Unless changes are made nationally or in the states, significant numbers of voters are likely to face unnecessary and troubling obstacles to participating in next year’s election and in future elections.  There are numerous examples of election administrators purging qualified voters from the voter rolls because of faulty or incomplete information. Students in several states are not permitted to vote where they attend school.  In Florida, a law that placed new burdens and the threat of massive fines on citizen sponsored registration efforts led the League of Women Voters to abandon their registration drives for the first time in approximately 70 years.  That law is being challenged in court, but similar laws been adopted in Ohio, New Mexico and elsewhere.  These incidents demonstrate the extent to which some will go to try and manipulate the process. 

 

Several important changes can be adopted by the federal government and states in time for the 2008 general election.

 

Don’t drop eligible voters from the rolls

 

States should have clear standards for cleaning the voter rolls that do not leave eligible voters unregistered on Election Day.  Voters who do not immediately respond to a mailing or miss a single election should not purged from the registration list.  Voters dropped from the rolls should be notified with enough time to ask that their registration be restored when a mistake has been made.  Rules are spelled out in the National Voter registration Act, but many states are not following the rules.

 

Allow all citizens to vote where they live

 

Citizens who move to a new location in time register are allowed to vote in the new locale.  There are no residency requirements.  That is, with the exception of college students. In far too many communities, students are not allowed to vote where they attend school despite the fact that they make a 4 year commitment to the community.  There is no reason that students should be automatically barred from participating in elections in the communities where they live.

 

Prevent excessive waits at the polls

 

Election administrators should determine how many voting machines are needed in each polling location based on objective criteria that allocates machines evenly.  In the 2006 election, certain polling locations had fewer machines per capita than others.  It appears decisions about machine allocation were made based on party affiliation rather than number of voters. The unfair distribution left voters in less-favored precincts with very long lines.  The excessive wait times – some several hours long -- discouraged voters from casting a ballot.

 

Ensure poll workers have the tools and information to ensure a smooth and accurate election

 

Local administrators have cited a lack of resources as a critical reason for difficulties in recruiting and properly training poll workers.  In many places, not malice but understaffed polling locations and ill trained workers play a significant role in the problems of recent elections. Changes in technology and policy create confusion and keep many eligible voters from voting. 

Congress should recognize that it is time for the federal government to help fund federal elections  -- it is the original unfunded mandate.

 

Encourage newly eligible voters to register

 

In an election year, administrators should send registration forms to newly eligible voters including those who recently turned 18 and those who recently moved into the state or locality. 

 

Have backup if the machines breakdown

 

No voting system is perfect.  Machines break down.  In precincts that do not use a paper ballot, there should be emergency paper ballots available for voters seeking to cast a ballot while measures are taken to correct any problems.

 

Don’t create roadblocks to registration

 

Civic groups and others regularly sponsor voter registration drives in communities across the country.  Millions of eligible voters are registered each election through these drives.  These drives should be allowed to register people without unnecessary roadblocks or threats of retribution for minor mistakes.  Local registrars should not have to be present at every registration event and offices must not be allowed to deny registrations simply because they were collected during a registration drive or for nonmaterial markings on the registration forms.

 

Have established rules for counting all ballots

 

Registration lists are not always accurate and up to date.  Recognizing that fact, Congress included in the Help America Vote Act the requirement that voters not found on the rolls be allowed to cast a provisional ballot.  However, states and counties within a single state have differing rules for counting provisional ballots.  The hodgepodge of rules means that a voter’s ballot may or may not be considered valid depending not upon eligibility but upon the location in which it was cast.  There should be one set of standards to ensure that all ballots are treated fairly.

 

Allow people to register on Election Day and develop systems for automatic registration

 

A proven solution to many of the registration problems listed above is to allow voters to register on Election Day.  Several states have successfully implemented Election Day registration (EDR) and have workable models for other states to follow.  None of the states with EDR report increases in voter fraud or administrative problems that have kept others from moving ahead with this reform.  In several studies, EDR has been credited with significant increases in citizen participation.

Additionally, we should catch up to other democracies around the world and institute a system of automatic registration.  Bureaucracy loves paperwork, but it is time consuming, expensive and unnecessary.  Rather than have separate forms, voters should be registered to vote (unless they choose not to) when they get a driver’s license, pay taxes, receive a library card or interact in any number ways with the government.

In short, voting rules should favor the voter rather create “gotcha” opportunities for administrators to deny otherwise eligible voters from participating.

Nationally, a public that is sharply divided politically agrees that elections should be fair and accurate.  Following the 2000 election, a Gallop poll found that 67% of the public had little or no confidence in the nation’s vote counting.  While recent polls may show that fears have abated somewhat, there is still reason enough to question the integrity of our elections.

 

Election night mishaps that brought unwanted national attention to certain states coupled with the recent election of several new reform minded Secretaries of State provide a new opening for reform.  Given the prospect of another tightly contested national election, key policy makers and election officials are looking for ways to ensure that they have practices in place to safeguard against embarrassment and ridicule.   We can take advantage of the current climate to work with policy makers to implement some changes in the near term that offer the public some improvements for this election as well as more systemic changes for implementation in the future.