Counties object to standardized voting bill
Many county officials are trying to stop passage of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, now under debate in the House of Representatives, saying it could lead to serious problems in the next presidential election. The act, H.R. 811, would require the exclusive use of optical-scan ballots and require all recounts and audits to be performed manually.
According to the Washington-based National Association of Counties (NACo), a large number of counties would have to throw out most of their voting equipment to comply with the optical-scan-only requirement. Also, prohibiting the use of electronic scanning equipment is labor-intensive and time consuming, and could mean close presidential elections would not be verified in time to be sent to the Electoral College, in which case the House would have to decide the election. Supporters of the bill say it is intended to address concerns about the integrity of electronic voting equipment.
The House Administration Committee approved H.R. 811 on May 8, despite numerous letters of protest from county officials. More information is available on NACo’s Web site, www.naco.org.