[lbo-talk] exit polls

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Thu Oct 28 00:08:42 PDT 2004


On Wed, 27 Oct 2004, Doug Henwood wrote:


>> Doug, you mentioned the other night that Carter said the reason he
>> decided not to send his Center in as a poll observer into Florida was
>> because it was FUBAR. Do you remember where he was quoted saying that?
>
> I think it was an op-ed in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52800-2004Sep26.html

Washington Post

Monday, September 27, 2004; Page A19

Still Seeking a Fair Florida Vote

By Jimmy Carter

After the debacle in Florida four years ago, former president Gerald

Ford and I were asked to lead a blue-ribbon commission to recommend

changes in the American electoral process. After months of concerted

effort by a dedicated and bipartisan group of experts, we presented

unanimous recommendations to the president and Congress. The

government responded with the Help America Vote Act of October 2002.

Unfortunately, however, many of the act's key provisions have not been

implemented because of inadequate funding or political disputes.

The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now

seems likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that

are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair.

The Carter Center has monitored more than 50 elections, all of them

held under contentious, troubled or dangerous conditions. When I

describe these activities, either in the United States or in foreign

forums, the almost inevitable questions are: "Why don't you observe

the election in Florida?" and "How do you explain the serious problems

with elections there?"

The answer to the first question is that we can monitor only about

five elections each year, and meeting crucial needs in other nations

is our top priority. (Our most recent ones were in Venezuela and

Indonesia, and the next will be in Mozambique.) A partial answer to

the other question is that some basic international requirements for a

fair election are missing in Florida.

The most significant of these requirements are:

o A nonpartisan electoral commission or a trusted and nonpartisan

official who will be responsible for organizing and conducting the

electoral process before, during and after the actual voting takes

place. Although rarely perfect in their objectivity, such top

administrators are at least subject to public scrutiny and responsible

for the integrity of their decisions. Florida voting officials have

proved to be highly partisan, brazenly violating a basic need for an

unbiased and universally trusted authority to manage all elements of

the electoral process.

o Uniformity in voting procedures, so that all citizens, regardless of

their social or financial status, have equal assurance that their

votes are cast in the same way and will be tabulated with equal

accuracy. Modern technology is already in use that makes electronic

voting possible, with accurate and almost immediate tabulation and

with paper ballot printouts so all voters can have confidence in the

integrity of the process. There is no reason these proven techniques,

used overseas and in some U.S. states, could not be used in Florida.

It was obvious that in 2000 these basic standards were not met in

Florida, and there are disturbing signs that once again, as we prepare

for a presidential election, some of the state's leading officials

hold strong political biases that prevent necessary reforms.

Four years ago, the top election official, Florida Secretary of State

Katherine Harris, was also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney state

campaign committee. The same strong bias has become evident in her

successor, Glenda Hood, who was a highly partisan elector for George

W. Bush in 2000. Several thousand ballots of African Americans were

thrown out on technicalities in 2000, and a fumbling attempt has been

made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely

Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged

felons.

The top election official has also played a leading role in qualifying

Ralph Nader as a candidate, knowing that two-thirds of his votes in

the previous election came at the expense of Al Gore. She ordered

Nader's name be included on absentee ballots even before the state

Supreme Court ruled on the controversial issue.

Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, naturally a strong supporter of his

brother, has taken no steps to correct these departures from

principles of fair and equal treatment or to prevent them in the

future.

It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral

practices in any nation. It is especially objectionable among us

Americans, who have prided ourselves on setting a global example for

pure democracy. With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the

election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public

scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida.

Former President Carter is chairman of the Carter Center in Atlanta.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company



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