EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Jenny Rose Flanagan
Organization : | Colorado Common Cause
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | Working together: Common Cause has been working on HAVA implementation and other voting issues at the national and state level. In some states, staff or volunteer activists have served on advisory panels, have lobbied for legislation in concert with other groups. The importance of working together with activists and election administrators cannot be understated. Our experience in Colorado is a golden example of how working side by side can produce effective policy decisions. As the Colorado legislature took up voting issues this year, our Secretary of State, now Commissioner, Donetta Davidson led the charge by creating a Blue Ribbon Panel on Elections. Holding open meetings with experts and interested parties allowed for meaningful dialogue to shape the policies that were later adopted by the state legislature. In addition to the Blue Ribbon Panel, the Secretary of State and her office, along with other elections administrators spent many hours working with legislators and activists to pass important voting reforms including a voter verified paper record. Creating and maintaining working groups on election issues is critical to effective election administration. Stakeholders should be brought in who bring expertise in areas such as computer technology, security, and citizen outreach. By working together we are able to meet the voters’ demands for increased confidence while balancing the realities of what it takes to run increasingly complex elections. [Statements submitted at EAC public hearing, June 30, 2005, Denver, CO]