 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 32, No. 23 * December 18, 2000 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story Election reform gears up on Capitol Hill By Liz Galewski
Several election reform bills have been introduced in Congress over the past month, in response to concerns about election procedures and voting equipment. Some of the bills allocate federal matching funds for state and local governments to replace old voting machinery. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sam Brownback’s (R-Kan.) Voting Study and Improvement Act of 2000 would offer $250 million in federal matching funds during the legislation’s first year. Schumer has estimated that upgrading voting equipment nationwide before the next presidential election would cost close to $1 billion. The $250 million stipulated in the bill is meant as a “down payment” on the $500 million in federal matching funds that such an effort would require. “This is not a federal mandate of election standards. We provide the means for states to implement the changes that they deem are most fitting for their needs,” said Brownback. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Torricelli (N.J.) have also co-sponsored a bill with federal matching funds. Their Election Reform Act would offer states $100 million per year to make improvements. The two senators have asked Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Ranking Member Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) to include $4 million in any final appropriations package to begin the process of election reform. “It is inexcusable that the world’s most advanced democracy relies on voting systems designed shortly after the Second World War,” Sen. McConnell said. In the House, Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) introduced a bill that would provide $325 million in grants during the legislation’s first fiscal year. Hutchinson’s Election Procedures Improvement Act specifies that 50 percent of the grant money would be given to states and 50 percent would be given to individual local governments. Counties would apply for grant funds by submitting an application to the attorney general. Hutchinson’s bill is unusual because it does not create a commission to study the state of elections in America today. Many of the recent bills propose such commissions, differing mainly in the composition of the commissions and their funding levels. The Schumer-Brownback bill in the Senate, for instance, would allocate $10 million to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to study voting modernization and expanded polling hours. The bill directs the FEC to submit its study by Dec. 31, 2001. Meanwhile, the McConnell-Torricelli bill combines the FEC’s Office of Election Administration with the federal agency that administers overseas absentee ballots. The resulting Election Administration Commission would be made up of four presidential appointees, with not more than two members from the same party. No details have been given on how the commission’s efforts would be funded. Reps. Nick Lampson (D-Texas), Constance Morella (R-Md.) and Ciro Rodriguez’s (D-Texas) proposed Federal Elections Review Commission would be comprised of 12 members, with six members appointed by each of the two major political parties. According to the 21st Century Election Rules and Technology Act, which Lampson introduced in the House on Dec. 8, a new Federal Elections Review Commission would issue its final report 12 months after its initial meeting — $2 million would be appropriated for the commission’s use. While the Lampson-Morella-Rodriguez bill focuses only on federal elections, the Commission on the Comprehensive Study of Voting Procedures Act of 2000 would encompass state and local elections, as well as federal. Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced this legislation, Nov. 14. The bill would establish a five-member commission to study voting procedures. One member would be appointed each by the president, the majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the speaker of the House and the minority leader of the House. The commission would be given a year to conduct its deliberations and then 180 days to submit its final report. The bill stipulates that the commission is “authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to… carry out this act.” Other legislation is being discussed in the press, but has not yet appeared on the House floor. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Reps. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) plan to co-sponsor a bill that would develop national standards for federal elections and ban punch card ballots. The Delahunt-Graham proposal also involves a bipartisan commission. This commission would reportedly include state and local representatives and study the “accuracy, integrity, and efficiency” of federal election procedures, reports say. The legislation also would establish federal matching grants to help states upgrade their voting systems. Likewise, Congress Daily reports that Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), along with Reps. W. J. (Billy) Tauzin (R-La.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and several other members, plan to introduce a Uniform Poll Closing Act. This bill would close all polls in the continental U.S. at the same time on the evening of Election Day. |