Tucson, Arizona  Tuesday, 31 July 2001
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/10731nelectionchanges.html

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - A commission chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford recommends turning Election Day into a national holiday and says voters challenged by poll workers should be allowed to cast provisional ballots, their validity to be determined later.

The panel, as part of its 13 policy recommendations, expresses concern about doing away with punch card ballots, the voting system that sparked much of the controversy in last fall's Florida election recount, according to a summary obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The 19-member National Commission on Federal Election Reform also says in the report being released today that states should establish their own statewide systems for voter registration.

But it urges Congress to set up a new Election Administration Commission that would establish voluntary standards for those state systems and testing for them. The standards should include allowing voters to correct errors and ensuring that disabled voters can cast their ballots in secret.

No umpire

"Let the states run it; don't make Washington the umpire between states and counties or among the counties in a state," the report says.

The panel urges Congress to offer $1 billion to $2 billion over two or three years in matching grants to states willing to upgrade their elections systems.

The commission also recommends that states restore voting rights to convicted felons once they have fully served their sentences.

The panel split on the thorny issue of whether Congress should set specific election standards for states to follow. Commission member Christopher Edley Jr. said he and five members - all Democrats - wanted "a stronger federal role." The report says the "commission as a whole takes no position."

Moving Veterans Day

The report also suggests moving the Veterans Day holiday during even-numbered years to the first Tuesday in November to "increase the availability of poll workers and suitable polling places." Such a move "might make voting easier for some workers," the report says.

The private commission, a project of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, began its work earlier this year after disputes over Florida's ballots delayed the nation from knowing the winner of last year's presidential election for 36 days.

Both Carter and Ford took an active role in the deliberations, chairing hearings and listening to testimony.

Carter even chaired the panel's final deliberations on July 10, a marathon session that lasted more than nine hours.



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