In 2001, Congress introduced the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act, a bill designed to remedy faulty voting systems highlighted by the 2000 presidential election fiasco. This bill, later renamed the Help America Vote Act of 2002, was made law on October 29, 2002 (U.S. Statutes at Large 2002). Congressmen designed this bill to avoid the felon disenfranchisement controversy altogether, choosing instead to uphold the 1974 Supreme Court ruling that gave the States full discretion in this area. Several Senators, however, did attempt to address felon disenfranchisement through the Reid Amendment, which was rejected by two-thirds of the Senate in February of 2002.