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June 8, 2001

Representative Blue called meeting to order.

Mr. Storey explained organization of notebook provided to task force members. In Chicago, the task force agreed on a set of principles and areas to focus on, largely based on Florida task force report. Each chapter in the notebook is one of those topics. It includes some best practices, 50-state information, etc. It also includes reports from other election task forces to serve as examples and generate discussion.

Discussion of the Principles of the Election Process in the United States

Mr. Speer said he pulled these from Florida report for discussion. No prioritization is intended by the order; they are in the order they appeared in the Florida report. The NCSL task force should pay attention to the order we put our principles in, however, because people will think the first one is most important.

Senator Cohen pointed out that there isn't anything in the report about encouraging people to register, vote and get involved. Mr. Speer said that fits into voter education, which breaks down into two parts - educating people about how to register and vote, and educating people about the candidates and issues. The presumption is that the more people know, the more they'll want to vote. He recommended adding it to the statement on voter education. Rep. Blue said that the statement on voter education must emphasize governmental responsibility to encourage people to vote. He pointed out that because the state can take actions to discourage people from participating (as Senator Jordan's testimony in Atlanta demonstrated), they also should actively encourage people to participate. Sen. Cohen agreed and said that government should make it a priority.

Discussion of individual principles -

Principle 1 - Defining the election process is the responsibility of the individual states.

Mr. Speer said that the responsibility is granted to states in the US Constitution, and state elections are part of the plenary authority of states. The statement is controversial because it seems to indicate that it is only the states' responsibility, and does not recognize that Congress must play a role in the federal election process. However, the details of election governance are the responsibility of the state. Rep. Blue asked if it was possible to recognize the role of Congress and localities in the statement. Mr. Speer responded that setting up the framework for how elections are conducted is solely a state responsibility. Congress does have a right to dictate to states how to conduct aspects of federal elections, e.g., they have to choose members of Congress on a certain date, they have to register people in certain ways and maintain voter rolls in certain ways (NVRA). But the fact of the matter is that there are not two systems of elections, state and federal; there is only one. NVRA is an example - Congress said it only had to apply to federal elections, but no state has a separate federal registration system and a state registration system. The GAO report also says that states are responsible for administering state and federal elections, but goes on to say that Congress can preempt the states when it comes to the federal election process. Since states cannot afford to have parallel election processes, what Congress does affects all elections. All state legislatures have to change state statutes to meet federal requirements like those in NVRA.

Rep. Blue suggested amending the statement as follows: Administering the election process is the responsibility of the individual states. This statement admits that more than the legislature is involved in the process - other local and state officials are involved, and there is federal involvement in defining election processes.

The committee voted to adopt the statement: Administering the election process is the responsibility of the individual states.

Principle 2
Every citizen deserves an easy, open, understandable avenue to register to vote.

Mr. Speer explained that the process breaks down into logical parts, one of which is registration. That is the first step in voting, the first action of the citizen in the election process. It is one of the areas that most confuses voters, and one that Congress has placed itself in the middle of. We should make a statement that every citizen deserves an easy and open avenue for taking that first step. And if the citizen does what they are led to believe is the appropriate to register, then they should be on the voter rolls. The state has a duty to conduct voter roll maintenance.

Speaker Stephens questioned the language in Part C. Another way to put it is that they have an individual responsibility to update their voter registration information. The word responsibility is better than duty. And the responsibility is to themselves, not to society or their fellow citizens. Mr. Speer agreed with that statement, but said that it goes beyond that, and that voters have a responsibility to our system of government to keep their registration current. Speaker Stephens suggested the two aforementioned changes, and adding at the end, and an individual responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their records. Suggested wording: Citizens who change voting jurisdiction owe a responsibility to their fellow citizens to update their voter registration information, and an individual responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their records.

Senator Bryan said that this doesn't address North Dakota, which doesn't have voter registration. He made the point that voters have an obligation to follow state laws and regulations for registering and keeping their registration up to date. If they don't, it's their fault, not the government's. Rep. Blue argued that the first part of the statement, which puts the responsibility for making registration simple on the state, and Part C, that the voter has the responsibility to keep their registration updated, might be contradictory. Mr. Speer disagreed, and said that people ought to take some interest and responsibility in registering to vote. As long as the state defines and open and easy way to register, the citizen has to maintain it.

