Election overhaul hailed

By Susanna Ray

Herald Writer

Exactly one year after the fateful U.S. Supreme Court decision that decided the 2000 presidential election, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill overhauling the nation’s election system.

The bill provides $2.65 billion to upgrade voting equipment and replace punch-card voting machines like the ones that led to the tense vote recount in Florida.

Despite the House action and apparent moves by the Senate in the same direction, there are no promises that the legislation will affect either the 2002 midterm elections or the 2004 presidential election.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in Seattle, a report that formed the basis for the legislation was discussed by two members of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, which produced the report.

Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, who was the commission’s lead Republican, said the legislation is intended "not to re-fight the election, not to count ballots and chads in Florida … but to solve the fundamental challenges in Florida."

Both Gorton and the commission’s executive director, Philip Zelikow, praised Washington state’s election system during Wednesday’s discussion hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"Washington is always on everybody’s list of the really good (states, as far as election policy is concerned) on a list of about six to eight states," Zelikow said.

"Thanks to Ralph Munro, Washington’s long-time secretary of state, the changes that will have to take place in the state of Washington are minimal," Gorton said, pointing to Munro in the audience.

The only major reform that would be implemented here would be the creation of a statewide voter registration system, he said.

Some of the reforms the national legislation calls for are:

  • Allowing for special ballots in case a voter goes to the wrong polling place, has changed his name or is registered in a different county. Washington’s policy on special ballots is the model for the nation, Zelikow said.

  • Giving state governments a bigger role in elections, which are now mostly under county jurisdiction.

  • Requiring updated, statewide voter registration lists. The recommendation is to merge the list with the state’s drivers license database.

  • Creating a statewide definition of what constitutes a valid vote, so one county doesn’t count hanging chads while another counts dimpled chads.

    The Washington Post contributed to this report.

    You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 425-339-3439

    or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com.

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