECTORAL FRAUD STATUTES AND PENALTIES.

(a) Review.--The Attorney General shall conduct a review of existing
criminal statutes concerning election offenses to determine--
(1) whether additional statutory offenses are needed to
secure the use of the Internet for election purposes; and
(2) whether existing penalties provide adequate punishment
and deterrence with respect to such offenses.

(b) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit a report to the
Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and House of Representatives,
the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, and the
Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives on the
review conducted under subsection (a) together with such recommendations
for legislative and administrative action as the Attorney General
determines appropriate.

SEC. 905. <> OTHER CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

(a) Conspiracy To Deprive Voters of a Fair Election.--Any individual
who knowingly and willfully gives false information in registering or
voting in violation of section 11(c) of the National Voting Rights Act
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973i(c)), or conspires with another to violate such
section, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in accordance with such
section.
(b) False Information in Registering and Voting.--Any individual who
knowingly commits fraud or knowingly makes a false statement with
respect to the naturalization, citizenry, or alien registry of such
individual in violation of section 1015 of title 18, United States Code,
shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in accordance with such section.

SEC. 906. <> NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

(a) In General.--Except as specifically provided in section 303(b)
of this Act with regard to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
(42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.), nothing in this Act may be construed to
authorize or require conduct prohibited under any of the following laws,
or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of such laws:
(1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).
(2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped
Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.).
(3) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.).
(4) The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C.
1973gg et seq.).
(5) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12101 et seq.).
(6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.).

[[Page 116 STAT. 1730]]

(b) No Effect on Preclearance or Other Requirements Under Voting
Rights Act.--The approval by the Administrator or the Commission of a
payment or grant application under title I or title II, or any other
action taken by the Commission or a State under such title, shall not be
considered to have any effect on requirements for preclearance under
section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973c) or any
other requirements of such Act.

Approved October 29, 2002.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 3295 (S. 565):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: Nos. 107-329, Pt. 1 (Comm. on House Administration) and
107-730 (Comm. of Conference).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 147 (2001):
Dec. 12, considered and passed
House.
Vol. 148 (2002):
Apr. 11, considered and passed
Senate, amended, in lieu of S.
565.
Oct. 10, House agreed to conference
report.
Oct. 15, 16, Senate considered,
receded from its amendment, and
agreed to conference report.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 38 (2002):
Oct. 29, Presidential remarks and statement.

What is Abundantly Clear

2005-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

After watching the hearing in Wenatchee today and listening to the Judge's rulings, one thing is abundantly clear. Those who wrote the law did not have the integrity of our elections as their priority.

This whole thing simply makes it crystal clear that we need reforms that will ensure the eligibility of every voter and will ensure the integrity of every race and election.

Suggestions for Election Reform

2005-02-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

This post will be kept at the top so you can add your suggestions for Election Reform here. Please make your suggestions as brief and concise as possible. Discussion will take place on other threads.

*Note...in order to post you have to have an account with "Blogger". This is not my choice, thats just what you have to endure when you get free stuff:) It is not a huge big deal to create an account so I would encourage you to do so. Or you can post annonymously. If you post annonymously, there is nothing to prevent you from including your name "handle" within the context of the post.

Fact Finding - Part III

2005-02-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

One of the topics the Auditor and I discussed at length is the idea of making Provisional Ballots a different color in order to distinguish them from regular poll ballots, in case they are put in the ballot box rather than being returned to the poll worker so they can be verified before they are counted. Were they bright pink or something, they would be easy to distinguish, however that does not solve the problem.

Lets say 100 people have cast a provisional ballot at your polling place. The poll worker gives them a ballot and tears off the stub just like they would if the voter were going to be casting a regular poll ballot. The only difference is, the ballot and the stub are bright pink.

The provisional voter goes to the privacy booth, marks his ballot, but rather than returning it to the poll worker to be put in an envelope, the voter drops it in the ballot box.

At days end, the poll worker discovers 3 provisional ballots are missing, and upon looking in the ballot box discovers 3 bright pink ballots and pulls them out.

When the verification is done on the provisional voters, it is discovered that two of them were not eligible to vote. You have a ballot for one of them in the envelope as it should be, but you can't find the other one so it is obviously one of the three ballots you pulled out of the ballot box. You have the stubs for those ballots, but you have no idea which ballot is which, therefore no idea which ballot to pull.

2005-02-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

Provisional Ballots

Provisional ballots became a huge issue in the 2004 election. A provisional ballot can be cast for a number of reasons, but once cast it is supposed to be kept seperate from the other ballots until the voter's registration can be verified.

In the 2004 election hundreds of Provisional ballots that were put into the regular ballot boxes, making it impossible to verify those voters.

That is not the only problem with provisional ballots. A poll worker told me that if a person goes in and casts a provisional ballot because they claim to have lost or not received their absentee ballot, and it is then discovered that they did in fact cast an absentee ballot, that because the absentee ballot had already been counted, they would simply go and pull "A" ballot from the ballots at the polls. That way the books balance. The fact that the absentee voter may have cast their ballot for candidate A and the ballot pulled may have been for candidate B doesn't seem to be of any concern.

