http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253101&kaid=131&subid=192&FREM=Y&sid=78995&mid=10481"Democrats can and should immediately challenge Congress to undertake a serious and immediate election reform initiative designed to create, at least for federal elections, an even playing field in terms of the basic rules for registering to vote, casting ballots, and having those ballots counted.
If this sounds familiar, it's because leaders of both parties talked about election reform in the wake of the 2000 debacle in Florida. But the ultimate product of that talk, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, did little to spur uniformity -- within states or across state lines -- while creating a whole set of new problems, exemplified by the total confusion and widely varying rules about how to deal with the "provisional" ballots the legislation required when the eligibility of voters came into question at the polls. Moreover, HAVA had virtually no affect on the vast number of simple breakdowns in election procedures -- some caused by incompetence, some by partisan malice, and some by both -- that ranged from obsolete registration lists, to last-minute changes in voting precincts, to inconvenient and inadequately staffed polling places, producing long and discouraging lines.
It's time, right now, for a HAVA II that goes as far as our constitutional system allows in providing intrastate uniformity and interstate standards, backed up by the federal funds to make sure states can provide a uniformly competent and efficient electoral infrastructure. And while they are at it, Congress should impose serious federal criminal penalties, including time in the hoosegow, for partisan operatives who try to deny Americans the right to exercise the most fundamental privilege of democracy"
We need to make sure the pressure stays on after today to insure real election reform.
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