Nearly four decades after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, America is still battling to protect and preserve the right to vote for all our citizens, especially minorities who are still being systematically disenfranchised in some areas. The 2000 election focused national attention on the widespread and systemic problems with our voting system. Millions of Americans cast votes that were not counted. The Florida Recount highlighted problems that exist nationwide including: antiquated voting machines, outdated voter registration databases, tabulation problems, unclear ballots, and discriminatory practices that disenfranchised many voters. Nearly four years later many necessary reforms are not in place. Voter intimidation tactics still prevent people from casting their vote. Wes Clark will take real steps to ensure that all Americans have their votes counted. He will:

1. Stand up for all voters in November 2004

2. Vigorously enforce civil rights laws

3. Strengthen election reforms

Since the 2000 election, significant Republican efforts around the country to suppress minority voter turnout have been documented by the media. In 2002, suppression tactics were reported in Louisiana, New Jersey, South Carolina, Arkansas, and several other states. For example, Republican poll watchers in Arkansas reportedly drove away voters in predominantly black precincts by taking photos and improperly demanding identification during pre-election day balloting in 2002. Wes Clark will stand up for voters rights in November. He will:

• Identify and target hot spots where there are recurrent voting problems. Wes Clark will send teams of volunteers to places where African-American and other minorities were illegally turned away from the polls on election day 2000 and 2002.

• Conduct voter education. The Clark Campaign will train campaign volunteers across the nation to ensure that voters are aware of their rights, are registered, can get to the polls, and are allowed to cast their votes and have those votes counted.

• Appoint a legal team to monitor the 2004 election. Wes Clark will appoint a legal team to monitor the elections and push for prosecution of those who intimidate voters or wrongfully turn them away from the polls.

The Bush administration has failed to enforce civil rights laws, reversed previous Department of Justice positions on some civil rights cases, and nominated judges with dismal civil rights records. President Bush's Justice Department has all but ceased civil rights enforcement in key areas, including voting rights and employment discrimination. Under John Ashcroft the number of civil rights cases prosecuted by the Justice Department has dropped from an average of 14 cases per year between 1980 and 2000 to just two a year. On President Bush's watch the Justice Department abdicated its responsibility to Florida voters, predominantly minorities, who were wrongfully purged from voting rolls and disenfranchised in many other ways just before the 2000 election. Instead of vigorously investigating all of the allegations, the Department closed an investigation on the subject with the astonishing claim that there was no evidence of widespread disenfranchisement in Florida in 2000--leaving individual voters to seek justice on their own.

Wes Clark will make the enforcement of civil rights laws a priority by:

• Appointing an Attorney General who is committed to enforcing civil rights laws. During the first two years of the Bush Administration, the Department of Justice brought only one new Voting Rights Act case. Wes Clark will appoint an Attorney General who is committed to protecting voting rights and enforcing civil rights laws.

• Protecting, strengthening and reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the section that defines which political subdivisions must pre-clear changes in voting laws with the Justice Department under Section 5 of the Act, must be reauthorized before it expires in 2007. Without Section 4 and Section 5 the burden of litigating discriminatory actions by states will fall on individuals instead of the federal government. Wes Clark will work with Congress and civil rights experts to examine the history and effectiveness of Section 4 and provide recommendations for strengthening the Voting Rights Act.

• Appointing judges committed to upholding civil rights protections. Four of the nine Supreme Court justices have staked out positions against important provisions of the Voting Rights Act. President Bush has promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court in the mold of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia who would tip the balance against federal protections of civil rights. President Bush has also appointed several judges to lower federal courts that have expressed hostility to fundamental voting rights protections, including, most recently, Charles Pickering, who advocated a narrow interpretation of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and called the principle of one-person, one-vote "obtrusive." Wes Clark would appoint lawyers and judges who are committed to upholding the law--including settled principles of constitutional law such as one-person, one-vote--not imposing their personal ideology on it.

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) enacted in 2002, provides funding to states to reform their voting systems and replace out-dated machines. Although HAVA authorized $3.86 billion to help states implement needed reforms, the Bush administration supported funding the law only halfway and failed to provide funding to improve access to all polling locations for Americans with disabilities. In addition, members of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the commission responsible for approving state plans and setting standards voting system hardware and software and election reforms, were appointed almost a year late. As a result, many states have been slow to enact reforms or enacted reforms without guidance from the EAC. While the Help America Vote Act is a step in the right direction, Wes Clark believes that more is needed. He will:

• Provide additional funding to states that commit to improving layout of ballots. A study carried out by several media organizations in 2001 concluded that faulty ballot design was responsible for voter confusion and mis-votes during the 2000 election. In spite of this finding most states have focused their election-reform on upgrading old equipment. Wes Clark will propose federal grants to states to update and centralize ballot design and improve layout of ballots.

• Increase funding for voter education. Many states exhaust election reform funds on new equipment purchases. They lack the resources to educate voters on the use of these new machines. Wes Clark will propose additional grants for voter education and poll worker recruitment and training for states that update voting machines and commit to increasing uniformity of election procedures.

• Increase security of electronic voting machines. To protect against computer malfunction, hacking or other irregularity, Wes Clark would require all voting machines to produce a paper record of each vote and a mechanism for voter-verification of results for individuals with disabilities that does not require the use of paper so that the ability of people with disabilities to cast private, independent ballots is not infringed. He would direct the Election Assistance Commission to study and develop best practices to enhance accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for disabled voters. Finally, to test reliability of electronic voting machines, Wes Clark would ask the EAC to conduct surprise recounts in some precincts and publish results.

• Work to extend the franchise. Wes Clark believes that too many people, especially African American men, have lost their right to vote because of prior felony convictions, including such minor offenses as writing a bad check. In Florida and Alabama, 31 percent of African American men are permanently barred from voting because of a prior felony conviction. As President, Wes Clark would encourage states to look at laws that permanently strip voting rights from those who have served their time and extend the franchise to more Americans.