[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E39-E40]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  INTEGRITY IN VOTER REGISTRATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Integrity 
in Voter Registration Act. Unfortunately, the issue of voter 
registration and the integrity of our election system sometimes goes 
overlooked. Indeed, the

[[Page E40]]

issue of who may vote and where they may do it is at the very heart of 
our democratic system. Preserving the integrity of this process is 
critical. But, there is significant evidence that vote fraud is not a 
rare occurrence.
  There is a much bigger picture involving voter fraud that we do not 
always read about. However, I would recommend to my colleagues that 
they read a well-written book, ``Dirty Little Secrets,'' by Larry J. 
Sabato and Glenn R. Simpson. Mr. Sabato is a well respected political 
scientist at the University of Virginia and Mr. Simpson used to work 
for the bi-weekly paper on Capitol Hill, Roll Call. These two authors 
tackle numerous topics, including voter fraud. And it's scary.
  Vote fraud issues include dead people voting, people being able to 
game the system and lousy verification procedures. The tale of how a 
person was able to register his dog by mail is one of my favorites.
  The election registration process is generally handled at the state 
level. However, Congress asserted itself quite boldly when we passed 
the so-called ``motor-voter'' registration legislation, the National 
Voter Registration Act of 1993. This legislation requires states to 
establish motor registration procedures for federal elections so that 
eligible citizens may apply to register to vote (1) simultaneously with 
applying for a driver's license, (2) by mail, and (3) at selected state 
and local offices that serve the public. I certainly have no problem 
with making it easier for people to register to vote. Of course, if 
someone would not take the time to register to vote prior to the 
change, I question whether he or she would actually vote once 
registered, but that debate has already been had.
  The question we must now face deal with the potential for fraud in 
voter registration. To quote Sabato and Simpson, ``[v]oting fraud is 
back, is becoming more serious with each passing election cycle, and 
soon--because of the recent changes in the law--is destined to become 
even worse.'' The reason why motor-voter will make voting fraud an 
issue that we will not be able to ignore is the same reason why the 
bill was so popular: it makes it easier to register to vote. Any one of 
my colleagues could sit at home and mail in voter registration cards 
with different addresses with little problem. I could even register my 
dog. As I said, it's been done.
  To relate this another way, when I am back home doing precinct walks, 
my campaign will purchase voter rolls and have them sorted by 
household. In the past, there used to be a few duplicates or outdated 
names on the list, but nothing overwhelming. Nowadays, it is not 
uncommon to see several different names listed for one address. These 
people may or may not have really lived at the address given, but 
certainly not all of them are living there now. The rolls are filled 
with outdated names and addresses. It is no longer an error here, an 
outdated address there. To put it in fiscal terms, in California alone, 
``deadwood'' voters cause state and local governments to waste $5 to $8 
million of taxpayers' money printing and mailing voter pamphlets, 
unneeded ballots, and the like.
  The more we allow our voting rolls to get out of hand, the less 
secure our election system will be. Some of this can be done locally by 
improving databases or centralizing the system. However, the federal 
government can also allow state and local governments to use a few 
tools at absolutely no cost to the taxpayer. This is what my 
legislation aims to do.
  Mr. Speaker, the Florida State Association of Supervisors of 
Elections came to me toward the end of the 104th Congress with 
suggestions as to how the federal government can assist them in doing 
their jobs. I have turned their suggestions into the Integrity in Voter 
Registration Act. First, this bill would require applicants registering 
to vote in federal elections to provide their Social Security numbers. 
Second, a state would be allowed to remove a registrant's name from the 
list of eligible voters if the registrant has not voted in two 
consecutive federal general elections after having received a notice 
requesting confirmation of the registrant's address.
  The Social Security number requirement would allow each person to 
have a unique identifier with their name. It would make it easier to 
spot duplicate registrations. The notification requirement gives 
guidance to states since federal law is currently a bit vague.
  Mr. Speaker, this proposal was given to me by the Florida State 
Association of Supervisors of Elections and I have gotten letters from 
other people outside of Florida, including Texas and Illinois. These 
two changes would go a long way toward helping keep the voter rolls 
clean. Surely this is no silver bullet. Nothing is. But this proposal 
would make a serious dent in duplicative and sometimes fraudulent 
registrations, ensuring the integrity of our electoral system. I urge 
my colleagues to support the Integrity in Voter Registration Act.

                          ____________________