[EM] Senate passes bill aimed at reforming elections

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

D- The Supremes may yet have to act (as in Bush v. Gore, ___ U.S. ____ 
(2000)) if the bill/law goes beyond anything directly connected with the 
election of U.S.A. Representatives and U.S.A. Senators.   

The States are NOT quite yet dead in the area of holding elections for 
President Electors and State/local officers.
-------

Politics: Senate passes bill aimed at reforming
elections 

Overview of election overhaul bills 
Search for more information on this legislation at
thomas.loc.gov. 

By JANELLE CARTER, Associated Press 


WASHINGTON (April 11, 2002 5:17 p.m. EDT) - The Senate
voted Thursday to make states correct the kinds of
balloting problems that threw Florida's presidential
vote into dispute and to address voter fraud that
occurred in other parts of the country.

The 99-1 passage of the bill capped a months-long
argument between Republicans and Democrats over how
much power the federal government should wield over
states and whether tough anti-fraud standards would
cost poor voters their ballots.

In the end, both sides got a little of what they
wanted. As Democrats sought, states would get $3.5
billion in grants to upgrade equipment and procedures
in exchange for meeting increased federal standards.
In a concession to Republicans, voters who register by
mail would have to show identification the first time
they vote.

The deal isn't final. Senate negotiators must still
resolve differences with the House, which passed its
own $2.6 billion version in December. Both bills spend
the money over five years.

"This has been a marathon," said Sen. Chris Dodd,
D-Conn., one of the measure's authors. "While we
aren't at the finish yet, meaningful election reform
took an important step forward today and the real
winners are the American people."

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the bill's
Republican sponsor, said the bill makes the nation's
election systems "more accurate, more accessible and
more honest."

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., the only lawmaker to vote
against the bill, complained that it was "a
one-size-fits-all solution that failed to serve a
rural state like Montana."

The bill is intended to prevent a recurrence of the
balloting problems in Florida that marred the 2000
election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, delaying
a decision in the presidential race until 36 days
after Election Day.

The identification requirements stem from fraud
allegations that cropped up in places like Missouri,
where a dead alderman and a dog were registered to
vote.

Under the bill, first-time voters who registered by
mail can prove their identities with photo IDs,
utility bills or some other documents. Voters in
Oregon and Washington state, which have mail-in
voting, could write their driver's license number or
the last four digits of their Social Security number
on forms when they initially register to vote. No
further documentation would be needed for mail-in
voting.

Both the House and Senate bills establish things like
statewide registration lists and provisional voting to
improve election systems. Under provisional voting,
people who do not appear on election rolls but say
they are eligible to vote could vote. Election
officials later would determine whether the ballots
were valid.

In a key difference, the House version establishes
voluntary standards and gives states the leeway to
craft their own improvements. The Senate version
mandates that states make certain changes.

Civil rights groups have lobbied heavily for the
Senate version, but state and local governments prefer
the House bill.

Thursday, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, chairwoman of
the Congressional Black Caucus, said she would push
for the Senate version of the bill. "Hopefully we are
on our way to the final end of this so every American
voter can feel they are part of a real democracy,"
Johnson, D-Texas, said.

The White House has already signaled its support for
some sort of election overhaul bill. President Bush
included a $400 million down payment in his budget
proposal for next year to go toward an eventual $1.2
billion fund for state and local governments to use.

The bills are S. 565 and H.R. 3295. 
------
UPDATE 1-U.S. Senate passes bipartisan election reform (1)
Source: RTR_NA - Reuters North American Securities News 
Apr 11 16:39 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--

(Updates with passage) 

    By Thomas Ferraro

    WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate
overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill on Thursday designed to
avoid a repeat of the disputed 2000 White House contest by
implementing one of the biggest overhauls of the nation's
election system. The vote was 99-1.

    The $3.5 billion measure would upgrade voting equipment and
registration procedures by 2004, and implement by 2006 new
national election standards, such as permitting people to check
ballots and correct errors before their votes are counted.

    The bill would also establish a federal agency to serve as
an information clearinghouse, administer new election
requirements and a grant program and establish an acceptable
error rate for voting machines.

    In addition, the measure would allow people whose
registration is challenged at polls to cast provisional ballots
that would be counted if registration is later confirmed.

    The legislation must now be reconciled with a similar $2.6
billion measure passed last year by the U.S. House of
Representatives so final legislation can be sent to President
George W. Bush to sign into law.

    The lone no vote was cast by Sen. Conrad Burns, a     
Montana Republican.

    "My hope is that we can expedite our negotiations with the
House and bring back a bill that can be sent to the president
shortly," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South
Dakota Democrat.

    In the wake of the contested 2002 presidential election,
won narrowly by Bush, Democratic and Republican leaders on both
sides of Capitol Hill made passage of election reform a top
legislative priority.

    Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a chief Republican
sponsor of the bill, said, "This is a step forward for our
democracy."

    Repeating what had become a refrain for many Senate
backers, McConnell said the measure "will make it easier to
vote and harder to cheat."

    Yet the American Civil Liberties Union, the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other
rights groups were concerned about an anti-fraud provision and
expressed hope it could fixed in the House-Senate conference.

    The provision, which delayed Senate passage until a
compromise was recently agreed to, would require first-time
voters who register by mail to produce a drivers' license or
other identification -- such as a pay check or utility bill.

    As amended, such voters could also provide their drivers'
license number or the last four digits of their Social Security
number.

    Yet critics said even the revised requirements could have a
chilling and discriminatory impact on some voters and preferred
they merely provide a verifiable signature.

    Daschle said he was open to making improvements in
conference, but added, "We know that we are not going to
resolve the matter to everyone's satisfaction."

    The main thrust of the legislation is to help states
replace antiquated voting equipment, such as the punch-card   
voting machine, which was at the center of the controversy in
2002 in Florida, the state whose electoral votes gave Bush the
presidency.

    "Just because we have the oldest democracy in the world we
don't have to have the oldest equipment," said Sen. Charles
Schumer, a New York Democrat.

    The House passed its version on Dec. 12, 2001 -- the first
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively
decided the election in favor of Bush by denying Democrat Al
Gore a hand count of thousands of disputed Florida ballots.

    Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, co-chairmen
of a reform commission, said the legislation would provide the
most meaningful improvements in voting safeguards since the
civil rights laws of the 1960s.

 ((Congressional newsroom, +1 202 898 8390, fax +1 202 479
2639, washington.bureau.newsroom at reuters.com))