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Ohio News |
Article published Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Ohio absent from election-reform
movement
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - After a stagnant beginning, the
effort to overhaul voting systems has taken off with most states and
the federal government going into action, an elections information
group reports.
Only about 13 states - including Ohio - have
done nothing to change their electoral procedures, said the report
released yesterday by electionline.org, a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy
Web site administered by the Election Reform Information
Project.
The report outlines the nation’s progress since
balloting problems in Florida delayed for more than a month
declaration of George W. Bush as winner of the 2000 presidential
election.
The organization identified states that have taken
no action as Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, North Dakota,
Oregon, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
New York, Hawaii, New
Hampshire, and New Jersey, also cited, have formed bodies to study
the issue, the report’s authors said.
"Some states did
nothing, but not for lack of trying," said Doug Chapin, director of
electionline.org.
He noted that while partisanship delayed
efforts in some states, such as Illinois, others had problems such
as North Dakota’s, where the legislature was not in session this
year. Other states failed to act because they wanted to wait to see
what Washington planned to do, he said.
States acted in
various ways, putting in force large projects, such as investing in
newer machines for polling places, to such small-scale changes as
upgrading voting procedures and safeguards.
Just last week,
Congress offered its response to the debate, sending a $3.8 billion
overhaul bill to the White House for President Bush’s promised
signature.
That measure would give money to states with
outdated punch-card and lever-voting machines to buy
replacements.
Statewide registration lists would be
instituted as well as provisional voting, which allows voters who do
not appear on voter rolls but believe they are eligible to vote.
Election officials later would determine their
eligibility.
"In comparison to 2001, when lots of people
talked about election reform but nothing was done, 2002 is when many
actually got down to the business of election reform," Mr. Chapin
said.
Mr. Chapin predicted that "the amount of change in 2002
will be dwarfed by 2003 and 2004."
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