To: National Desk

Contact: Bob Brandon of Robert M. Brandon & Associates, 202-331-1550

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Robert M. Brandon & Associates today issued the following memorandum on election administration problems and solutions:

Memorandum to Editors and Reporters

FROM: Robert Brandon and Toby Chaudhuri, Robert M. Brandon & Associates

SUBJECT: Nov.7 Will Highlight Election Administration Problems and Solutions

The credibility of our electoral system is at stake in next week's elections. In light of the number of closely contested elections placing the political balance of power in play, it is all the more important that the public has confidence in the election process. With voter participation on a steady decline and new obstacles to voting in place, voting has become more difficult for eligible voters. We've identified several obstacles below. These problems have solutions. A commitment from our state and local governments to fix our electoral system would help build faith in our democratic process.

OBSTACLES TO VOTING

VOTER ID LAWS: There are very few documented cases of someone impersonating a registered voter. Out of the 192,139,871 votes cast in federal elections since Oct. 2002, only 80 individuals were convicted of impersonation, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Still, laws requiring voters to present identification to prevent impersonation are being passed in many states creating unnecessary obstacles for eligible voters. Policies that fail to provide for an expansive view of acceptable forms of ID, along with confusion among the public and poll workers as to whether an ID is required and what forms of ID are acceptable, will likely create problems at the polls.

STATEWIDE VOTER DATABASES: The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 required all states to update statewide voter databases by Jan. 1, 2006. In an attempt to implement this law, many states have adopted policies known as "no match no vote," automatically rejecting registration applications whose information cannot be exactly matched to state motor vehicle or social security administration databases, denying hundreds of thousands of eligible voters their right to vote. These rejections are often the result of minor clerical errors that occur during entry of information contained in registration forms, too restrictive matching criteria, or out-of-date motor vehicle or social security records. The restrictive matching protocols and lack of notice to the voter of a failed match undermine HAVA's mandate to streamline the registration process and provide a convenient opportunity to cure errors. These problems could lead to many voters who have registered finding themselves not listed on the voter rolls.

VOTER REGISTRATION: Voting registration is often difficult and confusing for many communities, including the elderly, disabled, poor, minorities and students. Churches, neighborhood groups, civic organizations and many other nonpartisan organizations help millions of individuals register to vote every year. Although voter registration drives are an integral part of the election process, 9 states have recently enacted rules that severely restrict voter registration activities by civic organizations. These rules harshly penalize these groups with fines and criminal charges when they fail to comply with heavy-handed requirements for processing applications. Examples of restrictions include prohibiting photocopying completed forms to recheck for accuracy and imposing severe fines for turning forms in past certain deadlines, even if inadvertent or even if the actual registration deadline has not passed.

PROVISIONAL BALLOTS: In 2004, some 2 million provisional ballots were cast and fully a third were not counted. Issues associated with provisional ballots arise when voters find they are no longer on the voter rolls but should be, are told they lack appropriate ID, may have come to vote at the wrong polling place, or are on a list of inactive voters. Additional issues include uncertainty about the requirements for casting a provisional ballot, how these ballots are counted and ensuring that each polling place has an adequate number of them. Too often poll workers and election judges improperly encourage the use of provisional ballots by voters when many of them are entitled to vote by regular ballot. In some cases voters are required to take time off from work and return to a central elections office with proof of voting eligibility, an insurmountable burden for many Americans.

VOTING SYSTEMS EQUIPMENT: During the primaries, voters were burdened by the lack of adequate numbers of voting machines, or unequal assignment of machines to polling places, particularly in urban areas. Moreover, well-publicized reports of equipment failure have raised concerns about the likelihood of similar incidents on Election Day. These failures included programming errors and the omission of essential equipment components in polling place packets, such as memory and ballot cards. In those instances, voters were entitled to vote by regular ballot but many were forced to cast a provisional ballot. Other problems included poll workers who were inadequately trained on voting machine operation. All of these problems resulted in long lines at the polling place.

