https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Administration


Voter Confidence Act delayed in Congress

Voter Confidence Act delayed in Congress

If passed, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, also known as H.R. 811, would require election officials to use voting machines
  • Written by Annie Gentile
  • 1st November 2007

If passed, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, also known as H.R. 811, would require election officials to use voting machines that produce voter-verified permanent paper records for the 2008 national election and would make random, manual post-election audits routine. Advocates say the bill will ensure transparent, reliable elections and provide some money to purchase new equipment. However, opponents say the bill’s requirements are costly and usurp state and local governments’ authority.

Currently, the bill has stalled in the House. “[H.R. 811] has been slower to get on the House schedule than we would like, and that narrows the window for it to be implemented,” says Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., who sponsored the bill along with 220 co-sponsors. Holt says H.R. 811 is needed because there have been too many instances around the country where voting technology failed, such as the 2000 presidential election. “It is demonstrably not true that every county is doing a fine job, and that’s why we need federal legislation,” Holt says.

Problems with the June 6, 2006, primary election for county recorder in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, illustrate the need for mandatory manual audits, says Pamela Smith, president of San Francisco-based VerifiedVoting.org. After a well-known incumbent apparently lost to a relatively unknown college student, the county auditor, suspecting an error, asked for a manual recount. The recount revealed that the voting equipment supplier failed to program the machines’ scanners for ballot rotation of candidate positions, calling into question every race on the ballot and requiring a recount in each case. Two of the races were reversed.

Had officials expected a close race, nothing would have appeared amiss and no recount would have been ordered. “Iowa doesn’t currently have an audit requirement, but if [H.R. 811] was passed, all states would do this as a matter of course,” Smith says.

Still, several state and local government organizations, including the Washington-based National Association of Counties (NACo), say the bill is “fraught with problems” and have been pressing legislators to hold off on bringing H.R. 811 to the House floor for discussion. “H.R. 811 is a much bigger reach than simply requiring a paper trail,” says Alysoun McLaughlin, NACo’s legislative director for finance and intergovernmental affairs. McLaughlin says the bill aims to remove state and local officials from deciding how to run their own elections, replacing their freedom of choice with an impractical one-size-fits-all standard. And, because H.R. 811 allows for an unrestricted private right of action in federal court, McLaughlin says the bill will open the door to frivolous lawsuits.

Had the bill sponsors sought advice from the elections community, they would have realized the one-size-fits-all requirement for all recounts by hand would be impossible to implement in some jurisdictions, says Judy Beaudreau, Vernon, Conn., registrar of voters. Vernon began using optical scan voting equipment in 2001. When a recount is required, paper ballots are run through the machine a second time, a five-hour process that would take days if it had to be done by hand, and which would be subject to human counting errors, Beaudreau says.

McLaughlin says it would be both costly and burdensome to implement H.R. 811 before the 2008 national election. “A verifiable ballot is the direction equipment is going in, but it takes time for vendors to make and test equipment properly,” McLaughlin says. “There’s still a lot of heavy lifting to go on this bill.”

Annie Gentile is a Vernon, Conn.-based freelance writer.

Tags: Administration

Most Recent


  • Amid shifting workplace expectations, local government employers must adapt
    Constrained by inflexible budgets, local government employers can’t compete with the lucrative salaries offered in the private sector. And while recruitment has always been a challenge for public employers, the last two years have been especially difficult. From January 2020 to the same month this year, government organizations lost around 600,000 jobs—more than manufacturing, wholesale […]
  • baseball
    Minor league baseball is helping cities hit a revitalization home run
    It’s that time of year again—the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd when the home team hits a home run, not to mention the peanuts, Cracker Jacks and hot dogs! Nothing compares to the fun of gameday at the stadium, enjoying the national pastime of baseball. Some mid-sized cities have taken the […]
  • MSPs
    The MSP downstream cyberthreat paradox: Understanding the city and county connection
    Recently the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) along with the FBI, NSA, and international cyber authorities issued a cybersecurity advisory aimed at protecting managed service providers (MSPs) and their customers. This high-level advisory has been gestating for some time ever since the SolarWinds and Kaseya supply chain cyber-attacks. A software supply chain attack occurs […]
  • Philanthropic group to launch assistance portal for local admins navigating federal bureaucracy
    A joint venture announced Tuesday by a group of philanthropic organizations—in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities (NLC) and Results for America—seeks to help small and mid-sized communities secure their piece of the $550 billion in funding available for local governments navigating federal bureaucracy. The digital portal will launch […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Lessons from your friendly neighborhood public service employees
  • Harris County deploys next-generation security in 150 public buildings
  • How local governments can get ahead of the infrastructure wave: Strategies to mitigate risk
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery

White papers


The PIO’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media

16th May 2022

Gain Greater Visibility Into Your Public Works Fleet

16th May 2022

Arizona Arts Center Meets Rapid Deadline with Hundreds of Thousands in Savings

26th April 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Amid shifting workplace expectations, local government employers must adapt dlvr.it/SQm2RT

20th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Smart911 emergency profiles provide first responders with more information, faster dlvr.it/SQh9gl

19th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Minor league baseball is helping cities hit a revitalization home run dlvr.it/SQc5N4

18th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council can help governments get up to speed on sustainable buys dlvr.it/SQbwqL

18th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

The MSP downstream cyberthreat paradox: Understanding the city and county connection dlvr.it/SQYVjs

17th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Philanthropic group to launch assistance portal for local admins navigating federal bureaucracy dlvr.it/SQY16G

17th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Nearly 95 percent of America’s mayors face harassment, threats and violence dlvr.it/SQTn2z

16th May 2022
AmerCityCounty

The PIO’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media dlvr.it/SQTdCK

16th May 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X