For Immediate Release

Statement of Senator Christopher J. Dodd
Senate Rules Committee Hearing on Nominations to the Elections Assistance Commission

October 28, 2003

Mr. Chairman, Before we get down to the business at hand, let me take a moment to commend you, and your staff, and the staff of the Senate Superintendent, for the outstanding restoration of this historic meeting room. As temporary stewards of these magnificent public buildings, we have an obligation to ensure that they continue to serve and inspire Americans for generations to come. The murals at either end of the room, with the model of the USS Constitution, commemorating the War of 1812, and the Santa Maria, commemorating Columbus’s journey to the New World, are more than mere decoration. They are links to our collective history as Americans and serve to remind us of the tremendous legacy that we are here to preserve and foster. I commend you for this effort.

And I can think of no more fitting occasion to christen this beautifully restored and rejuvenated hearing room than the confirmation hearings for nominees who will oversee the rejuvenation of our Federal elections at the newly established Election Assistance Commission.

I thank the Chairman for scheduling these confirmation hearings on such a timely basis, and I hope we can expedite the Committee’s consideration of the nominations.

One year ago tomorrow, President Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act. For the first time in our history, this landmark legislation recognizes the need for a Federal partnership in the conduct of Federal elections. This partnership does not usurp the authority of State and local governments to administer Federal elections. But it does provides leadership and support through the establishment of Federal minimum requirements that all Federal elections must meet and provides appropriate Federal funding to finance the implementation of those requirements.

No civil right is more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote. It is the mechanism in a democracy by which the voice of the people is heard. According to Thomas Paine, the right to vote “is the primary right by which other rights are protected.”

In America’s democracy, that right must mean an equal opportunity for every eligible citizen to cast a vote and have that vote counted. Absent that basic premise, the integrity of the outcome of an election, indeed the integrity of our representative form of government, is at risk.

And that is why, following the 2000 presidential elections, a bipartisan group of Senators and Congressmen came together to enact the Help America Vote Act. While we initially viewed the outcome of the 2000 elections very differently, in the end, we all agreed that the Federal government had an appropriate role to play to ensure that in our democracy, we made it easier to vote and harder to defraud the system.

I want to again publicly commend my colleague and former Chairman of this Committee, Senator McConnell, under whose leadership this Committee first began its consideration of election reform. Together, we authored the final version of election reform, the Help America Vote Act, along with our colleagues in the House, Congressmen Bob Ney and Steny Hoyer.

In addition to establishing minimum Federal requirements that all States must meet for Federal elections, and providing funding to implement those requirements, this Act also establishes, for the first time, a Federal agency to serve as a clearinghouse and resource organization for Federal elections. The new Election Assistance Commission is designed to bring together all parties who play a role in elections – from voting machine manufacturers to voter registration organizations and other civil rights groups to election day officials and administrators – to facilitate dialogue and study on how best to administer Federal elections.

The Commission will oversee the distribution of grants to the States. It will establish several boards of advisors to facilitate the implementation of the new Federal requirements so that States can share information and not waste Federal dollars reinventing the wheel in every jurisdiction. The Commission will also establish technical development committees to work with State and local election officials in the development of voluntary voting system guidelines and to provide for testing and certification of voting system hardware and software. Finally, the Act charges the Commission with conducting periodic studies of election administration issues with the goal of promoting accurate, accessible, nondiscriminatory, user-friendly elections that are efficient and cost-effective.

I congratulate each of our nominees today for the honor of being nominated to establish the Election Assistance Commission and to set the standard by which our Federal partnership will be judged for years to come. It is an awesome responsibility and one that each of your backgrounds has trained you equally well to carry out.

I also want to commend the four congressional leaders for their outstanding recommendations to the President from which this group of four nominees was drawn. To ensure that our Federal partnership gives voice to all Americans and their very diverse experiences on election day, nominees to this Commission should reflect more than just the perspectives of State and local election officials. And these nominees achieve that goal. Together, this esteemed group will be able to view the Federal partnership from both the experience of the voter and the election official.

While political races may be partisan, elections cannot be. The Help America Vote Act is appropriately the first civil rights act of the 21st Century, and the bipartisan support that it received in Congress should be the standard by which your tenure on the Commission is measured.

Congratulations to each of you. I look forward to your comments today and to working closely with you as you oversee the implementation of this Act.