Lessons learned so far from the 2008 primaries and caucuses

The Committee on House Administration held a hearing on “2008 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses: What we’ve learned so far” to discuss problems at the polls, the message to states that they need to get ready for the November election, the important role of poll workers and how to train them, and how the committee can help, said Chairman Robert Brady (D-PA). Ranking member Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) said he was concerned about anyone being denied a chance to vote.

The first witness was radio host Tom Joyner, of the Tom Joyner Morning Show. He discussed his partnership with the NAACP National Voting Fund and the voter hot line 866-MYVOTE1. He said people call the hot line for questions on poll locations and with complaints on problems they faced at their polling places, such as not enough machines or machines not working. He said he is urging the committee to get more voting machines and voter identification machines to polling places, to train poll workers better so they can fix the problems with machines, and to establish national voting standards.

Gregory Moore, executive director for the NAACP National Voter Fund, said the data from the 866-MYVOTE1 hot line can be analyzed to prepare for the Nov. 4 election. John Bonifaz, legal director for Voter Action, said a growing concern with elections is outsourcing to private vendors for key functions, and that “citizen-led monitoring of our elections, such as the MYVOTE1 effort, is critically needed to identify election concerns and to collect the data from voters on Election Day.”

Cecilia Martinez, executive director for The Reform Institute, suggested that election administrators implement tools to improve voter access to basic information, possibly through collaboration between election officials and private sectors. Martinez also suggested that groups registering voters give election officials a “heads up” on their efforts so officials can provide enough computers and resources at the polls.

Ken Smukler from InfoVoter Technologies said that he hoped this hearing will alert officials of the hot line database, and that cooperation with media organizations will promote the hot line to voters. Joyner said that this has been a historic election season, and election officials need to be prepared for the large number of people who will show up in November.