| Election Reform Testimony by Century Foundation Senior Program Officer and Democracy Fellow Tova Wang |
| 7/10/2003 |
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Read the Press Release
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7/10/03, New York City — An election policy expert today strongly criticized a plan to implement election reform measures in New York for failing “to provide the guidelines for improving elections that New Yorkers need and deserve.” Tova Andrea Wang, Senior Program Officer and Democracy Fellow at The Century Foundation, testified at a hearing in New York City about a New York State Task Force plan to comply with the Help America Vote Act. Wang testified that the task force’s plan provides almost no specifics as to how the state will repair our voting procedures. She said that in producing such a plan, “the task force has squandered the opportunity to show New York State how to move into the forefront of leadership” in reforming our broken down system of elections. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act last year in response to the 2000 presidential election debacle. Under the law, every state must convene a task force to create a blueprint for how the state will carry out its mandates and use the money the law provides. “Implemented well, the law could mean an expansion of voting rights not seen since 1965,” Wang said. “ Done poorly, greater disenfranchisement becomes a risk.” Wang was the Project Director for The Century Foundation’s publication, “The Help America Vote Act: Impact and Potential for New York,” co-authored by former Attorney General Robert Abrams and elections expert Arthur Fried. Unlike the state task force’s plan, The Century Foundation report examines every provision of the federal legislation and details what specific action New York’s elected leaders and election administrators should take to best comply with the new law. Wang testified that there is a wide range of major issues completely neglected by the task force’s report, including the following: The Machines · The plan refers to three DRE (ATM style) systems that have been certified by the State, without describing any of their features. The plan makes no rec |
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