Even Iowa has room for improvement

Opinion    Chet Culver, Iowa SoS  
Iowa?s good election system will be made even better as we embrace the spirit of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and use improved technologies that will allow Iowans to vote with machines that are accessible, have lower rates of error, and provide the confidence our voters deserve.

As Iowa?s Secretary of State and State Commissioner of Elections, I?ve been involved in the federal election law, HAVA, since its early stages of development. It was formulated in the aftermath of a presidential election in 2000 that exposed flaws and inconsistencies in our nation?s voting process ? flaws that Congress believed could be fixed through a concerted effort and partnership between public officials at all levels of government.

The Help America Vote Act was passed into law in 2002 with overwhelming bipartisan support, including the votes of all Iowa congressmen and senators. Unlike most mandates from the federal government, HAVA comes with significant federal funding ? nearly $30 million for Iowa. Nationwide, this is the most expansive effort to improve voting processes in 40 years.

Our Iowa HAVA plan will make election administration better by investing in four critical areas: technology, accessibility, election official training and voter education. Our Iowa plan is the result of hundreds of hours of meetings involving citizens throughout the state and the active involvement of virtually all county election officials. Most election officials embrace the plan and have worked hard to make it better. A few have chosen not to participate and have held out false hope that they would be granted an exemption from HAVA compliance.

Using the federal monies provided, HAVA requires all states to invest in voting systems that provide lower rates of error and, for the first time, machines that will allow all voters to cast their ballots privately and independently. In Iowa, we can be thankful that we haven?t experienced the kind of voting problems some states have experienced. But can we do better? The answer is yes.

The Iowa HAVA Plan retains a significant degree of local decision-making. It provides county officials with choices with respect to voting systems, equipment features and manufacturers. They can make the choices deemed appropriate locally and use federal monies to pay for most of the costs.

I invite the public to provide input on these important decisions. For that purpose, I am holding a series of public meetings throughout the state. The eastern Iowa meeting is in Davenport on Tuesday night. Please come. Only through a healthy exchange of ideas and opinions can we produce the best results for all Iowans.

Chet Culver is Iowa Secretary of State. Contact him at (515) 281-8993