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Washington may miss deadline for election standards

Rachel La Corte
Associated Press
December 21, 2005

OLYMPIA (AP) — Washington state will not be fully compliant with federal requirements to improve voting systems by the Jan. 1 deadline, but officials said today they will be ready before next year’s election.

While officials say the required statewide voter database will be in place by the deadline, the state is still in the process of bringing all of the counties’ voting equipment into compliance, due to a recent state law that requires a paper trail on touch-screen machines.

Washington is one of 19 states that will not be fully compliant by the deadline, according to an informal survey released Wednesday by the National Association of Secretaries of State.

The Help America Vote Act requires better voting systems, improved voter access and statewide voter registration lists by Jan. 1. The federal legislation passed two years after the 2000 election exposed numerous problems with voting systems across the country.

The act also required the development of voting guidelines. Congress has provided some $3.9 billion for states to comply with the law.

Of the 43 states that responded to the survey, 24 said they will meet the Jan. 1 deadline to have a statewide voter registration database and to have voting equipment that is compliant with the new law. All but two — California and Illinois — said they will be fully compliant with both mandates of the law by the first federal election next year.

The organization provided only numbers and did not identify the specific states, part of the agreement to ensure that states participated in the survey.

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, who also is president of the organization, said all of the states that are missing the deadline are working closely with the Department of Justice.

“At this point in time I know of no state in the country that the Department of Justice is planning to sue over noncompliance,” he said.

Two of the states don’t have their databases complete, eight do not have their compliant voting equipment in place, and nine states are not yet compliant on both mandates.

The states’ reasons for late compliance included insufficient funds, delays with contractors or vendors, the late release of federal guidelines, or state legislatures that were slow to act.

“I am very proud of what has been done because it’s been in spite of late funding, in spite of late guidelines,” Reed said during a conference call today. “It’s quite a significant accomplishment.”

In Washington state, Reed noted that 12 of the state’s 39 counties use touchscreen machines and have already ordered parts for more than 190 machines that will now have to provide a paper trail of votes as well. The measure was one of several laws passed this year in an election reform effort following last year’s hotly contested governor’s race.

Reed said that with a majority of the state’s counties switching to all vote by mail — 33 so far — the amount of equipment needed might be less. But he worries that with other states scrambling to get the same paper-trail equipment, vendors may not be able to get the equipment to everyone in time.

“That is going to be a challenge, a challenge they tell us they can meet, but it’s an area that I have some concern,” he said.

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