Obama panel encourages early-vote expansion

January 22, 2014 at 11:05 a.m.

by The Associated Press

President Barack Obama speaks to media as he meets with, from left, Robert Bauer, Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Vice President Joe Biden, and Benjamin Ginsberg, Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on Election Administration, and other members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. The Commission was created to identify non-partisan ways to shorten lines at polling places, promote the efficient conduct of elections, and provide better access to the polls for all voters.
President Barack Obama speaks to media as he meets with, from left, Robert Bauer, Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Vice President Joe Biden, and Benjamin Ginsberg, Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on Election Administration, and other members of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. The Commission was created to identify non-partisan ways to shorten lines at polling places, promote the efficient conduct of elections, and provide better access to the polls for all voters.

WASHINGTON — Responding to frustratingly long lines in the last national election, a presidential commission Wednesday encouraged expansion of early voting and said no American should have to wait more than half an hour to cast a ballot.

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration was presenting President Barack Obama with a list of recommendations to reduce the wait and make voting more efficient. The commission warned of an “impending crisis in voting technology” as machines across the country purchased after the 2000 election recount wear out with no federal funds on the horizon to replace them.

“We could have even more problems in the future if we don’t act now,” Obama said after receiving their 112-page report in the White House’s Roosevelt Room.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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