Rep. Blue suggested removing the words to register from the principle: Every citizen deserves an easy, open, understandable avenue to vote. Then the statement can go on to say that voters have a responsibility to follow the requirements the state sets up, including maintaining their responsibility. This avoids reprimanding North Dakota and the six same-day registration states, and implying that states need a registration system.

Sen. Cohen also questioned the wording of Part C. Sometimes citizens move from one precinct to another and don't even know it. Most people don't know their precinct boundaries. They might then show up to vote at their old precinct, and not be able to. It's not that simple to keep your registration up to date.

Motion by Speaker Stephens:
Strike to register in first line.
Under B, add at the beginning, In those states where registration is required
At end of C, put and an individual responsibility to ensure the accuracy of their records.

Suggested new principle: Every citizen deserves an easy, open, understandable avenue to vote.

Speaker Stephens suggested the following revision: b. In those states where registration is required,

Omit Part C.

Ms. Jameson suggested that subpart i should say simply voter registration is voluntary, because in Florida, you're asked at the DMV if you want to register. Therefore, it is not initiated by the citizen. The task force agreed with this change.

For subpart ii, Sen. Bryan suggested: Each citizen has a responsibility to comply with reasonable administrative requirements established by the state of his or her residence. The task force agreed with this change.

Revised principle 2: Every citizen deserves an easy, open, understandable avenue to vote.

Rep. Blue questioned whether the statement should place some responsibility on the state to have administrative processes that facilitate the registration process, including the process for keeping their registration up-to-date.

Speaker Stephens suggested that is in b(i) be changed to should be. This keeps the language consistent throughout the principle, and expresses the idea that voters should be able to choose not to register.

Sen. Bryan stated that there should be a statement on the duty of the state and the system to facilitate registration. Speaker Stephens suggested that Part B contain a subpart iii stating that. Mr. Speer pointed out that many provisions of election law were designed to prevent voter fraud. Since then, states have worked hard to incrementally change that to shift responsibility to citizens. For example, it may appear that maintaining voter rolls is done for administrative purposes, but in fact it is partially done to protect against voter fraud.

Rep. Blue added a ninth principle for later discussion:

9. We need laws to punish those who fraudulently try to vote, however those who substantially comply with the law should be facilitated in their effort to exercise the franchise.

Revised Principle 2 was adopted.

Principle 3

Mr. Speer said that the idea is that people's right to vote should not be denied for administrative, technical reasons. If a voter does their job, their vote should count. Speaker Stephens suggested that Part B should say, Every vote properly cast must count. Mr. Parisi suggested that it should say, Every valid vote should count. A state must define what a valid vote is. Rep. Blue suggested that in A, we substitute eligible for registered; and break C into two subdivisions, and renumber D and E. Senator Bryan suggested striking to the extent that is humanly possible in D, and change voter to voters. Sen. Cohen - Voting systems should be chosen so that machine error is not likely to occur. Mr. Speer - add and easily after clearly. Also change the voter to voters.

Revised principle 3 -
Voting is the voluntary act of a single individual expressing his or her belief in a representative democracy.

There was a discussion of the discrepancy between use of systems in E and methods in F. Sen. Cohen said that Part D should state that voting systems should allow people to clearly express their vote, and they should accurately count the votes. Mr. Speer pointed out that counting is addressed in Principle 5. Add: and should be systems that guarantee the highest degree of accuracy in counting votes. Speaker Stephens argued that express their vote incorporates accurate counting of the vote. Furthermore, reliability is addressed in Part F also. Rep. Blue suggested that we substitute systems for methods in F. Sen. Cohen suggested for E: Voting systems should be chosen which make it easy for the voters to express their vote and which accurately record votes. Mr. Speer said we should take E out of Principle 3, because everything states and Congress do in any subsection of elections is subject to requirements of equal protection and fundamental fairness. Sen. Cohen - E must say something about accurately counting/recording votes. Rep. Blue pointed out that might more accurately fit in Principle 5.

Part E of the revised principle above was modified as follows:

The revised principle was adopted by the task force.

Revised principle 3 as adopted -

Principle 4
Elections must achieve two competing goals: certainty (making every vote count accurately) and finality (ending elections so that governing can begin).

Mr. Speer said this is a verbatim quote from the Florida task force. Sen. Bryan suggested adding a third goal of protecting the integrity of the process. Speaker Stephens suggested that this principle be omitted. Stephens moved to strike Principle 4 and move on. The task force agreed.

Principle 5
While voting should be individual and private, procedures for counting and challenging votes should be open, transparent, and easily documented to ensure public confidence in the results.

Speaker Stephens questioned why we are using must in A, when we are using should everywhere else. Are we telling states they must do this? Mr. Speer said yes, that Bush v. Gore requires this of states, and we should point that out. Representative Sandoval asked for clarification that we were not suggesting that every state must adopt the same standards. Mr. Speer said no, just that standards must be consistent within each jurisdiction. Speaker Stephens asked if the legislature can delegate to counties the duty to adopt standards that are used in their county. Mr. Speer said that where the state legislature exerts its authority, there has to be uniformity. In some place, we have to admit that the landscape has changed in the last eight months because of Bush v. Gore. States have been declining to take responsibility for these things and instead have been leaving it to local officials, and they cannot do that anymore. Where legislatures choose to tread, there is a constitutional requirement for uniformity. There was much discussion and disagreement over whether the equal protection requirement laid out in Bush v. Gore can be interpreted so as to require that states adopt uniform voting systems statewide.

Speaker Stephens suggested the following language for A: The process for counting and recounting ballots for statewide office must be governed by uniform, statewide standards. Mr. Speer said that doesn't go far enough, because it doesn't cover legislative elections - they're state elections, but not statewide.

Speaker Stephens said he wants to be careful that our task force doesn't recommend taking away states' rights that haven't yet been taken away by federal courts. If courts haven't said that states can't delegate certain functions to counties, then our task force shouldn't say that they can't.

Sen. Bryan suggested that we put aside what Bush v. Gore may or may not say, and look instead at what we think is fair.

Stephens motion: Vote on Part A, substituting should for must, excluding the preamble and Part B. Mr. Speer objected. Three yes, three no, three abstentions. The motion failed.

Mr. Speer suggested using tabulate to refer to the election day accumulation of votes, and using contest to refer to counting votes again after the initial count.

Ms. Jameson suggested removing the word statewide. Speaker Stephens supported it. The task force doesn't have to decide that if uniformity has to be statewide or countywide; states can decide it themselves.

Mr. Parisi suggested the language: The processes for counting and recounting ballots in an election must be governed by uniform standards.

Mr. Speer said the if needs to decide if they want to compile a set of statements that no one will find controversial, or do they want give states recommendations and guidance on how to conduct elections.

Vote on language of Part A: The processes for counting and recounting ballots in an election must be governed by uniform standards. 4 yes, 2 no, 3 abstentions. The motion passes.

Discussion of Part B - Do we need Part B if we have Part A? Sen. Bryan stated his opinion that Part A reflects the Republican position during the Florida recount, while Part B reflects the Democratic position. Speaker Stephens said that he wants the task force product to be bipartisan, so if Sen. Bryan perceives Part A as a Republican statement and therefore would like to retain Part B or something like it to reflect the Democratic position, that is fine with him. Mr. Speer disagreed that it is a partisan issue.

Bryan motion: Delete Part B. 2 yes, 4 no, 3 abstentions. Speaker Stephens abstained because although he thinks it should be taken out, he feels it is important to appease the Democrats on the committee if they think it is important to keep it. Motion failed.

Mr. Speer - change Part B to: States should clearly define what constitutes a vote. That determines how you count votes and arrive at the intent of the voter. Sen. Bryan doesn't agree - creating standards that are too specific takes away the discretion of the person judging the ballots. People will always think up weird ways of marking ballots that aren't addressed in the legal definition. Mr. Parisi pointed out that the definition of what constitutes a vote needs to be done prior to the day of the election. Adopted unanimously.

All of 5 as modified, including preamble - adopted unanimously.

