Clinton, Boxer pushing e-voting bill in Senate
Their measure mandates a voter-verified paper ballot for e-voting machines 
 
News Story by Todd R. Weiss  

FEBRUARY 28, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - A wide-ranging bill that, among other things, would mandate a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast in electronic voting machines has been introduced by Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). The Count Every Vote Act, they said, is needed to address shortcomings related to existing e-voting technology.

The legislation, co-sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) and introduced earlier this month, would also ensure access to voter verification for all citizens, including non-English-speaking voters, illiterate voters and voters with disabilities.

It mandates that verified paper ballots would become the official ballot record in case of a recount; establishes uniform standards for provisional ballots; calls on the Federal Election Assistance Commission (FEC) to issue standards that ensure uniform access to voting machines; and requires the FEC to make sure that trained election personnel are available in every community.

The bill also seeks to bolster security measures for e-voting machines; designates Election Day a federal holiday; mandates the availability of voting machines with audio and picture capabilities for people who have sight disabilities or who can't read; restores voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their prison time, probation and/or parole; and creates a way for voters to register at their polling place and vote on Election Day.

If enacted, the measure requires that the new provisions be in place in time for the 2006 elections.

"The smooth functioning of our democracy depends on voters having faith in the fairness and accuracy of our voting system, and the Count Every Vote Act is an important step toward restoring this covenant," Clinton said in a statement. "We must be able to easily and accurately count every vote so that every vote counts."

The bill is needed to ensure the accuracy of U.S. elections, Tubbs said in a statement. "This legislation seeks to combat the tremendous voting irregularities that plagued both the 2000 and 2004 elections," she said. "If, in fact, we see it is our obligation to secure democracy around the world, to monitor and oversee free and fair elections in other countries, most recently in Iraq, then we must ensure, protect and guarantee the right to vote right here at home."

Spokesmen for Clinton and Boxer couldn't be reached today.

Earlier this month, another group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill that would require electronic touch-screen voting machines to allow for a voter-verifiable paper trail (see story). That measure, the Voting Integrity and Verification Act, would require printed ballots that voters could check over after they use an electronic voting machine. That bill would add clarifying language to the Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002 after complaints about paper ballots during the 2000 presidential election.

A voter-verified paper trail allows voters to review a printout of their ballots and correct any errors before leaving the voting booth. The printout would stay at the polling place for use in any recounts.

Some e-voting machine vendors have begun offering paper-trail printers. Nevada in the 2004 presidential election used machines from Sequoia Voting Systems, partly because Sequoia offered paper-trail technology. Last month, Diebold Election Systems Inc. announced that it plans to offer printers that can attach to its existing e-voting machines.

Tanya Clay, deputy director for public policy at the Washington-based political action group People for the American Way, said the Count Every Vote Act would establish a host of new requirements that could improve the use of e-voting machines.

"Right now, we don't have federal standards," Clay said. "We don't have a uniform system in place [from state to state]. This really brings everything together in a way that can work for the next election."

But Will Doherty, executive director of the San Francisco-based advocacy group VerifiedVoting.org, said the Clinton/Boxer bill isn't as strong on verified voting issues as another bill in the House, H.R. 550, which was introduced earlier this month by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, (D-N.J.). The Holt bill includes d language that addresses some of the main problems in recent elections, Doherty said.

"The Clinton bill, unfortunately, doesn't have the benefit of some of those s," he said. "It's not that we oppose the legislation [in the Clinton/Boxer bill], but it has a lot of vagueness."