Fear and the Election: Good letters to the Editor today in NY Times

[checks-n-balances]

To the Editor:

Your July 17 editorial "A Bad Idea, Rejected," about the possibility of postponing the presidential election in the event of a terrorist attack, concludes that the November election vote must be maximized. A less trusting view from abroad is that the scare has served its purpose.

It plants subliminal fear and confusion in people's minds, serving as a roadblock against registering and voting. Then any pre-election warnings or rumors will trigger the mental association with danger.

Minimizing the vote is a strategy of the Republicans to win.

•

You say, "It was good that the issue was raised now and resolved." Resolved? The Bush administration could request emergency powers from Congress to postpone the election in the event of a terrorist attack, and it is not beyond imagination that the Republican-controlled Congress would grant this power.

Have we learned nothing? After 9/11, we are in peril if we discount any possibility.

•

In "A Bad Idea, Rejected" (editorial, July 17), you got it just right: to leave the authority to postpone elections in the hands of the executive branch is to invite an abuse of power, but the fear of disruption is founded, and we need a contingency plan. As you say, every polling place should be prepared with paper ballots in case the power goes out. But what if voters can't get to the polls?

Congress must address this issue immediately. By November, we should have an emergency plan in place to keep the process fair and democratic no matter what.

•

Postponing the presidential election would be antidemocratic. But electronic voting machines without a paper trail would be even more so.

For names & locations of writers:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/opinion/l23vote.html

"A Bad Idea, Rejected" (article referenced by letters):

...Calling off elections, particularly when the ruling power is doing the calling off, is the stuff of tin-pot dictatorships. Even in this country, an attack can provide an opportunity for leaders to seek extralegal powers. New Yorkers still remember that after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani proposing staying on after his term ended.

The talk of postponing elections sent many Americans back to the Constitution, which delegates to Congress the timing of presidential elections. Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, made it clear that neither the president nor the Election Assistance Commission could override this provision. On CNN, Condoleezza Rice promised that "no one is thinking of postponing the elections." And Mr. Soaries then released his own statement that there are "no circumstances that could justify the postponement or cancellation of a presidential election."

It is good that the issue was raised now and resolved. As was clear in Florida in the 2000 election, the worst time to debate the rules of an election is in the midst of a highly disputed one because each party invariably supports the interpretation that enhances its chance of winning.

This week's controversy could also prompt Congress to focus on more practical questions about how to respond if terrorists try to interfere with the voting. The failure of the electrical grid, along the lines of last summer's widespread blackout, could disrupt voting in a large number of states. Violence at polling places, which is not uncommon in some countries, could make people afraid to vote...{/i]

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/17/opinion/17SAT1.html?8bl

[ronatchig]

1. I wish

that some one with the means to broadcast their views would turn this election suspension idea on the Rethugs. The way imho to combat terrorist election meddling in Nov. is to open the polls from 12:01 AM on Nov 2 to 12:00 Pm Nov 9 or even Nov 16. This would insure that anyone wanting to disrupt the election would fail. Also I believe it would increase turnout greatly.
Not to mention how much fun it would be to watch the thug mouthpieces spinning out of control about how evil this idea of opening the polls for a week is.