WASHINGTON – Last week, Vernon Ehlers, (R-MI), Ranking Republican for the Committee on House Administration, received a letter from members of the Executive Board of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Standards Board expressing strong opposition to the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (H.R. 811).

In their letter, members of the Executive Board pleaded for Members to take into account the serious concerns that hundreds of elections officials have raised with H.R. 811, something that the bill’s architects have failed to do thus far. “We know you have received correspondence from election officials throughout the country in which they express their concerns about [H.R. 811 and S. 1487] deadlines, auditing processes, reliance on yet-to-be-invented technology, mandated obsolescence of barely-used equipment and insufficient funding,” they wrote, “We ask that you carefully consider the counsel of these individuals.”

The nine members of the Executive Board also noted a resolution that was approved by the full Standards Board earlier this year, asking Congress to provide states with sufficient time to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) before mandating, “more massive changes that, in some cases, undo what HAVA required.”

After reviewing the EAC letter, and the hundreds of letters that have proceeded it, Ehlers noted, “I truly appreciate the valuable input from the EAC Standards Board, and the hundreds of election officials from across the country that have expressed concern over H.R. 811. This is why I introduced H.R. 2360, a bill with the same objectives but does it in a workable way. My bill has received the support of many election officials, and I will continue to press for its passage.”

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