Final Action on Voting Overhaul Measure Stalls Again in Senate

With negotiations dragging on longer than expected, final action stalled again Monday in the Senate on legislation to overhaul the nation’s voting machinery and procedures.

Democrats failed for the second time in four days to overcome a Republican-led filibuster of the bill, prompting Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to shelve the measure. He said that lawmakers today would instead begin a lengthy debate on energy policy.

Daschle and proponents of election reform in both parties refused to declare the bill dead, despite the recent setbacks to it. They said passage could come at any time in the next few weeks after negotiators iron out final details.

“Because so much good work has been done, it’s my strong desire to bring this bill to a successful completion,” Daschle said. “And we’re going to do that.”

“All of us want to pass a bill,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the measure’s lead Republican sponsor.

Democrats and Republicans for months have agreed on the basic outline of a bill that would distribute $3.5 billion over five years to help states upgrade antiquated voting systems and take other steps to improve voter participation and cut down on potential fraud. If enacted, it would be a landmark expansion of the federal role in an election process historically administered by state and local officials.

The bill is the Senate’s response to the vote-counting problems and other issues that emerged in the 2000 presidential election in Florida and elsewhere. The House passed its own version of an election reform bill in December by a broad bipartisan margin.

Lawmakers and analysts alike agree that the United States is under considerable pressure to fix problems that surfaced in the 2000 election.

“Our politicians over the years have been free to criticize other countries over voter fraud,” said Sheldon Kamieniecki, a political scientist at the University of Southern California who studies election reform.

“If we can’t put our own house in order, it really undermines our own credibility,” Kamieniecki said.

The Senate, however, has been stuck for more than a week on issues such as how best to deter voter fraud.

Many of those questions appeared resolved last week, as key lawmakers agreed to accept the bulk of a GOP proposal to require first-time voters who register by mail to show some form of identification before casting a ballot.

But congressional aides said senators were still haggling over a few remaining details, including language proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to protect his state’s unique vote-by-mail system.

The continued impasse reflects the difficulty of negotiating a bill that directly affects how lawmakers are elected.

Republicans generally have supported stricter rules to crack down on alleged voter fraud, while Democrats have backed steps to expand the electorate.