The American Philosophy

"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."

This provision is clear, only the Legislatures of each individual state may create and amend Election Laws.

The ONLY exception provided by the Founding Fathers is that the U.S. Congress may, at any time, set regulations for each state legislature to meet. It is still up to the State Legislatures to decide how to meet regulations set out by the U.S. Congress.

"(2) AUDIT CAPACITY.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The voting system shall produce a record with an audit capacity for such system.

(B) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.— (i) The voting system shall produce a permanent paper record with a manual audit capacity for such system.

(ii) The voting system shall provide the voter with an opportunity to change the ballot or correct any error before the permanent paper record is produced.

(iii) The paper record produced under subparagraph (A) shall be available as an official record for any recount conducted with respect to any election in which the system is used."

The Help America Vote Act is an example of legislation that the U.S. Congress may, at any time, issue to regulate election practices across the nation. Among the requirements were: Paper Ballots as the Official Vote Record, a Computerized Statewide Voter Registration Database, and the issuance of Provisional Ballots to voters who cannot verify registration or even citizen status.

HAVA is financial incentive for individual counties to adopt computerized voting systems after the 2000 Bush v Gore "Hanging Chads" paper ballot disaster, which cast doubt over the accuracy of traditional paper ballots.