Posted on 11/02/2002 5:30:08 PM PST by MadIvan
American voters are bracing themselves for yet another round of appeals, delays, disputes and legal battles after Tuesday's Congressional elections.
The Democrats have lined up 10,000 lawyers to monitor the elections, a sign of the confusion they expect, writes Julian Coman in Washington.
Despite the chaos caused by "hanging chads" during the 2000 presidential elections in Florida, 28 states will still be using punchcard ballot papers this weekend.
Most blame lack of funds for their failure to update voting technology that led to debates over whether a chad that had not been properly punched through should constitute a valid vote. There are also fears that others have failed to install new technology in time, or omitted to train poll workers in how to run the new machines.
Across the United States, teams of lawyers employed by both parties are preparing for "Florida repeats" in contests as close as the presidential election that took President George W Bush to the White House.
In Montgomery County, Maryland, new touch-screen voting machines baffled both poll workers and voters during a September 10 primary contest.
Technical hitches then led to the declaration of the result being delayed until 2am. Computer modems have now been installed to speed up the processing of results while Montgomery's County Board of Elections has given more than 4,000 hired poll workers daily training sessions with the new equipment.
"I hope it will be OK, but you never know," said one poll-worker. "For most of us and most of the voters, it's a new experience."
Florida has abandoned the punchcard ballot system, only to find that its polling stations are in danger of being overwhelmed by lengthening queues as voters struggle to come to terms with touch-screen technology and unwieldy on-screen ballot papers.
The unfortunate voters of Broward County, Florida, are to be confronted with 39 on-screen resolutions on which to vote, including 10 state constitutional amendments. Subjects range from the size of school classrooms to the appropriate accommodation for pregnant pigs.
The most important amendment - to enshrine the death penalty in Florida's constitution - is 549 words long. Officials predict that many of the state's elderly voters will require at least 25 minutes in front of the new screens.
Elsewhere, accusations of corruption and intimidation are already being made. In South Dakota, where a close-fought senate race could decide the balance of political power in Washington, the FBI is investigating alleged voter registration fraud and bogus absentee ballots in the state's Indian reservations.
In Minnesota, the validity of absentee ballots cast in favour of the Democrat Paul Wellstone, who died a week ago in an air crash, is already being debated. Marc Elias, a legal adviser to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee, said that Democrats are placing teams of lawyers "in virtually every county in every state where there is a competitive Senate race".
Alex Vogel, Mr Elias's Republican counterpart, said that the evenly balanced race meant that "post-election disputes are more likely than they would otherwise be".
Under new rules, states are to be given $3.86 billion (£2.5 billion) to update voting technology and implement stringent new standards. Those registering to vote will be required to provide a driver's licence or social security number, in order to prevent fraud. Clear criteria for a legal vote, are also to be agreed by all states.
For the time being however, the old rules still apply, and the familiar wrangling is about to begin.
They want to make hundreds of thousands a year, but they also want to feel good about themselves. This is a great opportunity for these people to feel like they are "serving the public interest." For many of them, throwing wrenches in the works to help the Democrats hold onto power is serving the public interest. They will gladly spend enough hours to feel good (perhaps 10-40 hours), and if it gets sticky and they get to go to court in a high-flying case, they gain good publicity.
You have to understand. These people work hard and make lots of money, and many feel like sellouts. This allows them to feel refreshed in their liberal activism credentials and good feeling.
For the plaintiff's lawyers, helping the Democrats is directly helping themselves financially. But what I am telling you is that even the crat lawyers who work for defense firms will be glad to help the cause, because it will make them feel good, even if it makes them no money at all, and costs them a little in lost billable hours.
For many, the most important thing is to keep the Constitutional right to kill their children at any time before birth. That is what this is about, for them.
It would probably make more sense to use the punch card ballots on election day, Tuesday Nov. 5th, instead of today (or yesterday). Did this reporter bother to check and see when elections would be held? Or, does the reportert know something that we don't...
Yep.
Do you know what lawyers and sperm have in common? Every one in 10 million turns into a human being.
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