Election Reform Stymies Congress, Slowing Action by State Lawmakers

Efforts by Congress to reform presidential voting have slowed to a crawl since January, hampering state legislatures across the country from ensuring that a Florida-style election meltdown could not happen within their borders.

So far, only seven states have moved to revamp their election systems, although more than 1,500 bills have been proposed nationwide. Many of the other states, officials said, have set up study commissions while they await action--and funding--from Washington.

Neither appears likely any time soon, despite a frenetic burst of at least 60 reform proposals in Congress since last year’s election debacle. The reform push quickly bogged down as each party accused the other of seeking partisan advantage, and none of the bills is even close to a committee vote, much less floor debate.

Democrats decried the lack of action. “To date, the congressional response has been woefully inadequate,” complained Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

But Republicans said further deliberation was necessary.

“The passion is gone, and that’s good,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “That means we can thoughtfully look at the issue.”

McConnell is co-sponsor of a proposal that would create a national commission to recommend improvements to the election system and would provide $500 million the first year and $100 million in subsequent years to help defray state and local costs.

Florida’s Harris Appeals for Funds

On Wednesday, several state officials told the first House hearing on voting reforms that they need federal financial aid to fix the flaws exposed in Florida during 35 tortured days of recounts, court battles and street protests.

“Currently in Florida, and I suspect many other states, we have the will but not the financial wherewithal” to overhaul the voting system, Katherine Harris, Florida’s now-famous secretary of state, told the House Administration Committee.

She and election officials from Ohio, Kansas, Arkansas and New Mexico urged Congress to appropriate money to help upgrade voting machines, improve voter education and train poll workers. But they warned against making federal rules to impose uniform voting machinery or voter registration.

A bill pushed by Democrats would set national standards for voting machines used in federal elections and require states to distribute sample ballots and voting instructions before each election.

Expectations of quick action on any of the reform measures were dashed soon after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) proposed creating a special committee on election reform in January. Hastert insisted on giving the GOP a majority of committee seats. Democrats cried foul and demanded equal representation. After Hastert refused, they named their own partisan task force to investigate the issue.

For his part, President Bush has made no visible effort to break the logjam. His proposed budget contained no funding for such efforts as upgrading voting machinery.

The estimated cost of retrofitting the nation’s 191,000 voting precincts is upward of $4 billion.

More than 200 House Democrats, seeking to prod the president, sent Bush a letter on April 4 urging him to take a lead role in the push for election reform. Bush has yet to reply; indeed, he has addressed the issue little in public since taking office.

Earlier this week, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush would be “open-minded” about requests to fund some reforms.

As an example, Fleischer cited “the question of making certain that communities don’t have old machines, that the machines are able to work and be operative.” He said Bush also is interested in ensuring that all overseas military and absentee ballots are counted, that early projections of election outcomes by TV networks do not discourage voter turnout and that felons be kept off voter rolls.

All of these issues were highlighted during the dispute over Florida’s 25 electoral votes.

Several independent panels have begun to weigh in with their own recommendations. Former Presidents Carter and Ford co-chair the most prominent commission and have begun hearings around the country. Their report is expected this fall.

Richard C. Leone, president of the nonprofit Century Foundation, which is helping to sponsor the commission, said it’s unreasonable to expect quick action from Washington on an issue so near and dear to politicians.

“When you lift up the hood [of voting], you’re bound to find people who have different agendas and who understand the problems and solutions differently,” Leone said.

In the meantime, some states have begun to act on their own.

In all, 116 bills have been signed into law around the country and 20 more are awaiting gubernatorial signatures, said Jenny Drage, a policy analyst at the Denver-based National Council of State Legislatures. Scores of other bills are likely to pass before the end of current legislative sessions in 36 states, although most only set up study commissions.

“As states got started on this, they realized it really was more complex than it initially appeared,” Drage said. “And solutions are much more expensive than people might have thought.”

Seven states have taken the lead, passing bills to replace voting technology, create legal standards for counting and recounting voters, and streamline voter registration.

The Georgia Legislature, for example, set up a pilot project to test ATM-style computer voting and a commission to recommend a uniform statewide system by 2004. It also created a process for removing deceased voters and felons from voting lists.

Maryland’s governor is expected to sign bills ordering the state board of elections to select new voting machinery for the entire state and to develop new legal standards for determining what constitutes a valid vote. The state government and counties will split the cost of buying new technology.

Virginia’s Legislature ordered uniform standards be created to review the dimples, hanging chads and other marks on punch-card ballots rejected by voting machines. The state board of elections also was ordered to create uniform rules for conducting a recount.

Montana will seek to clean up voter registration rolls by removing deceased or inactive voters. South Dakota voted to revamp its entire registration system by creating a statewide voter roll.

Kansas and Washington also passed measures to set statewide standards for counting votes and for recounting disputed ballots, among other changes. But the Washington state legislators put off consideration of a bill to replace the state’s punch-card voting machines.

“Jurisdictions are waiting to see if the feds will come up with any money,” said Gary McIntosh, Washington state election director. Despite predictions of a boom in sales of new election equipment, he added, “the vendors aren’t selling anything right now.”

They may get their chance in Florida.

In Tallahassee, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to abolish problem-plagued punch-card voting machines, which were at the center of the postelection dispute. The legislators agreed to offer low-interest loans to counties to switch to electronic systems, such as optical scanners and touch-screen voting. A conference committee will meet to settle differences between that bill and an earlier Senate version, which would provide grants to counties.

The Florida Legislature also is likely to approve other proposals in coming weeks, according to Mark Pritchett, executive vice president of the Collins Center for Public Policy, in Tallahassee.

He said state lawmakers are expected to help fund an online registration system, require statewide standards for ballot recounts and mandate the use of “provisional” ballots to ensure that everyone who registers gets to vote.

10-Point Proposal Offered in California

In California, Secretary of State Bill Jones proposed a 10-point package of reforms last November, including a $300-million “Democracy Fund” to help counties modernize their voting equipment. He also proposed placing uniform recount guidelines for punch-card systems into state law.

The policy committee in the state Assembly approved the fund Monday, but final disposition is unclear. As an alternative, Gov. Gray Davis has proposed spending $40 million on a pilot project in three counties.

Debra Danburg, chairwoman of the Texas House committee on elections in Austin, warned no package of reforms can anticipate all the problems that a deadlocked national election can produce.

“The voting administrator’s prayer is, ‘Lord, I don’t care who wins. Just let him win by a landslide,’ ” she said with a laugh.