Election overhaul bill heads to White House

WASHINGTON -- The first nationwide election standards plus billions of dollars in new voting equipment, provisional ballots and ID requirements will greet voters in 2004 under a bill Congress passed Wednesday to rectify problems that plagued the 2000 presidential election.

The 92-2 Senate vote came nearly a week after the House approved the measure last Thursday, 357-48. It now goes to the White House, where President Bush issued a statement saying the legislation contained "important election reforms" and promising to sign it.

The measure would authorize spending about $3.8 billion over three years, although Congress must separately approve of spending that money. All sides say they are committed to that.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the bill will "make the central premise of our democracy -- that the people are sovereign -- ring even more truly in the years to come."

"This legislation goes a long way toward fixing those problems and righting those wrongs," said Dodd, who helped draft the legislation as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the committee's top Republican, called the legislation "landmark."

The measure is the result of months of negotiation by lawmakers to craft a federal solution to the balloting problems in Florida that plagued the 2000 presidential election.

New York's two Democratic senators -- Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton -- were the only senators who voted against the bill. Both cited opposition to the bill's voter identification requirement, saying it overrides New York's system of allowing voters to simply attest to their signature in order to vote.

The bill's passage came as lawmakers took up a flurry of measures as the congressional session winds down, including legislation that the Senate approved Wednesday that increases defense spending.

The election overhaul allows states with punch-card and lever voting systems to get money to buy upgraded machines if they wish and requires provisional voting, which lets people who claim eligibility to vote even when their names do not appear on election rolls. Those ballots would be set aside, and election officials later would determine whether they were valid.

Using numerical IDs

The bill also establishes statewide registration lists that would use a voter's driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number as an identifier for the database. Voters with neither number would be assigned an identifying number by the state.

States also would have to ensure that at least one voting machine at a polling place is accessible to the disabled.

In addition, the bill includes identification requirements opposed by civil rights groups and many Democrats. Those provisions would require voters who registered by mail to show identification the first time they vote. Photo IDs, utility bills or other documents would be allowed to use for proof.

Activists have complained that the identification provisions are unfair to the poor and minorities who may lack acceptable documentation.