| Voting Reform Legislation
Languishes in Congress
October 2002 IBEW Journal
 By
early September 2002, Congress had taken no final action on
voting reform after separate bills passed the House and Senate
during the spring.
These are H. 3295, sponsored
by U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and S. 565, sponsored by Senator
Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Both bills await action by a House/Senate
conference committee. Although the bills contain provisions
to alleviate the discriminatory and disenfranchising aspects
of the U.S. voting system, some provisions, particularly in
the Senate bill, have stalled the legislation.
For example, the Senate version
would require new voters to show an identifying document or
photo ID when they arrive at the polls. Some civil rights
groups contend that many minority voters and the poor often
do not have the necessary documents, or they are intimidated
by the requirement to obtain them, and thus would be excluded
from voting. As of August, legislators were trying to work
out the problems with identification.
Another contentious provision
would enable states to escape enforcement of deadlines for
national voting standards until 2010five elections from now.
In addition, protection for the voting guarantees in the motor
voter law is not included; and details need to be refined
for a provision for disabled Americans unable to operate a
standard voting machine.
However, according to Joan Claybrook,
president of Public Citizen, the Senate bill "is vastly
superior to the House counterpart, which features weak or
nonexistent national voting standards, dubious federal enforcement
and poor targeting of its $2.65 billion in funds for various
voting system improvements."
|
Related Articles
