http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/9/171445/5656Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement upon introduction of the “Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act,” or the “VOTER Act of 2005":
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We have just experienced the second consecutive presidential election where issues were raised concerning irregularities and improprieties. For example, in Ohio we learned of the misallocation of voting machines, which led to lines of ten hours or more and disenfranchised scores, if not hundreds of thousands, of predominantly minority voters. We also learned of numerous incidents of voter intimidation, as well as the dissemination of misleading information.
Members on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that further reforms are needed to ensure that all of our citizens' rights to vote are protected. As a result, the VOTER Act will:
Provide for a uniform Federal write-in/absentee ballot;
Require states to provide for a verifiable audit trail;
Ensure that provisional ballots cast anywhere in a state are counted;
Eliminate disparities in the allocation of voting machines and poll workers among a state's precincts;
Mandate early voting and election day registration procedures;
Protect against improper purging of registration lists in federal elections;
Provide for a study regarding making election day a public holiday;
Ease voter registration requirements;
Allow voter identification by written affidavit;
Study eliminating partisan election officials from administering federal elections;
Enhance training for election officials;
Require the use of publicly available open source software in voting machines;
Provide uniform standards for vote recounts;
Prohibit voting machine companies from engaging in political activities;
Enhance legal protections against voter intimidation and threats.
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