[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 61 (Thursday, April 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR SECURE ELECTIONS ACT OF 2008

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                               speech of

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 15, 2008

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, while I was unfortunately absent for the vote 
on H.R. 5036 due to commitments in my home state of California, I would 
have voted in support of this legislation had I been present. I am 
deeply dismayed that the bill failed to pass by a wide margin.
  As an original cosponsor of H.R. 5036, the Emergency Assistance for 
Secure Elections Act, I thank Congressman Holt for his vigorous efforts 
to provide emergency support to states and counties that wish to ensure 
that all votes are accurately counted through the use of paper ballots. 
This bill would provide assistance to states and counties that 
voluntarily choose to use paper-based voting systems. States would be 
able to seek federal reimbursements for emergency paper ballots that 
are offered in the event of technological failures. The bill would make 
funding available for the development of procedures to conduct hand-
counted audits or to hand-count the results of elections.
  Free and fair elections are fundamental aspects of a representative 
democracy like the United States, and we must provide the necessary 
support to our state and local governments to strengthen the integrity 
of our democracy. In the 2004 election, while widespread usage of 
electronic voting machines helped standardize our nation's voting 
system and prevented some of the problems that occurred with punch-card 
ballots in the 2000 election, there were reports of voting 
irregularities, some of which were due to glitches in electronic voting 
machine software. This is why it is absolutely necessary to make 
available paper receipts that each voter can verify for themselves.
  To this end, I am also a cosponsor of H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence 
and Increased Accessibility Act. The legislation would require voting 
systems to produce a voter-verified paper record suitable for a manual 
audit equivalent or superior to that of a paper ballot box system.
  A few years ago, I held a town hall meeting on electronic voting at 
Santa Clara University to expand my knowledge and public awareness of 
direct recording electronic (DRE) devices. The program provided much 
insight into the development of DREs but it also left many unanswered 
questions about their security and reliability. Since then, I have 
supported legislation that seeks to ensure a voter verifiable record 
and greater openness in the testing and certification process of DREs.
  Even as secure technology is developed, voter verifiable records will 
sustain the high integrity of our voting processes. It is imperative 
that Congress helps support those states and counties that are willing 
to use paper ballots to strengthen our democracy until electronic 
systems that produce a paper trail are available, and to ensure that 
all American votes cast will be counted.

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