HAVA HAVA Help America Vote Act Help America Vote Act What Every - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
HAVA HAVA Help America Vote Act Help America Vote Act What Every Voter Should Know Why Is HAVA Necessary? Between 4 million and 6 million votes in the 2000 election were lost due to problems with ballots, voting machines and registration
in the 2000 election were lost due to problems with ballots, voting machines and registration
– (according to a new study by the Cal Tech-MIT Voting Technology Project)
that the votes of poor people and members of minorities were more than three times as likely to go uncounted in the 2000 presidential election than the votes of more affluent people. (The New York Times, July 9, 2001. )
– The two districts with the highest rates of uncounted ballots, 7.9 percent, were in Chicago and Miami. Both are poor districts, and both used punch cards. – The Seventh District in western Alabama
68 percent are members of minorities,
ballots of the 40 districts surveyed, only 0.3 percent.
– The study focused on 40 Congressional districts in 20 states. – It found that the type of voting equipment used was crucial.
to have their ballots discarded as those using machines that employ a special writing instrument and warn a voter if the ballot is about to be spoiled.
– Some analysts estimate that 1.9 percent or almost two million votes in the 2000 presidential race were not counted.
legislation affecting voting rights since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
signed into law by President George
responsibility for conducting elections to the state government instead of local government.
shift to the federal level for enforcement of the new standards and procedures.
– The most common are the electronic counting machines where ballots are hand marked and fed into the machine.
totals are taken to the courthouse, where they are added to results from other polling places.
– Seven counties have central counting systems where all the ballots are taken to the courthouse and then counted at that one location.
is no way to provide a proper paper trail and no way to present the results at the polls where the voting is done and HAVA requires a paper count.
– Touch-screen machines are used in Mobile, Montgomery and Bullock counties.
provide paper printouts. To be HAVA compliant they will need to do so.
phased in over a four year period. – All states including Alabama had a deadline of 2003 for the following:
available to local officials through an interactive computer network.
voting in their next federal election.
to vote must be verified before his or her ballot is counted.
contact in order to get applications for voter registration or absentee voting; and
file a complaint.
– Replace mechanical lever voting machines in Bullock county; – Replace or modify voting machines in Mobile, Montgomery and DeKalb counties; – Replace centralized ballot counting systems in nine (9) counties; and – Place a modern computerized direct record voting machine in each precinct in the state capable of permitting persons with disabilities to vote without assistance – Place modern computerized direct record voting machines in each precinct which provides assistance for voting in an alternative language (e.g., Spanish). ( those counties whose voting age population exceeds 5% in that language group)
the following requirements are to be in place for all voting systems: – In general, the voting system shall:
the votes he or she marked on the ballot before the ballot is counted;
independently change the ballot or correct any error before the ballot is counted. – This includes the opportunity to correct the error with a replacement ballot if the voter was
a single office:
– Let the voter know that more than one candidate was selected for a single office on the ballot; – Notify the voter before the ballot is counted of the effect of casting multiple votes for the office; and – Provide the voter with the opportunity to correct the ballot before it is counted. – The voting system shall ensure that any notification preserves the privacy of the voter and the confidentiality of the ballot.
The voting system shall produce a record with an audit capacity for the system. –The record shall be a permanent paper record can be counted manually. –The paper record produced shall be available as an official record for any recount conducted with respect to any election in which the system is used.
The voting system shall be accessible for individuals with disabilities, including accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation as
citizens who have difficulty reading but who are not visually impaired. The voting system shall provide alternative language accessibility if the county’s population of bilingual voters is 5% or greater.
language requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the Secretary of State anticipates achieving compliance with those requirements by January 1, 2006 anyway.
voting age population. Full funding of HAVA is essential to Alabama’s ability to reach out to this growing sector of
Alabama’s Hispanic Population
Counties With Greater Than 5% Hispanic Populations Blount 5.3% DeKalb 5.6% Marshall 5.7% Franklin 7.4%
standards that define what a vote is and what will be counted as a vote . – According to the Secretary of State’s office:
requirements on privacy and independence. It also meets the audit capacity requirements.
the each precinct.
comply with the error rate standards established under the voting systems standards issued by the Federal Election Commission.
a registered voter is in dispute, then the voter may vote using a special ballot called a provisional ballot.
is in question the opportunity to cast a vote.
– If the individual believes that he is registered, but the person’s name does not appear on the list of qualified voters or; – When the individual arrives as the polls are closed and wishes to vote or; – When an election official asserts that the individual is not eligible to vote.
in the precinct and eligible to vote in that election. The individual is then permitted to vote a provisional ballot.
that the individual is a registered voter and eligible to vote in that election.
system of “challenged ballots” wherein the vote is counted on election day but made identifiable so that the election count may be modified in an election contest.
primary election and a seven day period in all other federal, state and county elections to verify provisional ballots.
county to verify provisional ballots and to certify the verification of the provisional ballots to the Judge of Probate.
