U.S. Won't Delay November Elections, Official Says

[ Bets on the one contested state (say FL?) choosing to appoint all 
delegates for Bush?  Direct democracy please. (back to dreaming) -J]

U.S. Won't Delay November Elections, Official Says
Tue Jul 13, 2004 05:48 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5660631

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not cancel or suspend the 
presidential election this November in the event of a terror attack or 
other catastrophic event, the government's top elections official said 
on Tuesday.

Individual states may suspend or reschedule elections if disaster 
strikes, but that would not change voting in other states, said DeForest 
Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

"I can't conceive of any circumstances under which a presidential 
election could be postponed or canceled," Soaries told reporters after a 
commission hearing.

Newsweek reported on Sunday that Bush administration officials were 
looking at what legal steps would be needed to delay the election in 
case of an attack.

The United States has never postponed a presidential election even 
during national crises like the Civil War.

"We should get the word out that if something happens in a state that is 
not yours, you should vote," Soaries added.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned last week that Osama bin 
Laden's al Qaeda militant group may attack the United States to try to 
disrupt the Nov. 2 presidential election.

New York state postponed a primary election for two weeks after Al Qaeda 
slammed two hijacked jetliners into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 
2001.

Election Assistance Commissioner Ray Martinez said he believed the 
Constitution gave states the power to reschedule presidential elections 
or even appoint electors directly in case of emergency.

Soaries said the commission planned to meet with officials from the 
Department of Homeland Security next week to discuss how to handle an 
election-day attack. The commission was also gathering information from 
individual states to see if they had plans in place.

The commission also adopted a "tool kit" to help local officials avoid 
glitches on Election Day like those that led to a recount battle in 
Florida in 2000.

The 73-page document provides guidelines for minimizing problems with 
the punch-card machines that figured prominently in Florida, along with 
other vote-tallying machines, including the new touch-screen systems 
that have drawn criticism from computer-security experts.

It should be available on the commission's Web site within the next 
week, Commissioner Paul DeGregorio said.
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