Four Election Integrity Groups Release A "One-Page Concept Proposal For Federal Election Reform Legislation"

Friday, March 30, 2007. Leaders in four election integrity organizations are delivering a proposal to the Congress calling on the members to sponsor better election reform legislation.

According to leaders of The National Election Data Archive, Black Box Voting, Democracy for New Hampshire, and Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections, OH, there are serious flaws in current election reform proposals proposed by U.S. Congressman Rush Holt and Senator Bill Nelson (HR 811 & S559) and by Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Senator Hillary Clinton (HR1381 & S804).

Some election officials agree. Douglas A. Kellner, Co-Chair of the New York State Board of Elections in a March 20, 2007 email correspondence said: "Congress got it wrong when it passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 and there is a high probability that HR 811 in its current form could create another form of expensive mischief that could interfere with efficient administration of elections."

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) have also written a joint letter on March 19, 2007 urging members of Congress to oppose HR811/S559.

Yet, federal election reform legislation is critically needed in early 2007 if it is to be in effect in time to assure the accuracy and truth of 2008 federal elections.

Kathy Dopp, President of the National Election Data Archive with help from state and county election officials and other election integrity activists such as Bev Harris, Director of Black Box Voting; Nancy Tobi, Cofounder of Democracy for New Hampshire and Chair, NH Fair Elections Committee; and Phil Fry of Citizens’ Alliance for Accurate Secure Elections OH have authored a "One-Page Concept Proposal for Federal Election Reform Legislation". The key ideas of their proposals are 1) citizen oversight of elections, 2) sufficient manual counts of paper ballots to verify the accuracy of election outcomes, 3) prohibit and monitor voter disenfranchisement, and 4) well-planned, long-term improvement of voting systems. They are also recommending that the US Election Assistance Commission be dissolved.

According to Dopp, their “One-Page Concept Proposal for Federal Election Reform Legislation” has more reasonable time frames, enforceable requirements, provisions for citizen oversight, respect of states’ rights and flexibility, provides sufficient funding to cover its requirements, and is more cost-efficient and effective than current election reform proposals.

http://electionarchive.org/ucvInfo/release/Release4ElectionReformProposal.pdf