Could the election be cancelled? - today's WSJ

[Decolliber]

Exactly What Could Derail the Election?
Not Everybody Agrees

By ROBERT BLOCK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 26, 2004; Page B1

In more than two decades as county clerk for Boone County, Mo., Wendy Noren has organized elections through floods, tornadoes and ice storms. If there's one thing she's learned from her long experience, it's this.

In Missouri, neither God nor man has the authority to cancel a federal election -- especially a contest for president.

"No one can do that: not the weather, not me, not the secretary of state, not the governor," says Ms. Noren. "In fact, I can't imagine who or what kind of event could stop an election."

Government officials say they have no specific intelligence to suggest an imminent attack; and many states, exercising caution, are putting various safety and emergency measures in place around polling time. Still, that hasn't stopped some people from wondering: In the event of a major attack around Nov. 2, could the election be canceled or postponed? And who has the power to decide?

The simple answer, like in Missouri, is nobody. But there are enough shades of gray to suggest all sorts of caveats and complexities. The bottom line: If an election-time catastrophe were to arise, the government's reaction would likely depend on the particulars of what happened when and where -- not to mention inevitable legal wranglings.

Federal law calls for a popular vote for members of Congress to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even numbered years. Since presidents are not chosen by popular vote, the mandate is slightly less clear. Presidents are technically chosen by electors who cast their votes in their respective state capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday of December. If the popular vote were disrupted, another mechanism would have be found to determine which elector slate gets to vote.

By law and tradition, states and localities are in charge of running all federal elections, including those for the state electors who choose a president. State authorities, however, say that while they have the responsibility to organize the polls, they are powerless to cancel them and point out they have never had need to. Elections, they say, have been held during the violence of the Civil War, as well as in the midst of natural disasters.

Local elections can be postponed -- and just such a scenario unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hit New York City. The New York State Board of Elections suspended the city's primary elections for mayor.

But there is very little flexibility to postpone a federal election, says George Foresman, the homeland security adviser to Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, and other officials who have studied the matter.

The Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress, addressed the question in July and found that Congress does in fact has the power to postpone presidential elections in the event of a national emergency. Moreover, the CRS's sweeping review of American case law and statutes found that the executive branch also has the ability to make it "difficult or impractical" for an election to take place. A memorandum drawn up for lawmakers said that the administration could limit the movement of citizens under emergency powers although an "exercise of such power would not appear to have the legal effect of delaying an election." In such an event, it concluded, legal resolution would ultimately fall to the courts.

A week later, however, Congress took a hard-line position on the question. On July 22, 2004, the House adopted a resolution declaring that elections "will never be postponed in the face of threats or attacks and that no individual or agency will be granted the authority to postpone the date of a presidential election."

In short, "The elections won't be postponed for any reason," says Rebecca Vigil-Giron, New Mexico's secretary of state and a member of the Federal Election Assistance Commission, which is charged with advising state electoral officials. The thinking of Ms. Vigil-Giron and others is that while they will make contingency plans to allow voters to cast their ballots in other locations, a disaster in one location should not hold up a national election.

Still, it's hard to predict what the mood of the country would be in the face of a major terrorist attack or other catastrophe. And in fact, Congress's resolution was merely symbolic in nature, and lacks any legislative clout.

Jan Baran, a lawyer and expert in U.S. election law, said he would expect there would be a litany of legal challenges to the results of any poll held in the shadow of a terrorist attack. "You would invariably be left with potential political and legal arguments that terrorist attacks were sufficient to cast doubt on the results of that day even though chances are you would have results," says Mr. Baran.

Government officials say they have no specific intelligence to suggest an imminent attack to disrupt the upcoming elections though there is lingering concern of an undetected plot. Vague threats have led to unprecedented police and Federal Bureau of Investigation roundups of suspicious aliens and Muslims, as well as a heightened level of security at airports and border crossings.

The concerns have led the National Governors Association, in conjunction with other groups, to issue guidelines for coordinating police, tips for ballot-counting security and legal advice about ordering emergency election changes in case of increased threats or an attack around polling time. The aim of the groups' efforts, according to Mr. Foresman, is to find a balance between genuine security concerns and voters rights' to an intimidation-free election.

In the meantime, many voting districts in the country are taking steps to secure ballot boxes, set up emergency communications systems and locate backup polling places to reassure voters that nothing can disrupt their voting rights. Ms. Noren of Missouri say she is focusing on training poll workers to ensure they know what to do and who to contact in the event of an emergency.

[bryanthompson]

It's already been said that the elecction will not be postponed or cancelled. not going to happen.