Voting Rights

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Primary Primer: Voting Changes in Key States

The 2000 Presidential election is commonly referred to as a "fiasco," and for good reason. Dimpled chads, lost ballots, and registered-to-vote pets (yes, pets! Dogs and cats!) were some of the many election glitches that spurred Congress to reform the voting system in 2002.

Two years after the Florida flop, Congress passed the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA), which provides $3.86 billion for states to revamp their voting systems by 2006.

Since states aren’t required to complete voting reforms for another two years, will HAVA help the 2004 vote? How do we know that the coming presidential election won’t be a sequel to the 2000 fiasco?

Even though the general HAVA due date is 2006, states have been making changes ahead of schedule to prep for the 2004 presidential election. Plus, the act requires key primary states to complete some reforms by 2003/04. These modifications hope to encourage efficient voting and accurate results for the coming presidential primaries.

Key primary states

There are 22 key primary states, influential because their primaries are held early in the year. The first primary is held in New Hampshire on January 27th. Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina will follow on February 3rd. Tennessee and Virginia vote on February 10th, while Wisconsin holds a lone primary on February 17th. March 2nd is a busy day, with California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont choosing among the candidates. Finally, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi vote on March 9th, making themselves the last of the key primary states.

Do you live in a key primary state? If so, read on. Recent reforms may affect you.

What’s new

Registration and identification in key primary states

When registering to vote in person, an applicant must now provide her driver’s license number or the last four digits of her social security number. Applicants who have neither of these must be assigned a voter-ID number by the state.

Voters who registered by mail on or after January 1, 2003 and did not include a photocopied I.D. will have to prove their identity at the polling place. Accepted forms of identification are: a current and valid photo I.D., a utility bill, bank statement, or government document that displays the name and address of the voter.

Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia will require even more voters to show identification at the polls. Prior to HAVA, only 3 of the 22 key primary states had voter identification requirements.

Many feel that the new I.D. requirements will prevent voting fraud. Others fear that poll workers may ask for identification from voters who are not required to provide it. This may cause registered voters to be turned away at the polls for not having proper I.D. Further, voters who are required to present identification may not be aware of the full list of identification options. Civil rights advocates argue that I.D. requirements disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, the homeless, disabled voters, younger voters, and the elderly.

Databases

Beginning January 1, 2004, key primary states must have computerized voter registration lists that all election officials can access. State databases must be connected to those of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to www.electionline.org, a non-partisan organization that reports on election reform, “HAVA is much more concerned with the way voter information is introduced into a registration system, tracked in states, and identified at the polls, than it is with how voters cast their ballots."

In other words, Congress focused on the way that voter registration information is stored, and not on the method of voting. However, most media coverage of election reform has focused on the voting machines themselves.

HAVA mandates computerized voter registration lists, but not computerized voting machines. States can decide whether or not they want to replace manual machines with computerized ones, but computers must be used to organize and track voter information.

Provisional ballots

During the 2000 election debacle, many registered voters were absent from registration lists and not allowed to vote. HAVA requires that provisional ballots be available to those who do not appear on the list and to voters who were required to bring I.D. but did not.

There is still disagreement about how these ballots will be counted, but HAVA requires that the state provide a website or toll-free number to voters who cast provisional ballots and want to find out what happened to their votes.

Sample ballot

HAVA also mandates key primary states to post a sample version of the ballot at polling places.

This provision hopes to prevent any confusion that may be inspired by puzzling ballots, such as the famous butterfly ballot from the 2000 election.

The king of key primary states

New Hampshire is the most celebrated of the key primary states. The state holds the second primary in the nation (after Washington D.C.), and is the first to count its results toward the nomination; the results of the N.H. primary are therefore quite influential on the primaries that follow.

The state is continuing to use paper ballots, so a close race may raise questions about outdated voting technology.

New Hampshire won’t have to worry about provisional ballots though, because the state allows same-day voter registration. Applicants must provide I.D., proof of residency, and sign an affidavit.

More work to be done

The primary elections may elucidate the HAVA provisions that need more attention. There is a lot of work to be done before the 2006 HAVA deadline.

How would you like to see your polling place updated? To read more on election reform, click here. Discuss this issue with other WomenMatter readers in one of our online forums, and when you’re ready, contact your representatives and let them know how your state measures up to HAVA.

Update Posted on: 1/14/2004

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