[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 35 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2495-S2498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself and Ms. Mikulski):
  S. 730. A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to protect 
voting rights and to improve the administration of Federal elections, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, as we move forward in the coming months in 
the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on critical election 
reform hearings, I wanted to take this opportunity to re-introduce my 
legislation, the Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights 
(VOTER) Act of 2007. I am committed to working with our new Rules 
Committee Chair Senator Feinstein and my other Rules Committee 
colleagues, and with others off the committee, to try to secure 
enactment of tough new election reform legislation in this Congress. 
This bill provides a focus and framework for that discussion.
  It does not purport to address all of the key problems in election 
reform that have arisen since enactment in 2002 of the historic Help 
America Vote Act (HAVA), but it is an important start, and I am pleased 
that Senator Feinstein and I will be working together on comprehensive 
reform legislation this year. In light of the continuing barriers that 
American citizens

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found at polling places across this Nation last November, including 
technological barriers, human errors, and other problems, we cannot 
rest on the laurels of past legislation. We must continue to strive to 
provide an equal opportunity for all citizens to participate in their 
democracy by voting and having their vote counted.
  That's why today I am re-introducing this legislation. There is 
nothing more fundamental to the vitality of a democracy of the people, 
by the people, and for the people, than the people's right to vote. In 
the words of Thomas Paine: ``The right of voting for representatives is 
the primary right by which other rights are protected.'' Indeed, it is 
the right on which all others in our democracy depend.
  We still have a long way to go before we get to the point where all 
Americans are able to participate without obstacles in our elections, 
and able to participate with confidence in the voting systems they use. 
In the 2000 presidential election, 51.2 percent of the eligible 
American electorate voted. And although in the 2004 presidential 
election voting participation reached its highest level since 1968, 
only 60.7 percent of eligible Americans voted. That dropped back down, 
in the 2006 off-year elections, to just over 40 percent.
  While there are many reasons why more Americans do not vote, we 
learned from the debacle of the 2000 presidential elections that many 
citizens cannot vote and have their vote counted because they are 
improperly removed from registration rolls, do not have access to 
accessible voting systems and ballots, or lack confidence in antiquated 
and error-prone machines and State administrative procedures. In 
response to those concerns, in 2002 Congress enacted HAVA, 
overwhelmingly bipartisan election reform legislation. For the first 
time in our history, that landmark legislation established the role of 
the Federal Government in administering and funding Federal elections. 
The twin goals of the act were to make it easier to vote and harder to 
defraud the system.

  On the day that the Senate adopted its version of HAVA, I noted that 
the Senate bill was a bipartisan compromise and the culmination of the 
hard work of a dedicated group of Senators. But I also noted that the 
compromise was just that--it was not everything that all of us wanted, 
but it was something that everyone wanted. That was equally true of the 
final HAVA compromise on election reform.
  The 2004 and 2006 elections raised both continuing and new concerns. 
And some of the most important of these concerns are not addressed by 
HAVA. The fact that less than one-half of the eligible voting age 
population voted in 2006 underscores the reality that not everybody 
votes in America. We must do better on this front, and we can. As the 
2006 elections in some states reminded us, we also must do better at 
bolstering Americans' confidence in the security and reliability of our 
election systems, while preserving critical access to people with 
disabilities, language minorities, and others.
  Let me summarize briefly what this bill does. First, the VOTER Act 
provides every eligible American, regardless of where they live in the 
world or where they find themselves on election day, the right to cast 
a National Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot in Federal elections. This 
new national absentee ballot extends to all citizens the same right to 
a Federal absentee ballot that overseas and active military voters 
currently have. Beginning with Federal elections in 2008, every State 
shall provide early voting opportunities for a minimum of 15 days prior 
to election day, including Saturdays. Beginning in 2009, any otherwise 
eligible voter must be allowed to register to vote on election day and 
have that vote counted in Federal elections. This last provision would 
in itself be a major advance.
  The VOTER Act also addresses many of the recurring, and new, barriers 
to voting that voters faced at the polls in the last two federal 
elections. It requires that a State count a provisional ballot for 
Federal office cast within the State by an otherwise eligible voter, 
notwithstanding the polling place where the ballot is cast.
