US ELECTIONS MEET ELECTORAL REFORM TARGETS

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[01:29 pm] 09 November, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C., 8 November 2006 – The electoral environment in the
United States is characterized by a high level of transparency and
professionalism of election officials.

The electoral reforms, initiated by the 2002 Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) appear to have been fully or largely implemented in most
States. However, the introduction of new electronic voting systems
has sparked nationwide debate regarding their reliability and voter
confidence in the process.

Those are the main preliminary conclusions of an Election Assessment
Mission, deployed by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to follow the 7 November mid-term
congressional elections at the invitation of the U.S. authorities.

"The overall election administration, including the processing of
voters on election day, seemed professional and efficiently organized
in most polling stations we visited," said Giovanni Kessler, who
headed the mission.

"However, the swift introduction of Direct Recording Equipment (DREs),
at times without a voter verifiable audit paper trail, appeared to
negatively impact on voter confidence. This remains a challenge for
the future."

Commenting on the campaign, Kessler raised his concern that a large
number of political advertisements consisted of personalized attacks
on opponents.

The OSCE/ODIHR assessment mission focused on the administration of
the process, in particular on specific issues related to the 2002
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) including new voting technologies,
voter registration, and absentee and provisional balloting…