Posted on 09/27/2004 8:13:31 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter says that despite changes designed to eliminate voting problems in Florida - where the disputed 2000 presidential election was decided by only a few hundred votes - conditions for a fair election in that state still don't exist.
"The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely," Carter wrote in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Post.
Touchscreen machines were introduced in Florida after the 2000 election, when punch-cards were responsible for delaying the outcome of the race between George Bush and Al Gore. Bush won the state by 537 votes, which gave him the presidency.
Carter, citing the experience of his Carter Center in monitoring international elections, said "some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida." Most significant, he said, were requirements that a nonpartisan electoral commission or official organize and conduct the electoral process and that voting procedures be uniform for all citizens.
He said Florida's top election official in 2000, Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was "highly partisan" and that Harris' successor, Glenda Hood, has shown "the same strong bias." He said Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, had done little to "correct these departures from principles of fair and equal treatment."
"With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida," Carter said.
Hey Uncle Jimmy - you figured out how to get our hostages out of Iraq yet - idiot!!!
I think you call this "the set up."
Now that he's told us there are problems, it won't be that hard to scream FRAUD after the votes are counted.
Carter proves that he is still despicable and stupid.
Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet "basic international requirements" and could undermine the US election, former US President Jimmy Carter says.
He said a repeat of the irregularities of the much-disputed 2000 election - which gave President George W Bush the narrowest of wins - "seems likely".
Mr Carter, a veteran observer of polls worldwide, also accused Florida's top election official of "bias".
His remarks come ahead of the first TV debate between Mr Bush and John Kerry.
They are expected to discuss the war on Iraq and homeland security during the programme on Thursday.
Both men have cut back on their campaign touring to go behind closed doors and rehearse the arguments and techniques they will need during a series of three debates to be held over two weeks.
Each has held mock debates with aides standing in for their opponent.
Tens of millions of television viewers are expected to watch Thursday's head-to-head.
Mr Kerry, a debating champion at high school and college, will hope it can help him claw back a deficit in the polls variously put between 3% and 9%.
Florida vote
In an article in the Washington Post newspaper, Mr Carter, a Democrat, said that he and ex-President Gerald Ford, a Republican, had been asked to draw up recommendations for changes after the last vote in Florida was marred by arguments over the counting of ballots.
Mr Carter said the reforms they came up with had still not been implemented.
He accused Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood, a Republican, of trying to get the name of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader included on the state ballot, knowing he might divert Democrat votes.
He also said: "A fumbling attempt has been made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged felons."
Mr Carter said Florida Governor Jeb Bush - brother of the president - had "taken no steps to correct these departures from principles of fair and equal treatment or to prevent them in the future".
"It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices in any nation," he added.
"With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida."
The demographics is so very funny. Florida will not matter this year. The Christian right will decide the race, as they would have in 2k, had they voted.
Based on what has been going on with liberal judges vis a vis the pledge and same sex marriages, I think that it is pretty safe to say that 4 million chrisitans will turn out in force for bush in 2k4. The DUI charge is what kept them away in 2k.
Who cares what Jahmie Carter says? If the christian right turns out, the dead and illegal vote will not be enough to help the libs, and the lawyers will just have to sit on their brief cases.
Freepdonia decries Jimmy Carter!
And why NOW? It's been four years, and he's just NOW starting to whimper about it.
Carter is SO irrelevant now and he just can't stand it.
I seem to recall mysterious busloads of blacks being hauled to the polls in Mississippi in 1976 when Carter barely "beat" Ford. The man is a fraud. As a Georgian, I apologize to everyone.
Translation: The DemoncRATS intend to cry "fraud" in any and every election that they lose, because voters who do not vote DemoncRAT are too stupid to be trusted to actually determine the outcome of an election.
Where is there a nonpartisan individual in the world????? Is Jimmy Carter nonpartisan?????? Should he be put in charge of overseeing elections in Florida? Or should we bring in maybe some nonpartisan person from the UN??? hahahahahaha. Jimmy Carter was that POTUS who had no political party, right????
didn't this twit just finish announcing that Nicaragua had a fair and honest election?
Main Entry: chutz·pah
Variant(s): also chutz·pa /'hut-sp&, '[k]ut-, -(")spä/
Function: noun
Etymology: Yiddish khutspe, from Late Hebrew huspAh
: supreme self-confidence : NERVE, GALL
synonym see TEMERITY
Stuff it wind-bag!
This is just a sample of what we will hear after the upcoming election. The Dims are starting to warm up. No matter how large the margin of Republican victory the Dims must claim they were cheated to keep their base in line.
According to Natalie Maines, you are supposed to say "Just so you know, we're ashamed that the worst ex-President of the United States in history is from Texas."
Praying daily that this will be so!!!!!!!! God help the Christian right to register and vote.!!!!!!!!!!
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