Election Reform Needed Now, Say Civil Rights Groups
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 9/24/2002
Since the 2000 presidential election, when the nation saw alarming cases of voter disenfranchisement and polling station mistakes, there has been a consistent outcry for election reform legislation that will take decisive steps in preventing such incidents from occurring in future elections.Leading election reform advocates such as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), People For the American Way (PFAW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are urging members of Congress to pass legislation that ensures not only every American's right to vote, but that every registered American's vote is counted. After yet another election debacle in the 2002 Florida primaries due to new technical problems and lack of training for poll workers, the call for such legislation is even stronger.
"Congress must act quickly to pass strong, meaningful pro-voter and anti-fraud legislation into law," said LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson.
Sen. Chris Dodd, (D-Conn.), and Rep. John Conyers, (D-Mich.), have proposed the "Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act" that will strengthen the election process by requiring states by 2004 to meet uniform, nondiscriminatory voting system and technology standards, provide provisional voting for registered voters, create statewide voter registration lists and verification for voters who register by mail, and distribute sample ballots and voting instructions prior to the election. This legislation has been in conference committee for almost a year and with this legislative session coming to a close, it is essential that the legislation be passed in time to affect the 2004 elections.
