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Politics : Electoral College 2000 - Ahead of the Curve
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To: TraderGreg who wrote (1596)11/10/2000 5:27:51 PM
From: Bill Fischofer  Read Replies (1) of 6710
 
The problem with court action is that the courts cannot adjudicate what are essentially political questions. Under the separation of powers set up by the Constitution, Congress makes the laws, the executive branch enforces them, and the judicial branch interprets them. Election laws exist to provide orderly procedures for conducting elections but they cannot decide the results of those elections. Election results are quintessentially political decisions and the courts are justifiably loath to interject themselves into such matters except in extreme cases where obvious election fraud is involved.

All voting is an exercise in statistical sampling and there is no such thing as a "perfect" vote or count. All courts and politicians know this, which is why asking a judge to decide the outcome of an election dishonors both the candidates and the democratic process itself. In a close election such as this it is ultimately a political question as to who will yield. If the official Florida recount confirms a Bush win, no matter how slender, then Al Gore has to decide to either abide by the rules or to challenge them in an effort to overturn the election. Such an endeavor, even if nominally successful, would damage both his resulting presidency as well as the democratic process. This, ultimately, is why Nixon chose not to contest the 1960 result and why Gore should show similar circumspection in this election. Gore is still a relatively young man and can well afford to withdraw with honor and return with renewed vigor in 2004 against a weakly-elected incumbent. By contrast, Bush cannot concede an election he nominally won (albeit by the slimmest of margins) and retain any shred of political legitimacy within his party or on the national stage. No court can resolve this to the satisfaction of both parties and the voting public. I therefore fully expect the political question will be resolved by the candidates themselves, with possible help from Bill Clinton.
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