Senators address area officials

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sen. Kit Bond told regional election officials Monday that he wants to clean up voter rolls and create fail-safe voting mechanism that prevent voter fraud.

Bond, R-Mo., and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., spoke to officials from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska who are attending the Midwest Election Officials Conference Monday. Officials are using the four-day annual meeting to address topics such as election reform, youth voting programs and election technology. Among those attending is Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh.

Bond has been the lead Republican negotiating election reform in the U.S. Senate. His efforts are driven by election-day mayhem last year in St. Louis that prompted state and federal investigations. Democrats alleged that thousands of people were kept from voting on Nov. 7, 2000, while Republicans said that hundreds of illegal ballots were cast.

'Brazen fraud'

"There has been brazen fraud with these bogus voter registrations. It is clear the system is being abused," Bond said. "It's painfully clear that our voter registration system is broken."

The Senate's Rules and Administration Committee, chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., approved a measure in August that would have given states $3.5 billion to deal with election problems and set federal standards for counting votes. Republicans didn't support the bill, concerned it allows for too much federal control.

Now Bond is working with Dodd to strengthen the bill's measures to prevent vote fraud, while addressing other GOP concerns.

Unless further safeguards are added to the bill to protect against voter fraud, the legislation is dead, Bond has said.

Bond explained Monday that he wants to add to the bill provisions for statewide voter registration databases; reforms for mail-in registration; and a condition for provisional voting -- which means people not on election rolls who claim to be eligible may cast ballots, with election officials determining the validity of their votes later.

Brownback also voiced his concerns about Dodd's bill, which Republicans have argued is loaded with too many federal mandates.

"We want elections to be local. ... I think the Dodd bill moves us to a federal takeover of elections," Brownback said. "We've held solid elections across this country and the thought that we'll make them better by federalizing them is the wrong way to go."

Brownback favors a bill that gives states the leeway to develop their own election improvements and would provide a pool of federal money for local governments to replace voting machines or make other improvements.

An election overhaul bill has moved more smoothly through the House and appears to be on its way to a vote on the floor.