  HAVA established a uniform national right for every voter in a 
Federal election to receive and cast a provisional ballot. This new 
right was intended to ensure that no otherwise eligible voter could be 
turned away from the polls because of an administrative error or other 
challenge. But in 2004, and again in 2006, we saw this right eroded by 
States and applied in non-uniform ways. Some States, such as Ohio, 
initially interpreted HAVA to require that a voter be in their correct 
precinct in order to cast a Federal provisional ballot. Other States 
interpreted the same HAVA language to allow challenged voters to cast a 
provisional ballot in their county of residence. Whether or not the 
provisional ballot was ultimately counted turned solely on State law. 
This bill ensures that voters who cast a provisional ballot for Federal 
office will have that ballot counted in a uniform manner.
  In addition, the VOTER Act requires that each State provide a minimum 
required number of voting systems and poll workers for each polling 
place on election day and during early voting, consistent with 
mandatory standards established by the Election Assistance Commission. 
This is to avoid the problem of long lines and disenfranchised voters 
because of too few voting systems or ballots at polling places and too 
few poll workers to assist voters. This requirement would become 
effective in January, 2008.
  To ensure that all voters have an opportunity to independently verify 
their ballot before it is cast and counted, the VOTER Act also requires 
that all States provide voters a voter-verified ballot with a choice of 
at least four formats for verification: a paper record; an audio 
record; a pictorial record; and an electronic record or other means 
which is fully accessible to the disabled, including the blind and 
visually impaired.
  HAVA already requires that all voting systems provide voters an 
opportunity to verify their ballot before it is cast and counted. HAVA 
also requires that all systems produce a permanent paper record for 
audit purposes. However, it does not spell out how that verification is 
to be achieved to ensure security and independence of the voter's 
choice.
  In the last few years, many have called on Congress to require a 
voter-verified paper ballot. And I understand what is behind that 
impulse. Even so, unless voter verification schemes are carefully 
crafted, paper-only processes can be less accurate, printer jams can 
result in more destroyed ballots, and they can inherently discriminate 
against the disabled, particularly the blind and visually-impaired. 
HAVA already requires that all voters, regardless of disability, be 
able to verify their ballots. With current and developing technology--
and with new approaches being developed which will require paper 
ballots which are then convertible into formats for verification that 
are accessible to persons with disabilities and language minorities--I 
am hopeful that as we move forward we will be able to work out an 
approach on which all sides can agree.
  I continue to believe it is important to preserve the anti-
discrimination requirements in current law, by ensuring that 
appropriate verification alternatives are offered to those who need 
them. I know my colleagues have various proposals on this issue to 
bring before the Committee for its consideration, either separately or 
as part of more comprehensive reform efforts, and we should examine 
those proposals carefully. That process has already begun with the 
Committee's hearing last month which focused on problems with 
electronic voting systems, including those currently before the court 
in the contested election for the 13th Congressional District in 
Sarasota County, Florida.
  The VOTER Act also addresses the continuing problem of minority 
disenfranchisement through last-minute purges of voter registration 
lists by requiring States to provide public notice of any such purges 
not later than 45 days before a Federal election.
  To expedite the studies called for under HAVA for establishing 
election day as a Federal holiday, the VOTER Act requires the EAC to 
complete its study and issue recommendations within 6 months of 
enactment and earmarks funds within the EAC budget solely for this 
purpose.
  It also includes amendments to HAVA that build on the existing voting 
system requirements to ensure that all voting systems, including punch 
cards

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and central count optical scan machines, provide voters with actual 
notice of over-votes. Also, beginning in 2009, States must allow for 
voter registration through the Internet. The bill also includes 
provisions to ensure both the security and uniform treatment of voter 
registration applications by requiring that all voters sign an 
affidavit attesting to both their citizenship and age, in lieu of the 
HAVA requirements for a check-off box alone, effective in 2009.
