After rewriting rules for lobbyists, increasing the federal minimum wage and
moving on other election-year promises, senior Democratic Members in both
chambers said Friday that within weeks they will begin scrutinizing
electronic voting equipment and, for now, shelve other election-related
proposals such as overhauls of 527s and electronic financial disclosure in
the Senate.

"The first thing is going to be elections," Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, told a group of reporters Friday. "We're going into 2008 with [an electronic voting system] that is problematic."

As early as next week, Feinstein said the Senate Rules panel might hold hearings on alleged electronic voting machine irregularities and other issues brought to light, some say, in the still-contested House election in Florida's 13th district. The seat, previously occupied by former Rep. Katherine Harris (R), is now held by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R), who state
audits have confirmed won the contest by 369 votes. Buchanan was sworn in
Jan. 4 to represent the Sarasota-based district.

But Christine Jennings, the Democrat on the ballot, claims faulty electronic
voting machines cost her the election. In December, Jennings filed a formal
complaint with the House, which has the final say over seating Members,
alleging that a "pervasive malfunctioning" of the machines led to an
"undervote" of 18,000 individuals.

"The first effort is going to be with a hearing on the Sarasota 'undervote'
and to try and see if we can't move some legislation providing for a paper
trail for [electronic voting machines], so we can corroborate that the
machines are accurate," Feinstein said.

So far, Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, which would oversee potential investigations into Jennings' claims, has said she will wait for the matter to work its way
through the Florida court system before she considers stepping in. Still,
there have been conversations with Democratic leadership and legislation in
the works to shore up existing law.

"This will be one of the first things after the 100 hours," Millender-McDonald said.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) confirmed late Friday that his party may take a closer look at election-related issues such as
electronic voting machines, but they are not considering campaign finance
issues, such as overhauls of 527s.

Any legislation regarding overhaul requirements for electronic voting
machines likely will originate from the desk of Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), a
frequent critic of electronic voting machines that do not generate a paper
record of the votes cast.

In the previous Congress, Holt sponsored the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which would require a "voter-verified permanent paper record or hard copy" of votes made on electronic voting machines. The bill, which died in committee, was co-sponsored by more than 200 Members from both parties. A Holt aide said late Friday that his boss is considering
introducing similar legislation in the coming weeks.

"The bill is being updated to take into account the experiences of lessons
of Florida 13," the aide said. "Clearly, the guts of the legislation are
going to be the same from the 109th."

Although Holt's proposal received vast bipartisan support in its previous
go-around, there are some skeptics who say his plan may not go far enough.
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), the previous chairman of House Administration, said although the term "paper trail" has been floated as a catchall remedy, it is hardly a cure.

"'Paper trail' is a very confusing term and has become a mantra around the country," Ehlers said. "Just hanging a paper tape on the side is not the answer."

Ehlers lays most of the blame for current electronic voting machine failures
with former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), who preceded Ehlers as House
Administration chairman and now awaits sentencing in connection to his
association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In advance of the Help
America Vote Act, which was intended to introduce safeguards to prevent a
repeat of the Florida ballot debacle during the 2000 presidential election,
Ehlers said he wrote a set of electronic voting machine standards that
addressed most of the failures that have cropped up recently. But Ney,
Ehlers claimed, ignored his advice and most of the electronic voting
machines were purchased before the standards were in place. Billions of
dollars were wasted.

"If we had set the standards first," Ehlers said, "much of this would have never happened."