Marcy Kaptur: “Ohio symbolizes that the Help America Vote Act fell short of the lofty goals set by this Congress. Ohio's Secretary of…”

“Ohio symbolizes that the Help America Vote Act fell short of the lofty goals set by this Congress. Ohio's Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, in a State in which all statewide offices are controlled by Republicans and, in our State legislature, Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one in both chambers, our Secretary of State repeatedly took actions to make it more difficult for as many Ohioans as possible to have their votes fairly cast and accurately recorded. No national standards were set for voting equipment because the Bush administration appointed members of the Election Assistance Commission so late that their confirmation was nearly a full year later than required by HAVA itself. They had no time to recommend standards until it was too late, and those standards are still not in place today. The Ohio Secretary of State tried to force county boards of elections to buy equipment that his own reports showed to be flawed. Federal dollars that this Congress appropriated to help modernize elections became stuck in Ohio between the Secretary of State's office and local boards of elections who were often in deep disagreement as to which machine standards were trustworthy.”