Obama: Election Protection Legislation in the US Senate

[Adelante]

Sen. Barrack Obama (D-Ill.) – Sen. Obama has introduced several pieces of election legislation during his tenure in the Senate.

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“Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005” (S. 1975) would criminalize efforts to confuse or intimidate voters in an attempt to keep them away from the polls on Election Day. The bill would make it a crime to knowingly communicate, within 60 days of an election, false information about the time and place of an election, a voter’s eligibility, registration rules and endorsements by a person or organization. Convictions for violating the law would carry with it penalties of up $100,000 or five years imprisonment, or both. It would also increase the maximum criminal penalty for voter intimidation from one year to five years’ imprisonment. The bill was read twice and referred to committee.
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“Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2006” (S. 4069) was a new version of voter intimidation and prevention of deceptive practices bill introduced in the previous session of Congress. The bill was read twice and referred to committee.
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“The Election Jamming Prevention Act of 2006” (S.4102) bill would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the use of telecommunications devices for the purposes of preventing or obstructing the broadcast or exchange of election-related information. The bill was read twice and referred to committee
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“Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007” (S.453) is a new version of voter intimidation/prevention of deceptive practices bill introduced in the previous session of Congress. The bill was reintroduced on Jan. 31, read twice and referred to committee.
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“Voter Advocate and Democracy Index Act” (S. 737) legislation would create a scorecard to rank states on a set of standards designed to measure the ease of exercising the right to vote. Under the proposed legislation a new Office of the Voter Advocate would be created within the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and would develop a Democracy Index. The Index would require states to report basic performance metrics such as the amount of time voters spend waiting in line, the number of voters incorrectly directed to the wrong polling place, the rate of ballots discarded or not counted along with an explanation, and the rate of voting system malfunctions and the time required on average to get the systems back online, to name a few. The legislation directs the Office of the Voter Advocate to conduct a pilot program in selected states in 2008. The bill was read twice and referred to committee.

http://www.electionline.org/Newsletters/tabid/87/ctl/Detail/mid/643/xmid/244/xmfid/3/Default.aspx

[papau]

1. where is the audit provision?

[Jane Austin]

2. This post regarding a substantive Senate issue for Obama

isn't getting nearly as many "reads" as the wild-accusation threads.

That's very disappointing to me.