Senator Collins plays important role in securing funds for Maine
Felicia Knight WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate today passed the “Help America Vote Act” by a margin of 92-2. The election reform legislation authorizes $3.8 billion in grants to states and localities to help cover the costs of meeting new voting requirements. The bill includes an amendment offered by Senator Collins that guarantees all states, regardless of size, will share in the federal grant money authorized in this bill.
“This legislation is an important step in restoring voter confidence,” said Senator Collins. “It provides a blueprint for election reform and the means to pay for it. “The amendment I offered could mean at least $20 million dollars to upgrade Maine’s registration and voting system”
The “Help America Vote Act” provides grant programs for replacing and improving registration and voting systems and for the improvement of election administration. This legislation will also create an Advisory Board made up of 110 state and local election officials to assist in developing voluntary voting systems and performance guidelines. It also provides for funding for mock student elections and improvement to the absentee military voting process.
Federal Requirements Include: Voting Systems: Each system shall permit voters to verify their votes and allow them a second chance to correct their ballots and have manual audit capacity.
Provisional Voting: Election officials must provide for provisional voting (to be used when someone claims to be a registered voter but whose name does not appear on the statewide voting polls).
Statewide Voter Registration Systems: Each state must have a single computerized statewide data base containing registration data on each legally registered voter in the state.
Verification of Voter Registration: Anti-fraud protection requiring voter registrants to provide their drivers license or the last 4 digits of their social security number.
Mail Registration: Voters who register by mail must provide proof of identification when voting.
All official press releases from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
