Wakeup Call
I was a kid when I watched the election of 1960 on TV. It was a close call. Even so, Richard Nixon bowed out. Somewhat gracefully, in fact. It wasn't until later that I heard the elder Kennedy had paid handsomely for the votes that would push his son barely over the top. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about forty years later.
The 2000 election was enough for me. To be fed up, that is. "We have a winner!" "No, too close to call." "Yes. A winner." "No. This will take some time." "Well it looks like he won by 500 votes." "Well maybe not. Better do a recount." "See these hangy-down things? Let's call them Chads." "This isn't going well at all. Better get the Supremes involved. Let them decide. After all, we sure don't want the Congress to pick. What a mess that would be."
Of course the result was suspect. The Supreme Court voted to certify the Florida election count. Five to four. Of the five in the majority, four were hired by Ronald Reagan, the other by George H. W. Bush. The half-a-million-popular-votes-short-of-a-majority Republican supporters shouted "Justice!" and some Democrats cried "Coup d'État", while others just cried. The general sentiment from most voters regarding a judicial solution to the election process could be described by these words in one of the dissenting opinions:
"What must underlie petitioners' entire federal assault on the Florida election procedures is an unstated lack of confidence in the impartiality and capacity of the state judges who would make the critical decisions if the vote count were to proceed. Otherwise, their position is wholly without merit. The endorsement of that position by the majority of this Court can only lend credence to the most cynical appraisal of the work of judges throughout the land. It is confidence in the men and women who administer the judicial system that is the true backbone of the rule of law. Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today's decision. One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. I respectfully dissent." — Associate Justice John Paul Stevens
The National Commission on Election Reform was formed in January of 2001 to provide bi-partisan leadership to analyze the election process, identify the problems, and offer solutions. Co-chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, the commission included many distinguished public leaders from across the political spectrum.
Between March and June 2001, the Commission held four public hearings and organized task forces on the federal election system, election administration, and constitutional and federal election law issues. The Commission released its final report to Congress and the White House on July 31, 2001. As a result, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was approved by the Congress on October 29, 2002 and signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Everyone could breathe a sigh of relief. Something had been done. It was bound to work, after all, they had some really smart folks working on it. Then there was the 2004 test. The election was not as close, not much argument about the winner. A 3½ million vote margin was easier to swallow. But the mess was still there.
A group of Princeton computer scientists said that they created demonstration vote-stealing software that can be installed within a minute on a common electronic voting machine. A Voter-Verified Paper Record is not required in 20 states. Mandatory manual audits of balloting in randomly selected precincts are not required in 37 states.
Bush-Cheney headquarters in Canton, Ohio were looted. Computers containing campaign information were stolen from the Democratic Party offices in Toledo, Ohio. A former employee of Voters Outreach of America, a group collecting voter registration forms in the state of Nevada, alleges that the group submitted the Republican forms but shredded the Democratic ones. Paid voter registration gatherers flood Colorado. One Coloradan tells local TV that he registered to vote "about 35 times". The ACORN regional director argued:
"Registration fraud is different than voter fraud. Just because you register someone 35 times doesn't mean they get to vote 35 times. They can only vote once." — ACORN Western Regional Director Jim Fleischmann
Larry Russell resigned as the South Dakota Republican party get-out-the-vote coordinator amid allegations of voter registration fraud. He then joined the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio. The Attorney General of South Dakota indicted five former staffers of a GOP get-out-the-vote effort for absentee ballot application fraud.
The Secretary of State and Attorney General of Oregon investigate allegations that Voters Outreach of America destroyed voter registration forms of potential Democrats. Election officials in Broward County, Florida report that over 50,000 absentee ballots are missing: Of 60,000 mailed only 2,000 were delivered. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Republican challenge to 20,000 voter registrations in Ohio. US Attorney General John Ashcroft resigned in secret, on election day.
But hey, no one really mentioned "hanging chads" this time. Not seriously anyways ...