Election Updates

A study was released that shows the real cost of the "Real ID." According to the study, the legislation will cost $11 billion to implement. As the press release accompanying the report states:

The federal Real ID act creates national standards for issuing state drivers licenses and identification cards. Among the costly requirements necessary for implementation of the law, states will likely be required to: re-issue drivers licenses and identification cards to all 245 million current holders within five years; establish on-site identification verification procedures at the source of issuance; and meet specific security and production requirements for the new card. Detailed data provided by the 47 jurisdictions that responded to the survey indicates that among the cost of the changes to the driver's licensing process are a one-time calculable expense of nearly $1 billion and ongoing costs of more than $10.1 billion for the first five-year enrollment period.

The report also suggests additional costs, such as the added time and effort citizens will spend to comply with the state motor vehicle department. Anticipating three to four identity documents per applicant, with more than 80 million transactions performed annually, applicant processing time will more than double for citizens in most states, with waits in some areas increasing by up to 200 percent. Several provisions under consideration by the Department of Homeland Security were not addressed by the survey and could potentially further impact citizens and DMVs and add significantly to the costs described above.

The implications for such IDs on voting have been blogged about quite a bit recently, but consider this analysis from Newsweek:

The biggest cost, about $8.5 billion, would come in re-enrolling the 245 million people who already have driver’s licenses and identification cards, the survey found. Those people would have to show documents like birth certificates and Social Security cards at motor vehicle offices.

“If you can’t find those documents, you might find yourself walking instead of driving,” Tom Wolfsohn, chief policy officer for the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, said Thursday.

Not only may you not be able to vote when you get to the polls, you may not even be able to get there without thumbing a ride!

Another followup on Mike's recent posting. The PBS Program NOW aired a segment called Block the Vote that summarized many of the issues surrounding photo IDs and voting.

Network World has a comprehensive article describing a new email-encryption system that has been adopted by the Pentagon, as a way to make sure that overseas ballots get collected and counted.

The solution that the Pentagon is proposing with it's Interim Voting Assistance System are detailed here (12 page PDF) . You can learn more about Postx at their website.

Yesterday the U.S. House passed H.R. 4844, on a 228-196 vote. Here's a link to the wire story on the House passage of the bill, from the Houston Chronicle. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration ...

This bill, called the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006", includes a series of amendments to both the NVRA and to HAVA, which will require provision of proof of citizenship to register to vote (with guidelines to be developed by the EAC, in consultation with both the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State), as well as requiring that voters provide a current and valid photo identification in order to receive a ballot.

Much of the public debate over this bill has revolved around the usual fraud versus accessibility dimension, the same cleavage that framed the debates about NVRA and HAVA (see the reporting in the newspaper story cited above). One concern that I've not heard a great deal of public debate about is what impact these provisions will have on election administration, and especially how it will change the nature of precinct poll site voting operations on Election Day.

Whether or not requiring photo identification at the polls will reduce the likelihood of fraud, or disenfranchise voters, it will clearly add a layer of procedural complexity to polling place voting. And when we add additional layers of procedural complexity we run the risk of increasing the odds of inappropriate discretionary decisionmaking by poll workers, of procedural errors, and simply that already long lines will get even longer when otherwise eligible citizens show up to vote, have to produce a photo identification, have that identification checked by a pollworker, and so on.

There are also privacy and ballot secrecy issues that this measure raises that haven't been thoroughly debated, either. For example, the bill stipulates that for those who vote by mail: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the appropriate State or local election official may not accept any ballot for an election for Federal office provided by an individual who votes by mail unless the individual submits with the ballot a copy of a current and valid photo identification." So if a voter sends along a copy of her drivers license with the ballot, what happens to that copy and that critical piece of data --- her drivers license number? Is her drivers license number used to query public or private databases to verify identity? How is is guaranteed that her complete identity is kept independent from her cast ballot? And how do we guarantee that this information is kept completely confidential, and absolutely not allowed to leave the control of government officials (and thereby fall into the hands of identity thieves, for example)?

This is from an electionline.org alert:

According to reports in The Hill and elsewhere, the U.S. House of Representatives will debate H.R. 4844
, the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006" sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL). The bill was reported out of the House Administration Committee on a party-line vote last week.


The Congressional Research Service summarizes the bill thus:


Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require any individual who desires to register or re-register to vote in an election for federal office to provide the appropriate state election official with proof that the individual is a U.S. citizen. Requires proof of citizenship in states without a registration requirement and states permitting same day registration.


Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the appropriate state or local election official from: (1) providing a ballot for an election for federal office to an individual who desires to vote in person unless the individual presents to the official a current and valid photo ID; or (2) accepting any ballot of an individual voting by mail without a copy of a current photo ID.


According the rule (H. Res. 1015 ) adopted yesterday, debate on the bill will consist of a) one hour on the bill itself and b) up to one hour on a motion to recommit (i.e., to send the bill back to committee with or without instructions) - both equally divided between the majority and minority. A vote on the bill will then follow.

There wasa also an informative story in the Los Angeles Times on the House bill this morning, that had some interesting statistics on voter fraud in it.

Seems like a great opportunity to remind readers of the upcoming VTP conference on voter registration and identification: the conference agenda is nearing completion, and the cast of participants promises to provide a lively and interesting discussion of both these important topics.

Echoing Mike's recent post on the mainstream media and voting issues, here is a story on voter fraud from the San Antonio Express. Anti-fraud provisions in Texas make it illegal to deliver someone else's absentee ballot. Democrats charge the Attorney General Greg Abbott is selectively enforcing the law, and a civil rights suit is planned.