Monday December 15, 2003
W.Va. set for voter database
by The Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia is poised to clear a major hurdle erected by the federal Help America Vote Act. But other mandates remain, including one that state election officials are choosing to duck for now.
Shortly after New Year's Day, the Mountain State will list all 1 million-plus of its voters on a computer database shared among all 55 counties.
"All of the information is real-time, it will all come from a central location and it will all extend to the local level," said Jan Casto, who oversees HAVA compliance for Secretary of State Joe Manchin.
HAVA does not require this database until 2006, but states must apply for more time by Jan. 1 if they believe they cannot meet that deadline. Casto said West Virginia is ahead of the curve.
At least 24 states plan to ask for a waiver, according to the nonpartisan Election Reform Information Project. Another five states have yet to decide whether to apply for one.
"There's not going to be a lot of states ready to implement Jan. 1," said Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. "Most will take the waiver, if nothing else."
Kiffmeyer, Manchin and 36 of their counterparts nationwide oversee elections as part of their duties.
A Massachusetts company, PCC Technology Group, has installed computers and other gear in the offices of all 55 county clerks, who oversee voter registration. It also has helped train county election officials over the last several months.
Webster County Clerk Terry Payne and her staff got their overview last week.
"We haven't worked with it very much yet, but it seems like it's going to work out well," Payne said. "The only concern I would have is whether if one county's computer goes down, the rest of them go down as well."
Casto said her office will train on the new system this week, while offering follow-up training to county officials who need it.
A statewide, computerized voter registration system will allow county officials to discover when a registering voter is already on the list of another county. The lists for both counties could then be d almost instantly.
"That will really, really go a long way in cleaning up our rolls," Casto said.
The system is also designed to rely on computer files from the Division of Motor Vehicles to flag multiple-county voters. Records from the state Health Statistics Center, meanwhile, will help purge the rolls of dead voters.
Casto said the new system has not detected any signs of voter fraud.
"We have seen no indication that people have been voting in the names of other people," she said. "Perhaps if it has occurred, it would not be apparent in this phase of the process."
The new database will also draw on files from the Division of Corrections to bar convicted felons in custody, including on probation or parole, from registering or voting, Casto said.
West Virginia did not have to build the system entirely from scratch. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prompted all the counties to computerize their voter rolls. The new system will also reply on the high-speed, Internet-based computer network that the state Supreme Court set up last year to connect it and the county courthouses.
The new computers, software and training are all covered by about $1.5 million from West Virginia's share of HAVA funding. The states have been promised $3.86 billion, but $830 million of that has been tied up in Congress.
That balance should be freed up because the Senate last week confirmed the four members of the new Election Assistance Commission, created to oversee HAVA-related issues among the states.
But West Virginia is among at least 14 states that will apply for a waiver from another HAVA mandate: installing at least one voting machine in every precinct that a disabled person can use unassisted. The new machines must by in place in time for the 2006 elections, but states that need more time must notify federal officials by Jan. 1.
Casto said Manchin remains concerned about the computer touch-screen machines touted as meeting this requirement.
"People have to be comfortable that their vote is recorded and reflects exactly how they actually voted," Casto said. "
A paper trail is also a factor.
"(Manchin) wants the new machines to print out while the voter is still standing there, but it must also keep the ballot private for the voter," Casto said.
West Virginia must apply for the waiver because it uses both lever machines and punch card ballots that have drawn much scrutiny by election reform advocates. Both methods of voting are targeted by HAVA.
Casto said Manchin plans to tell federal officials that because of "recent reports of possible voting system manipulation," the state needs more time "in order to make a responsible decision when ing the voting equipment."
Though Minnesota no longer relies on either of the targeted voting methods, Kiffmeyer said she understands West Virginia's concerns.
"It's a raging issue," Kiffmeyer said. "Waiting until 2006 is just fine in my book."
Lawrence Messina covers the Statehouse for The Associated Press.
