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HOST INTRO: This week, The U-S, Justice Department sued New York State for failing to comply with the Help America Vote Act or HAVA. The act was put in to place as a to prevent another balloting fiasco like the 2000 presidential election. The U-S Government's action may force New York State to lose millions of dollars, and create chaos at the polls this fall.
David Ressel Reports.
N: After weeks of negotiations, the Department of Justice filed its first ever lawsuit enforcing the HAVA act against New York State.
Wan Kim, chief of the Civil Rights Division, filed the complaint, to guarantee QUOTE All New Yorkers have access and ensure the integrity of the process." Department of Justice spokesperson, Eric Holland, says that New York State is lagging far behind in voting reform:
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ERIC HOLLAND
HAVA required states to put into place by January 1, 2006, voting systems that are among other requirements accessible for disabled voters and capable of generating a permanent paper record with a manual audit capacity.
New York state has not purchased the newly required equipment and it hasn't created any new procedures or trained election officials of on the HAVA requirements.
N: On behalf of the Board of Elections, NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer had been negotiating with the Department of Justice to avoid court action. New York State was supposed to have a database of registered voters and a plan to replace its out-dated mechanical machines for next September's elections. Board of Elections Spokesmen Lee Daglian doesn't think the lawsuit will make any difference.
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LEE DAGLIAN
We had virtually agreed on just about everything, when the lawsuit was filed, so it was a bit of a surprise to us. But our feeling is, that even since then we have been in discussions with them, imminently we will have a plan. Which would probably be the basis for any order that came out of the court, now.
N: California, Ohio and Pennsylvannia and other states are also behind, and have not developed plans to comply with the law.
New York State goes beyond the HAVA requirements. Each ballot machine has to be a What's known as a "Full-faced ballot,' which means all candidates are show at once. State law also requires has auditing and accessibility requirements. After much debate last summer, the State Legislature's final bill allowed each county to decide upon its own voting machines.
New York State has 7200 polling places in 62 counties.
According to the New York Public Interest Research Group, policy advisor Neil Rosenstein (rosen STINE), the assembly is only a part of the problem:
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NEIL ROSENSTEIN
There's a lot of blame that goes along
Part of the blame goes to the federal government, that is way behind, and taken years to actually develop workable standards for what new voting systems should look like
And then we have the state legislature. Delaying a couple of years, passing legislation here on the state leve, and it got wrapped up with horse trading and other issues.
And all the while the state board of elections was twiddling their thumbs. Not doing what they should've done. There's a lot of blame to go around.
At this late date having a court come in might not be the best solution.
Rosenstien fears that legal action will further paralyze the process and create a mess at the Primary Polls in September. This could lead to confusion as local election boards scramble to comply. Election officials won't be able to have new machines for this year.
In New York City, The Bloomberg administration objects to federal mandates, Tal Golomb, is a city attorney,
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TAL GOLUMB
This process needs to be done on a responsible time-table, and at this late stage, given
Some of the delays at the state certifying new HAVA compliant machines, it will not be possible to have new machines in place by September 2006, However, we are eager to set a timetable for elections thereafter.
N: The state is slated to receive 221 million dollars. Under HAVA,
$49 million of that was sent upfront to replace mechanical machines; because they are so outdated.
In some New York counties 100-year-old machines are still in use. In New York City. There are 7600 machines that date back to 1962.
New York State may have to forfeit that money if new machines are not available.
The Key issue for the state board of elections is finding a machine that meets the stringent accessibility standards for polling places. Lee Daglian, says it will be difficult for election officials to comply.
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Lee Daglian
You have A separate marking system for the disabled, you have at least one that does that unless you have a
And less you have a separate machine, the machine has to be accessible, In other words, You have to have a hearing device, a sip and puff device,
Each county board chooses which of two technologies to use. First there are direct recording electronic machines or DRE's
They look like ATMS' with touch-screens or push-buttons.
The other technology is called "optical scan"
Voters enter their decisions on a printed ballots card that is read by a machines.
In 2004, only 13% of U-S voters used lever machines like those in New York State.
despite the efforts of the federal government, voters in New york will still be using lever machines at least until 2007.
David Ressel Columbia radio news.