Reply #3: Momentum Builds For Election Reform

[MelissaB]

Momentum Builds For Election Reform

By ANN McFEATTERS
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jun 17, 2005, 04:49

Nearly five years after the chaos of Election 2000, angry citizens still storm Capitol Hill and statehouses to demand investigations and changes to the electoral process while task forces continue to churn out recommendations for reform.
Congress did pass the Help America Vote Act in 2002, and it did appropriate $3 billion to improve the system.

Then came Election 2004, which was marred by delays, discarded ballots, mixed up identifications, allegations of electronic voting machine chicanery and other problems, all of which have spawned an industry of election-reform experts and lobbying groups.

Dozens of states have approved or are considering proposals for change. But some independent experts complain that many proposals are driven by a desire for partisan advantage, and they fear that nothing significant will be accomplished without mandating nonpartisan election administration.

At the federal level, there remains disagreement, and reform advocates argue that if nothing is done this year, next year's congressional elections, with one-third of the Senate and the entire House up for re-election, could take place in an atmosphere of suspicion and a worrisome lack of voter participation.

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In mid-September a national commission headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker is to offer its suggestions.


More: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_6889.shtml