[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ELECTION REFORM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2005

  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
overall election reform. What we are doing today is not--contrary to 
what some would have you believe--trying to change the past, although 
as long as we are considering the past, I would suggest that today's 
proceedings are taking place 4 years too late. In any case, today's 
activity is not an attempt to overturn the results of the 2004 
Presidential Election. Rather, we are here today to draw attention to 
the multitude of people who were unable to fulfill their fundamental, 
constitutional right to vote in this election, for a variety of 
reasons. This is about securing our system of democracy--not about 
``sour grapes.'' It is unacceptable for any American citizen to be 
disenfranchised, either by intimidation or a misleading ballot. Every 
person who is legally registered to vote should be allowed to exercise 
this essential right and duty of citizenship. Members of Congress 
should be disturbed by the evidence that tens of thousands of voters, 
predominantly from minority and Democratic precincts, had to wait hours 
or were disenfranchised altogether due to unprecedented long lines, 
expected challenges, get-out-the-vote disinformation, electronic voting 
irregularities and questionable practices in tallying provisional 
ballots and completing the recount. This must spur us to action, to 
accomplish effective, bipartisan electoral reform--the kind we should 
already have implemented following the 2000 Presidential Election.
  I look forward to hearing the outcome of the ongoing GAO 
investigation into the reported irregularities in our latest 
Presidential Election, including possible voter intimidation and fraud. 
We must continue our legislative efforts, following in the footsteps of 
The Help America Vote Act, which became law in October 2002, to fulfill 
our responsibility as elected officials to ensure the right of every 
individual citizen to have their vote counted. We must support the 
Election Assistance Commission as it responds quickly to reports of 
irregularities and possible fraud in the 2004 Presidential Election by 
holding hearings on voting systems standards, registration databases, 
and provisional balloting. We also must address allegations of 
inaccurate results from electronic voting machines by supporting 
legislation to require such machines to produce a paper trail that can 
be used in the event of a recount. We must continue to act this session 
to ensure an election process that, in 2008, will maintain integrity as 
well as the public's confidence.

                          ____________________