Kenneth Elder's Blog

The View From Philly

2003 voting standards may be applicable in 2010 elections

According to The Associated Press, a new bill is being pushed by state Representative Babette Jones (D-Philadelphia), which would apply uniform voting standards adopted in 2003 to all future elections in Pennsylvania.

The bill outlines voting standards, which explain exactly what constitutes a vote on the state’s various voting systems. Although the state no longer uses punch cards or lever machines, the voting standards provide guidance about what should be counted as a vote on paper, punch cards, optical scanner ballots and lever machines.

“Uniform voting standards help [sic.] those determine whether a hanging chad is a valid vote or whether a check mark on a paper ballot is considered valid,” Josephs said in a statement on the state House Web site.

The voting standards were adopted in 2003 as part of the federal Help America Vote Act, which required each state to adopt uniform and nondiscriminatory standards that define what is a vote and what will be counted as a vote. To help accomplish the goals of the Help America Vote Act, Pennsylvania lawmakers created the Voting Standards Development Board, which created Pennsylvania’s voting standards. The standards were adopted in 2003.

The 2003 standards were applicable to all elections held in 2006 and 2007. The bill that Josephs is pushing would make the standards applicable to all future elections.

“Pennsylvania has been operating under these voting standards for several years,” Josephs said, “but state law no longer requires us to follow them. Uniform standards were developed to help those counting the votes know what should and should not be counted and ensure that all valid votes are counted.”

It is a good thing that voting standards are once again being applied to state elections, as using them will help ensure that the 2010 elections are conducted fairly and that votes are counted accurately. It will also ensure that the hard work conducted by the Voting Standards Development Board was not done for nothing.