--News Release--

Washington, DC - With a public hearing held this week in Columbus, Ohio, members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) began a process to develop guidance for states on provisional voting by September 2005. Provisional ballots are available to voters who believe they are eligible to vote although their names do not appear on the registration rolls.

“There is growing evidence that provisional voting played a major role in preventing voter disenfranchisement last year,” said EAC Chair Gracia Hillman. “But as we all know, provisional voting became in 2004 what the hanging chad was in 2000. There are issues that must be explored and deliberated in order to improve provisional voting in future elections. This week’s hearing marks the beginning of that process.”

Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), all states were required to offer provisional ballots beginning in 2004. Preliminary results of data collected from 45 states and territories shows that more than 1.5 million provisional votes were cast last year. Of that figure, more than one million votes were counted.

At the EAC public hearing held on February 23 at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, Commissioners heard expert testimony on the use and administration of provisional ballots in the 2004 election cycle. Witnesses included voter advocates, academics and state and local election officials, including the secretaries of state from Ohio, Florida and New Mexico, all states that experienced controversy related to provisional voting last November.

During the proceedings, panelists highlighted a number of provisional voting issues that arose in 2004, including state-by-state variances in defining jurisdiction; eligibility and determination of eligibility to cast a provisional ballot; the counting of provisional ballots and notification of voters who cast them; the review and handling of provisional ballots; and deadlines for reviewing and counting provisional ballots.

“In addition to our initial fact-finding hearing and the collection of public testimony, EAC is analyzing state legislation, administrative procedures and court cases related to provisional voting,” added Hillman. “In consultation with the EAC Standards and Advisory Boards, the Commission will use all of this information to draft and publish voluntary guidance in September 2005. EAC will hold a second public hearing before publishing and distributing its final guidance to the elections community.”