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Washington, D.C. --- Rep. Rush Holt today reintroduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, landmark legislation that would amend the Help America Vote Act to protect the verifiability and accessibility of elections.
“Until we require that voting systems produce a voter-verified paper ballot, the results of our elections will always be uncertain,” said Rep. Holt. “All Americans deserve to be confident that their vote will be counted, and it is my hope that the 110th Congress will act soon to pass legislation that will ensure elections are fair, accessible, and auditable.”
The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act would require a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast, which would become the ballot of record in the event of any recount or audit. It would require routine random audits of paper ballots by hand count in a percentage of voting precincts in each Congressional District. It would also take steps to make elections more publicly transparent by allowing for the inspection of voting system software. It would require documenting a secure chain of custody for voting systems and prohibit conflicts of interest involving vendors. It would keep the election process accessible to voters with disabilities, and authorize federal funding to help states meet the requirements.
Holt first introduced legislation requiring that electronic voting machines produce a voter-verified paper ballot in the 108th Congress. In the 109th Congress, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (H.R. 550) had the support of 222 bipartisan cosponsors, more than a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite this fact, it was not brought to the House floor for a vote.
Holt called on Congress to pass his legislation soon, in order to assure enough implementation time for the 2008 presidential election. “Restoring confidence in our democracy and in our electoral system is a priority that cannot wait,” said Rep. Holt. “Mandating the accessibility and auditability of elections is essential for voters to have faith that their votes are counted as cast.”
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Tom Davis also lauded the re-introduction of the legislation. “In election after election, blind reliance on unverifiable Direct Recording Electronic voting machines has served only to lessen public confidence in the government’s ability to count votes accurately,” said Davis. “This legislation takes a big step toward restoring that public confidence.”
The fundamental requirements of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act were endorsed in September 2005 by the Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker. In June 2006, the Brennan Center for Justice issued a report confirming security risks associated with unverifiable and unauditable voting systems. That same month, the National League of Women Voters passed a resolution recommending the use of voter-verified paper records, to serve as the vote of record, and routine random audits.
The fundamental requirements of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act have also been endorsed by voting integrity groups such as VoteTrust USA, VerifiedVoting.org, and others; grassroots advocacy organizations like MoveOn.org, Common Cause, People for the American Way, and others; and newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post and Roll Call.
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