Dueling Election Reform Bills
The Senate Democrats have their own bill on election reform. As the AP reports here, it would make election day a national holiday. The bill would also require that ex-felons be allowed to vote. This is a good idea ... but one that's certain not to see much daylight in Congress.

It's also reported that the bill would require "paper receipts," but this probably isn't accurate -- what this likely means is another version of the legislation to require a contemporaneous paper record (or more euphemistically "voter verified paper audit trail") that has caused such headaches for Ohio recently, effectively forcing it to abandon its plans to replace punch cards with electronic voting systems. If so, it would join a "flurry" of state bills to propose this as-yet unproven device, as electionline.org reports here. But see here for a story on one candidate for Ohio Secretary of State who argues that the state's decision to require this device, passed last year, needs to be revisited.

My take: The Democrats' support for a contemporaneous paper record is particularly hard to comprehend, given that even the most vigorous and intelligent critics of electronic voting have acknowledged that it won't do much to solve the security concerns that have been raised, as noted here. Paper is a security blanket for some voters, but the sense of security it provides is a false one. Worse still, the move to require it has had the effect of stymying replacement of unreliable technology.

It's becoming increasingly apparent that, in terms of election reform, the best we can hope for from this Congress is that it will do nothing at all. While the Republicans are proposing measures that would place new obstacles in the path of citizens wishing the vote in the name of preventing fraud, the Democrats appear to be proposing a combination of things that have no chance of passing and things that will make the transition to better systems more difficult. If constructive changes are to be made, they're more likely to come from the states. - posted by Dan Tokaji @ 10:26 PM