As part of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project, AEI and the Brookings Institution will hold a public conference to discuss the current status of election reform efforts two months prior to the 2006 elections. After a keynote address by Congressman Rush Holt (D-N.J.), panelists will discuss the progress that has been made since the election debacle of 2000 and the hurdles that remain. The first panel will discuss the progress of technological reforms and electronic voting, and the second panel will look at the implementation successes and failures of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project is a collaborative effort extending though the 2008 presidential elections to develop a bipartisan, practical national policy for election reform. Participants synthesize research; monitor the implementation of HAVA and its proposed amendments; and ensure that research and policy recommendations are fed into the policy process in a timely and productive manner. Important goals of the reform project are to better inform policymakers, to provide a more comprehensive view of election reform changes among the national policy community, to raise the profile for election reform issues within Washington, and to improve coordination among groups and researchers around the county.