20 August 2007
New Tools Encourage Americans To Exercise Right to Vote
Help America Vote Act sparks improvements in voting process
Washington – The 2006 U.S. midterm elections saw new technology and procedures set in place to encourage more eligible voters to cast their ballots.
"Midterm elections" are so called because they occur about halfway through a presidential term. According to Mary Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters, a nationwide nonpartisan political organization, those in 2006 involved new voting machines for nearly two-thirds of all voters, new voter identification requirements at all polling places and new voter registration management systems.
And despite the confusion that might be expected from so many changes, “the major meltdown that many feared did not come to pass,” Wilson reported in her December 7, 2006, testimony before the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), an independent bipartisan entity. According to Wilson, most of the problems related to the 2006 midterms were administrative -- such as long lines, poor ballot designs, paper ballot shortages and confusion about identification requirements.
“Yes, there were problems,” Wilson said, “but widespread voter fraud wasn’t one of them. Exit polling data showed that 87 percent of voters were confident that their votes would be counted accurately, she said.
VOTER TURNOUT
In its 2007 Report to Congress, the EAC notes that, overall, voter registration increased in the 2006 midterm elections, compared to the last federal midterm election in 2002. Total reported registration for the November 2006 elections, according to the EAC report, was approximately 172.8 million – an increase of some 12.1 million registrants over the previous four-year period.
Of course, just because a citizen is registered to vote, does not mean he or she actually goes to the polls to cast a ballot. The EAC Report to Congress estimates some 21.2 million inactive voters for 40 States in 2006 (10 states do not keep a tally of inactive registered voters).
Even so, only slightly more than 40 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots in the 2006 midterm elections, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.
To encourage more eligible voters to exercise their rights, and in recognition of the changing times and improved technology, the U.S. government has taken a number of steps.
HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002
On October 29, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). Congress passed HAVA to address voting problems encountered in the 2000 presidential elections.
The result of bipartisan recommendations by the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, the law respects the primacy of state and local governments in the administration of elections. State participation in HAVA is voluntary.
HAVA provides funds to states to replace punch-card voting systems and calls for minimum election administration standards for states and local governments with responsibility for administering federal elections.
HAVA also established the EAC. Among its duties is administering $3 billion in federal funds to help states improve their voting procedures. Other duties of the EAC include producing voluntary voting systems guidelines; accrediting testing laboratories and certifying voting systems; and disseminating information and guidance on laws, procedures and technologies affecting the administration of federal elections.
The goal of the effort is to ensure that every citizen’s vote is counted.
In testimony delivered August 2, 2007, to the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Elections, Donetta Davidson, EAC chair, described two projects due for completion before the 2008 presidential election that focus on getting information to the voters.
The first is a study of Web sites or online portals that voters can use to check if they are registered to vote, and, if so, where they can vote. The second project focuses on telephone hotlines that are used by local election officials to respond to voters’ election-day questions.
More information on the Election Assistance Commission and League of Women Voters are available on their Web sites.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
