Related Articles
Election Reform Finally Passes October 17, 2002 Butterfly Ballots Bound for Museum Soon, thanks to a new federal law overhauling the way elections are conducted, voters will only be able to see punch-card voting machines in museums, not at the polls. The machines became notorious for the havoc they wreaked on the 2000 presidential election in Florida, confusing voters with their faulty design. For several weeks following the election, it appeared the winner might be determined by a few hanging chads. No more. After stalling in Congress for a year, legislators finally acted on a bill to change the way Americans cast votes to prevent what occurred in Florida from ever happening again. The Senate passed the bill October 16, days after the House of Representatives. President Bush has said he plans to sign it. The landmark bill will set national voting standards. The "Help America Vote Act of 2001" authorizes nearly $3.9 billion to states over three years to improve voting equipment, develop centralized voter registration lists, prevent voter fraud and update election procedures. It also requires states to allow provisional balloting if a voters name does not appear on the list. Election officials would later determine whether the ballots were valid. The IBEW and other unions pressed for the inclusion of that section in the bill to prevent voters from being turned away at the polls, which resulted in many voters being disenfranchised in Florida. Unions also successfully lobbied for the bills provision requiring states to have at least one voting machine at a polling place that is accessible to the disabled. "American citizens deserve election reform that is anchored in the basic principles fundamental to any democracy, and chief among them that the right to vote is guaranteed to all citizens," IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill said.
|
Working
People Have Every The Issues Behind Election 2002 |
