James Davis: “at stake on Election Day was not just the selection of Al Gore or George W. Bush as President of the United States. What…”

“at stake on Election Day was not just the selection of Al Gore or George W. Bush as President of the United States. What was at stake was the legitimacy of the process by which we made that choice. The bitter truth is that in Florida, my home State, the margin of error exceeded the margin of victory. Our fragile and somewhat faulty election system collapsed under the weight of the most closely contested presidential election in my lifetime. The ultimate tragedy was that one year ago today when the Supreme Court effectively ended the recount, many Americans who voted on the losing side of that race had lost confidence in the legitimacy of the process. My State, Florida, as well as many other States, has been through as much soul searching on this problem and how to avoid repeating it than probably any State in the country. We came to some clear conclusions that were adopted in a State law that was enacted in Florida earlier this year. The crux of that solution, which is addressed in this bill today, is to replace the punch card machine with a technology that allows the voter the opportunity to verify that his or her vote is both complete and accurate. This bill authorizes $400 million to Florida and States across the country to make that change.”