Lawmakers propose review of Electoral College system

WASHINGTON - Two congressmen proposed a broad review of the American electoral process yesterday, one of numerous ideas arising out of Congress in the wake of the presidential election standoff that has brought legislative work to a halt.

Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Jim Leach (R-Iowa) introduced legislation to form a bipartisan 12-member commission to recommend how best to ensure the integrity of future federal elections.

The panel would look into such issues as the rationale for the Electoral College, voter registration, mail-in balloting, voting technology, ballot design, weekend voting and campaign finance reform.

"It's time we gather constitutional scholars and election experts together to review the electoral process and identify areas that warrant reform in order to avoid the confusion that we're encountering this year,'" DeFazio said.

The uncertainty over the presidential winner hit home in Congress, where the House and Senate agreed this week to extend the lame-duck session with a three-week recess. There was consensus between the parties that differences cannot be resolved this year without knowing who will be in the White House next year.

Also today, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) asked the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, to examine state election laws and practices and how they compare in minimizing fraud, error and irregularities. She also asked the GAO to look into voting over the Internet.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania proposed this week establishment of a commission to study ways to ensure speedy and accurate reporting of election results, including technology to computerize vote counting and the effectiveness of voting by mail.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he will introduce legislation in January to pay for a study by the Federal Election Commission on alternative voting methods. He said the FEC should look into such areas as online voting, voting by mail, computerized voting machines and expanded voting hours.

His bill also would create a matching grant program to give states the financial incentive for new voting methods.

"The current system is antediluvian. We haven't updated it in any significant way in years, and that's one of the reasons why turnout has declined by nearly 20 percent since 1960," Schumer said.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) says he plans to introduce legislation creating a commission to look into how to maximize best the simplicity of voter registration and the ease of voting.

While attempts to amend the Constitution to do away with the Electoral College have made little headway in Congress, the issue is likely to gain attention in 2001.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, in one of her first statements after her election to a Senate seat from New York, said she would support such a constitutional amendment.

In other action, Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Commerce telecommunications subcommittee, has sent letters to news organizations as part of a congressional investigation into whether election-night predictions, some erroneous, discouraged voters from going to the polls elsewhere in the country.

And the Congressional Black Caucus has written Attorney General Janet Reno seeking a formal investigation into allegations that blacks and other minorities faced discriminatory practices at voting precincts in Florida and other parts of the country.