http://cha.house.gov/
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION SENDS VOTER CONFIDENCE
BILL TO HOUSE FLOOR
Immediate
Release
Contact: J.R. Crump
May 9, 2007
(202) 226-3355
(Washington, DC) Chairman Robert A. Brady (D-PA) led the
Committee on House Administration to a victory for the American voter today,
referring H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence and Increased
Accessibility Act of 2007, to the full House for consideration.
The bill will ensure that all voting machines provide a durable voter-verified
paper ballot, allowing voters to confirm their choices, by the 2008 election,
and establish audit standards for election tallies.
The Committee adopted a substitute
amendment by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to clarify voter verification requirements
and improve accessibility for disabled voters, with at least one accessible
voting machine required at each polling place. In response to concerns
expressed by the software industry, the substitute would protect proprietary
software used in voting machines while ensuring its review by independent
testing labs. The Lofgren substitute also provides for $1 billion in
federal funding to support state and local governments' conversion of voting
machines.
In addition, the Voter
Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 requires
election officials to use the original ballots cast by voters in any recount or
audit of election results, specifying that the ballots must be available to be
counted by hand. In rare cases where paper ballots are proven to be
compromised, audit procedures would be determined according to state
laws. The Lofgren substitute provides flexible audit requirements meeting
statistical standards established by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
The Committee also adopted an
amendment by Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-MA) requiring that a paper ballot be
offered to any voter who requests it, regardless of the primary voting system
in their precinct. This amendment supplements a provision in the
underlying bill requiring that every polling place have paper ballots on hand
in case of machine failure or other circumstances that cause delay. The
language also requires the posting of notice regarding the right of voters to
access the paper ballot in every polling place.
The Committee rejected several
amendments that would have undercut the bill's fundamental purpose to create a
transparent, reliable voting system. In opposing an amendment that would
require additional voter identification, Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Artur Davis
(D-AL) recalled the days when such devices were successfully used to intimidate
minority and underprivileged voters. Rep. Lofgren noted the recent
studies that have shown the provision would still disproportionately deprive
poor and minority voters of their right to vote. The amendment was
defeated.
As finally reported, the bill allows
jurisdictions that did not have any voter-verified paper ballots at all in 2006
until November 2008 to meet the requirements of H.R. 811. All
jurisdictions that used any paper ballot-based voting system in 2006, including
thermal reel-to-reel systems and disability accessible systems that used a
paper ballot in any manner, may wait until the first election in 2010.
Only six states would be required to replace all of their voting machines by
2008 (Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, and Tennessee).
Four states, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, and West Virginia,
recently converted to voter verifiable paper ballot systems in less than one
year.
##
About the Committee on House Administration
The Committee on House Administration
is the committee of the House of Representatives charged with the oversight of
federal elections and the day-to-day functions of the House of Representatives.
The Committee's jurisdiction over
federal elections requires it to consider proposals to amend federal election
law and to monitor Congressional elections across the United States. The
Committee was instrumental in the passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002,
which former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter called the most meaningful
improvement in election laws and voting safeguards in a generation. This law
provided more than $3 billion dollars for the improvement of voting equipment
and procedures to make the voting process more accessible and to guard against
fraud.
House Administration manages the
daily operations that keep the House of Representatives running smoothly. The
budget authorizations for expenses of House committees, and those for expenses
of Members of Congress, are set by the Committee. Additionally, the Committee
is responsible for oversight of the House officers, including the
administrative and technical functions of the House.
The security of the Capitol Complex
has become an even higher priority since the devastating attacks of September
11, 2001. The House Administration Committee, which oversees security on the
House side of the Capitol Complex, works closely with the Capitol Police to
ensure that every effort is made to keep the Capitol Complex extremely secure
while maintaining accessibility for the millions of constituents who visit
every year.
The Committee also oversees the
management of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution
(including the National Zoo).
COMMITTEE
MEMBERS
|
Democrats |
Republicans |
|
Rep. Robert A. Brady, PA-1st |
Rep. Vernon Ehlers, MI-3, |
|
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, CA-16th |
Rep. Dan Lungren, CA-3 |
|
Rep. Mike Capuano, MA-8 |
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, CA-22 |
|
Rep. Charles Gonzalez, TX-20 |
|
|
Rep. Susan Davis, CA-53 |
|
|
Rep. Artur Davis, AL-7 |
|