This is information from one poll worker. If anyone has information that is contrary to this, please straighten it out for me.

Fact Finding Part I

2005-02-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

I have had a couple of conversations with one of the County Auditors over the last few weeks, discussing the election process and possible election reforms. I'll not identify the Auditor simply because I failed to ask permission to do so, but I did extend an invitation to join the discussion here, so if they choose to participate they can take care of that themselves or they can post annonymously. We are about ideas here, not persons:)

Part of our conversation dealt with some of the challenges in putting on an election. The election process, like most other things, is not as simple as it first appears. Add government regulations (a wrench) into the mix, and you have a ready-made recipe for disaster, but a dish that must be cooked and served nonetheless.

For example, according to the Auditor, polling places are not easy to come by these days. The traditional polling place has been in the schools, but schools are not what they used to be. Most schools lack extra space so the polling place often gets stuck in an entry-way or some other cramped quarters, making it difficult for election workers to do their job and difficult to provide the privacy voters require and are entitled to by law. If all that is not bad enough, schools sometimes experience lockdowns. Not a good thing to have happen on Election Day. I can see the headlines now...Voters held in lockdown for X hours. Hmm, not good:/

I argued well then use churches. Government throws another wrench. People may be offended if they are required to go into a church to vote. Some want nothing to do with church whatsoever, some are of one religion and refuse to darken the door of a church of a different denomination.

More wrenches; polling places must be handicap accessible, have good lighting, ample parking and parking for the disabled.

This gives you a taste of what we are up against. Reforms will have to be made in accordance with existing rules, laws, and regulations. Another big factor is cost. The smallest expense can turn into millions of dollars. There may be machines or electronic voting devices that would serve the process better, but the cost to replace existing equipment would be astronomical.

A machine used in the polling place to tabulate ballots costs $6000.00. The big machines used at the courthouse, that count absentee ballots cost over twice that much.

Tomorrow...What I learned about Provisional Ballots.

Aliens hesitant to vote - HUH???

2005-02-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks ScottFromSpokane for the pointer.

Kirstin Brost, Communications Director, Washington State Democrats, submitted a Press Release today bemoaning the investigations into voting irregularities that have been undertaken by "we the people", and the Rossi campaign. It seems that she would object to our investigations when Dean Logan and others have stated that it is not their job to make sure that the voter rolls are populated with only eligible voters.

Then came this from Ms. Brost: "Now, they are asking the government for a list of legal aliens, so they can go after immigrants - a community already hesitant to participate in our voting process." (Mike Siegel Show, 2/1/05)

I don't think I can even say anything. YES....for once, Hanna is speechless.

Public Meeting

2005-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

Kudo's to an annonymous reader for posting this information. If this meeting is in your area I would encourage you to go, and a report back would be terrific:)

Public meeting

What: Task force appointed by Gov. Christine Gregoire will take public comments on improving elections.

Who: Secretary of State Sam Reed, former state senators Betti Sheldon and Larry Sheahan, and former Washington State University President Sam Smith comprise the task force.

When: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 10.

Where: Clark College Foster Auditorium

Elections panel to begin hearings

Tuesday, February 1, 2005
By DON JENKINS, Columbian staff writer

OLYMPIA - An elections-reform task force appointed by Gov. Christine Gregoire will hold four public hearings statewide, with the first to be in Vancouver next week, the governor's office announced Monday.

"This is an opportunity for Washington citizens to tell us what they think should be changed and improved about our voting system," Gregoire said in a written statement.

Gregoire's 129-vote win over Republican Dino Rossi has prompted lawmakers from both parties to introduce a slew of election-reform bills.

The Republican Party is contesting the election in court, alleging that illegal votes cast by felons, unidentified provisional voters and on behalf of dead people could have altered the outcome.

In her inaugural address, Gregoire alluded to the "election-recount ordeal" and announced the bipartisan task force chaired by Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed and former Democratic state senator Betti Sheldon of Bremerton.

Former Republican state senator Larry Sheahan of Spokane and former Washington State University president Sam Smith complete the task force, which will make recommendations to Gregoire by March 1.

Before Gregoire announced the task force, Reed had presented more than a dozen proposals for improving the elections system, including moving the primary from September to June.

Still, Reed said Monday he was eager to hear suggestions.

The state's elections system was designed when everyone voted on Election Day at polling places.

Now, most people vote by mail, Reed said.

"I do think it's time to examine our system in a complete way," he said. "I think this situation is going to provide impetus for some reforms that should have been made a long time ago."

Even before the contested governor's election, Reed advocated moving the primary from September to June to give county auditors more time to get absentee ballots ready for the general election.

A statewide voter database due by early 2006 will help auditors keep voter lists free of felons and the deceased, he said.

Reed called some problems in the 2004 election "unacceptable," most notably the counting of 348 provisional ballots in King County that weren't checked to see whether they were cast by eligible voters.

