House panel debates Ellison bill on same-day voter registration

11/12/2007

A House panel held a feisty hearing Friday on Rep. Keith Ellison's bill to require states to have same-day voter registration for federal elections, with Democrats touting increased voter turnout while Republicans said the practice would lead to more voter fraud.


By FREDERIC J. FROMMER,
Associated Press
November 09, 2007


WASHINGTON - A House panel held a feisty hearing Friday on Rep. Keith Ellison's bill to require states to have same-day voter registration for federal elections, with Democrats touting increased voter turnout while Republicans said the practice would lead to more voter fraud.

Ellison, a freshman Minnesota Democrat, noted that his home state has used same-day voter registration for decades, and that Minnesota had a 78 percent voter turnout in the last presidential election.

The right to vote "should not be conditional on the ability to navigate bureaucracy or meet artificial, arbitrary deadlines,'' he testified in a hearing before a House Administration subcommittee on elections.

Ellison got backing from Democratic Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, but Ritchie's predecessor, Republican Mary Kiffmeyer, threw cold water on the idea.

Kiffmeyer said that if you don't think vote stealing is a problem, "Next time you leave, don't lock your home and don't lock your car door, if you have that kind of absolute trust.''

Other Republicans made similar arguments.

Testifying alongside Ellison was Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who said election officials need to verify that people are who they say they are.

"That means a picture ID,'' said King, taking aim at another Ellison bill, which would ban states from mandating photo IDs for voting in federal elections. Ellison argues that requirement disenfranchises minorities, the poor, women, elderly and young people.

And King said that if same-day voting is to take place, such votes should be counted as provisional - meaning they would be checked later to verify their eligibility. Ellison said he would oppose that requirement. A study of the 2004 presidential election by electionline.org, a nonpartisan clearinghouse for election reform information, found that about two-thirds of the more than 1.6 million provisional ballots cast that election were counted.

The subcommittee's ranking Republican, Kevin McCarthy of California, noted that a task force in Milwaukee found voting irregularities in that city during the 2004 presidential election, in a state that also uses same-day voter registration.

But Neil Albrecht, deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said that while there were problems, it would be unfair to label the city a "voter fraud city.'' And he said that same-day voter registration helped the city pull in a record-setting turnout in 2004.

Under questioning from McCarthy, Ellison said Minnesota had an excellent track record with the process.

"If the proof of the pudding is in the tasting,'' he said, "elections in Minnesota taste pretty good.''

Democrats and Republicans also debated whether same-day voter registration has increased voter turnout. Ritchie testified that it clearly had, especially among young people.

But Kiffmeyer said the state went below 60 percent in voter participation only once before it adopted same-day voter registration, and six times since.

That led to a lively exchange with Ellison, who by that time had joined the committee in questioning witnesses. Ellison asked the three people testifying alongside Kiffmeyer - two professors and the president of a public policy research and advocacy organization - whether they agreed that same-day voter registration increases voter turnout. All three said it did.

Ellison then turned to Kiffmeyer, asking whether she thought they were wrong. Kiffmeyer said that wasn't the point she was making, and Ellison pressed: "Do you disagree or do you agree?''

When Kiffmeyer said she wasn't familiar with all of the facts and figures, Ellison said, "So you don't know ... You have to either agree, disagree or you don't know.''

But Kiffmeyer didn't bite, and Ellison's time had expired. After the hearing, he approached her and said with a smile, "I just want to thank you for being a good sport.''