Voting Commission to Give Out $2.3BILLION with NO VOTING STANDARDS!

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21605-2004May12.html

By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 12, 2004; 3:57 PM

WASHINGTON - Members of a new federal voting commission appealed to Congress Wednesday to double their budget, arguing that the extra cash would allow them to help states run more efficient elections.

"We've promulgated no rules. We've worked hard to get stationery, office space, business cards. We've had one public hearing," DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the Election Assistance Commission, told a House Appropriations subcommittee.

President Bush's budget proposal gives the fledgling commission $10 million for operations in fiscal 2005. Soaries asked lawmakers for an additional $10 million for research and data collection so the commission could provide states with guidelines on voting systems in time for the 2006 elections.

"Those standards cannot be established without proper research," said Soaries, who noted that the extra money could come from $40 million in Bush's fiscal 2005 budget request for states to spend on election reforms.

Still, the commission has achieved one of its goals. It is prepared to distribute $2.3 billion to states to buy new voting-booth equipment and make other improvements. The money should go out beginning this week, Soaries said. Commissioners had to wait 45 days after publishing state spending plans in the federal register, which happened in late March.

<>"We're going to distribute $2.3 billion to them now and we haven't done a bit of the research, none of the research, that would have helped them make the best possible decision?" Olver said.

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This is, of course, just what Karl Rove ordered for the election in November, 2004!
I am outraged!