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The Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments
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Policymakers have been
confronted with new policy
questions, funding
opportunities and
administrative challenges over
the last few years.
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The Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments
supports several groups of state officials, including the
Midwestern Governors Association and the Midwestern
Legislative Conference, an association of all legislators in the
region’s 11 states. The Canadian provinces of Manitoba,
Ontario and Saskatchewan are affiliate members of the MLC.
Volume 11, Number 9 • October 2004
States adjust to challenges, opportunities
presented by Help America Vote Act
by Tim Anderson
In the weeks following the 2000 vote
for president, amid the uncertainty and
legal battles over which candidate
would receive Florida’s decisive
electoral votes, near consensus could be
reached on at least one eventual result
of the race. Federal involvement in
ensuing elections would intensify.
Four years later, states are adjusting to
the policy questions, funding opportunities and administrative challenges
triggered by the federal government’s
more active role.
The $3.9 billion Help America Vote
Act (HAVA) of 2002 established new
mandates and financial incentives for
states. As a result of the law, election
systems must allow for provisional
voting, include statewide voter registration lists, provide voting access to the
disabled and require some first-time
voters to provide identification.
In order to meet these election reform
requirements, lawmakers have had to
address some highly contentious issues
related to voter rights and election
fraud. In particular, new provisional
balloting rules and voter identification
requirements have led to partisan
squabbles in several Midwestern states.
Policymakers also have had to decide
how aggressively to pursue certain
election reforms. HAVA provides
waivers to states wanting to delay
implementation of some federal
requirements. Most states, for
instance, have not yet developed
centralized voter registration databases.
Meanwhile, important decisions have
had to be made about voting equipment. The “hanging chads” problem
experienced in Florida four years ago
convinced many policymakers that the
single-most important election reform
was replacing antiquated voting
equipment. While HAVA does not
prohibit the use of punch cards and
lever machines, it does offer a $325
million program for states willing to
replace these machines.
According to a report by electionline.org,
eight states in the Midwest (all but
Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska) have
been using punch cards or lever
machines. Most of the eight states have
agreed to participate in the equipment
replacement program, but also have
sought delays. As a result, the machines
don’t have to be replaced until 2006 —
a reminder that some of the reform
measures which arose from the
controversial presidential race of four
years ago will not be completed until
after the 2004 elections.
State changes include new voter ID, provisional ballot requirements
An overview of the election reform
issues that have emerged recently in
the Midwest helps illustrate the
continuing impact of both the 2000
presidential race and the Help
America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.
Of these issues, none has proven to
be as partisan or controversial as
voter identification.
cation has traditionally divided along
Lawsuits filed by the Democratic
partisan lines.
parties in Ohio and Michigan
challenging their respective state’s
provisional balloting rules were
Under HAVA, a state election system
must require first-time voters to
provide identification when registering.
If these voters register by mail
without ID, they must then provide it
at the polls.
In an effort to prevent qualified voters
The purpose of the new federal
identification rules is to curtail voter
fraud. Building on these provisions,
lawmakers in some states have sought
to enact even tougher ID requirements. NORTH DAKOTA and South
Another contentious reform issue
involving questions about fraud and
access at the polls has been provisional voting, which, over the past
few months, has led to lawsuits in
MICHIGAN, OHIO and other states.
from being turned away at the polls,
which was reported in Florida and
other areas of the country in 2000,
HAVA now mandates that states have
some kind of provisional voting
system in place.
expected to be ruled on this month.
Time to upgrade
While HAVA had an immediate
effect on state legislative debates over
voter identification and provisional
balloting, the centerpiece of the
legislation was the $3 billion in
federal funding it authorized to states
to improve their election systems.
The enhancements are being made
gradually, at varying levels of rapidity,
in states around the country.
Individuals whose names don’t appear
on official voter registration lists must
be given a ballot. This ballot is then
counted if election officials can later
verify the voter’s eligibility. In
According to a 2004 report by
Election Data Services, MINNESOTA,
North Dakota, South Dakota and
Wisconsin are among the 11 U.S.
states that will have completely
DAKOTA are among the handful of
states to have passed laws requiring
identification at the polls by all
addition, the state must provide the
voters.
counted (through a Web site or toll-
Similar measures also were approved
in recent years by the IOWA, KANSAS
and WISCONSIN legislatures. They
were vetoed, though, by the states’
governors, who argued that the
stricter ID requirements would
disenfranchise voters — particularly
senior citizens, minorities and the
poor.
free number, for example).
Not surprisingly, those three cases in
these rules could disenfranchise
As part of the comprehensive HAVA
the Midwest involved Republican
legislatures and Democratic governors. The debate over voter identifi-
thousands of Ohio residents. Propo-
implementation strategies that each
nents counter that the directives are a
state in the region has developed,
way of preventing fraud.
election officials have laid out plans
Firstline
voter with an opportunity to find out
whether his or her ballot was
Details on how to implement this
HAVA requirement were left to the
states. Ohio’s plan, for instance,
directs local election officials to deny
provisional ballots to voters who live
outside the precinct and to require
identification from first-time voters
seeking the ballots. Opponents say
eliminated their use of punch card
voting in time for this November’s
election.
