Voter Identification Bills Introduced in Congress ====================================================================== Two bills introduced in this session of Congress would place more identification requirements on those seeking to register to vote. Rep. Phil Gringrey (R-GA) has introduced H.R. 4174, a bill that would require individuals to provide proof of United States citizenship as a condition of registering to vote. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) has introduced H.R. 4530, a bill that would require any person registering or reregistering to vote to provide proof of citizenship. H.R. 4530 directs states not to provide a ballot to any individual unless he shows proof of citizenship. The states are to determine which documents will be acceptable proof of citizenship under the advisement of the Election Assistance Commission, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Secretary of State. The two bills have a total of eight co-sponsors between them, with two members' names appearing on both bills. A trade-off in privacy exists in the legal requirement of voter registration to participate in publicly held elections. Voter registration began its trek into common practice in the late 1890s, when it was championed as a means of discouraging repeat voting and the importation of voters from other jurisdictions to cast votes in local and some state elections. Each state is responsible for administering voter registration within its boundaries. Today, voter registration forms may include requests for name, current and previous address, home and work telephone numbers, birthplace, Social Security number, birth date, race, gender, and party affiliation. The Help America Vote Act, which became law in October 2002, requires voter registrants to submit proof of identity by providing a state issued identity document or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Since 1997, non-citizens may be deported for voting in local, state, or federal elections. HAVA also establishes a computerized statewide voter registration list requirement. Each state's election officer is directed to create a uniform centralized interactive computerized statewide voter registration list. The list is to be defined, maintained, and administered at the state level and contains information for every legally registered voter in each state. Under this system, the law directs that a "unique identifier" is to be assigned to each legally registered voter in a state. Further, the law directs that the list should be coordinated with other agency databases within the state. The system must be designed to allow any election official in the state, including local election officials, to obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the voter registration database. The system must also allow unlimited access to any local election official to the computerized list. This list will serve as the official index of registered voters for any federal or state election. The law does require that the appropriate state or local official shall provide adequate technological security measures to prevent unauthorized access to the computerized list. H.R. 4174: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.4174: H.R. 4530: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.4530: The Help America Vote Act is available at: http://www.fec.gov/hava/hava.htm National Committee for Voting Integrity: http://www.votingintegrity.org For more information about voter privacy, see EPIC's Voting Page: http://www.epic.org/privacy/voting --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.719 / Virus Database: 475 - Release Date: 12/07/04
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