States Call for Voting Reforms

More of this Feature • 2: State & Local Reforms    Join the Discussion "Didn't every ballot get counted on election night? How could the ballots not get counted in the first recount or the second recount?" DRAGONBAIT3 Read or Reply? "Well I think I speak for students in Social Studies classes every where when I say that this election has made me wonder if my vote really does count." LADYPSI Read or Reply?     Related Resources • Sup. Court Goes Bush • Voter Fraud Cases • Prayer of St. Chad • Why We Vote When • Electoral College Good • Electoral College Bad • If it Had Been a Tie?    From Other Guides • Still Too Close • Houston, a Problem • Eyes on Tallahassee  • Election Timeline • Newspapers React • Constitutional Law • The US Court System • Righting the Ship • Can Sup. Ct. Be Fair? • Back off FL Legislature! • Court Decision of 12/12    Elsewhere on the Web • Secretaries of State • Official Resolution • Florida Legislature • Florida Supreme Court • Fla. Elections Div.

If the "heart" of democracy is the casting and counting of votes, America came dangerously close to a coronary last November. As a result, the nation's Secretaries of State have offered 16 suggestions for emergency treatment and long term care.

On Feb. 6, 2001, the Election Standards Task force of the National Association of Secretaries of State issued 12 proposed reforms for states and four for the U.S. Congress they hope will "ensure that all eligible voters can register and vote, and that all votes will be counted accurately and fairly in each and every election."

The task force was created in late November after problems with the casting and counting of punch card ballots in Florida delayed the final outcome of the presidential election by over a month. Voter confusion and controversies over interpretation of recounted ballots in key Florida counties ultimately sent the election to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a 5-4 decision ended further recounts. As a result, President George W. Bush won Florida's 25 electoral votes and, ultimately the presidency over Democrat Al Gore. Bush's final official victory in Florida came down to only 537 out of over 6 million votes cast in the state.

In presenting the recommendations, Arkansas Secretary of State Sharon Priest, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State stated, "America, we have heard you. We heard your confusion at the polls ... and the frustration of not understanding. We understand we need to do more than modernize machinery. We need to modernize the process and we will."

Recommended reforms for the U.S. Congress were:

1. Fully fund the continuous update of the Federal Voting Systems Standards developed in consensus with state and local election officials;
   
   
2. Fund the development of voluntary management practices standards for each voting system;
   
   
3. Promote intergovernmental cooperation and communication among state and local elections officials to facilitate the maintenance of accurate voter registration rolls; and
   
   
4. Provide funding to the States to implement the state and local recommendations of this resolution.