MORE THAN FORTY NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CALL ON ELECTION DIRECTORS TO PREVENT PROBLEMS
August 23, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LWVUS:
Kelly L. Ceballos/202-236-1331
LCCR: Rob Randhava/202-466-6058

Washington, DC – Forty national organizations last week called on the chief election officials of each of the fifty states to take steps to guard the election process for the November 2004 election.

“There is a growing chorus of concern over how this election will be run. Specific steps can be taken now to protect the right to vote, and we ask election directors to carefully consider our suggestions,” said Kay J. Maxwell, president of the League of Women Voters. “These are common-sense, operational and management measures that can be put in place for this election,” she said.

In their letter to each state’s chief election official, the organizations pointed to (Top Five Risks to Eligible Voters in 2004 (pdf format)) released earlier by the League and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and suggested specific procedures that could protect against these risks:

• Voter registration problems.
  • Ensure timely transmittal from DMV and other agencies to registration authorities.
  • Accept all registration forms with adequate eligibility information.
    
• Erroneous purging.
  • Do not purge voter rolls close to Election Day (after the close of registration).
  • Check for accuracy before using any list of potentially ineligible voters.
    
• Problems with new ID requirements.
  • Educate voters on the ID they should bring to the polling place.
  • Recruit and train bilingual poll workers to assist limited English-proficient voters.
    
• Difficulties with voting systems.
  • Educate voters on how to operate their voting machines.
  • Institute management safeguards and testing of all machines.
    
• Failure to count provisional ballots.
  • Ensure that eligibility to vote in the federal election is the test for counting provisional ballots in federal contests.
  • Set a statewide, uniform, nondiscriminatory process for issuing and counting provisional ballots.

“Our research tells us that voter registration is shaping up to be a critical problem in this election,” according to Maxwell. “Too often, voter registration applications are being rejected because of technicalities,” she said. “People of all political persuasions are deeply concerned about this election and want to participate. Numerous voter registration drives are underway,” she said. “We urge election directors to make sure that eligible voters are properly registered, rather than being unfairly rejected,” Maxwell concluded.

“Early signs indicate that provisional ballots cast by eligible voters in many states will not be counted, undermining this important new voter safeguard,” said Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. “The right to cast a ballot is meaningless if those ballots are never counted,” he said. “We need fair processes to guarantee that all eligible voters will have their provisional ballots counted,” Henderson said.

“Momentum to ensure a fair election is growing,” said Maxwell. “The civil rights community believes steps must be taken now to ensure an open and democratic election system for all,” said Henderson.

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August 19, 2004

Dear Chief Election Official:

We, the undersigned civil rights, voting rights, religious, senior, labor and public interest organizations, write to bring your attention to what we believe are the top five risks that voters will face in the upcoming 2004 elections. As organizations working to guarantee the right of every eligible citizen to vote and to have that vote counted this November, we seek your commitment to help address these risks.

Our key concerns, and recommendations to guard against those concerns, are summarized in the attached document produced by the League of Women Voters of the United States, Top Five Risks to Eligible Voters in 2004. Briefly, we believe that voting may be undermined by:

• Voter Registration Problems,
• Erroneous Purging,
• Problems with new ID Requirements,
• Difficulties with Voting Systems, and
• Failure to Count Provisional Ballots.

Our nation simply cannot afford to repeat the experiences of the 2000 election, when voting systems failed to properly record voters' intent, when purging and other election practices undermined voter participation, and when millions of Americans questioned the outcome and legitimacy of the presidential election. This is especially true as our nation seeks to instill faith in the democratic process throughout the rest of the world.

We recognize the extremely important work that you and election administrators throughout the country perform to ensure fair, accessible and accurate elections. Our organizations look forward to working with you in the coming months to prevent voter disenfranchisement. We would deeply appreciate learning of plans you have to address these risks to America’s voters through solutions such as we suggest.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail Jeanette Senecal of the League of Women Voters or call (202) 263-1322, or Rob Randhava of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights at (202) 466-6058. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

20/20 Vision
AARP
ACORN
Advancement Project
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations
American Foundation for the Blind
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Laws
Center for Policy Alternatives
Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action
Democracy Works
The Interfaith Alliance & Foundation
International Union, United Auto Workers
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
League of Women Voters of the United States
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund (NALEO)
National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems
National Coalition of the Homeless
National Council of La Raza
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
New York Public Interest Research Group
Organization of Chinese Americans|
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Project Vote
Public Citizen
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
USAction Education Fund
Youth Vote Coalition

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