Clerk will have the responsibility of counting the provisional ballots and reporting those returns as though from an individual precinct within the county – similar to the manner in which absentee ballots are reported in Alabama.
posted at each polling place on election day.
– A sample version of the ballot that will be used for that election; – Information regarding the date of the election and the hours during which polling places will be open; – Instructions on how to vote, including how to cast a vote and how to cast a provisional ballot; – Instructions for mail-in registrants and first-time voters; – General information on voting rights under applicable Federal and State laws, including information on the right of an individual to cast a provisional ballot and instructions on how to contact the appropriate officials if these rights are alleged to have been violated; and – General information on Federal and State laws regarding prohibitions on acts of fraud and misrepresentation.
interactive and computerized statewide voter registration list. – This list is to be defined, maintained, and administered at the State level.
administration and maintenance of the voter list.
– It will contain the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State and will assign a unique identifier (pin number) to each legally registered voter in the State. – The computerized list shall serve as the official voter registration list for the conduct of all elections for Federal office in the State.
and who has never voted in the state before to provide specific identification before being permitted to vote.
– Possible identification includes a current and valid photo identification or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. – Alabama also recognizes the following exception that will provide official verification of identity:
security number given by the applicant enables the registrars to verify the identity of the applicant via the computer link with the driver’s license database of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, the individual’s identity is established.
Documents
Information provided by the Office of the Alabama Secretary of State
they will note that the registered voter must provide identification at the next federal election.
required identification, the individual must vote
may provide a copy of the identification as part
the required identification.
computerized and touch-screen computers being used in some locations. While touch-screen computers are more reliable than the older methods of voting, there are some areas of concern.
concerns as well as the advantages of computerized voting.
screen voting?”
– Some claim that electronic voting machines are subject to manipulation that will allow votes to be stolen, and that the only way to protect against this is to have a voter verified paper trail. – Several states that have implemented the use of touch-screen voting machines have had some problems, including California and Florida.
possible areas of concern in the use of touch- screen voting machines:
– First, some say that a “Trojan Horse” computer chip
machine by the manufacturer or another “insider” that would cause votes to be incorrectly recorded. – Second, some suggest that the machine could be penetrated (“hacked”) or that the management security systems could be bypassed to allow an
– Finally, some observers are concerned that linking voting machines electronically or using the Internet to transmit election results will allow results to be manipulated.
researched by the League of Women Voters, there is no reason to believe that a well-run election system based
will steal your vote.
these and precinct-count optical scan voting systems can be much better than the punch card voting machines and lever machines that they are replacing.
Women voters believe it is important that election officials put management safeguards in place to ensure that all voting systems function properly.
Diebold AccuVote is
devices so that persons with disabilities can cast ballots.
counts, but there must be a paper record of all the votes cast on each voting system.
that a person who makes a mistake in voting can automatically be notified and make a correction to the ballot before it is cast.
votes for more than one candidate for an office such a President, the machine can automatically prevent the error in the first place
machines by voters of all ages and ethnic and racial backgrounds, who have used them.
the operational problems in handling paper ballots that have sometimes led to election irregularities. (i.e. chads)
a machine is certified for use in their states.
against malfunctions, and management systems guard against error and ensure that unauthorized personnel do not have access to the machines.
run systems: – First, voting machines must meet nationally certified design standards in most states. – Second, the individual machines are tested when they are delivered by the manufacturer to election officials. – Third, the machines are tested just before Election Day. – Fourth, and especially important, the machines are monitored during Election Day. Finally, the machines are tested after Election Day. – Security measures prevent tampering after each stage
the use of a malfunctioning machine, and, taken together, suggests a high degree of reliability. – Of course, as with any system, if the safeguards are not followed, then problems can result.
reservoirs of distrust in the voting public:
– distrust of the election systems that were so flawed in 2000, – distrust of new technologies; and – basic distrust of the political system.
2000 election revealed the problems that plague our election systems.
Americans learned about such issues as voting machines that don’t work well, poor ballot design, and people being turned away from the polls because of poor administration
distrustful of new technologies, even though we rely on such technologies to fly our airplanes and operate our banking systems so long as there are appropriate management systems to provide safeguards.
systems have focused narrowly on the machines themselves without taking into account the management systems and safeguards that can protect against tampering and without acknowledging the problems associated with other voting systems such as punch-card machines.
screen computers have experienced glitches that caused concern over their accuracy and dependability.
Systems and the current controversy see: http://www.lwv.org/join/elections/HAVA_QAonDRE.pdf http://www.lwv.org/join/elections/hava_dre_crs-report.pdf http://www.lwv.org/join/elections/hava_dre-vvpt.html http://www.lwv.org/join/elections/hava_eacletter_1203.htm l
Requirements, presented by Nancy Worley, Alabama Secretary of State, August 19, 2003. http://www.sos.state.al.us/downloads/election/hava/alabama- stateplan-final.pdf
Associate Editor, The Tuscaloosa News, December 07, 2003
# 2061
McCormick Tribune Foundation and The League of Women Voters
Vote Act.” Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, http://www.demos-usa.org/demos/hava/eightpagememo.pdf