HR 2239 status

[Paul Walmsley <paul@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

HR 2239 is stuck in the House Administration Committee.  I recently spoke
with Matt Peterson at the Committee, who said that HR 2239 is unlikely to
make it out of the Committee during this legislative session - the
Committee hasn't even marked it up.  He said that this is primarily due to
two reasons: one, the Administration Committee wants to wait until the
Election Assistance Commission has had a chance to review the issue; and
two, there was a sense that revisiting some of the issues raised by HAVA
would "open up a can of worms," given the difficulties that the U.S.
Congress experienced in passing HAVA in 2002.

In practical terms, this means that states and counties that don't wish to
seek a waiver until 2006 for HAVA requirements will probably end up
purchasing electronic voting machines with no voter-verifiable paper
trail.  I asked about this issue, and apparently, the Administration
Committee feels that machines that are purchased now can be upgraded to
support this functionality in the future.

With regards to the EAC, the commissioners, apparently, are supposed to be
appointed by the Senate this week, shortly before the current legislative 
session ends.


- Paul