November Elections Won't Be Delayed, Official Says

[Guest guest]

Bush Cartel Suddenly Decides It Won't Seek Power to

Postpone the Presidential Election. Yeah, Sure, Right.

Wait for a Slow News Friday to Announce That They Have

Assumed This Power. Zepp commentary.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=I2VKAIMYIL500CRBAEKSFFA?type\

=topNews & storyID=5660682

 

November Elections Won't Be Delayed, Official Says

Tue Jul 13, 2004 05:55 PM ET

 

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.