Help America Vote Act (HAVA) State Implementation Plans
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 required states to improve all of their voting processes, including voting machines, provisional ballots, voter registration, and training for poll workers. Election officials, legislators, and advocates in each state are responsible for implementing HAVA quickly and inclusively. Under HAVA, states must meet several new Federal standards, including ones for provisional ballots, statewide, computerized voter lists, "second chance" voting, and disability access. In many states, people with disabilities and advocates have been active participants of the state’s planning committee and many states already have a state plan in place. Many of the plans are in draft format and are available for comment. Visit the HAVA Web site to find your state’s plan or to contact the planning committee.
Here are some resources for Help America Vote Act (HAVA) state plans—one from the Department of Justice with each state's plan or draft plan (link); one from The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, DEMOS, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People For the American Way that is in chart format (link) to provide advocates, elected officials, and voters with a "snapshot" of how each state expects to implement the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) as indicated by the contents of the state's implementation plan; and one from the League of Women Voters and their newly issued publication for implementing the new provisional ballot requirement.
- The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Right Division, Disability Rights Section is in the process of developing detailed technical assistance on The Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The DOJ Web site also offers a comprehensive question and answer document regarding HAVA and the Voting Rights Act.
- The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, DEMOS, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People For the American Way have prepared a chart to provide advocates, elected officials, and voters with an understanding of how each state expects to implement the HAVA as indicated by the contents of the state's implementation plan.
The chart provides a summary of the key provisions of each plan, with particular attention devoted to those areas that will most directly affect voters. It does not include any information drawn from outside the state implementation plans, and thus should not be considered a complete assessment of all activities related to HAVA implementation in each state. In addition, where information on a particular issue of concern was not included in a state implementation plan, this is indicated by the terms "No info."
- The League of Women Voters has just issued a new publication, Helping America Vote: A Guide to the New Federal Provisional Ballot Requirement, a user-friendly resource for implementing the new provisional ballot requirement. Between 1.5 million and 3 million voters were not able to cast a ballot in the 2000 presidential election because of problems in voter registration systems. When Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), it included the provisional ballot requirement to protect these voters. The provisional ballot requirement will be in place in every state for the 2004 elections. For the report, the League compiled a set of model practices and recommendations that ensure provisional ballots serve their intended purpose: ensuring that no eligible voter coming to the polls on Election Day will be turned away without being given an opportunity to cast a ballot.