In other parts of the Midwest, many
individual jurisdictions have replaced
their punch card or lever machines,
but the changes have not been made
statewide. Most states in this region
have secured waivers from the federal
government allowing them to delay
the complete replacement of these
voting machines until 2006.
October 2004
for complying with the federal
ment a centralized, uniform voter
have been left in the hands of state
government’s new voting machine
registration database. (North
and local election officials.
requirements.
Dakota, the only state in the
Michigan, for example, will have a
uniform optical scan voting system in
place by 2006. Its decision to imple-
country that does not require voters
to register, is exempt from this
HAVA requirement.)
ment a single, statewide procedure
Some states did not have such a
was made in part to make the process
centralized database in place before
simpler for voters.
the federal law, while others have
had to adjust theirs in order to
Optical scan was selected for several
comply with new requirements.
reasons. First, nearly two-thirds of
Legislatures, though, have sometimes
required the implementation of
particular initiatives, including the
creation of voters’ bills of rights
(which might be required to be
posted at polling places) and the
development of new online voters’
guides.
Three years ago, lawmakers in
INDIANA created a special voting
system education fund, which
Michigan’s 5,305 voting precincts
A large majority of states have sought
already use the system. Second, polls
and received waivers delaying
indicate that a vast majority of voters
implementation of the new voter
have confidence in it. Third, optical
registration databases until 2006. One
scan equipment provides a tangible
notable exception in this region is
reimburses counties for the development and implementation of programs that educate the community
document trail that can be used in the
MINNESOTA.
about voting procedures.
event of a recount. Other states face
Some lawmakers have expressed
similar decisions about whether to
concern that the state’s attempt to
States also have tried to increase
young people’s interest in and knowl-
implement uniform systems and
implement the database so quickly
which equipment to use.
could cause problems in the Novem-
While HAVA leaves important
decisions like these up to the states, it
does establish some general requirements for voting equipment.
Every polling place must provide
voting access for the disabled, and
individuals must be given the chance
to review their ballot selections and
be provided with alternative language
ballots when needed. Federal law also
requires that state voting systems
“produce a paper record with a
manual audit capacity.”
ber election. In recently held special
legislative elections, they say, the
HAVA database wrongly took some
Minnesotans off voter registration
edge of elections. As one example
from this region, ILLINOIS enacted
the Voting by Minors Act in 2003 —
a pilot initiative in which K-12
students from participating counties
take part in a mock election on
files.
Election Day.
Minnesota election officials believe
In most areas of election reform, from
voter education programs to the
any glitches in the new system will
be worked out in time for a smooth
general election.
Educating the electorate
Another key component of HAVA is
the allocation of funds to help states
pay for poll worker training and voter
Another mandate in the federal
eduction programs. In most cases, the
legislation calls on states to imple-
specifics of these outreach efforts
modernization of equipment, states
still are in charge of key policymaking decisions. The enactment of
HAVA heightened the federal
government’s role in the nation’s
elections, but the part played by states
remains critical.
Tim Anderson is the publications manager
for the CSG Midwestern Office.
Firstline
Voting equipment in use for 2004 U.S. elections
Precincts
Registered
voters
Source Guide
For further information on election reform:
Election Center (final report of the National Task
Force on Election Reform)
www.electioncenter.org
Type of
equipment
Number Percentage Number
Percentage
DataVote
1,933
1.07%
2,059,219
1.33%
Electronic
46,054
25.42%
45,407,186 29.35%
Electionline.org
www.electionline.org
Lever
25,852
14.27%
21,621,914 13.98%
National Association of Secretaries of State
www.nass.org
Paper ballot
3,420
1.89%
1,024,190
Punch card
26,591
14.67%
19,138,000 12.37%
Optical scan 65,618
36.21%
54,027,493 34.93%
Multiple
systems
6.48%
11,406,658 7.37%
11,741
0.66%
Source: Election Data Services
The Council of State Governments’ Midwestern
Legislative Conference (final report of the MLC
Elections Task Force)
www.csgmidwest.org
The League of Women Voters
www.lwv.org/join/elections/hava_resources.html
The National Commission on Federal Election Reform
www.reformelections.org
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
www.eac.gov
U.S. Federal Election Commission
www.fec.gov/hava/hava.htm
Recent issues of Firstline Midwest have examined:
Identity theft protection measures
Mercury reduction strategies
Funding woes for gifted education programs
The Council of State Governments
Midwestern Office
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Lombard, IL 60148-5651
Phone: 630-810-0210
Fax: 630-810-0145
E-mail: [email protected]
October 2004
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