United Press International; 10/21/2002
Election 2002: Voting reform unfinished (Part of UPI's Special Report on Election 2002)
WASHINGTON , Oct 21, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Only a few states have taken dramatic steps to fix an election system that many say is broken, leaving some voters in the Nov. 5 election still at risk of having their vote diluted.
After the fiasco in Florida following the 2000 federal elections, election reformists and civil rights groups called for widespread and immediate changes to the way elections are run with regards to voting machines, poll workers and registration procedures. However, tight state budgets, brought on by a slumping economy, have prevented many states, if not most, from making substantial changes.
"Little has changed ... despite an apparent groundswell following November 2000," said a 2001 report from the Virginia-based Election Reform Information Project, supported by Pew Charitable Trusts.
"There could be more 'Floridas' than less this year, because there has not been enough significant change," said Maine's Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky. "It's a funding issue."
That funding was promised by Congress earlier this month --- $3.86 billion over the next three years. If President George W. Bush signs off on it, some of the cash could begin flowing to the states almost immediately. But it won't be soon enough to have any effects for this election.
Thus far, only a handful of states, including Georgia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, have instituted major changes in the nation's locally administered elections system, according to Gwadosky.
Optical scanners are the second most popular upgrade for states making changes, after the more popular new computerized touch screen voting machine, according to Election Data Services.
Problems with voting machines, ballots or ballot counting methods are not the only causes of election chaos. The poll workers and the voters themselves are in need of additional education and training, according to elections administrators.
"We've experienced problems with the 'people' part of the process," said Linda Lamone, administrator for the Maryland State Board of Elections. "Poll workers are not paid a lot, they are asked to work 18-hour days. ... They are the weakest link in the system. We are relying on these people to work out of the goodness of their hearts to do this."
This is why diverse election reform groups, such as the NAACP, The League of Women Voters, Georgetown University scholars and Rock the Vote recommend more pay and education for poll workers and more education for voters.
"The answer to all the problems is not just new equipment. We need better training for poll workers, more poll workers, and better education for voters," said Ricci.
States are also increasingly adopting central computerized voter registration databases. According to NCFER, almost 40 percent of voters live in a state with a statewide voter registration database. A central voter database helps prevent voter fraud caused by ballot box stuffing, "ghost voting" under a deceased person's name or "repeater" voters, that group said.
Thirteen states -- Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin --do not have central voter registration databases, according to a July 2002 report by the Constitution Project.
Activists are also calling for streamlined procedures for military and overseas voters, who have to register and request a ballot weeks in advance. Some activists say every state should have one designated official for absentee and military voters.
"This is a bedrock issue --- one of the very tenets of democracy," said Maine's Gwadosky. "It's not as exciting as other issues but it's a long-lasting issue. The credibility of the government rests on the integrity of the election process."
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