Tag
Member
This was in response to a letter I wrote prior to the election attempting to discourage the use of Instant Runoff Voting. Does anyone know what HAVA is?
Thank you for contacting me about election reform. I appreciate
hearing your views on this matter.
Ensuring that all eligible citizens are able to vote and that
every
vote is counted is an important national priority. According to the
Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, in the 2000
presidential election 2.5 million votes out of 101 million were not
counted. In other words, many Americans made the effort to participate
in
our democratic system, yet their votes did not count. This is simply
unacceptable.
In 2002, I supported the Help America Vote Act (HAVA,
P.L.107-252),
which is a major step toward correcting many of the inadequacies of our
election system. This law establishes a set of standards to correct
voting
errors and ensures accessibility for the disabled. It also encourages
states, along with the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), to set uniform benchmarks and reporting requirements for voting
system performance. In addition, HAVA ensures that the most effective
voting equipment is available to states by funding research and pilot
programs, performing studies on voting technology, and providing
explicit
voter guidelines and certification programs.
HAVA allocated funds for each state to purchase new voting systems
that comply with HAVA?s standards. In Michigan?s case, the Secretary of
State convened a HAVA Advisory Committee, on which I sat, to review the
available systems and Michigan?s needs for future elections. Last year,
Michigan?s Secretary of State announced that she selected an optical
scan
voting system for Michigan. The optical scan voting system requires
voters
to place a mark in a designated spot on the ballot next to the name of
the
candidate receiving the vote. When the votes are counted these marks
are
read by an optical scanner. The optical scan voting system creates and
preserves a paper trail of each vote, thereby greatly enhancing the
security and accuracy of election results.
Unfortunately, President Bush and the Congressional majority have
provided insufficient federal funding for HAVA programs, which has
prompted
great concern. The Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus appropriations Act
(P.L.108-199) allocated $500 million to improve our electoral system,
only
half the amount authorized for FY04.
The inadequate funding for HAVA programs is especially
discouraging
following the release of a report by the Information Security Institute
at
Johns Hopkins University (http://avirubin.com/vote.pdf). This and other
reports have found major flaws in certain software programs for ?direct
record electronic? (DRE) voting systems, often referred to as
?touch-screen? voting, used in several states. If left uncorrected,
these
flaws could intentionally enable unscrupulous persons to modify existing
votes or to cast multiple votes by using a counterfeit voting card.
Because of the fundamental importance of fair and accurate elections to
our
democracy, I support providing additional funds for HAVA programs to
ensure
that all voting systems and procedures, including DRE systems, are
secure,
accurate, recountable, and accessible.
The goal of ensuring that every vote counts is essential to
ensuring
democracy. American voters deserve an electoral process that is both
secure and accurate, and I will continue to work to ensure our voting
systems are both reliable and verifiable.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Carl Levin
Thank you for contacting me about election reform. I appreciate
hearing your views on this matter.
Ensuring that all eligible citizens are able to vote and that
every
vote is counted is an important national priority. According to the
Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, in the 2000
presidential election 2.5 million votes out of 101 million were not
counted. In other words, many Americans made the effort to participate
in
our democratic system, yet their votes did not count. This is simply
unacceptable.
In 2002, I supported the Help America Vote Act (HAVA,
P.L.107-252),
which is a major step toward correcting many of the inadequacies of our
election system. This law establishes a set of standards to correct
voting
errors and ensures accessibility for the disabled. It also encourages
states, along with the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), to set uniform benchmarks and reporting requirements for voting
system performance. In addition, HAVA ensures that the most effective
voting equipment is available to states by funding research and pilot
programs, performing studies on voting technology, and providing
explicit
voter guidelines and certification programs.
HAVA allocated funds for each state to purchase new voting systems
that comply with HAVA?s standards. In Michigan?s case, the Secretary of
State convened a HAVA Advisory Committee, on which I sat, to review the
available systems and Michigan?s needs for future elections. Last year,
Michigan?s Secretary of State announced that she selected an optical
scan
voting system for Michigan. The optical scan voting system requires
voters
to place a mark in a designated spot on the ballot next to the name of
the
candidate receiving the vote. When the votes are counted these marks
are
read by an optical scanner. The optical scan voting system creates and
preserves a paper trail of each vote, thereby greatly enhancing the
security and accuracy of election results.
Unfortunately, President Bush and the Congressional majority have
provided insufficient federal funding for HAVA programs, which has
prompted
great concern. The Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus appropriations Act
(P.L.108-199) allocated $500 million to improve our electoral system,
only
half the amount authorized for FY04.
The inadequate funding for HAVA programs is especially
discouraging
following the release of a report by the Information Security Institute
at
Johns Hopkins University (http://avirubin.com/vote.pdf). This and other
reports have found major flaws in certain software programs for ?direct
record electronic? (DRE) voting systems, often referred to as
?touch-screen? voting, used in several states. If left uncorrected,
these
flaws could intentionally enable unscrupulous persons to modify existing
votes or to cast multiple votes by using a counterfeit voting card.
Because of the fundamental importance of fair and accurate elections to
our
democracy, I support providing additional funds for HAVA programs to
ensure
that all voting systems and procedures, including DRE systems, are
secure,
accurate, recountable, and accessible.
The goal of ensuring that every vote counts is essential to
ensuring
democracy. American voters deserve an electoral process that is both
secure and accurate, and I will continue to work to ensure our voting
systems are both reliable and verifiable.
Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Carl Levin