| WASHINGTON -
November 6 - On the anniversary of the protracted fight over the
2000 presidential election, a new state-by-state report
from the Common Cause Education Fund finds only a handful
of states have made any improvement in their election
laws, and that one state even made its problems worse.
Most states have failed to act at all, according to Not
Making The Grade, the 2001 election reform report card
released today.
"By looking at what's happened in state legislatures in
the past year, you'd never know that we had a genuine
electoral crisis on our hands just a year ago," Common
Cause President Scott Harshbarger said. "Even with all
the commission reports, academic studies, and
investigative journalism on our electoral shortcomings,
states have not responded with the kind of urgency that
the problems demand. Many are simply waiting in vain
for financial help to arrive from Washington without
doing anything to pave the way."
In issuing letter grades, the Common Cause report
examined whether states have statewide voter
registration systems, systems to allow provisional
balloting, policies to reenfranchise ex-felons whose
sentences have been completed, and a low rate of
residual (or uncounted) votes. Common Cause provides
a current grade for each state, as well as a grade
for each state's election laws as of election day
last year.
Florida made some of the most dramatic election
reform progress by creating a statewide voter
registration system and banning notoriously faulty
voting machines - only enough progress, though, to
bring their grade from an "F" to a "C", according
to the report. Florida would need to amend the
state's constitution in order to restore voting
rights to ex-felons who have completed their
sentences, and Florida has the highest rate of
that kind of disenfranchisement.
Indiana made the biggest jump, from an "F" to a "B",
by creating a real-time, online statewide voter
registration system that county election officials
have access to via the Internet, and by banning
faulty machines and providing $4 million for machinery
upgrades. Indiana also restores voting rights to
citizens who have committed felonies upon their release
from prison or jail.
"The point of this report isn't just to criticize, the
point is to make the case for action," Harshbarger said.
"We only look at four major election reform criteria,
but even the states who have made progress in these
areas still may need improvements in other areas,
including absentee balloting, the length and
convenience of polling hours, and training for poll
workers.
"It's not enough just to put the punch-cards out to
pasture and hope we don't repeat the Florida fiasco.
We need to take bold steps to ensure that all Americans
have the fullest confidence that if they cast a vote,
it will indeed count. The right to vote is perhaps
the most elemental of all civil rights, one that goes
to the heart of what it means to be an American citizen.
States and Congress have a long way to go."
In August, Common Cause created an Election Reform Task
Force comprised of leading election experts to help guide
the organization's efforts on this issue and to mobilize
local and national grassroots and lobbying activities
around election reform.
The table of contents for Not Making The Grade is available at:
http://www.commoncause.org/publications/ereform/toc.htm
The state-by-state grades, with links to details for each state: http://www.commoncause.org/publications/ereform/summary.htm
(individual states require free Adobe software)
The full (2.5 Mb) report in Adobe *.pdf format is available here:
http://www.commoncause.org/publications/ereform/ereform.pdf
[ONLY SELECT THIS OPTION IF YOU HAVE A FAST CONNECTION.]
For any assistance with these files or to schedule an interview,
contact the Common Cause Press Office at 202/736-5770.
###
|
