Chairman Dodd, distinguished members of the committee, good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to offer my support for election reform.

I am optimistic about this issue. The bipartisan effort to keep election reform alive is commendable.

The overwhelming support for this issue has been heartening for me, as my state's chief elections official. Without federal monetary assistance, Ohio will be unable to make the much-needed improvements to our voting systems.

As in many states, Ohio's elections process has been under-funded for far too long. Money for elections comes out of the same budgets as money for education, road repairs, mental health services, and welfare, to name a few.

So year after year, elections have gotten short-changed as counties tended to more urgent matters. Never a glamorous or vote-getting issue, election reform has been pushed to the backburner of budget agendas at every level of government, time and again.

But now, due to the 2000 presidential election, the condition of our elections process is common knowledge -- as well as a common concern.

A USC-Caltech study released in early May showed that 77 percent of respondents still believe election reform is an "important" or "very important' issue. It is a rare situation indeed when 77 percent of Americans can agree on anything.

In this rare situation is an opportunity to reverse the direction in which our elections process was headed. With improved technology and increased voter and poll worker education, we will restore the American voter's confidence in the elections process.

For many, it was a shock to discover that outdated and inefficient technology is so widely used in American elections.

In the November election, 70 of Ohio's 88 counties used the now-infamous punch card machines. Due to the loss of voter confidence in punch cards, and the availability of viable alternate methods, it has since become clear that we need to move away from this type of voting. It has also become clear that the necessary changes will be costly.

With financial assistance from the federal government, states will be able to make these changes and improvements. But federal funds should not come with federal mandates. Elections are state business and should remain so.

In no uncertain terms, the U.S. Constitution delegates this responsibility to the states. The founders' wisdom in this matter is just as apparent today as it was centuries ago. Geographic and demographic differences throughout our country make different voting procedures and processes necessary.

Of course, any method used must guarantee the secrecy of the ballot while still allowing for audits, as well as protect against fraud. And ballot-counting methods must be standardized within a state's boundaries, so that each vote cast in that state receives equal consideration.

But a federally mandated voting method or process would be not only unwise, it would be an invitation for widespread fraud and disaster. Imagine a situation such as occurred in Florida…on a national scale. I fear that the resulting confusion and mistrust would be a crisis from which our democracy might not easily recover.

Election reform cannot stop with mere technology updates, however. This is another lesson well-taught by Election 2000. We have seen that no matter what voting method is used, if we do not have accurate lists of eligible and registered voters and if voters and poll workers are unaware of how that system works, problems can, and will, still occur.

Resources must be also spent on educating citizens about what they will encounter at their polling place. They must know how to cast a ballot, and understand how that ballot will be counted. Voters need to be informed about procedures for correcting a mistake on a ballot. And of course, poll workers must too learn the ins and outs of their important and serious responsibilities on Election Day. These are all issues best left to election officials across this nation.

I urge you to keep the momentum of election reform moving by quickly, but cautiously, in a bipartisan manner to assist our states with their election reform efforts.

Thank you.