Congress Will Not Fund Paper Ballot Voting in November

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected legislation to fund paper ballot voting for the November elections.

In a special floor procedure, lawmakers voted 239-178 in favor of the bill, falling short of the two-thirds margin needed to approve the measure.

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), author of the legislation extending federal help to localities that don't trust their electronic voting machines, said in an Associated Press interview that the bill would have been "a real step forward in our effort to protect the accuracy, integrity and security of the November elections."

HR 5036 would authorize reimbursement for states and counties that convert to paper-ballot voting machines before the November elections or need help paying for manual audits afterward.

The White House issued a statement strongly opposing the bill on grounds of "excessive spending." It said there was no need to pass new legislation because about a third of a $3 billion fund previously earmarked to help states upgrade their voting systems is still at hand.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the paper ballot bill would have cost about $685 million.