About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 (June 29, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabams0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20898 Elections Reform: Overview and Issues Updated June 29, 2005 Kevin J. Coleman and Eric A. Fischer Analyst in American National Government and Senior Specialist in Science and Technology Government and Finance Division and Resources, Science, and Industry Division Summary Since the November 2000 Presidential election, previously obscure details of voting and vote counting have become the focus of ongoing public attention and legislative action at the state and federal levels. Some states made plans or began to replace voting equipment and adopt other improvements before the 2002 election cycle. Both sessions of the 107th Congress considered and debated federal election reform legislation, and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA, P.L. 107-252) was enacted in October 2002. The act created a new federal agency with election administration responsibilities, set requirements for voting and voter-registration systems and certain other aspects of election administration, and provided federal funding; but it did not supplant state and local control over election administration. Issues for the 108th Congress included funding, establishment of the new agency, and implementation by and impacts on the states. Those issues remain for the 109'h Congress, with additional emphasis on the January 2006 deadline for states to meet several HAVA requirements and the controversy over paper audit trails for electronic voting systems. Several bills have been introduced to address those and other issues. This report will be updated periodically to reflect new developments. Voting Systems and Election Administration Elections in the United States are administered at the state and local level, and the federal government had not historically set mandatory standards for voting systems, nor had it provided funding to state and local jurisdictions for the administration of elections. HAVA changed that. While initial reactions after the 2000 election had tended to focus on technological fixes such as eliminating punchcards, a consensus emerged subsequently that the issues, and the solutions needed, were more complex and often involved trade- offs among diverse goals. HAVA reflects those developments - it funded replacement of punchcard and lever systems but also broader improvements in election administration. Congressional Research Service +o The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress .Received through the CRS Web

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most