Carter and Baker agree major parties want wide access, voter integrity in elections

WILL LESTER

Associated Press   18 April 2005

WASHINGTON - Former President Carter and one-time Secretary of State James A. Baker on Monday rejected the notion that Democrats and Republicans have different interests in who gets to vote.

At the first meeting of a bipartisan commission examining federal election problems, the two co-chairs stressed the importance of a system with extensive access to voters and a minimum of fraud. Claims of voting irregularities following close presidential elections in Ohio last year and in Florida in 2000 prompted the commission meetings.

Carter and Baker dismissed the argument that the two parties cannot agree on those goals.

"Many people have alleged that these are a Republican-versus-Democrat pair of issues," Carter told a news conference following the commission's initial session. They say "the Democrats want everybody to vote whether they're qualified or not, Republicans want to restrict voting to exclude minorities and others not inclined to vote."

Baker said, "We want the widest possible access, consistent with voter integrity."

Reaching consensus on how to achieve those goals may be the hard part. Some problems were addressed in the Help America Vote Act that Congress passed in 2002 and President Bush signed into law.

That measure called for modernizing voter registration systems, updating voter machines and improving voter education and poll worker training. States are supposed to meet specified guidelines in these areas by the beginning of next year but some are behind schedule.

Baker and Carter said there is more that can be done to improve elections.

Some issues that the commission wants to examine include:

_How to make voter registration rolls in one state compatible with another to make it easier to cross-check voter records.

_How to create a "paper trail" with electronic voting machines, which are generally more accurate than lever machines or punch cards but also have caused great suspicion because of the lack of paper to check the vote.

_Whether federal money allocated to states to improve voter systems in the 2002 law is a one-time occurrence or will be continued to make other improvements.

_The status of the 2002 law and how well it's being carried out in the states.

_The possibility of a national voter registration system with some kind of national identity card like a voter registration card or citizenship card.

Carter said it's important to learn why 40 percent of qualified voters do not cast ballots in presidential elections and why people are losing confidence in the integrity of the vote.

Carter headed a commission after the 2000 election along with former President Ford to make recommendations, some of which were included in the 2002 legislation.

Despite partisan differences on some of the voting problems, Baker said he's confident that more can be done.

Commission members on Monday heard from election officials, voting specialists, college professors, civil rights advocates and an advocate for the disabled.

They cited problems in recent federal elections with long lines, inadequate voting machines, unequal voting access for minorities, lack of access to voting for the disabled, and the need for a registration system so voter records can be quickly cross-checked between counties and other states.

The commission meets in June at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston and in August at the Carter Center. In September, it is scheduled to return to Washington to make recommendations.