Beating Dead Horses, part deux

tgallows · Thu, 09 Nov 2000 22:38:50 -0800

With regard to complaints that the time to object
to a ballot is BEFORE the election ... while that's
obviously ideal, and perhaps obviously true, it isn't
always feasible. For one thing, the sample ballots are
not identical to the real ballots (which, again, are
a lot harder to read than the graphical versions
they show you on MSNBC and such). For another,
sometimes there's no way to recognize a design failure
until the first time it appears -- I'd imagine the
locals and the engineers were satisfied with the Tacoma
Narrows Bridge until the first wind kicked up. As Nathan
mentioned, any judge will be extremely reluctant to order a
re-vote. However, one possible factor is the violation of
the law about the ballot being punched on the right
side of the names -- if there is a clear specific
state law which is violated by the ballot, then perhaps
there is some legal ground for the re-vote. (Probably
not enough ground, but some.) If the ballot violates
the law, it may not matter which parties approved it
beforehand. [[Question for those familiar with the re-vote
procedure, if anyone is -- is it feasible to only allow
those who voted the first time and signed the rolls to
vote in a hypothetical re-vote?]]

As a final
note, I think too much has made of the candidates
clinging to technicalities, or fighting inappropriately
long. So far there's no reason for either candidate to
concede the election, and there won't be sufficient
reason until after the overseas ballots in Florida are
counted. Given the amount of money and effort that both
groups have put in, as well as what's at stake, I don't
think either party has acted inappropriately in
requesting recounts or considering legal options. But enough
of this political stuff -- take that, you dead
horses!

My apologies for adding to a non-quizbowl
discussion. As relates to the NAQT IFT (for which I'll be
leaving in about 7 hours -- eek), I look forward to
playing those of you who are going to Athens. It's my
first NAQT tournament, and I'm really looking forward
to it, especially the opportunity to finally play
the Gainesville folks. Bye.

--Raj Dhuwalia