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Provisional Ballot Reform

Provisional ballots are mandated by the Help America Vote Act as a way to provide fail-safe voting for people who cannot be found on the voter rolls on election day. However, too many of these ballots are never counted and have even been referred to as "placebo voting." This problem appears to disproportionately impact minorities as research indicates that the number of provisional ballots cast and the number discarded has been higher in precincts with high concentrations of minority voters. Most states have extremely vague rules for when a provisionally cast vote should be counted. Well designed procedures for counting these ballots can significantly reduce the number of people who have their votes discarded.

From the Dispatch

New Revelations Provide More Evidence Paperless Voting Not Safe

Mar 26, 2009

Three recent revelations about electronic voting machines highlight the maddening lack of security in paperless elections, and emphasize why paper ballot voting with robust post-election audits are a basic requirement for secure elections.
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Reports Find Election Administration in Swing States Not Significantly Improved

Sep 25, 2008

Common Cause and The Century Foundation have released the new version of their joint biennial report on election administration in 10 swing states and the findings are not very encouraging: while voters' desire to participate is growing, states have only made fitful progress improving the voting process, and in many instances things have moved backward since the last federal election in 2006. Examining the most recent election experiences of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia the report details serious problems in every major aspect of the voting process, along with a handful of bright spots where individual states are moving important reforms.
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