WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (MO) and Chair of the Democratic
Caucus Special Committee on Election Reform Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced
today that the committee will hold its first hearing in Philadelphia on
April 2, 2001. U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a Vice Chair,
also announced that additional hearings will be held in cities across the
country, including Chicago.
The
committee will examine voter disenfranchisement and the election process.
Through the testimony of voters, local elected officials, civil rights
leaders, and experts, the committee will review voting practices, election
laws and registration procedures. The committee will also conduct
research into voting methods and irregularities and will analyze the effectiveness
of various voting systems. After holding 8 to 10 hearings nationwide in
the next three months, the committee will present a comprehensive report
to Congress.
“What
happened on November 7, 2000 has left us with a looming crisis and that
presents a serious threat to our democracy. Disenfranchised voters, who
were denied their constitutional right to vote, are demanding accountability
from elected officials and that is their right. This committee will
move forward with a sense of urgency. We will work to restore the
voters’ trust back into our system and their faith back into our democracy,”
Schakowsky said.
“This
is the civil rights issue of our day,” Schakowsky concluded.
Schakowsky
also said that she is looking forward to hearing from voters and experts
on provisional voting. She is the author of H.R. 1004, the Provisional
Voting Rights Act of 2001. The legislation would ensure that voters are
not turned away at the polling place because their names do not appear
on the list of registered voters. Specifically, The bill permits
individuals whose names do not appear on a voting registration list to
vote after affirming their right to vote; calls for provisional votes to
be transferred immediately for verification; and requires that provisional
votes be counted unless the state can prove that those voters should not
be allowed to cast their votes. |