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Washington, D.C. -- Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) today praised the recommendation of the Commission on Electoral Reform—also known as the
Carter-Baker Commission—to endorse the concept of voter-verified paper audit records for electronic voting machines.
“I am pleased that the Commission has explicitly endorsed my proposal for a voter-verified paper record for every vote cast,” said Holt. “I hope Congress will now move swiftly to embrace my legislation in time for the 2006 elections.”
In its recommendations on electronic voting machines, the Commission stated that “Congress should pass a law requiring that all voting machines be equipped with a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) and, consistent with HAVA, be fully accessible to voters with disabilities.”
The Commission cited four reasons for its recommendation:
- To increase citizens’ confidence that their votes will be counted accurately.
- To allow for a recount.
- To provide a back-up in cases of loss of votes due to computer malfunction.
- To test – through a random recount – whether the paper result is the same as the electronic result.
Holt’s Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (HR 550) would require all voting systems to produce a VVPAT that voters can use to verify the accuracy of their votes and that election officials can use to audit the vote count in the event of a computer malfunction, hacking, or other irregularity. To date, 25 states have enacted legislation requiring some form of VVPAT for electronic voting machines, and 13 other states are considering similar measures. The bipartisan Holt bill currently has 153 cosponsors and is awaiting action by the Committee on House Administration.
Some of the Commission’s recommendations deviate from a few key requirements of the Holt bill. Among the deviations:
The Commission would allow states to determine whether the electronic or VVPAT is the "ballot of record"—a position that is inconsistent with the concept of having a uniform national requirement for a voter-verified paper trail to serve as an independent audit device for all voting systems equally in every state.
Although the Commission recommendation itself does not say when to implement the VVPAT requirement, the text states "the Commission believes that transparency in voting machines should also be assured in time for the 2008 presidential election." The Holt bill would require all voting systems to be VVPAT-equipped in time for the 2006 Congressional elections.
Despite those and other differences between the Commission’s recommendations and the Holt bill, both stress the need to make elections transparent and auditable.
“We’ll continue to work with Commission members and voting reform advocates to ensure that all future elections that employ electronic voting machines are as transparent and auditable as possible,” said Holt.
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