ADEQUATE POLL WORKER TRAINING: The poll worker is the first point of contact to resolve Election Day problems and ensure that an eligible person's voting right is protected. Some traditional problems involve equipment breakdown and inadequate training to respond. Other problems are prompted by new laws and judicial decisions that create confusion about voter ID requirements.

SOLUTIONS

In thinking about the problems that may be observed this election day, policy makers and elections officials would do well to focus on solutions to solve the problems and resist creating new impediments that restrict the participation of eligible voters.

HELP VOTERS REGISTER: Election officials should be working with civic organizations to facilitate registration of eligible voters to ensure that the maximum number of eligible citizens participate in the election process and exercise their civic duty to vote. This can be accomplished by enacting measures that secure the registration process without deterring civic organizations from helping eligible persons register to vote. States must also offer voter registration at public benefit offices - a roundly ignored federal mandate.

ALLOW ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION: Election Day Registration (EDR) could minimize or solve many problems that occur when someone comes to vote, including confusion about eligibility, whether they are properly registered or removed from the rolls inadvertently and voters the opportunity to correct or update their address. EDR has been shown to significantly increase voter turnout. In 2004, the handful of states that allowed EDR had a voter turnout that was an average of 12 percentage points higher than states that did not offer it. Of the 5 states with the highest turnouts in 2004, 4 offered EDR. EDR may decrease what is already the rare possibility of fraud, because registration takes place in the presence of election officials who are better prepared to recognize it.

VOTING MACHINES THAT MEET DEMAND: The absence of a sufficient number of fully operational machines assigned to each polling place disenfranchises eligible voters who are unable to wait in the resulting long lines. Election officials must adopt appropriate formulas for allocating a sufficient number of machines at each polling place. While HAVA provided funds for purchasing new voting machines, the law did not provide enough support for specifications and guidelines. Better testing, maintenance, an independent certification process and enactment of stringent security measures regarding the handling of voting machines will help to address this. There must also be adequate numbers of machines that are distributed so poorer communities are not improperly burdened the attendant long lines.

PROVISIONAL BALLOTS: The use of provisional ballots should be discouraged. To the extent it is necessary to use them to cast a vote, sufficient numbers should be allocated to each polling place and standards should be adopted and employed for counting them as cast.

IMPROVED STANDARDS FOR POLL WORKERS AND TRAINING: Election officials should adopt minimum, uniform standards for poll workers, employ them in greater numbers, and increase their compensation. Poll worker training should be improved so there is less likelihood of error or misinformation dispensed to voters. Poll workers should be required to meet minimum standards of competency and familiarity with technology, and should possess knowledge of the procedures, laws and regulations governing elections.

INTELLIGENT USE OF STATEWIDE VOTER DATABASES: Uniform databases can be a useful tool for facilitating the process by which voter information can be updated and maintained. However, sensible matching criteria are essential to ensuring that these databases are not used to keep people off the rolls but instead serve their intended function: to centralize all voter registration information, ease the registration and update processes, and provide convenience in confirming the identity of eligible voters. These purposes can only be accomplished with flexible matching protocols that do not improperly keep eligible persons from voting.Such protocols would adopt "substantial" matches to confirm identity over "exact" matches. Moreover, voters who are flagged as potentially ineligible should be given adequate notice to allow them to provide additional information in a timely manner in order to be included on the voter roll and vote by regular ballot.

VERIFIABLE RECORD OF VOTES CAST: HAVA provided significant federal funding for the replacement of outdated, unreliable equipment and required that all machines replaced using federal money had to produce a permanent paper record that could be used in recounts. However, HAVA did not require that this record be verifiable by the voter. Allowing eligible voters to verify that the vote they cast was correctly recorded would provide greater transparency and confidence in the process.

-- NOTE: Please contact Bob Brandon at 202-331-1550 to book an interview with an election expert to discuss these problems and solutions.

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/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

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