ABSTRACT

The congressional oversight role has always been a bit of a thorn in the side of state elections officials. While election administration was almost entirely left to the states for the American democracy, Congress’s involvement in elections took a great leap forward in 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). In 1988, National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) establishes a “Task Force on Barriers to Voting" to urge enactment of legislation to expand opportunities for voter registration. Connecticut Secretary Susan Bysiewicz involves in the crafting of Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), urging her US Senator, Christopher Dodd to include a provision that enabled states to establish a centralized voter registration system. Other Secretaries, including Vermont Secretary Deb Markowitz, North Dakota Secretary Al Jaeger, and then-Maine Secretary Dan Gwadosky, worked with both congressional leaders from their states and NASS to offer their own perspectives on needed election reforms.