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S.E. Wood The Al Gore legacy You will recall the extensive effort during
the last years of the Clinton administration to establish a legacy
by which President Clinton would be remembered. There is no question
that a Clinton legacy exists, but not quite the type he would
have envisioned. Well, it appears we are also left with an
Al Gore legacy ... in the forms of HR 1170, affectionately known
as the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001, and its
legislative companion, HR 3295, a 105-page document called the
Help America Vote Act of 2001; each is currently winding its
way through the halls of Congress. The bills are similar, and are the residue
of the unsuccessful attempt by the Gore people to overturn the
result of the Florida presidential election. You will recall
there was never an allegation of Florida voter fraud or Florida
voting machine malfunction, only a dissatisfaction with the results.
So being unable to overturn the results, there was a clamor for
election "reform." Well here it is. And the cost to
American taxpayers? An estimated $2.65 BILLION for openers! The $2.65 billion will provide $6,000 to each
precinct, within each county, within each state, to purchase
new, federally approved voting machines, whether they need them
or not. Of course, elections are state and county functions,
not federal functions. So under the terms of the United States
Constitution, the federal government cannot directly dictate
how they are to be conducted. No problem. The proposed law says
that states and counties are not required to purchase new machines,
but should they choose not to comply, no federal money will be
available should their current machines be subsequently declared
illegal - a foregone conclusion. No. 1 for replacement are the so-called "punch
card" voting machines, currently in use by 21 Tennessee
counties. Those who were here at the time tell me that White
County purchased its "punch card" machines in 1972
at a cost of $125 each. And since that time there has not been
one single case of dangling, pooching or pregnant chads, and
not one single allegation of vote mishandling. But no matter. They gotta go. The chief Tennessee
state election official, Brook K. Thompson, admitted at last
summer's meeting of election commissioners that it is not a question
of the machines' unreliability, but that they are no longer "politically
acceptable." The legislation also provides for the establishment
of an Election Assistance Commission. This commission will consist
of a standards board and a board of advisers, made up of "election
experts" and "voting groups." (Their identity
to be determined later.) Their function will be to "develop
voluntary engineering and performance standards for voting systems,
and voluntary election management practices." Voluntary!
Yeah ... right! Also to be established is the Help America
Vote College Program, to "encourage college students to
assist in the administration of elections," and the Help
America Vote Foundation to "mobilize secondary school students
to assist and participate in the election process." By now, gentle readers, you know me to be
something of a political skeptic. So I dug a little deeper in
the origin and sponsorship of this nice-sounding legislation.
H. R. 1170 was written and introduced last March 22 by Congressman
John Conyers, D-MI. There are also 168 co-sponsors: 166 Democrats;
one Republican and one Independent. Now what does that tell you
about the desired result of this piece of "reform"
legislation? But there is at least one redeeming virtue in Mr. Gore's legislative legacy. HR 1170 also calls for a reduction in postage rates for official election mail. Whoopee! · · · |