Principle 5, as adopted:
While voting should be individual and private, procedures for counting and challenging votes should be open, transparent, and easily documented to ensure public confidence in the results.

Principle 6
Elections officials are fiduciaries of the citizens, exercising their supervisory functions without a political or partisan view or prejudice, thereby increasing the independence and credibility of the election process.

Too controversial; even Florida didn't adopt it. Modified principle:

Elections officials are fiduciaries of the citizens, and should exercise their functions in such a manner as to increase the independence and credibility of the elections process.

Adopted unanimously.

Principle 7
Poll workers are critical to an efficient, secure, and reliable election process. The training and compensation of these workers is directly related to the success or failure of the election process in a voting place.

Although there is no evidence that paying poll workers more attracts more or better-qualified workers, it is clear that recruiting poll workers is a problem. Therefore, we should experiment with ways of attracting more and better workers. The quality of the workers is what is related to the success or failure of the election process.

Motion to delete the words and compensation. Passed with one no vote.

Motion to adopt #7 as amended. Adopted as modified.

Principle 8
Voter education is designed to ensure voters are ready, willing and able to participate in elections. The higher degree of voter education conducted by election officials, the more successful and reliable are the election results. Voter education is the responsibility of the controlling jurisdiction for elections. The state must play a role in funding, defining the scope and ensuring the efficacy of voter education, thereby assuring its citizens of a free, fair, and open election process. (language adopted by the task force at its April 28 meeting in Atlanta)

Sen. Cohen expressed a desire to include language on encouraging voter participation in this statement. Speaker Stephens questioned language referring to successful...election results.

Ms. Janicki suggested the language: Election officials should encourage voter participation by publicizing voter registration deadlines, hours of voting, and polling place locations. Put that as Part B; break above statement down to a general statement (first sentence) and Part A (remaining three sentences). Speaker Stephens suggested that this language be included in Principle 6, where election officials are discussed. Ms. Janicki saw this as more of a voter education issue, not an election officials' duty.

Proposed language:
Voter education should be designed to encourage voter participation and to ensure that voters are ready and able to vote in elections. The higher degree of voter education conducted by election officials, the more successful and reliable are the election results. Voter education is the responsibility of the controlling jurisdiction for elections. The state must play a role in funding, defining the scope and ensuring the efficacy of voter education, thereby assuring its citizens of a free, fair, and open election process.

Adopted unanimously.

Additional principles for future discussion:
1. voting is a fundamental right
2. criminal violations by election officials and voter fraud

3. voting methods

Principle 9
Voting methods for elections should meet reasonable standards for fairness, reliability and equal protection of voting opportunity.

This was 3(e) before. It is important enough to be a stand-alone, and should appear as number 2.

Principle 10
Criminal violations by election officials and voter fraud

Criminal conduct by election officials and voters should be defined. There should be a logical & consistent method of dealing with both.

Principle 11
The right to vote is perhaps the most basic and fundamental of all the rights guaranteed by our democratic form of government. Implicit in that right is the right to have one's vote count and the right to have as nearly perfect an election proceeding as can be provided.

This should be Principle 1. This is language taken from a Hawaii Supreme Court opinion (Akizaki v. Fong, 51 Haw. 354 (1969).


Discussion of Best Practices

Speaker Stephens suggested that the form of the task force's final report take a form similar to the book produced by NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy. In addition to presenting the principles of elections, it can present the various options states have in each of the aspects of elections that we look at, detail what different states do, and report on what expert testimony to the task force covered. The task force may choose to make a specific recommendation on what best achieves the principle adopted by the task force.

Rep. Blue said that, for example, we can start out by saying that voter intent is a very important part of the process. The task force can then point out various options for defining voter intent. The task force can also point out pros and cons of the various approaches we list.

The federal policy recommendations also must be a part of the report.

Standards for Counting and Recounts
What kinds of things would we want to have under the best practices?
1. Define our principle
2. Break out in broad categories what states are doing (address each type of voting system separately)
3. Identify what meets the principle most closely; i.e., one that leaves the least doubt of voter intent

In section on machines, name each type of system, describe it, discuss the pros/cons of each (pull from CalTech-MIT report, etc.); address average cost of purchasing system, ancillary costs like maintenance and storage; error rates if available for each system.

