By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - State officials told Congress yesterday they badly need federal financial help to fix the voting system flaws that marked the last election. They also stressed that states must retain control of how elections are conducted.
"Currently in Florida, and I suspect many other states, we have the will, but not the financial wherewithal," to enact election system changes, said Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a central figure in the disputed Florida vote that threw the 2000 presidential election into the courts.
Harris and other state officials testified before the House Administration Committee in the first House hearing on how best to improve the nation's election system.
They made it clear that states welcome and need federal help in upgrading voting machines, fostering voter education and training poll workers. But they rejected any federal mandate that would impose uniform national standards.
"It is entirely inappropriate for Congress to specify which type of voting technology must be used by the states or the specific methodology states must use to facilitate voter registration," said Utah House Speaker Martin Stephens and John Hurson, Maryland House of Delegates majority leader, in a statement on behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the panel, said he realized that "it's going to cost some money if we are going to get some faith back in the system." He also said he would work to ensure that any legislation Congress passes "reinforces, and does not undermine, our tradition of local community control of the elections process."
