Dear Mr. XXXXX:
Thank you for contacting me about the 2004 Presidential
election and
election reform. I appreciate hearing your views on this
matter.
Allegations of voter suppression and election fraud as
well as
questions about the reliability of our voting systems are
serious concerns.
As the 2004 election results are certified and evaluated, we
must work to
address any issues that may arise. We must ensure that all
eligible
citizens have the opportunity to vote and that every vote is
counted.
According to the Committee for the Study of the American
Electorate,
in the 2000 presidential election 2.5 million votes out of 101
million were
not counted. In other words, many Americans made the effort to
participate
in our democratic system, yet their votes did not count. This
is simply
unacceptable.
In 2002, I supported the Help America Vote Act (HAVA,
P.L.107-252),
which is a major step toward correcting many of the inadequacies
of our
election system. This law established a set of standards to
correct voting
errors and to ensure accessibility for the disabled. It also
encourages
states, along with the National Institute of Standards and
Technology
(NIST), to set uniform benchmarks and reporting requirements for
voting
system performance. In addition, HAVA ensures that the most
effective
voting equipment is available to states by funding research and
pilot
programs, performing studies on voting technology, and providing
explicit
voter guidelines and certification programs.
HAVA authorized funds for each state to purchase new
voting systems
that comply with HAVA’s standards. In Michigan, the Secretary
of State
convened a HAVA Advisory Committe to review the available
systems and
Michigan’s needs for future elections. In 2003, Michigan’s
Secretary of
State announced that she selected an optical scan voting system
for
Michigan. The optical scan voting system requires voters to
place a mark
in a designated spot on the ballot next to the name of the
candidate
receiving the vote. When the votes are counted these marks are
read by an
optical scanner. The optical scan voting system creates and
preserves a
paper trail of each vote, thereby greatly enhancing the security
and
accuracy of election results.
In February 2004, the Information Security Institute at
Johns Hopkins
University released an analysis of electronic voting systems
(
http://avirubin.com/vote.pdf). This and other reports found
major flaws
in certain “direct record electronic” (DRE) software
programs, often
referred to as “touch-screen” voting systems, which were
used in several
states. If left uncorrected, these flaws could intentionally
enable
unscrupulous persons to modify existing votes or to cast
multiple votes by
using a counterfeit voting card. Because of the fundamental
importance of
fair and accurate elections to our democracy, I support
providing
additional funds for HAVA programs to ensure that all voting
systems and
procedures, including DRE systems, are secure, accurate,
recountable, and
accessible.
HAVA also establishes provisional voting systems to ensure
that no
registered voter is turned away from voting booths, allows every
blind and
disabled person to cast a vote privately and independently, and
utilizes
statewide voter registration lists and verification systems for
voters who
register by mail to permit only eligible voters to vote. This
law also
established a new federal agency, the Election Assistance
Commission, which
is a bipartisan group of commissioners who have no rulemaking
authority but
issue voluntary guidelines for voting systems and their
requirements. This
commission also carries out the grant programs, provides for the
certification and testing of voting systems and studies election
issues.
Unfortunately, President Bush and the Congressional
majority provided
insufficient federal funding for HAVA programs prior to the 2004
election,
which prompted great concern. The Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus
Appropriations
Act (P.L.108-199) allocated $500 million to improve our
electoral system,
only half the amount authorized for FY04.
While HAVA has gone a long way toward reforming our
electoral system,
more needs to be done. I am hopeful that during the next
Congress we will
be able to work together on a bipartisan basis to address these
concerns
and to restore the public’s faith in the electoral process.
The goal of
ensuring that every vote counts is essential to ensuring
democracy.
American voters deserve an electoral process that is both secure
and
accurate, and I will continue to work to ensure that every
citizen is
afforded that right.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Carl Levin