  HAVA requires that voter registration forms include questions 
regarding citizenship and age with check-off boxes that applicants use 
to indicate whether or not they meet eligibility requirements. States 
are further required to contact any applicant who does not fill in the 
boxes in order to complete the form. However, in the 2004 and 2006 
elections, States implemented this requirement in widely varying ways, 
resulting in non-uniform treatment of voters in Federal elections. In 
some cases, States refused to process the form and failed to contact 
the voter. In other States, voters who had submitted incomplete forms 
were asked to complete those forms at the polling place. While the twin 
purposes of HAVA were to make it easier to vote and harder to defraud 
the system, as implemented this requirement achieves neither purpose. 
This requirement further resulted in disenfranchising voters who failed 
to check a box but nonetheless signed an affidavit, under penalty of 
perjury, attesting to both their citizenship and age. With the 
implementation of statewide voter registration lists, the check-off box 
requirement is unnecessary and burdensome to both voters and election 
administrators.
  To ensure that the implementation of the voter identification 
requirements in HAVA do not make it harder to vote, the VOTER Act 
expands the forms of identification that can be used to establish 
identity for first-time voters who submit their voter registration by 
mail to include an affidavit executed by the voter attesting to his or 
her identity, generally subject to penalties for perjury under State 
law.
  The VOTER Act also begins to respond to concerns first raised in the 
2000 Presidential election in Florida, and echoed again in the 2004 and 
2006 elections, regarding the appearance of impartiality by State 
election officials who were otherwise active in Federal campaigns. The 
bill imposes new accountability and transparency requirements on 
States, beginning in 2008, including a public notice requirement of any 
changes in State law affecting the administration of elections, such as 
changes in polling places and actions denying access to polling place 
observers. Some have urged going beyond this, including by banning 
state election officials from engaging in political activity in races 
which they oversee; the committee should consider this approach 
carefully.
  To ensure the independence of the Election Assistance Commission, and 
the timely issuance of guidance and standards, the bill provides the 
agency with independent budget authority and the authority to issue 
mandatory standards to implement the new requirements. Finally, in 
recognition of the inherent role of the States in the administration of 
Federal elections, the VOTER Act provides additional Federal funds for 
the State requirement grants under HAVA to implement the new 
requirements.
  This measure does not pretend to be exhaustive, and I know there are 
other important reform ideas that will be considered by the committee, 
including measures to penalize deceptive voter intimidation practices, 
to impose additional voting systems testing, to improve poll worker 
training, to ease registration for new voters, and others. I welcome a 
full discussion of all of these issues.
  While Congress accomplished much with the passage of the Help America 
Vote Act following the debacle of the 2000 Presidential election, 5 
years later voters still face some of the same barriers to voting that 
HAVA promised to remove. As we move forward on election reform this 
year, let us ensure that every eligible American voter has an equal 
opportunity to cast a vote and have that vote counted in Federal 
elections.
  I invite my colleagues to join me as cosponsors of this measure, and 
I ask unanimous consent that a brief section-by-section analysis of 
this measure be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the analysis was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Act of 2007


                      section-by-section analysis

     Sec. 1.--Tit1e; Table of Contents.
     Sec. 2.--Findings and Purposes.
     Sec. 3.--National Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot.
       Sec. 3 creates a National Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot 
     (NFWAB) for Federal office to be used in a Federal election 
     by any otherwise eligible voter.
       Sec. 3 requires States to accept the NFWAB cast by any 
     person eligible to vote in a Federal election, provided the 
     ballot has been postmarked or signed by the voter before the 
     close of the polls on election day.
       Sec. 3 requires the Election Assistance Commission to 
     prescribe a national Federal write-in absentee ballot and 
     prescribe standards for distributing the ballot, including 
     distribution through the Internet.
     Sec. 4.--Voter Verified Ballots.
       Sec. 4 requires that all voting systems purchased after 
     January 1, 2009 and used in Federal elections provide an 
     independent means for each voter to verify the ballot before 
     it is cast and counted.
       Sec. 4 allows each voter to choose one means of 
     verification from among the following options--(l) paper; (2) 
     audio; (3) pictorial; or (4) an electronic record accessible 
     for voters with disabilities.
