Democracy Campaign Update

This is a big week for election reform – and PFAW’s work in the Democracy Campaign – on several fronts.

The Committee on House Administration is voting to mark up Rep. Rush Holt’s Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (H.R. 811), which would solve many of the security and accountability problems with ALL voting machines before the 2008 elections. And the House Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up H.R. 1281, the House version of Sen. Obama’s Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act. The movement of this bill is a giant step toward stopping individuals and groups that use intimidation and misinformation to disenfranchise voters (who are often targeted by race or economic status).

And in the states…

In Colorado, a bill has been introduced that would establish permanent “no excuse” absentee voting – a policy which drastically improves access to the ballot box, increasing civic participation and strengthening democracy.

In California, a “deceptive practices” bill similar to the federal legislation is set to have hearings starting in April.

In Maryland, both the House and Senate have passed legislation to restore voting rights more swiftly to certain people with felony convictions who previously had to wait three years for the right to vote, even after fully completing their sentences. Also in Maryland, the House just passed legislation, similar to the Holt bill, requiring paper trails for electronic voting machines.

Read about our Election Reform work in the states:
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=23501