H.R.550

From dKosopedia

Category: Legislation

H.R.550, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005, was introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) on February 2, 2005. It strengthened his earlier bill, H.R.2239. Both are an attempt to amend the problems with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which was written by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) and whose major result was the nationwide introduction of paperless voting machines (DREs), funded by the federal government. Ney, the chair of the House Committee on Administration, and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), his successor, never permitted the bill to leave committee, even after it attracted a majority of the House as cosponsors. According to House rules, a bill can be forced out of committee by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House members. However, this never occurred.

The bill will expire when the 109th Congress is dissolved at the end of 2006. A similar bill will likely be introduced in 2007.

Arguments about H.R.550

• The Paper Trail Landscape dKos diary by georgia10; explains the diarist's support for the bill (October 31, 2006)
• Voters Need To Feel Confident dKos diary by Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA); explains the Congressman's support for the bill (September 19, 2006)
• Rush Holt's HR 550 and Bev Harris dKos diary by cos; links to and summarizes arguments in favor of and against the bill; explains the diarist's support for the bill (April 13, 2006)

External links

• Rep. Holt's H.R.550 page
• Library of Congress legislative information search for "H.R.550" (query results expire, so no direct link is posted here)
• VerifiedVoting.org's legislation overview page VerifiedVoting.org, which strongly supports the bill; gives an overview of this bill and others related to election integrity

Related articles

• Voting Rights
• Federal voting legislation