We’re Not Ready

Posted by Mary Mancini on May 29, 2008 under Uncategorized |

It started out as a little wondering. You watched Recount on HBO and thought, “Boy, that Kevin Spacey sure is a good actor…Hey, wait a minute! Are we better off as voters now then when we were in 2000?” And this wondering is getting louder. It’s now a rumbling. Listen closely and you can hear it. You can hear it in the 15-page report jointly compiled and distributed by the Lawyers Committee and the National Campaign for Fair Elections (and first brought to our attention by the astute Mark Crispin Miller), that demonstrates, based on information gathered during this year’s primary elections, that our state and county and local election systems are unprepared for a heavy turnout. We’re not ready. Our election systems count on a low voter turn out and continued voter apathy. We’re not ready. Few problems occur in affluent areas. We’re not ready. The problems are concentrated in low income, Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. We’re not ready. If the race is close, “mishaps at the polls could cause another Election 2000-styled fiasco.” We’re not ready. Among the worse states was Pennsylvania. We’re not ready.

We’re not ready for November.

We’re not equipped to handle a massive voter turnout.

We’re not equipped to handle the small margins that caused the confusion and lawsuits in Florida in 2000.

WE. ARE. NOT. READY.