Voters' Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
Speaker Stephens - should this be a principle, or does it belong in best practices? Mr. Speer - the responsibilities of the government and its workers and the responsibilities of the voters should be stated. The task force should talk about what those responsibilities are, and consider making a statement on it. Whether it should be in the principles or in the best practices is up for discussion.


Report on Federal Activity

Alysoun McLaughlin provided an overview of current House and Senate legislation. Although activity has been stalled over recent weeks, it is beginning to pick up in the Senate. One of the two major bills are the Dodd bill (sets forth a list of federal mandates states will have to comply with by 2004 - precinct counting, provisional ballots, etc.). It has a federal commission, and sets up a competitive grant program that states apply for. The Justice Department, in consultation with the commission and the FEC, will draft the criteria for grants and administer the grant program. All of the Senate Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors; no Republicans have.

The other major bill is a combination of the former McConnell and Schumer bills. The combined bill has a short term study commission to develop a set of voluntary standards for states, then a federal agency is appointed on a model similar to the FEC. The agency then ratifies or modifies the recommendations of the short-term commission. Funding is dependent upon certification from the attorney general that a state has come into compliance with the voluntary standards or has a plan to come into compliance. This bill has 70 co-sponsors and is bipartisan.

A third bill is the McCain-Hollings bill. It brings the National Institute for Standards and Technology into the election field. NIST would do a study, then a competitive grant program is set up purely for technology. It would also set up a block grant for voter education, which may be expanded to include poll worker training and broader purposes like efforts to maintain voter rolls.

Under all bills that form a commission, money for states may not come for a number of years.

In the Senate, there may be a floor debate and a vote in the next few weeks. None of the bills are likely to be enacted in the form they're in right now.

In the House, the chairman of the House Admin Cmte and the ranking member have expressed interest in working together with state policy makers. They are drafting legislation, but it is not likely to be done soon. Rep. Hutchinson has repeatedly approached NCSL to support his bill. His bill is one of those that comes closest to NCSL's policy position. Because he may soon be appointed head of the DEA, his office is accelerating efforts to develop legislation prior to that.

On Tuesday 6/12, Congresswoman McCarthy intends introduce her bill. The last draft viewed by NCSL staff reflected exactly NCSL's policy position. It has a block grant with allowable purposes that are drawn virtually verbatim from NCSL's recommendations. NCSL staff is preparing to endorse this bill. Task force members will be notified if this bill is introduced.


June 9, 2001 - Continuation of the Task Force Meeting

Additional materials were presented to task force members:

• Draft of the principles adopted yesterday
• Notes from yesterday's meeting
• Introduction & epilogue of the Civil Rights Commission report on the Florida election (APPENDIX C)
• Copy of NCSL official policy on election reform (APPENDIX D)
• Draft of McCarthy bill discussed yesterday
• Examples of 2001 legislation relating to election crimes and voter fraud (APPENDIX E)
• Voters Bill of Rights & Responsibilities that FL passed

The task force began by reviewing the principles agreed upon yesterday.

Discussion of Principle 3:

Speaker Stephens suggested revision: Voting methods for elections should be fair, reliable, and ensure the equal protection of voting opportunity.

Sen. Bryan suggested addition: States which use different voting systems in different jurisdictions should strive to minimize the disparate impacts of those systems.

Mr. Parisi: No voting system is perfect. Elections are not perfect. They are a reflection of a popular will that is often hard to discern. Perhaps that should be reflected in our principles in some way. Speaker Stephens commented that if part of our goal is to reassure people that our election system works, maybe we should not put this in our principles. Maybe it should be in the systems section of the best practices part of the report. That way people will understand if an election goes wrong again in the future that

Rep. Blue questioned whether Sen. Bryan's addition should be put under 5 as part F instead of with 3. The task force agreed.

Task force voted to modify #3 per Speaker Stephens's suggestion, and add Sen. Bryan's 5(f) sentence.

