Local Election Officials and Accountability after HAVA
Local election officials have been put in a bind since the Help America
Vote Act (HAVA) was passed by Congress in 2002. Federal and state
requirements limit their control over voting processes, and there have been
many problems with the companies that provide voting equipment and
services. Besides the pains of dealing with these companies from a
position of weakness, the biggest problem is accountability and confidence in the voting process. A Zogby poll done in August 2006 found that over 2.5 million non-registered citizens do not bother to register to vote because they do not trust the vote-counting processes and procedures.<br>
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Voters Unite has just published <a href="http://www.votersunite.org/info/ReclaimElections.pdf" target="”_blank”">a study</a>
examining these problems, and showing how some local governments have
successfully dealt with them. It's worth a look from local election
officials and those who feel their local government's officials are not
doing enough.<br>