TESTIMONY OF LLOYD J. LEONARD, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES

    Mr. LEONARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee. I am Lloyd Leonard, legislative director for the League of Women Voters of the United States. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan citizen organization that has worked for more than 80 years to educate the electorate, register voters, and make government at all levels more accessible and responsive to citizens. We believe that voting is the most important expression of a citizen's participation in government.
    The league supports election reform. We are disappointed, however, with H.R. 3295, the legislation currently before this Committee. In our view the bill falls short of ensuring that all of—all of America's voters have a full opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes count. In important respects the bill moves backwards. That's why the League of Women Voters as well as many other civil rights, disability rights, religious and civic groups oppose the bill as reported by the Committee on House Administration.

    With your permission I would like to submit a letter from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and its constituent organizations, such as the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza, stating opposition to the bill as reported.

    I would also like to submit a letter from the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, including Easter Seals and the United Cerebral Palsy Association, voicing opposition to the bill as reported from the Committee.  

First, H.R. 3295 amends current law in a way that removes existing protections for voters. Specifically the legislation amends the National Voter Registration Act in a way that allows citizens to be purged from voter registration rolls if they don't vote. Clearly section 902(a) does not restate NVRA requirements. It changes them. Mr. Chairman, we believe that the amendment to the National Voter Registration Act should be stricken from the bill.

Our second concern is that H.R. 3295 fails to ensure that voters with disabilities have access to the polls just as other American citizens. A full range of disability groups from the Paralyzed Veterans of America to the American Council of the Blind oppose the legislation as currently written. While H.R. 3295 reaffirms that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies in the voting context, it fails to take into account that more than half of all polling places remain inaccessible to voters in wheelchairs despite the provisions of the ADA. From our perspective, simply reinforcing the status quo does not qualify as election reform. We believe the bill needs to be amended to set national standards for accessible voting with reasonable time frames for compliance.