Discussion of Principle 5

[Note: see discussion of new 5(f) above]

Sen. Bryan expressed doubt that individuals vote to express their belief in representative democracy. Suggested language: In a representative democracy, voting is the voluntary act of individuals expressing their will.

Discussion of the Role of the Media

The task force discussed the problem of early projections of election results by the media.

Sen. Cohen suggested language: While the first amendment is precious and the right of a free & unfettered press is revered, the press is encouraged not to take any action that might influence voters / which might have an unfair effect on the election process / which might have a negative effect on voter turnout.

Rep. Blue stated that such a position should be part of our federal lobbying policy, because it isn't really a state issue. The task force did not come to agreement on any language on the role of the media.

Discussion of Principle 7

Speaker Stephens questioned the use of the word independence. Mr. Storey said he thought this language came from the Florida report, and it was meant to address that task force's concern with partisan activities in elections.

Sen. Cohen: change functions to duties.

Speaker Stephens's suggested language: Election officials are fiduciaries of the citizens, and should exercise their duties in such a manner as to increase voter understanding of and confidence in the election process.

Adopted without objections.

Discussion of Principle 10

Delete the first sentence. Rep. Blue - must address misfeasance as well as malfeasance.

Sen. Cohen - People who have taken an oath have a higher duty, so there should be a distinction between penalties for poll workers and election officials and penalties for voters.

Mr. Speer - States define criminal and fraudulent activity. Things happen like poll workers deciding they don't have time to call the clerk's office to see if someone's registered, or forget to give someone a provisional ballot. States should investigate such things.

Speaker Stephens proposed: Change defined to clear or well-defined and add "and aggressively prosecuted." Mr. Speer said it's not just criminal conduct we're trying to address, it's also a level of behavior that's less than criminal but is much more egregious in its effect on elections - ineptitude, misunderstanding, sometimes just venal behavior. Speaker Stephens proposed simply removing the first sentence.

Sen. Cohen suggested replacement for #10 - Fraudulent activities by election officials diminish participation in elections and voter confidence, and should be vigorously prosecuted and severely penalized. Ms. Jameson - do we want to limit it just to fraud? That is a difficult standard. Maybe it should be broader. Misconduct is a good word, or criminal conduct. Change fraudulent activities to criminal conduct.

Language adopted for #10: Criminal conduct by election officials diminishes participation and voter confidence in elections, and should be vigorously prosecuted and severely penalized.

Mr. Parisi - we talk about election officials in #7 - should this be a second part of that? Ms. Janicki - there's something nice about ten recommendations.

Move up to #8, move current #8 and 9 to #9 and 10.

Discussion of Principle 8

Mr. Parisi - we don't say anything about shortage of poll workers. Should we make a statement of encouragement to states to more vigorously recruit poll workers? Mr. Speer - perhaps that muddies the principles, and instead belongs in the best practices section. Ms. Janicki - we did say that poll workers are critical to the process - doesn't that kind of get at Mr. Parisi's point?

Speaker Stephens - training part of this statement isn't quite right. Suggested second sentence: Properly trained poll workers clearly improve the reliability and fairness of the election process. Adopted as second sentence of this principle.

Final Report

It should list what states are doing in particular areas, and define the pros and cons of each. The task force doesn't have to recommend that states move to particular things, but it shouldn't just be a compilation of data about election practices. Perhaps we should have some ideas, e.g., ideally, all other things being equal, it would be best if all electors in a state used the same system. That would be more fair. Or, it would be better if every state had a voter education system. Or if every state mailed out sample ballots. We can define an ideal election system. We can even say that every state should adopt uniform voting systems, and even recommend which system is the most reliable. We can say, for example, that optical scan is the best.

Before we can do that, we need data prepared in a different manner. We need staff to consolidate data - e.g., 10 states do this, 15 do that... We need a concise list of options and summary points about each option that the task force can evaluate and make recommendations from. It should be presented the way the federal issues were presented in Chicago.

Final Discussion of 10 Principles

Speaker Stephens motion: Adopt the 10 principles as revised this morning.

Mr. Speer wanted to revisit 3. Revised language: Voting methods for elections should be fair, reliable, and ensure the equal protection of voting opportunity. He objected to the deletion of reasonable standards from the original principle.

