Will Election 2004 Turn Into Fiasco Like Florida 2000?

Last Presidential Vote Debacle May Be Repeated Yet Again— But This Time Even Worse

 

By James P. Tucker Jr.

 

This election has the potential to make the fiasco of 2000 appear innocent by comparison, experts of all political persuasions agree. Both major parties are dispersing thousands of high-powered lawyers to critical polling places throughout the nation, Republicans and Democrats looking for anything to challenge the election in court.

Electoral reforms launched after the Florida fiasco of 2000 have only been partially implemented. There is fear throughout the land that confusion—which caused some voters to mistakenly vote for Pat Buchanan in Florida—will again prevail.

Computer experts have also warned that electronic voting machines invite fraud. Where there is no “paper trail” a hacker could break into the system and change the outcome, they have repeatedly warned.

American Free Press has reported on multiple occasions about the systemic problems with electronic voting.

High voter turnout and close contests could delay the final results for days, they warn.

“What happened in 2000 might never be repeated again, but some of the ingredients that produced chaos four years ago still exist,” said Doug Chaplin of electionline.org, a non-partisan research group.

Already there have been reports of elections games on the part of the Republicans and Democrats.

Just days before the election, thousands of people from the inner cities of the nation were registered, some by buses touring the neighborhoods and signing them up on the spot and others driven to registrars’ offices.

This raises the issue of illegal aliens voting. Some election analysts estimate that a million illegal aliens voted in 2000. Under the “motor voter” law, it is easy for non-citizens to register, many while obtaining drivers’ licenses.

And that is just the beginning.

There have been allegations that Republican officials in Nevada threw away voter registration cards of Democrats.

And, in perhaps one of the most outlandish cases, Chad Stanton, 22, was arrested in Ohio after delivering hundreds of bogus voter registration forms. His defense? He claims that he was paid in crack cocaine by a woman affiliated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to fill out the forms.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader has repeatedly made charges that high-paid lawyers for the Democrats and Republicans have regularly intimidated supporters and volunteers across the country who have tried to help his campaign.

Because of the terrorist attacks in Madrid, which turned around Spain’s national election, security is on high alert at polling places. At some, it is invisible with no uniformed officers. At others, the men in blue are conspicuous.

Another area of concern is the so-called provisional ballots. The Help America Vote Act, another response to the 2000 election, allows voters who show up at the polls and believe they are registered, but whose names are not listed, to cast provisional ballots that will be counted if their registration is subsequently confirmed.

But states have different procedures for determining eligibility, and 28 mandate that votes cast in the wrong precinct not be counted. A federal judge in Michigan ruled Oct. 19 that the state must count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct but in the correct city or town. A dozen lawsuits are pending across the country that could affect the validity of provisional ballots.

“Many people are afraid provisional ballots will become the hanging chads of 2004,” Chaplin said.

The outcome could depend on how much rain, snow or TV soap operas depress the turnout in an election expected to see a record number of voters, some of whom may actually be American citizens.