WASHINGTON – In recent weeks, state and local officials from over 35 states, and various other national organizations, have expressed their opposition to H.R. 811, election reform legislation introduced by Representative Rush Holt, D-N.J. Holt’s bill, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, has been highly criticized by election experts who consider the bill an attempt to mandate costly election requirements that would be impossible for states to meet only 18 months before the 2008 General Elections.

In his letter to Members of the Committee on House Administration, Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels states, “H.R. 811 gives the states less than one year prior to the first Presidential primaries to put into place another round of massive upgrades to election equipment and procedures, devotes insufficient financial resources to make those upgrades, and penalizes jurisdictions that satisfied voter confidence issues by introducing state legislation to require a voter verified paper trail.”

Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark, in his letter to the Committee, said Holt’s bill, “would be devastating in its effect – in Mississippi and nationally.”

In addition to election officials from across the country, Committee members have also heard from the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, the Information Technology Industry Council, and countless other organizations all opposing H.R. 811.

The Committee is currently scheduled to markup H.R. 811 Tuesday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.

For more information, please contact the Committee press office at (202) 225-8281.