     Sec. 5.--Requirements for Counting Provisional Ballots.
       Sec. 5 requires that a State shall count a provisional 
     ballot for Federal office cast within the State by an 
     otherwise eligible voter, notwithstanding the polling place 
     in which the ballot is cast.
     Sec. 6.--Minimum Required Voting Systems and Poll Workers in 
         Polling Places.
       Sec. 6 requires that each state shall provide the minimum 
     required number of voting systems and poll workers for each 
     polling place on election day and during early voting, 
     consistent with mandatory standards established by the 
     Election Assistance Commission.
     Sec. 7.--Election Day Registration.
        Sec. 7 requires that each State shall provide for election 
     day registration in a Federal election for any otherwise 
     eligible individual, using a form established by the Election 
     Assistance Commission, unless the State does not have a voter 
     registration requirement.
     Sec. 8.--Integrity of Voter Registration Lists.
       Sec. 8 requires that each State provide public notice at 
     least 45 days before a Federal election of all names removed 
     from the voter registration list.
     Sec. 9.--Early Voting.
       Sec. 9 requires that each State shall establish an early 
     voting program for a minimum of 15 calendar days before a 
     Federal election that provides a uniform voting period each 
     day, except Sunday, for at least 4 hours.
     Sec. 10.--Acceleration of Study on Election Day as a Public 
         Holiday.
       Sec. 10 requires the Election Assistance Commission to 
     submit within 6 months of enactment of this Act the report on 
     establishing a public election day holiday and uniform poll 
     closing time, and authorizes $100,000 for fiscal year 2007 
     for that purpose.
     Sec. 11.--lmprovements to Voting Systems.
       Sec. 11 requires that punch card and central count voting 
     systems conform to the in person notice of over-votes in Sec. 
     301 of the Help America Vote Act and to permit a--voter to 
     verify and change or correct any errors before the ballot is 
     cast and counted.
     Sec. 12.--Voter Registration.
       Sec. 12 requires that, by January 1, 2009, the mail 
     registration form be changed to include an affidavit to be 
     signed by the voter attesting to citizenship and age 
     eligibility and requires each State to establish a program to 
     permit voter registration through the Internet.
     Sec. 13.--Establishing Voter Identification.
       Sec. 13 requires that an individual may meet the 
     identification requirement for voters who register by mail as 
     described in Sec. 303 of the Help America Vote Act by 
     executing a written affidavit attesting to the individual's 
     identity.
       Sec. 13 requires the Election Assistance Commission to 
     develop standards for verifying voter identification 
     information required for registration (the driver's license 
     number or last four digits of the social security number), as 
     described in Sec. 303 of the Help America Vote Act.
     Sec. 14.--Impartial Administration of Elections.
       Sec. 14 requires that each State will issue a public notice 
     of changes in State election law since the most recent 
     election.
        Sec. 14 requires that each State will allow uniform, 
     nondiscriminatory access to observe a Federal election at any 
     polling place to party challengers, voting and civil rights 
     organizations, and nonpartisan domestic and international 
     observers.
     Sec. 15.--Strengthening the Election Assistance Commission.
       Sec. 15 requires the Election Assistance Commission to 
     provide budget estimates and requests to the Congress, the 
     House Administration Committee, and the Senate Rules

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     and Administration Committee when it submits such estimates 
     and requests to the President or Office of Management and 
     Budget; the section provides rule-making authority for the 
     Election Assistance Commission with respect to subtitle C of 
     this Act; the section requires that the Director of the 
     National Institutes of Standards and Technology provide the 
     Commission with technical support.
       Sec. 15 authorizes $23 million for the operational costs of 
     the Election Assistance Commission for fiscal year 2007, with 
     $3 million earmarked for the National Institute of Standards 
     and Technology for technical support, and such sums as 
     necessary for the succeeding fiscal years.
     Sec. 16.--Authorization of Appropriations.
       Sec. 16 authorizes $2 billion for fiscal year 2007 and such 
     sums as necessary thereafter for requirements grants to 
     States under title II of the Help America Vote Act to 
     implement the additional requirements.
                                 ______