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Press Release
July 30, 2009
Contact: Aaron Hunter 202-225-2040
House Passes Rep. Susan Davis’s Absentee Ballot Tracking Legislation
States would get federal aid to let voters track their absentee ballots from mailbox to election office
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives passed a bill sponsored by Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-Calif.) to help states create absentee ballot tracking systems. The Absentee Ballot Track, Receive and Confirm (TRAC) Act (H.R. 2510) was approved by a voice vote.
An absentee ballot tracking system allows voters to easily find out, online or through an automated phone system, whether an elections office has sent out a ballot, whether a completed ballot has arrived back at the registrar’s office and whether the ballot was actually counted. If a ballot is not counted, the voter would also learn the reason.
“Voters across the nation are increasingly choosing to cast their ballots by mail because it is more convenient and they have more time to study their choices,” said Davis, a member of the House Administration Committee which oversees federal elections. “However, many voters have been hesitant to do so because they fear their ballots would get “lost” in the system. In most cases, the fear of one’s mail-in ballot somehow being lost in the system is unfounded--but we all know the concern is still there.”
The TRAC Act would allow the federal government to reimburse states, through a grants program, for establishing tracking systems. The bill does not mandate any state to set up a tracking system.
Many elections offices are already tracking ballots with great success. California law requires that all counties establish absentee ballot tracking systems, and the systems are quite popular with voters and elections officials.
Many of the phone calls to election offices are from voters trying to track their absentee ballot. Allowing voters to check on their ballot themselves would take a strain off elections offices and ultimately save costs, without compromising security or privacy. Moreover, the ability to check absentee status round the clock is a convenient service for voters, especially for military and overseas voters in various time zones.
Davis sponsored H.R. 2510 with her Republican colleague Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.
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