From Sen. Warner’s office (note: I couldn’t agree more on this one; it should be a no-brainer, frankly):
Virginia Senator Mark Warner introduced legislation today to make the voting process quicker and easier. The FAST Voting Act would provide incentive grants for states which choose to speed-up reforms that make it easier for people to register and to vote early. The competitive grants also would cover efforts to improve access to voting locations for the disabled and for non-English speakers.
Senator Warner says it was unacceptable that some Virginians had to wait in three, four and five-hour-long lines to vote last Tuesday.
In a Senate floor speech today, Warner called that a “21st century poll tax” because it required working people to miss too much time from work.
Voting shouldn’t be this much of a burden, Warner said, and he strongly encouraged Virginia election officials to compete for these incentive grants.
UPDATE. Rep. Connolly has introduced the House companion bill on this issue – “the Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2012.” Good stuff.
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