Law and Criminal Justice

March 31, 2008

Re: H.R. 5036, the "Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008"

Dear Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Ehlers:

On behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) we wish to formally apprise the Committee of our concerns with H.R. 5036, the "Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008" which is before the Committee today for markup. First and foremost, we wish to thank you and other members of the Committee for returning to an inclusive committee process that provided NCSL with the opportunity to comment and discuss the provisions of H.R. 5036 prior to its introduction and markup. NCSL greatly values the relationship it has with this Committee on election reform issues and all other matters within its jurisdiction that impact states. We look forward to continuing this partnership as we head into the next round of elections and beyond.

H.R. 5036 is a voluntary grant program for states and localities to provide for verified voter paper trail processes and to establish auditing procedures for participating states and localities. We appreciate that, unlike prior legislation considered by this Committee this year, this bill is voluntary for states. However, NCSL believes that H.R. 5036 as drafted provides little incentive for states or localities to participate because its provisions do not incorporate enough state flexibility. States prefer using known and tested procedures that might differ, but be as or more effective than standards set out in this bill. NCSL would urge the Committee to rethink its approach to encourage, rather than discourage states from innovating in this area.

Once again, we thank the Committee for including us in discussions about H.R. 5036 and thank you for hearing our concerns about this legislation. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact NCSL staff Susan Parnas Frederick at (202)624-3566 or susan.frederick@ncsl.org. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Donna D. Stone    Speaker Joe Hackney

Delaware House of Representatives     North Carolina House of Representatives

President, NCSL President-Elect, NCSL

Cc: Tom Hicks

Gineen Beach

Keith Abouchar