Political Quotes

“Regretfully, I am going to join Senator Dodd in opposing this amendment. We had a carefully crafted compromise on this whole issue of whether or not to, by either direction or indirection, require certain voting machines in jurisdictions. I think that is, in effect, what this does. We don't want to dictate to any State what form or what kind of machine they choose to take. This was a significant point of negotiation between the five principals on this bill, who were Senator Dodd, myself, and Senators Bond, Torricelli, and Schumer. This would mandate a certain kind of punchcard machine, one that notifies the voter of overvotes. This is a decision which the five of us concluded should best be left to the States. In crafting this bill, we were careful to avoid mandating any particular system out of existence, and that, in effect, is what this amendment would do. Our bill seeks to address the Senator's concerns. It does it in such a way that we don't eliminate any system.”