Election Protection Coalition Urges Voting Improvements

January 11, 2005

On November 2, 2004, 500 community volunteers, 90 law students and 118 attorneys working with the non-partisan Election Protection coalition observed voting in 92 Milwaukee polling places. The Milwaukee Legal Committee of Election Protection has now released its 2004 Presidential Election Review: Report from Non-Partisan Observers of Voting in the General Election in the City Of Milwaukee on November 2, 2004.

“More than 277,000 Milwaukee residents voted on November 2, including more than 80,000 who registered at the polls,” noted Barbara Zack Quindel, an attorney who headed up the Milwaukee legal team on Election Day. “While elections workers overall handled these incredible demands conscientiously and deserve commendation for their efforts, we have identified ways to improve access to voters, ensuring a system that facilitates rather than frustrates every citizen’s right to vote.”

The 2004 Presidential Election Review recommends an increase in elections staff both prior to major elections and on election day, improved poll worker training and communications, better polling place conditions, and provision of multilingual materials for non-English speaking citizens. The report also identifies problems with absentee balloting, noting concern over the rate of rejection of absentee ballots resulting in voters not having their ballots counted, and includes recommendations to ensure that absentee voting is an accessible and reliable alternative to in-person voting.

“What the hundreds of Election Protection observers did not observe was voter fraud. Rather, the problems we saw on Election Day - such as long lines, inaccessible sites, registration difficulties, and confusing instructions - were ones that tended to impede eligible voters’ access to the polls,” added ACLU of Wisconsin Legal Director and legal team member Larry Dupuis. “Our extensive observations on Election Day do not support the need for changes, such as the current proposal to require voters to display photo IDs in order to vote, that would make voting more difficult and time-consuming. Instead, Election Protection recommends that existing procedures should be strengthened and improved to ensure easy access to exercising this fundamental right.”

Read the Review (PDF)