MAKE ELECTION REFORM A REALITY
SUPPORT FULL FUNDING FOR HAVA
March 17, 2009
Dear Member of Congress:
We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply appreciative of the
funding appropriated for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in FY08 and
FY09 and urge you to support full funding and appropriate the remaining
$470 million of authorized funding in FY10. Of this amount, $442
million is for the federally-mandated processes and equipment that state
and local governments were required to have in place for federal
elections beginning in 2006 and $28 million is for assisting state and
local governments in making all polling places accessible and the
protection and advocacy payments. It is imperative that state and
local governments receive all of the funding they were promised to fully
implement statewide voter registration databases, to keep up with the
spiraling costs of purchasing and maintaining voting equipment and to
ensure proper poll worker training and voter education in this
environment of continually changing voting processes and procedures.
The lack of full federal funding for HAVA has led many state and
local governments to scale back on their initial plans for
implementation. Most devastatingly, initial Congressional delay in
providing proper funding for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ultimately
prevented the timely development of the voting system guidelines and the
implementation of a federal voting system certification program.
This led to cost increases for state and local governments that in some
cases were unable to utilize existing equipment and others that had to
replace voting equipment more than once in an effort to comply with
evolving guidance to ensure both accessibility and security. While
the efforts of the EAC and NIST have since been funded, delay in their
funding has contributed significantly to cost increases for state and
local governments.
Full funding is necessary to fulfill the promise of HAVA and provide
resources to state and local governments to meet the new and changing
expectations for voting equipment and procedures. Should you have
any questions, please contact the organizations listed below.
Sincerely,
Organizations Representing State and Local Election Officials
International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and
Treasurers (IACREOT)
National Association of Counties (NACo)
National Association of Election Officials (The Election Center)
National Association of State Election Directors (NASED)
National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)
National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL)
Civil and Disability Rights and Voter Advocacy Organizations
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Asian American Justice Center
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Common Cause
Demos
Fair Elections Legal Network
FairVote
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, UAW
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of Women Voters of the United States
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
Educational Fund (NALEO)
National Council of La Raza
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
Paralyzed Veterans of America
People For the American Way
Project Vote
SAVE
Union for Reform Judaism
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
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