Commission publishes state voting plans, money to follow

By M. Mindy MorettiS
enior Staff Writer

Like a minister preaching to his flock, DeForest "Buster" Soaries, Jr., chairman of the new Election Assistance Commission, gave delegates a status summary of the commission and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

"The first problem we need to fix is the perception that the American electoral system is flawed," Soaries told about 65 delegates at a workshop entitled "Creating a New Federal Agency" during NACo’s 2004 Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. "That [the Florida election situation in 2000] is not the story that should dominate. We’ve had numerous bumps on the road, but I challenge the media to come with us and report the real story."

And the real story, according to Soaries, is a massive lack of funding.

HAVA was established in the wake of the problems that arose during Election 2000. The law calls for the federal government to spend $3.9 billion over three years to help states and counties replace punch-card ballots and pull-lever voting machines with more modern equipment, such as touch-screen voting stations. States and local governments also can use the money for voter education programs and poll-worker training.

The state plans were published in the Federal Register on March 24. Once the 45-day comment period is over, Soaries promised that the checks would be in the mail to the states with that money subsequently funneling down to the counties.

"We are faced with the unenviable task of freeing up the money," Soaries said. He also vowed that the EAC will make sure the monies get to the counties.

The commission itself has struggled through some tough times since the four commissioners were finally appointed.

"The church I left in New Jersey has a bigger budget than this agency," Soaries, a former Baptist minister, lamented. "We literally have to choose between buying a fax machine and hiring staff."

But in a rare move for federal Washington, other governmental departments provided the commission with staff and office support early on. And although the commission still does not have a Web site or even its own office space, Soaries and the other commissioners Ñ Vice Chair Gracia Hillman, Paul DeGregio and Ray Martinez Ñ vow to visit as many states and polling places as possible, hold as many public meetings as necessary and bring back confidence in the voting system.

"The challenges that we have are immense," Martinez said. "And the power of this agency is in the power of the bully pulpit."

(To view the state plans, visit www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. The Election Assistance Commission can be reached at (202) 694-1095.)