Committee sets rules on verifying voters' identities, settles elections board governance dispute 

By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau

First published: Friday, June 17, 2005

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=371117

ALBANY -- A bipartisan committee charged with meeting the federal Help America Vote Act's mandates announced compromises on several big ticket issues Thursday.

The thorniest problems regarding new voting machines remain unsolved.

The five Democrats and five Republicans said each side capitulated to reach agreement on how voters' identities will be verified and on governance of the state Board of Elections. The deal was made privately after public committee meetings ended in May

The committee's co-chairmen -- Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Harlem, and Sen. John Flanagan, R-Smithtown -- said staffers will meet this weekend to address outstanding HAVA issues.

"We all know that the clock is ticking," Wright said. "We don't want to abdicate our responsibility and have to give the money back."

HAVA provides states with funds to upgrade their voting systems. New York has received close to $220 million.

The deal announced Thursday requires the state Board of Elections to notify individuals if their registration generates errors in a new statewide voter database and let them fix it. If the error hasn't been cleared up by Election Day, they can vote on a machine if they show identification -- as Democrats desired. If they have no ID, they can vote on a paper ballot.

In a nod to the Republicans, the Democrats agreed to the short list of acceptable IDs laid out in HAVA even though the act allows states to expand that list if they so choose.

The list, which was adopted by the Legislature in 2004 as a one- year, stop-gap measure, includes driver's licenses as well as bank statements, paychecks, utility bills and government documents that show a voter's name and address. It will now become permanent.

Democrats insisted they didn't "give in" to the Republicans.

"This is what happens as part of negotiations," said Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, D-Brooklyn.

The two sides also agreed to have two co-executive directors at the state Board of Elections -- one Republican and one Democrat -- rather than an executive director and a subordinate deputy with no salary cap for either position.

This plan resolves a longstanding battle over control of the board, which has been dominated by the GOP since 2003 when then-Executive Director Thomas Wilkey, a Democrat, left. Wilkey's deputy, Peter Kosinski, a Republican, was tapped to move up, but refused because it paid $108,900 and, due to a quirk in the law, he currently is paid $122,581.

Another outstanding issue -- ensuring disability access to polling places -- is also being discussed, Wright and Flanagan said. But the two sides conceptually agree to provide counties with $5 million to help make sure polling sites are accessible.

Elizabeth Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at ebenjamin@timesunion.com.