[IP] Voting official seeks process for canceling Election Day over terrorism
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/26/election2004/
21_17_566_25_04.txt
Voting official seeks process for canceling Election Day over terrorism
By: ERICA WERNER - Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish guidelines for
canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United
States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.
Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head
of the voting panel.
Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission
last year by President Bush. Soaries said he wrote to National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in
April to raise the concerns.
"I am still awaiting their response," he said. "Thus far we have not
begun any meaningful discussion." Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York
City -- and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making
the decision to cancel the election and hold it later.
Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March
election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process
to deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2
presidential election in America, he said.
"Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an
election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political
implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an
election it has political implications," said Soaries, a Republican and
former secretary of state of New Jersey.
"Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what
are the constitutional implications?" he said. "I think we have to err
on the side of transparency to protect the voting rights of the
country."
Soaries said his bipartisan, four-member commission might make a
recommendation to Congress about setting up guidelies.
"I'm hopeful that there are some proposals already being floated. If
there are, we're not aware of them. If there are not, we will probably
try to put one on the table," he said.
Soaries also said he's met with a former New York state elections
director to discuss how officials there handled the Sept. 11 attacks
from the perspective of election administration. He said the commission
is getting information from New York documenting the process used
there.
"The states control elections, but on the national scale where every
state has its own election laws and its own election chief, who's in
charge?" he said.
Soaries also said he wants to know what federal officials are doing to
increase security on Election Day. He said security officials must take
care not to allow heightened security measures to intimidate minority
voters, but that local and state election officials he's talked to have
not been told what measures to expect.
"There's got to be communication," he said, "between law enforcement
and election officials in preparation for November."
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