Many States Not Up to Election Standards

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - With the midterm elections just nine months away, many states are lagging behind in meeting requirements under a 2002 election reform law that they modernize voting machines, create voter databases and establish ID systems, according to a report released Tuesday.

Controversies over the need for paper trails and the legality of ID requirements were among the reasons that states missed the Jan. 1 deadline for complying with the Help America Vote Act, said Electionline.org., a nonpartisan project that does analysis of election reform.

"The lack of progress in nearly half of the states throws into doubt whether HAVA goals can be achieved in time for the November 2006 election," the project's president, Doug Chapin, said in a statement.

HAVA was enacted in response to the disputed 2000 presidential election, and Chapin said that despite the glitches, the election system is undergoing significant change. Two years ago voters had never heard of voter-verified paper audit trails; now states are deciding whether to use them in recounts, and states that once debated the need for IDs are now debating whether IDs should be issued free of charge, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/ap_on_go_ot/election_reforms