EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Sen. John Edwards
Organization : | One America Committee
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | As we all know, the 2004 election was marred by widespread voting problems – long lines, miscast ballots, votes that people weren’t sure were cast properly by new machines they’d never used before. Many of the worst problems happened in Ohio. After the election, 28 percent of voters there reported problems with their voting experience. These problems were ones that shouldn’t exist in America, like intimidation and not being able to find your polling site. The racial disparities within these problems are especially alarming: in Ohio, African American voters were twice as likely as white voters to experience problems. The result of these problems is a dramatic blow to our faith in our democratic system: in Ohio in 2004, only 19 percent of African Americans were confident that their vote was counted correctly. That’s not the way it should be in America. So, while I commend the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for taking another look at problems in our voting system, I’m concerned that these guidelines – just like those issued in 1990 and 2002 – do not go far enough.