CONGRESS WATCH
By Margo Turner
Dec. 30, 2000

The problems created by the razor-thin margin separating Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore Jr., the two candidates in the 2000 presidential election, have led to a slew of legislation in Congress to change the method for electing a person to the highest elected office in the country.

In December, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and Robert Torricelli (R-Ky.), a committee member, introduced the Election Reform Act (S.1). The bill would establish an Election Administration Commission to study various aspects of election administration and make recommendations for improving and modernizing voting procedures.

The legislation would combines the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) Office of Election Administration with the federal agency that administers ballots to Americans overseas to establish one permanent commission charged solely with electoral administration. The commission would consist of four members appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commissioners would serve four-year terms with not more than two of them from the same political party.

The McConnell-Torricelli bill would provide up to $100 million in matching grants per year to states and localities seeking to improve their voting systems in a manner consistent with voluntary recommendations developed by the commission.

"The Election Reform Act will ensure that our nation's electoral process is brought up to 21st century standards," McConnell said.

The month before, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced a bill (S. 3269) to establish a five-member bipartisan congressional commission that would study ways to ensure accurate and speedy reporting of election results.

The commission would include one member of the commission appointed by the president and one each by the Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the House of Representatives and House Minority Leader. It would have up to a year to complete its study, followed by a report due in six months.

"It seems to me that we can do much, much better on how we vote on federal elections," Specter said on the Senate floor. "Congress should address this issue at least as to federal elections, leaving the matter as to state and local elections to state officials under our federalist concepts."

Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa) also introduced a bill (H.R. 5631) in November to form a bipartisan commission on electoral voting procedures.

Under the DeFazio-Leach bill, the commission would be comprised of six members designated by House and Senate majority leaders and six members appointed by House and Senate minority members. The members would review a variety of issues, including the historic rationale for the Electoral College and its impact on presidential elections, voter registration issues (same-day, universal and motor voter), mail-in balloting, absentee voting, voting technologies, polling location and closing times, impact of ballot design, weekend voting or multiple day elections and presidential debates.

H.R. 5631 would require a final report submitted to Congress, including the commission's findings, conclusions and investigation.

"It is clear there are improvements that can be made to insure reliability in the voting process and integrity in the entire election process," DeFazio said.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced in December legislation (S.3273) that would require the FEC to study voting procedures in federal elections. The bill also would award grants to states to modernize voting procedures and election administration.

"We're the most successful democracy in the history of the world and yet we can't figure out how to make voting a positive experience for everyone," Schumer said.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced similar legislation (H.R. 5680) in December.

In addition to the various pieces of legislation, hearings on voting practices and procedures in federal elections will be held by McConnell during the 107th Congress. McConnell said the hearings will focus on voting procedures and ballot integrity. They also will examine poll closing times, ballot format, the timeliness and accuracy of vote counting, military voting and the state of voting equipment in the country and overseas.

In light of the ballot controversy in Florida, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review state election laws and practices and report to Congress on the best methods that various states have developed to minimize problems in the electoral process.

Some members of Congress, such as Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.), feel there should be hearings on the appropriateness of the Electoral College, which consists of 538 electors. The number of electors to each state is based on representation in Congress. No matter the closeness of the election, the winner of a state receives its entire total of electoral votes.

In early November, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced legislation (H.J. Res. 23) to abolish Electoral College. The bill calls for the president to be elected by 40 percent of the popular vote. If no person reached 40 percent in the general election, the top two candidates would participate in a runoff election.

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), an elector in 1988, introduced similar legislation early in the 106th Congress. He first introduced the bill following the 1996 election. Less than a week prior to the 2000 presidential election, LaHood renewed his call to abolish the Electoral College, which would require a constitutional amendment.

"It would be a travesty if the winner of the popular vote on Nov. 7 did not become president because of the Electoral College," he said.

Little did anyone realize, LaHood had predicted the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, the closet in generations. The nation was left in limbo for more than a month as Bush and Gore attorneys, courts and election commissioners in several Florida counties tried to grapple with a fair and honest solution.

After a round of lawsuits and counter lawsuits in Florida courts about ballot counting in several of that state's counties, the decision of who won Florida's 25 electoral votes rest with the U.S. Supreme Court. The majority of the justices ruled in Bush's favor and Bush became president-elect. Bush joins three other men--John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876) and Benjamin Harrison (1888)--who were sworn in as president who did not receive the largest share of the popular vote.

Congress has been reluctant to change the method of electing the president. Between, 1889 and 1968, 374 constitutional amendments on Electoral College reform were introduced but to no avail, according to Roll Call, a Washington-based newspaper that covers Congress.

Eliminating the Electoral College would require amending the Constitution. A constitutional amendment requires approval by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states.

Whether we change the way we select our presidents or not, we must respect the bedrock democratic principle that every vote in any election be counted, pointed out Scott Harshbarger, president of Common Cause, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens' lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C.

"Our new-found awareness of the fragility of the election process should help us tackle these challenges and make our democracy strong and more vibrant," Harshbarger said. The 2000 election "also should reinforce each citizen's faith that his or her vote does make a difference."

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