Voting methods for elections must meet reasonable standards. They should be fair, reliable and ensure equal protection of voting opportunity.

Motion to adopt 10 principles as amended: Agreed unanimously.

The final draft of the principles adopted are attached as APPENDIX B.

Discussion of what staff needs to prepare for next meeting

Tab 9 - Voting Equipment

• Pros & cons - have that for electronic & optical scan; need to compile it for lever & punch card
• Cost - need info on that (contact jurisdictions & ask what they bought, how many, how many voters per precinct, cost)
• Reliability
• Anyone talking about privatization of systems - contracting out administration of systems
• Maintenance, storage and transport of machines
• Training costs - some things are easier to teach people how to use than others
• Do a half page on each system, addressing each of these points and borrowing from things like the Accenture & CalTech-MIT reports.
• NSF report on Internet voting lists suggested criteria for election systems - maybe these should be included behind tab 9 for next meeting
• Some manner to authenticate eligibility -
• Uniqueness - one vote only
• Accuracy - recording
• Integrity - no modification of votes
• Verifiability & audibility
• Secrecy
• Non-coercibility
• Flexibility in formats compatible with variety of platforms disability compat
• Certifiability
• Convenience-ease of use
• Transparency-voters should understand
• Cost-effectiveness
• Internet voting - we should say something about what we have learned. It's coming soon for overseas military for sure. A state/jurisdiction that's thinking about it should be able to look at our report & see the status of Internet voting at the time we wrote the report.

Tab 3 - Election Administration

Talking about people who do elections, their responsibilities, partisanship, structure for administering elections in each state.

• Strata - how states are set up for election administration. E.g., 19 states have a bipartisan commission, 30 states have an elected secretary of state, etc.
• Include county level officials - are they elected, appointed? Are they accountable to the secretary of state, or are they constitutional officers like in Florida?
• Communication between poll workers & administrators. Poll workers have to call central place to check registration, but the number is busy. Internet, message systems w/ immediate call-back, etc. would help.
• Hierarchy in the polling place. That's where the election is actually conducted.
• Clear line of authority for election processes.
• Commissions that investigate election misconduct (FL's looks at candidate issues, but not election officials or voters). How do states do that? Pursue it like any other crime under criminal code, or is there a separate entity/process?
• Task force needs a summary on this stuff.

Tab 4 - Voter Education

• Add paragraph summary of key points of Sancho's testimony
• Empirical data that shows more time and money spent on voter education, the process works better?
• OR voter pamphlet is good - write a description/summary of that
• Write a summary of table on voter info pamphlet
• What jurisdictions do to teach people the process - how to register, where & how to vote (LWV does this in NM - might serve as an example of what states can do)
• CA, VA - you can get on Internet, put in your address, and find out where your polling place is
• Summarize Kids Voting efforts
• Contact Doug Lewis about Election Center's best practices awards
• Importance of the Internet and what's available there - sec state sites provide voter info forms there. That's simple and inexpensive.

Tab 5 - Voters Bill of Rights & Responsibilities

• Encourage states to notify the electorate of their rights & responsibilities
• One-page list of states that have one
• Copies of each one
• Probably all of the things in every bill are things that election law provides for already; the bill just enumerates those & puts them in one place for voters to see
• Are they posted at polling places?
• Patients' bill of rights is required by law in all hospitals in NY

Tab 6 - Registration

Summarize issues in this area:

• Local vs. statewide registration - if you have a statewide system, multiple voting becomes more difficult
• List advantages of statewide database.
• What states have centralized database, how did they do it?
• Ease of registration - Reg forms should be on Internet (CA you can actually fill it out on Internet)
• Paragraph about different kinds of registration - cut-off dates, same-day registration, etc. Pros-cons.
• Provisional ballots - put that under voter participation
• Qualifications to be a registered voter - e.g., convicted felons can vote in some states, not in others - stratified data on that. Which states allow it, which don't. AL & MS constitutions have laundry list of disqualifying felonies. AL's were attacked b/c they were written to address crimes more often committed by blacks; supreme court declared it unconstitutional.
• Congress has severely restricted registration; states don't have much latitude in managing voter rolls w/ limits on purging & notification requirements.
• FEC report - Impact of NVRA on Administration of Elections for Federal Office - state reports of successful procedures for managing NVRA - compile laundry list of those things. NVRA problems:
• Inability to use USPS to locate people - have to not show up & not respond to a mailing before you can purge them
• Inability to match voter files to other data like corrections info, address change forms - can't use SS#; need unique identifier, even though that sets off alarms in privacy community
• Summarize Chris Thomas presentation on QVF
• What are the things that discourage people from registering to vote (voter lists for jury duty, requirement for a witness if you're illiterate)
• Problems that might exist with election-day registration? If there aren't any, maybe we want to recommend it as a best practice.
• States that require a voter registration card or require voter ID; does that discourage people from voting?
• Info on reduced postage for election mailings

