Flaw-proof election machines. Easy-to-read ballots. Registration systems that catch double-voters or dead voters still on the rolls. For top state election officials meeting here, the pressure is on to make sure the election changes demanded after President Bush's disputed 2000 victory are in place by the Jan. 1 deadline imposed by Congress.
"The hodgepodge quilt of laws, interpretations and regulations is a major national issue," said Miles Rapoport, a former Connecticut secretary of state and president of Demos, a liberal advocacy group election reforms. State and federal governments need to come together to have a "good conversation" about elections, he said.
