July 2, 2008 - State senator introduces electronic voting legislation

Paper: Daily Democrat, The ( Woodland, CA)
Title: State senator introduces electronic voting legislation
Date: July 2, 2008
Author: JOSH RICHMAN/MediaNews Group

Electronic- voting machines used in federal elections would have to produce an independent, voter-verified "paper trail" of each ballot cast, under a bill announced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Feinstein, D-Calif., had introduced an election -reform bill last year, but it had only Democratic support and didn't get far. This bill has bipartisan support, but isn't as far-reaching and won't take effect as soon.

Feinstein issued a statement calling S.3212, the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act, "the culmination of extensive efforts over several months to come together to craft a bipartisan election technology bill capable of achieving broad support from members of both parties.

"Currently, we have a patchwork of voting systems throughout the country, including states that use electronic- voting systems but have no independent records to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the votes cast," she said. "The ability to ensure there is an accurate, reliable and transparent method for Americans to cast and count votes is fundamental to our democratic process."

Joining Feinstein in introducing the bill was U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah - the ranking Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which Feinstein heads - who said this bill both ensures high security standards and encourages continued innovation in election technology. The committee is expected to hear the bill next month.

While 2007's Ballot Integrity Act would've required reforms to take effect by elections in 2010, this bill pushes the date to Jan. 1, 2012, or even to 2014 if a state gets a waiver.

The bill would require that voters using direct-recording, touch-screen voting systems be able to verify their choices by means of an independent paper, electronic, audio, video or pictorial record at the polling place. Such records could go through an audit and would be available for review in case of a recount.

Last year's bill dealt with other election integrity issues, as well: It would've barred chief state election officials from being involved in any elections under their supervision; granted all official election observers, both domestic and international, access to the election process; prohibit burdensome limits on third-party registration efforts; prohibit removing anyone from a voter-registration list without uniform, nondiscriminatory notification; and so on.

This year's bill doesn't venture far beyond electronic voting, except that it would prohibit states from rejecting voter-registration forms, absentee ballot requests and absentee ballots sent by military and overseas voters just because they lack some nonessential information, and would require each state to create procedures for improving ballot design, with guidance from the Election Assistance Commission.

Tanya Clay House, who directs election -reform efforts at People for the American Way, said her organization is "encouraged by Senator Feinstein's attempt to craft a bipartisan bill," but worries Feinstein has jettisoned many of the elements that civil-liberties groups deem necessary for reform.

"We're not opposing the bill; we're just saying there are definitely some things that need to be improved to move the ball forward. "? There are a lot of things that were left out," she said. "It's noble, but there are some concerns that it's not as robust as the Ballot Integrity Act."

A paper record alone "isn't going to alleviate a lot of the other problems that are occurring in the elections," she said - problems with counting of provisional ballots, for example, which are far more prevalent than electronic- voting snafus. And even the new bill's electronic- voting provisions aren't as strong as last year's, she said; certain machines already in use could be grandfathered in under the new bill.

The bill would provide $30 million in grants for research, development and testing of independent verification technology, a sum House said might be too small an incentive.