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Voting Reform Legislation
Languishes in Congress

October 2002 IBEW Journal

By early September 2002, Congress had taken no final action on voting reform after separate bills passed the House and Senate during the spring.

These are H. 3295, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and S. 565, sponsored by Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Both bills await action by a House/Senate conference committee. Although the bills contain provisions to alleviate the discriminatory and disenfranchising aspects of the U.S. voting system, some provisions, particularly in the Senate bill, have stalled the legislation.

For example, the Senate version would require new voters to show an identifying document or photo ID when they arrive at the polls. Some civil rights groups contend that many minority voters and the poor often do not have the necessary documents, or they are intimidated by the requirement to obtain them, and thus would be excluded from voting. As of August, legislators were trying to work out the problems with identification.

Another contentious provision would enable states to escape enforcement of deadlines for national voting standards until 2010five elections from now. In addition, protection for the voting guarantees in the motor voter law is not included; and details need to be refined for a provision for disabled Americans unable to operate a standard voting machine.

However, according to Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, the Senate bill "is vastly superior to the House counterpart, which features weak or nonexistent national voting standards, dubious federal enforcement and poor targeting of its $2.65 billion in funds for various voting system improvements."


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NOVEMBER 5, 2002

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