Counting Electoral Votes--Joint Session of the House and Senate Held Pursuant to the Provisions of Senate Concurrent Resolution 1
COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES--JOINT SESSION OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE HELD PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 (HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES--JANUARY 6, 2005) -- (House of Representatives - January 06, 2005)
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
If we are the democracy we say we are, we must show it today by taking on the astonishing problems in our national system of elections that can no longer be blinked away. Ohio's often brazen irregularities bring forward this debate, but the Buckeye State is only the poster child for the nationwide system of voting that has been discredited in the eyes of millions of voters. I watched the long lines nationwide and here in the District with both exhilaration and pain, exhilaration that finally we were getting what we asked for, with so much enthusiasm for voting that people were standing in line the way they do for million dollar lottery tickets; pain that long lines would surely discourage many voters, particularly first-time voters, people of color, young people, and many others who wanted to believe that voting could matter in their lives. The long lines in the District were especially poignant because citizens were waiting for hours to vote for a Member of Congress who herself could not cast a vote for them in this House.
Ohio's close and contentious vote speaks for the country about virtually all the problems of the last election, from voting machine access to voting intimidation and the absence of national standards for the basics. It will take time and bipartisan determination to make us proud of our elections. Until then, one reform could begin the process of restoring confidence in our elections. If all else fails, voting machines, polling place controversy, confused or partisan election officials, a provisional ballot that, if valid, will count, can help heal voting flaws until we enact a real cure. We have got a failsafe for almost everything else, from bullet proof vests to backups for computers. Let us fix our system this year, including with failsafes for voting to save our democracy.
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