Voter coalition critiques '04 election in Pa.

PETER JACKSON

Associated Press   14 March 2005

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania needs to streamline its voter registration system, simplify its absentee balloting process and train poll workers better, according to a coalition of advocacy groups that sifted through thousands of voter complaints from November's presidential election.

The "Election Day 2004" report from the Pennsylvania Voters Coalition also cited a laundry list of complaints about polling places, ranging from insufficient numbers of voting machines to physical barriers that impeded disabled voters - as well as scattered reports of apparent voter intimidation.

"Many of the problems in our current system can be traced to inadequate staffing and training of poll workers, lack of voter information and education, and poor administration at the state and county level," said the report released Monday. "Immediate corrective action is needed or these problems will only be compounded with new voting systems."

The coalition's study, based largely on reports from people who called voter help lines, covered many of the problems that were well-known since before the election and recommends ways to solve them.

For example, it urges prompt completion of the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors - a computerized voter registry that is required by federal law to be operational by the end of 2005, but has been plagued by technical problems that have led to resistance from many counties.

To combat wide-ranging complaints about absentee voting, it recommends a "no fault" policy under which citizens may vote absentee for any reason and cast those ballots until the polls close at 8 p.m. Currently, voters must have a valid excuse for not voting in person and most applications must be filed a week before the election.

The coalition, which includes the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, Common Cause and groups representing people with disabilities, also says counties should be required to base the number of voting stations on the number of registered voters to reduce the lines that many voters encountered on Election Day. It also said the state should not approve any polling place unless it is first certified as accessible.

Improved training of poll workers should help reduce confusion over new voting requirements, such as provisional ballots for people whose registration status cannot be immediately confirmed, the report said.

"The poll workers really need to be on their toes ... so they would tell voters the right things," said Bonita C. Hoke of the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters.

State Department spokesman Brian McDonald said he expects most or all of the coalition's findings to be considered by Gov. Ed Rendell's advisory panel on election reform, which is chaired by Secretary of State Pedro Cortes and includes representatives of some of the groups in the coalition.

At its first meeting last month, Rendell urged the panel to feel free to consider a "wide-ranging" array of issues and to treat its May 1 deadline as flexible. Hoke said she is encouraged by those deliberations.

"I think we're going to see some really good things happen," she said.