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The American franchise – our right to vote for someone to represent our interests - is a very basic, inalienable American right. It is therefore essential that every American’s vote is properly accounted for and tallied. There are several bills in Congress relating to this issue, but I have concerns that any federal entanglement, in the process by which states conduct their elections as authorized by the Constitution may lead to unfunded directives that would actually disrupt elections and disenfranchise voters.
Currently, states are free to utilize paper trail ballots, as 27 states have already opted to do. And while I support the use of paper ballots, this issue falls primarily within the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government.
The disabled community, particularly the blind, has expressed their opposition to the federal “paper trail” mandates because they result in states using older technologies that they cannot use freely and independently.
2006 is the first year that we as a nation will experience full implementation of the Help America Vote Act. It is important that we fully examine the ways HAVA has worked since it was signed into law in 2002. From that point, we will be able to better understand the elections process and examine the successes and failures of these paper trail systems. I believe that a Congressional mandate for such a requirement at this time would be quite premature.
Every vote must be counted and we need to be sure that when we decide to tinker with our election system, we get it right. |
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