Friday, February 15 - The Senate is in session today, and the election reform bill appears to be one of the only agenda items. S 565 has been fiercely debated in the Senate over the last three days, and much progress has been made in a short period of time.

Though no conclusions have been reached, the bill has 50 cosponsors and will hopefully garner the last vote necessary through favorable amendments today. Should this bill pass the Senate, it will have to be presented in the House of Representatives for approval.

A similar bill introduced in the House in 2001 by the Hon. John Conyers, Jr., HR 1170, has 168 cosponsors. For the Senate bill to pass in the House, it will require 218 favorable votes. The House bill sponsorship is strictly partisan-only one Republican, the Hon. Connie Morella, has crossed party lines to cosponsor the bill. Fifty Democrats have also withheld sponsorship thus far. Grass-roots advocates could still play a large roll in the promotion of this bill to facilitate its passage through the House of Representatives.

Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001

The National Association of Colored People (NAACP) has expressed a great deal of concern regarding voting irregularities in the November 7, 2000 election. They have been working closely with other civil rights, civil liberties, voting rights, religious and labor organizations to assist in the crafting of a bill for House and Senate consideration. They would like the support of all justice advocates for this legislation.

If passed, the bill would establish the Commission on Voting Rights and Procedures to study and make recommendation regarding election technology, voting and election administration. It would develop uniform and nondiscriminatory election administration standards, which States will be required to implement for the 2004 general Federal elections. The bill also calls for the establishment of a grant program under which the Office of Justice Programs and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice shall provide assistance to States and localities in improving the administration of elections.

This Commission would hold hearings, take testimony, receive evidence and administer oaths to those called before them. They could require subpoenas, testimony and the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, documents, tapes, and materials as they or a sub-committee or member considers advisable to carry out their mandate. The Chair and Vice Chair of the commission will have to act jointly in the issuing of any subpoena.

Many in the nation stayed riveted to their televisions as news of election problems were reported following the November 7th elections. Some members of Congress reported that they had witnessed for themselves some irregularities. They heard from their constituents about problems with voting procedures in their districts. This bill, and several others have been introduced, to address those concerns and ascertains.

In this particular bill, the sponsors remind us that the right to vote is a fundamental and incontrovertible right under the Constitution and that there is a need for congress to encourage and enable every eligible American to vote by reaffirming that the right to vote is a fundamental right. As fewer Americans go to the election booth, it is important that Congress encourage and enable every eligible American to vote by reaffirming that the United States is a democratic Government "of the people, by the people, and for the people " where every vote does count.

To accomplish this, the bill advances that Congress must:

1. enable every eligible American to vote by eliminating procedural, physical, and technical obstacles to voting.
   
2. counter discrimination in voting by removing barriers to the exercise of the constitutionally protected right to vote.
   
3. require the elimination of physical barriers to persons with disabilities and impairments.
   
4. safeguard the practice of purging illegal voters from voter rolls that it does not result in the elimination of legal voters as well.
   
5. ask that State governments continue to examine ways to improve the administration of elections and to modernize mechanisms and machinery for voting.
   
6. use its authority under section 5 of the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the 15th amendment to the constitution to enact legislation to address the equal protection violations that may be caused by outdated voting systems.
   
7. recognize its obligation to ensure that the necessary resources are available to States and localities to improve election technology and election administration and to ensure the integrity of and full participation of all Americans in the democratic elections process.
   
8. assure that the design of ballots is uniform.
9. reassure voters that access to ballots and polling places, including the timely notice of voting locations and matters relating to access is a valid expectation of the rights of citizenship.

Proposed Commission:

Proponents of this bill as well as many citizens around the nation, urge that the Commission have members who are knowledgeable in election law, election technology, Federal, State or local election administration, the Constitution or the history of the United States. Of course it goes without saying that members should also bring integrity, impartiality, and good judgement. These qualifications are identified in the bill.

The 12-member Commission members will be appointed: six by the President and three each by the Minority Leaders of the House and Senate. If the Minority in one of the houses is of the same party as the President then it will be the Majority Leader of that house who selects these three. This determination is to assure balance of political party representation. The Chair and Vice Chair of the Commission should be selected by the members themselves and should not be from the same party.

It is expected that the Commission will be on call once they have had their initial meeting, which must be scheduled within twenty days of their appointment. They will be empowered to hold hearings when a problem arises in an election.

Hopes and Expectations - It is hoped that the Commission will help develop standards by which federal elections can be held. These standards would include the technical specifications for voting machines, provisional voting procedures, and the preparation and distribution of sample ballots. These are the situations that raised questions and concerns during the 2000 election where so many Americans say that they were disenfranchised and robbed of their right to vote.

The Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 calls for Voting Machines that may work very much the way our Automatic Teller Machines work at our local banks. These machines would: permit the voter to verify the votes selected before the ballot is cast and tabulated; before the vote is actually tabulated, produce a paper record of the vote that was cast; be accessible for individuals with disabilities and other individuals with special needs; not have an error rate of more than 1%.

Many of us have wondered why it has taken so long for an important endeavor as voting to catch up with the availability of technology. We can access our checking account almost anywhere there is an ATM machine. With election procedure reform, the day may come when we can also access the voting booth from our work, vacation or business trip. This may encourage greater political participation by voters who have not voted in years.

It has been suggested that perhaps we should declare election-day a federal holiday in order to assure greater participation in the process. Although many voting places are open early in the morning and stay open for a few hours after the ususal 9 to 5 work day, many people find it difficult to get to the polls as they juggle the demands of family and employer. It is also clear that as we hope to increase voter participation, we will also have to improve the training of those who are the election personnel and volunteers.

Provisional Voters

This proposed legislation suggests that there be a standard set that would allow for provisional voting. Rather then simply turning people away because their name can not be found on the list or because there is some doubt about their citizenship or criminal record, they would be allowed to cast a vote as a "Provisional Voter". All Provisional Votes would be sent promptly to a State or Local office to verify the individuals claim that they are indeed eligible to vote. This is probably a good idea in order to prevent people from being turned away, however, it may be necessary to find a way to assure that previously marginalized people are not abused even by this system that is intended to protect them. Special attention needs to be given to individuals who may need help in understanding the voting process as someone who may be a first time voter or have limited English proficiency.