HAVA FUNDING

October 27, 2003

Dear Mr. President:

The League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula strongly urges you to support full funding of the Help America Vote Act. The bipartisan Dodd/McConnell amendment in the Senate Treasury Transportation Appropriations bill provides the necessary funding to assist states in meeting their new obligations to ensure that every citizen has an opportunity to vote and to have that vote counted. We urge you to provide critical support and guidance in formulating the legislative recommendations for HAVA funding in the final Transportation and Treasury Appropriations bill now being considered in joint committee. Without these funds, a burden will be placed on states, like California, that are already suffering budget deficits, and the election reform envisioned in the HAVA of 2002 will not be realized. With full funding in 2003, reforms that states have painstakingly developed can be implemented in time to prevent a recurrance of the chaotic election of 2002.

Sincerely,

Beverly G. Bean, VMD, President
League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula