http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_30/politics/20083-1.html
By Steven T. Dennis
Roll Call Staff
September 20, 2007
House Democratic leaders continued to keep the controversial
paper ballot bill in the freezer this week in the face of continued opposition
from local elections officials, and they have demanded that proponents get firm
commitments backing the bill before bringing it to the floor.
Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), the sponsor, said he’s been pushing
to convert people who are officially undecided but likely to vote for the bill
into firm “yes” votes, and he said he’s not far from having the votes he needs
to satisfy the demands of Democratic leaders.
Although some Members have been squeamish about openly
supporting the bill, other rank-and-file Democrats strongly support it and are
deeply suspicious of the electronic voting machines manufactured by companies
like Diebold.
“I think voters want something done and I think vendors
don’t,” said Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.), arguing that vendors are worried
they’ll lose business.
Davis said he and most voters would prefer a paper ballot to
an unverifiable electronic voting machine. “I know I voted because I filled out
a paper ballot and put it in the ballot box,” Davis said. “We need to remove
any doubt.”
The bill already had been delayed for weeks and faced
internal Democratic criticism. Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) only
signed on after New York was allowed to keep its lever machines until 2010.
Other states would have to have a voter-verifiable paper ballot or paper
printout by next year’s presidential election. That has drawn opposition from
state and local elections officials who are concerned about the costs and risks
in changing their systems so close to the elections.
Holt contends that without a paper receipt, there is no way
to verify whether votes are being properly counted by electronic voting machines.
Republicans, meanwhile, jumped on the troubles with the
voting bill as a sign of Democratic disarray. “The voter bill is a terrible
bill,” House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) said. “Now it’s off again. It only
got on the agenda when they agreed to exempt the chairman of the Rules
Committee’s state.”
More than 10 trade groups representing election, state and
local officials sent a letter Tuesday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) asking that Democrats dump the bill. They
argued that overseeing elections is a state matter and said the measure would
impose “an unfunded federal mandate of unknown proportions.”
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), ranking member of the House
Administration Committee, said in a statement that “the desperate, last-minute
scramble we are witnessing to further amend this flawed bill, in an attempt to
piece together a majority vote in the House, is playing dangerously with our
vital election processes.” Ehlers urged Democrats to start over.
Holt dismissed Ehlers’ criticism.
“He’s been saying you don’t need anything but an electronic
record. I don’t think American voters will be confident with an electronic
verification of an electronic vote,” Holt said.
He said of his bill: “This is plain paper. That’s something
the public knows and trusts.”
Holt said local elections officials like the electronic
machines because they seem cleaner, but that doesn’t mean they are more
accurate or reliable.
“They say ‘we’ve never had a problem with these machines,’”
Holt said. “My answer is, how do you know?”
Matthew Murray contributed to this report.