Pennsylvania Election Protection a Huge Success

by Eric Marshall

The National Campaign was on the ground in Philadelphia and Pittsburg on Tuesday, April 22^nd for the largest single state Election Protection Primary program. Over 800 volunteers responded to more than 1,000 calls about issues ranging from machine malfunctions to voter intimidation and registration problems, while over 700 volunteers on the ground responded in real-time to reported problems, helping to ensure that Pennsylvanians were able to cast a ballot. Click here to read more about April 22^nd in Pennsylvania.

The Lawyers’ Committee also released an updated version of its report, Election Protection 2008 Primary Report, Looking Ahead to November.

Also last week, Donna Brazile published an article in Roll Call, based off our Election Protection primary report, "urging Congress to help ensure that every voter, new and experienced, has a meaningful opportunity to exercise his or her right to vote."

Brazile’s, Legislation Awaits to Stave Off Possible Election Meltdown, article stated:

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the leader of the nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition, has just released "Looking Ahead to November," a report that chronicles the administrative hurdles voters were confronted with during this year’s primaries. The report offers specific steps that lawmakers, state and local election administrators, and even perhaps the two major political parties can take before Nov. 4 to lessen the disenfranchisement caused by insufficient and incompetent election administration. After all, no one is interested in witnessing another Florida fiasco or Ohio meltdown.

Brazile continues by discussing the pressing issues Congress needs to address before November to prevent a significant number of eligible voters from being disenfranchised:

The report lists four areas that, unless we act immediately, have the potential to prevent a significant number of eligible voters from casting a meaningful ballot on Election Day: undertrained poll workers, election machinery breakdowns, problems with registration rolls and confusion on voter-identification requirements.

In state after state, voters called the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline and complained of poll workers who, not knowing or understanding the rules and laws, refused eligible voters their right to vote.

In many places, there are insufficient contingency plans for voting machinery failure. This causes polls to shut down and long lines that prevent some from casting a ballot because they can’t wait for hours. These delays, combined with insufficient poll worker training, result in voters casting provisional ballots and other methods of voting that might not count.

Elsewhere across the country, eligible voters showed up at the polls to find that their registrations were not on the rolls or that they were registered for the wrong party. Many of these voters had registered at the DMV or social service agencies, as mandated by the National Voter Registration Act ("Motor Voter"), causing concerns over how and even whether that critical voting rights statute is being enforced.

Finally, poll workers across the country were implementing restrictive voter-identification requirements that were in violation of state law. (Note: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case this spring that could wreak havoc on the system.) Students, minority voters and new citizens were often asked for identification while other voters were allowed to vote without showing any proof of identity.

A critical obstacle to real reform is that election administration is treated as a political issue, debated and discussed in the context of a horse race and not a serious policy issue. We need to craft solutions to the problems voters face. While much of the heavy lifting in solving these problems must be done at the state and local levels, Congress can and should play a role. It needs to hold hearings now, while the problems are fresh in our collective memory, and pass legislation that offers nonpartisan but practical solutions.

Click here to read the entire article.