Board of Crawford County Commissioners
Crawford County Kansas
Courthouse
Girard, Kansas 66743

 
Mr. Chairman and Commissioners,

 
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to confer with you today on the Crawford County Election Division budget for FY 2006. Your time in hearing this budget request is most appreciated. Though the elections’ budget has been prepared for several weeks it is safe to say that it is still today, far from completed.

The Presidential election of 2000, and the aftermath in Florida, has changed the design and implementation of elections across the entire United States. In 2006, states and local governments will realize the full implementation of the Federal law commonly referred to as the Help America Vote Act (HAVA.) You’ve may heard or read about HAVA and today I will attempt to walk through some of the major provisions facingCrawford County elections in 2006.

Before I begin I want you to know that you are not the only Board of Commissioners in the state faced with difficult decisions. I talk on a daily basis with my colleagues around the state as we attempt to make the best decisions for the people we represent. I know that theCounty Clerks in Kansas are doing their best to stay informed on these topics and to provide the best information available to their Boards. Some counties have been storing away cash preparing for the full implementation of HAVA while others are faced with locating additional revenue sources to support the implementation of the federal law.

A lot of staff time has gone into making this presentation possible today. My staff has compiled as much information as possible for your use. I believe we have strong documentation for all of the costs we will propose today, including those which are recurring costs from years past and those which are new HAVA costs.

First, let’s talk about HAVA and the intent of the federal law. On October 29, 2002, House Resolution 3295 was passed into law. The stated intent of the act was to: establish a program to provide funds to States to replace punch card voting systems, to establish the Election Assistance Commission to assist in the administration of Federal elections and to otherwise provide assistance with the administration of certain Federal election laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration standards for States and units of local government with responsibility for the administration of Federal elections, and for other purposes.

So far, the Election Assistance Commission has been formed and they are providing opinions and regulations pertaining to elections in the country. The states, for the most part, have adopted those regulations and other points of law mentioned in the Act.Kansas passed its HAVA law during the session of 2003. Finally, some (emphasis added) of the promised dollars have flowed to the states. To date, no dollars have flowed to the local unit of government. In fact, the local units of government have made some payments to the state for electronic voting services. In 2006, that trend is supposed to change.

In Crawford County I know that we are committed to meeting the terms of the Act and fulfilling the intent and spirit of the law. Perhaps the most important item of the law in my opinion is the charge to allow any individual, regardless of any disability or impairment they may face, to cast a ballot independently and secretly in the same manner prescribed for all voters. Very simply, the law requires that everyone be treated in the same fair manner, no matter who they are, when they enter a polling place.

To meet that goal, it has become necessary to change the way we handle elections in this country. In 2006 three major requirements come due in the HAVA chain of events.

First of all, it is required by the federal law that every polling place in the nation has a fully accessible machine which will allow any voter to cast an independent and secret vote. This is a major step toward independence for thousands of American’s who have never had the accommodations to vote in their lifetime. There is a price tag affixed to that freedom, however, and that is one of the items we will discuss today.

The second milestone that comes due in 2006 is the advent of second chance voting. Second chance voting is nothing more than making sure each person who casts a vote in every precinct across the country is encouraged to take a second look at their ballot and make sure that the individual did not under vote, over vote, or mark the ballot incorrectly. It may sound simple to implement, but to protect the sanctity of the secret ballot it is very difficult for a poll worker to inform and assure that the voter is aware of the jeopardy of casting a mis-marked ballot. HAVA is all about making sure every vote that is cast is also counted. Second chance voting is a way to reach that end.

Finally, in 2006, every county in the country will link to a centralized voter registration system. Long gone are the days of having a card file or rolodex of voters in the county. Now, through a computerized system, every county in the state and every state in the nation will be linked together to form a national centralized database. Crawford County is a pilot county for this project in the state of Kansas and we are learning on a daily basis the challenges faced by the Secretary of State’s office and other county election officers who are participating in the pilot. Of course with such technology also comes an additional price tag…in fact each of the items bear additional costs.

Unfortunately, the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office is unable to tell the counties at this time what part of the cost of those technologies the state will be willing to incur for the counties. It is also difficult for the state to tell the county any exact costs that will be incurred by the county for additional equipment or the voter registration system. As you know I have been to a lot of trainings and schools in the past six months since taking office. I have tried to learn all I can about the upcoming costs for the implementation of HAVA. I have had public and private conversations with the Secretary of State’s Office and I have followed the Election Assistance Commission closely. I have visited with vendors and other county clerks in an attempt to form a network for sharing any piece of information which is divulged to one county official. This budget is the compilation of those conversations and study. Because so much is not known at this point as it pertains to cost I have taken a worst case scenario approach in putting these numbers together. I start with the bad stuff and try to build to a happier ending…a lot of that happy ending depends on the aide provided by the Secretary of State’s Office in coming months.

So to recap, in 2006 each County in the nation will be responsible for providing:

1.      A completely accessible and independent vote casting device,

2.      A device or strategy that will allow for second chance voting if the voter has over voted, under voted or mis-marked his or her ballot and

3.      Access to the central voter registration system.

Meeting those provisions will not be easy and it will not be cheap. Today I provide the attached budget for your consideration and input.

Sincerely,

Signature

R.J. Wilson
Crawford County Clerk

Items to mention in presentation of the budget:

August 15-16 in Girard and Pittsburg, The Crawford County Clerk’s Office will host vendors from the nations four largest voting equipment companies, Diebold, Election’s System and Software, Microvote and Sequoia to present their polling place products for second chance voting and independent vote casting to the general public, election workers, precinct committee people, disability groups and clerk’s and commissioners from surrounding counties. More information will be forthcoming concerning specifics. The events will be held at the Girard and Pittsburg Public Library’s respectively.