Nelson Calls for Election Reform
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
By: Tom Parkinson

February 13, 2013 | WMFE - During the State of the Union Address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama called for the formation of a bipartisan commission to investigate what went wrong with the voting process in November and to find ways to improve the voting experience. Florida Senator Bill nelson says he is proposing a measure intended to eliminate many of the voting problems.

Reports indicated that many Florida voters waited in line for long hours on Election Day last November causing some precincts to remain open until after midnight.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Orlando and California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer have announced that they will co-sponsor election reform legislation.

Nelson says the bill would ensure that the long waits will never happen again.

“We had people waiting in line for seven hours to cast their ballot that should never happen again in our state.” Nelson said.  “Senator Boxer and I have filed a piece of legislation that would say that no one should ever have to wait more than hour.”

The bill would require the attorney general to issue standards by the first of next year regarding the minimum number of voting machines, election workers and other resources needed to ensure waiting times are not exceptionally long.

An investigation by the Orlando Sentinel and Ohio State University estimated that more 200,000 Floridians left the polls without voting because of the long wait.