[JURIST] Commissioners from the federal Election Assistance Commission [official website] told the US House Committee on House Administration [official website] Wednesday that the use of provisional ballots [JURIST Hot Topic archive] in the 2004 election [JURIST Hot Topic archive] allowed more people to vote, with 68 percent of the provisional ballots cast on Election Day being counted toward the final vote. The EAC testimony came as part of a hearing to examine the successes and failures of the Help America Vote Act [text] and to review the problems with the 2004 election. Four state Secretaries of State also testified at the hearing, but conspicuously absent were Kenneth Blackwell, from Ohio, and Florida's Glenda Hood. Ohio and Florida were two of the states with the most complaints following the November election and Blackwell and Hood's absence prompted several committee members to denounce their failure to appear. Review the prepared testimony [PDF text] of the EAC commissioners as well as testimony by the Secretary of State Panel: Chet Culver (IA) [testimony, DOC], Rebecca Vigil-Giron (NM) [testimony, RTF], Todd Rokita (IN) [testimony, DOC], and Ron Thornburgh (KS) [testimony, DOC]. AP has more.