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Three
Reasons Why Election Day May Not Decide the Election |
Posted:10.27.04
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With just days to go before Americans cast their votes to decide
who will lead the country for the next four years, federal election
officials are staging a battle to avoid a repeat of 2000 when
weeks passed before a final election outcome was declared.
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The 2000 fracas centered
on Florida, where an amazingly close vote triggered a chaotic recount
process. The nation watched and waited as election officials held
up ballots to the light to try and discern how people intended to
vote. Over 22,000 ballots were thrown out because holes were punched
for more than one candidate or no candidate was selected at all.
 A
fight over how to count the ballots ended up in front of the U.S.
Supreme Court. The court ruled 5-4 to end a second recount, and
George W. Bush won the state by only 537 votes. That narrow victory,
out of nearly 6 million votes cast, awarded the state's 25 electoral
votes, and with them the presidency, to Mr. Bush.
Now, despite efforts in the past few years to ensure voter rights
and to streamline the voting process, situations in three key
areas of the country are threatening to delay the final verdict.
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Colorado's
Amendment 36 |
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In Colorado a new measure on the ballot asks voters to decide
whether the state will abandon the winner-take-all system and
instead become the first state in the country to allocate its
electoral votes proportionately based on the popular vote.
Colorado is worth nine of the 538 votes in the Electoral College.
At the moment, whichever candidate wins the popular vote wins
all nine electoral votes. Under the proposed system, a candidate
who receives 40 percent of the popular vote for example would
get four electoral votes, while the candidate with 60 percent
of the vote gets five votes.
 If
the Colorado initiative does become law and the race between President
Bush and Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., comes down to the wire,
a split in Colorado's nine electoral votes could decide the winner.
If Colorado had split its votes in 2000, Al Gore would have been
president.
Opponents of the measure say they will appeal it in court if
it does get passed, a threat that could delay the final outcome.
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Ohio |
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Perhaps the most contentious state is Ohio. Considered a key
battleground state by both parties, Democrats and Republicans
are questioning the eligibility of some of the state's registered
voters and the accuracy of the state's voter registration rolls.
Ohio Republicans have filed 35,000 petitions against what they
say are ineligible voters, according to The Washington Post. They
are sending representatives to polling sites to challenge such
voters, which could stall the process.
 Under
federal law, a voter must be over the age of 18 to vote, must
be a legal resident of the state or county in which he or she
has registered and the voter must be a U.S. citizen. Republicans
say many registered voters in the state do not meet those requirements.
"A storm is brewing in Ohio," Columbus Mayor Michael
Coleman, a Democrat, told The Washington Post. "The day after
Election Day, we've got to make sure the sun is shining. By that,
I mean each and every vote has to be counted."
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Provisional
ballots |
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Like Ohio, Florida promises to draw a lot of attention on Election
Day. Officials have worked hard to prevent a repeat of the mayhem
of the 2000 election by installing electronic voting machines
and allowing early voting, but a new requirement of the 2002 Help
America Vote Act is already causing controversy.
 Congress
passed HAVA to prevent voter disenfranchisement. As part of the
act, voters are now allowed to cast "provisional ballots,"
ballots that can be counted after Election Day if a voter has
been mistakenly left off the registration list.
The rule is meant to prevent what happened in 2000, when voters
who thought they'd registered showed up on Election Day and were
told they could not vote.
In Florida and 28 other states, officials say they will throw
out any provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct. Opponents
of this rule, mostly Democrats, argue it unfairly affects minorities,
traditionally Democrats, who move more often than other voters,
according to stateline.org., a nonpartisan Web site.
Lawsuits filed in Florida to open up provisional voting to a
voter's county rather than limiting it to a person's immediate
precinct have failed in court but could lead to appeals after
the election.
 "I
think it's very unlikely that we'll get through Election Day 2004
without some kind of controversy," said Doug Chapin, director
of electionline.org, a nonpartisan, non-advocacy Web site that
analyzes election reform efforts around the country. "Whether
or not it rises to the level of Florida 2000 will depend in large
part on how close individual states are."
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A disgruntled
elector |
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To add to the brewing storm, a West Virginia elector, dissatisfied
with the current administration, recently said he might not vote
for President Bush even if he wins the state's popular vote.
 "There
is an implied duty to vote for your party's candidate," South
Charleston Mayor Richie Robb told the Associated Press. "But
I don't think it's an explicit duty or responsibility."
Robb has said while he would not vote for Senator Kerry, he might
vote for Vice President Dick Cheney or another Republican. That
could make a difference if President Bush is one electoral vote
away from victory.
--
Compiled by Kristina Nwazota for NewsHour Extra
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