On the other hand, Reed has called the gubernatorial election fair and has said the manual recount that gave Gregoire her win the most accurate of the three counts. Rossi won the two machine recounts.

"What this historically close election did was reveal a few of the weaknesses and warts that are never of consequence, but they were of consequence this time," Reed said.

The meeting in Vancouver will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, at Clark College Foster Auditorium.

The meeting will open with a short presentation. Then the public will be invited to ask questions and make comments.

The task force also will have hearings at Highline Community College in Des Moines Feb. 14, Columbia Basin College in Pasco Feb. 16 and Spokane Community College Feb. 22.

A week later, the task force's report to Gregoire will be due.

"March first is about as late as we can be to have an impact on this legislative session," Reed said.

Election-reform bills introduced in the Legislature include:

* House Bill 1456 moves the primary to the first Tuesday in September. The primary is currently on the third Tuesday in September.

* Senate Bill 5219 moves the primary to the third Tuesday in August.

* Senate Bill 5082 requires absentee ballots to arrive in auditors' offices by Election Day.

* Senate Bill 5078 requires all voters to re-register.

* Senate Bill 5499 requires voters at polling places to show identification.

* Senate Bill 5122 makes secretary of state a nonpartisan office.

* House Bill 1363 allows voters to cast a ballot for "none of the above."

Don Jenkins reports on the Legislature and politics. He can be reached in The Columbian's Olympia bureau at 360-586-2437 or don.jenkins@columbian.com.

A Newborn Babe

2005-01-31T05:19:00.000-08:00

Through long and intense labor pains, lost lives, blood, tears and joy, baby Democracy was born in Iraq yesterday. Was it "easy and convenient"? It was anything but. People walked for miles under threats of violence, stepping over body parts, risking their lives to cast their vote. Upon arriving at the poll they had to stand in long lines, be searched, and show their ID. Once their vote was cast, they displayed their ink stained finger with pride; an act that could cost them their lives, even today or tomorrow.

The turnout was incredible. The Iraqi people not only beat expectations, they beat anything we here in the United States have managed to do for a very long time.

One thing is obvious. It is not lack of convenience that keeps people from the polls. It is apathy, but apathy about what? We have long been told that people are apathetic about voting because their candidates didn't win, or because their ideas were not those implemented. But that is going to be true for part of the electorate no matter what. There is larger reason for the apathy.

Could it be because our elections have become little more than second rate theatrical productions, directed by election officials who are apathetic themselves? Could it be because we have laws in place that prohibit certain individuals from registering to vote, yet they not only register, but their vote is given as much weight as yours or mine? Could it be because of the magic math that seems to prevail in our elections? Could it be because our elections officials will accept a margin of error that is unacceptable?

It seems to me high time we, and our elections officials take seriously the importance of our vote. It did not come easily here anymore than it came easily in Iraq. People did suffer and die for it. As Americans our vote is our most precious possession, and we must defend it with all our might.

Oregon Election Process

2005-01-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of people have posted regarding the election process in Oregon, who votes totally absentee. Knowing the details of those problems will no doubt be of use to us so post away people:)

Democracy In Iraq

2005-01-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

How incredible is this? A democratic election in Iraq.

The people will go to the polls, knowing they risk their very lives to do so. The insurgents in Iraq will attempt to steal votes by intimidation, guns and bombs, but in spite of their efforts, democracy is moving through the birth canal, and hopefully the baby democracy that is born, tho its legs may be shaky, will grow and flourish.

Some of our politicians who are making proposals for election reform are focused on making it easier and move convenient for Americans to vote. Thinking of that against the background of this election in Iraq would be laughable were it not so pathetic.

There is a blog here written by Michael Yon, who is in Iraq watching this process move forward. His writings are interesting, informative, sincere and heartwarming. You may want to take a look.

Rich Lowry on Washington State Election

2005-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

Rich Lowry on Washington State Election

First it was John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, and now Rich Lowry of the National Review weighs in. It looks like the election woes of Washington State are beginning to get some national exposure.

Our Mission

2005-01-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

As Americans, be we Republican, Democrat, Liberterian or maintain no party affiliation, we can cast our vote to in affirmation of a candidate or issue or we can throw it like a rock. Either way it is our primary means of determining how our country is going to move forward.

Few would argue that there are major problems in our election process. The time to FIX those problems has come.

Election reform the agenda. For some, the changes needed are those that make it easier and more convenient for people to vote. Other people believe reforms are needed that will ensure that all of the people who vote have the right to do so and that when legal votes are cast, they are counted accurately.

The reform in every fascet of our election process from the registration desk to certification. I do not believe there is something called non-partisan. We all have our opinions, but that does not mean that we cannot work together to make the election process in Washington State a model for the rest of the Country.

That having been said, this site is not the place to bash, lay blame or point fingers. It is a site that has been created to learn what the problems are, to gather ideas from the people, politicians, commentators, journalists and professionals. Hopefully we can work together to make the next election a shining example for every state in this country.

There is also a re-vote proposal in Washington State. We will follow that process, comment on the events that take place, and watch where it goes.