Editorial: Reforming elections
From the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 13, 2004

Some non-news was good news on Nov. 2. America?s election machinery did not crash, as it did four years earlier, even though this time it processed a record number of voters. And the feared flood of lawsuits did not materialize, even though the polls had drawn battalions of lawyers.
Still, many glitches marred the voting, including in Wisconsin. Long lines were too commonplace. And the nation likely escaped a Florida-style catastrophe only because of the size of President Bush?s margin of victory.

Bush took key Ohio by 136,000 votes. Imagine the chaos had the margin stood at, say, 20,000 votes. The old punch-card nightmare would have returned; 76,000 punch-card ballots did not record any votes for president in the Buckeye State. And Ohio is still sorting through 155,000 provisional ballots (which will count if officials determine that those who cast them are indeed eligible to vote). In short, the presidential winner could well be in doubt even now, a full 12 days after the election.

Officials must step up their reforms of the election process to ease such concerns. Congress took steps two years ago to introduce some standards to the nation?s patchwork electoral system; that body must do more.

Yes, the upgraded system did handle a record 120 million voters - numbers that bode well for democracy. Now, the trick is to ensure that the election machinery itself aids, rather than retards, voting. To that end, Congress should:

? Outlaw the use of punch-card ballots. In the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Congress discouraged, but did not ban, their use. Wisconsin wisely scrapped the ballots, in use in a few jurisdictions. But Ohio failed to do so.

? Require that any voting process leave a paper trail. Before the election, fears were raised about the lack of such a trail for new touch-screen voting machines. Did those machines properly record the votes on Nov. 2? ?We?ll never really know,? writes Sharon Machlis in Computerworld. ?Without a paper trail, there?s simply nothing to check against in order to verify accuracy.?

? Require states to adopt the successful Wisconsin policy of same-day registration, a policy that helps explain why Dairyland is a leader in voter turnout. Puzzlingly, some states close off registration as long as 30 days before an election, which denies the right to vote to residents who failed to meet the deadline, no doubt disproportionately among them the young, notorious for not thinking ahead. Well, even people who don?t plan deserve the right to vote. Same-day registration would also avoid much agony over provisional ballots. A voter erroneously not on the rolls could simply re-register at the polls.

? Forbid states to deny voting rights to ex-felons who have completed their obligations. Only six states impose lifetime bans on voting for former convicts - a policy with racist origins. Southern states adopted the ruse to help keep black people from the polls. Abandonment of the policy would also end much confusion over voting eligibility, as has surfaced in Florida.

? Encourage states to shorten lines by ensuring an ample supply of poll workers and voting booths. Perhaps college students or municipal workers could supplement the usual crew for busy elections.

These are just some measures Congress should adopt to further upgrade the nation?s still rickety election system.