| Subject: news of the day 7/12/04 |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 7/12/2004, 7:25 AM |
| To: election-law |
A number of blog readers (some with alarm) have sent me a link to this Newsweek report, which begins: "American counter-terrorism officials, citing what they call 'alarming' intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the United States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the postponement of the November presidential election in the event of such an attack, NEWSWEEK has learned."
Far from seeing this as some conspiracy to keep George Bush in power (as some blog readers have suggested to me), I think this is a good prudential step to take. A presidential election can be disrupted in a number of ways, and having voting take place on different dates across the country presents some serious fairness problems (you may recall this issue arose after the some called for a revote following the use of the notorious butterfly ballot in Palm Beach, Fla. last election).
As with all election law controversies, better to have rules set up in advance, so that no one can jockey for partisan advantage in the case of a hole in the rules after (part) of the election has taken place.
By the way, John Fortier and Norm Ornstein will have an article on
presidential elections and terrorism (with a host of sensible
suggestions for reform) in the October issue of the Election Law
Journal.
The New York Times offers this
editorial.
I am a strong believer that felons who have completed their terms of
incarceration should get their voting rights back. Unlike the Times,
I don't look to the courts to make that change. The change should occur
through the political process.
A.P. offers this
report,
which begins: "State officials were smart to abandon a disputed list
designed to take felons off the voter rolls — a move that would likely
please election supervisors, the president of the Florida State
Association of Supervisors of Elections said Sunday."
The Washington Post offers this
report,
which begins: "In May 2001, Enron's top lobbyists in Washington advised
the company chairman that then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.)
was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action
committee, in addition to the $250,000 the company had already pledged
to the Republican Party that year."
-- Rick Hasen Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow Loyola Law School 919 South Albany Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211 (213)736-1466 (213)380-3769 - fax rick.hasen@lls.edu http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html http://electionlawblog.org