E-Vote: NACo Says Voter Confidence Bill Will Destroy Confidence

Proposed voter confidence legislation under consideration in Congress will instead "destroy public confidence" in the nation's elections "because the presidential election of 2008 will be a disaster," said Gail W. Mahoney, commissioner, Jackson County, Mich., who testified on Friday before a House Administration Committee panel on behalf of the National Association of Counties (NACo).

"This legislation is a one-size-fits-all approach that will not fit all," said Mahoney, a member of the Board of Directors of both NACo and the Michigan Association of Counties. "If you want to ensure public confidence in the next generation of voting equipment, please do not require counties across the nation to purchase another round of equipment when we don't know what we're buying and will probably have to junk it again before the next federal election."

Mahoney testified before the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Elections, chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), on the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007" (H.R. 811), sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.). The legislation is an attempt to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

While NACo says it supports the goals of the new bill, the association objects to several unfunded mandates in the legislation, including the requirement that new paper ballot scanning and audio-readback technologies for visually impaired voters be purchased and operational in America's county polling places in time for the 2008 presidential election.

"There is simply not enough time to enact state conforming legislation, do testing and procurement, develop training materials, and train election officials, pollworkers and voters in how to use equipment they have never used," Mahoney said.

Another county official, George Gilbert, director of elections for Guilford County, N.C., told subcommittee members that, "We are very concerned that the implementation date of 2008 will actually collapse the election."

In addition, Ray Feikert, commissioner, Holmes County, Ohio, submitted written testimony to the subcommittee on behalf of NACo. He said that the Help America Vote Act has doubled and tripled the costs of running elections in counties across the country.

"The funding that we received in Ohio for the Help America Vote Act paid for the up-front costs of purchasing equipment," he said in written testimony. "It did not pay for personnel, training, storage, or service contracts on the equipment. Before the Help America Vote Act, we used to be able to run an election in Holmes County for approximately $4,000. Now that cost is well over $20,000."