U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, relying upon her experiences as Michigan secretary of state, is denouncing President Obama’s plan to form a national election commission which will seek solutions to long waits for voters on Election Day. “That’s about the last thing we need is another election commission,” Miller said, asserting that reforms should be left to the states that had voting problems last fall. In his State of the Union address, Obama announced the creation of a commission to set national standards and he pointed to the plight of 102-year-old Desline Victor of Miami who waited six hours to cast her ballot in November. An estimated 201,000 frustrated Floridians left the polls before voting.
Miller, chair of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees election laws, said states with well-run election systems, such as Michigan, should not have federal mandates imposed upon them. The “bad actors,” such as Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia, should address their lack of easy access to the ballot, she said.
The “usual suspects” who have repeatedly faced these problems, particularly Florida, suffer from a lack of states standards and a lack of sufficient voting equipment and polling places, according to Miller, who served as secretary of state from 1995-2002.
After the infamous Florida recount of 2000, Miller ensured that Michigan had uniformity in all precincts. She established new rules for Election Day and the Harrison Township Republican led the push for a switch from punch cards to optical-scan ballots.
Full Article: Miller blasts Obama’s plan for election standards – Daily Tribune.