EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION A Blueprint for Change Recommendations on Election Reform for States Evergreen Freedom Foundation Voter Integrity Project By Jonathan Bechtle, Project Director and Priscilla Rice, Research Assistant PO Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 (360) 956-3482 + www.effwa.ora/vipTABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Introduction B. Proof of citizenship D. Residency B, Felons, C. Non-US. citizen: D. Duplicate votes, E, Deceased voters G. Maintenance cycles 3. Voting Practices B, Provisional voting C. Absentee voting 5. Election Contest 2 3 1. Voter Registration Requirements 4 A. Eligibility for registration 4 or) C. Registration by mail _ = 6 _ 6 E. Voters with a nontraditional address 6 2, Statewide Voter Registration Database. 7 A. Required information for updating agenci 7 8 9 _ 9 _ 9 F. Mentally incompetent voters 9 - 10 10 A. Voter identification at the polls _ 10 _ ou _ 2 D, Absentee ballots for military & overseas voters 15 4. Voting Machine Testing and Certification 15 16 16 Conclusion Appendices: Model Language for Statutes and Procedures Version 092705. Copyright EFF 2005. ll rights reserved. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt 10 aid or hinder the passage of any legislation or ballot measureEXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since the controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election in Florida, and culminating in the contested race for Governor in the State of Washington, the election process has been under close scrutiny. Congress began to address some of the issues with passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), but many of the recommended reforms have not yet been put in place by the states and, in many cases, state legislatures are going no further in improving their processes than the minimum requirements outlined by HAVA. ‘The goal of reforming election laws should be to produce an election system that securely and accurately distributes, collects and counts ballots, while also ensuring that all eligible voters are given an opportunity to cast a ballot. If this does not occur, voter confidence in the system will decline at an alarming rate. ‘The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) conducted an extensive survey of the state of election reform in the 50 states. We have looked for the best practices on the books today, paying particular attention to: © voter registration requirements and enforcement; © the development, updating procedures and attempts to maintain accuracy of statewide voter databases as required by HAVA including the removal of ineligibie registrants and duplications; © best voting practices including requirements for voter identification, best procedures for handling provisional ballots and, as absentee voting expands in this nation, identifying the best known procedures for the prevention of fraud and abuse of the system. © We also reviewed efforts by the states to increase security for, and the accuracy of, electronic voting machines. The result is this report, “A Blueprint for Change: Recommendations on Election Reform for States.” State and local governments have broad discretion in the conduct of elections for state and local offices, and other local issues. So while this document agrees with many of the recently issued recommendations contained in the 2005 report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, we go further. HAVA requires states to do some things but, as the Department of Justice has made clear, state governments are granted discretion to go much further than many of them have to guarantee free and fair elections, to make it easy and convenient for voters to vote, to guarantee that all legal votes are counted, but also to make certain that only eligible voters are allowed to participate in the process, We hope this report will help Governors, State Legislators and election administrators to improve their own election structures, restore transparency to the system, and begin to rebuild the electorate’s confidence in the elections process.