Tab 7 - Absentee Voting

• Excuse vs. no-excuse - summary on
• Whole process of absentee voting - applying for, mailing, receiving, counting, etc.
• Early in-person absentee voting - summary on (debate on increased turnout? % of voters who use it, because that impacts cost of modernizing equipment)
• How many allow it, how many days ahead, when ballots have to be in - summary on
• Permanent absentee ballot list like WA has - any other states? Update 1995 chart on that.
• Annual application for absentee ballots all year

Tab 8 - Poll Workers

• Recruiting from high schools, colleges, and civic clubs - promoting it as a civic duty - what states are doing in this area
• Pay for poll workers - range of that, do they pay high school kids too
• DuPage County, IL, had 1,000 surplus poll workers because their recruitment drive was so successful (IACREOT web site describes it)
• NE recruits poll workers like jurors - you get notice that you have to serve Retention of poll workers - making it fun to work there, bringing snacks, sending them Christmas cards

Tab 9 - Voting Systems

Should we add ballots in this section?

• Layout of ballots
• Types of ballots that are available
• Responsible official in each state for ballot design (centralized in FL, LA - how many others do? Decentralized-counties do it in MS)

Tab 10 - Voter Assistance

• Illiterate voter assistance
• In groups what states are doing to assist those that need assistance in the voting arena for whatever reason - disability, illiteracy, language assistance

Tab 11 - Counts and Recounting

• Less verbiage and more bullets - easier to distill information
• Something like this behind the bullet page
• Are there uniform standards in each state
• Possibilities states could use for defining votes under each system
• If some say a dimpled chad is a vote, and others say it doesn't, what are the pros/cons of doing it each way
• Election calendar - primary date, run-off date, general election date (put this under election administration) - address implications of run-off primaries here (cost, impact on absentee process, turnout, etc.)
• Write-in candidates - how states treat write-in votes, counting them

Tab 12 - Voter Participation

• Provisional ballots - what states use them, what typical parameters there are in provisional balloting (under what circumstances they're allowed; are they always counted, or only if they'll make a difference in the election; are people notified of how their provisional ballot was disposed of; are people who vote provisional ballots then sent a registration form if they turn out to not be registered) aka challenged, fail-safe, emergency ballot
• Mail voting - does it improve participation?
• Early voting - NC had it for the first time, and there was an increase in turnout over last general election (had 1 million people they need to purge from list but couldn't until they failed to vote in that election, so it made it look like turnout didn't go up that much) no excuse early voting at satellite polling places for 3 weeks before election. ~25% of 4 million voters voted absentee.
• Same people are going to vote, so implementing these things might not significantly change the turnout, but the people who do vote appreciate the convenience these things provide
• Chimerical idea: allowing underage children in polling place with parents. Makes participation easier b/c you don't have to worry about what to do with your child. (maybe Kids Voting knows?) Possible problem - machines they use in Fairfax County VA have a bright red button to cast your vote that's right at eye-level for a three-year old!

Other issues

• Having a laptop at every polling place to facilitate communication between poll workers and election administrators.
• Implementation of special presidential ballot (NVRA provisional ballot)

July 9-10 in Washington, DC. Start on the morning of 9^th; use Sunday the 8^th as a travel day. On July 11, task force members who can stay can go meet with sponsors of federal legislation, and meet with co-sponsors from their states.

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

APPENDIX D

APPENDIX E