Political Quotes

“In Cook County, excuse me--that is requiring they do just that. So I say to people who are wondering about this issue, while we do not go to the extent that my colleague from Illinois would like us to in this bill, by requiring, as one of the minimum standards in this legislation, national standards that every jurisdiction in the country that uses a punchcard system must use a punchcard system that would allow the voter to be able to determine whether or not an overvote has occurred. We say nothing in this legislation that would, in any way, restrict a State from requiring exactly what the Senator from Illinois is seeking. In fact, I would encourage States to do it, to use the grant funding and acquire them because I think it is a great service to be able to provide for your voters, and to avoid exactly the situation the Senator from Illinois describes. We all remember, very vividly, the pictures every night on television of people holding up these butterfly ballots where to say it was a confusing situation was a mild description of those ballots. And there were the punchcards that were also very difficult to read. People were holding them up to the light and showing hanging chads and the like. So the Senator's point is an excellent one. It is not a point with which I disagree.”