ROFLMAO!! Two individuals, previously fired from the job of President of the United States, prove why. Bush's advisors must have told him, "Humor them. You may be feeble someday yourself.". From FOX News:
<<Ex-Presidents: Create National Voting Holiday
At a Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday, President Bush welcomed the report from the National Commission on Federal Election Reform chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford.
While Bush avoided taking a stand on specific proposals recommended by the commission - including making election day a national holiday, restoring voting rights to felons and allowing voters challenged by poll workers to cast provisional ballots anyway - he praised the report as "impressive."
"Today I accept their report and recommend the key principles drawn from the report as guidelines for meaningful reform," Bush said, with Carter standing beside him. Ford could not attend because of a scheduling conflict.
Giving voters Election Day off would "increase the availability of poll workers and suitable polling places," the report states. The 19-member panel suggests that Veterans' Day be moved to the first Tuesday in November in even-numbered years.
Voting rights should be restored to felons in all states, voters should be able to cast provisional ballots, overseas voting should be made simpler, major presidential candidates should be given free television time and news media should not be allowed to "call" presidential elections until late on Election Night, the report also says.
The commission recommended that the controversial "punch-card" ballots, which were seen as central to the muddled presidential vote count in Florida this past fall, should continue to be used, since their abandonment would force counties to move to computerized voting machines that blind voters would be unable to use privately.
The president has been under pressure, especially by Democrats, to correct problems in last fall's Florida vote count.
Bush may face even more pressure from Carter, who already has been critical of the administration. Carter and former House GOP Leader Bob Michel presented the commission's 100-page report to Bush at a White House ceremony Tuesday morning. Ford's office said he had a scheduling conflict.
Carter was quoted in an article last week criticizing Bush's positions on missile defense, Alaska oil drilling and global warming and said he has been "disappointed in almost everything he has done." In a follow-up statement, Carter said he respects Bush despite their "honest differences of opinion." The White House refused direct comment on either statement.
At present, states vary in their laws covering provisional ballots and voting by felons. Florida is among 14 states that do not allow persons convicted of a felony to ever vote again, even if sentences have been served. Civil-rights groups have charged that the felon-voting bans effectively disenfranchise a large part of the African-American population of those states.
Among the commission's recommendations:
? States should establish statewide systems for voter registration.
States should allow provisional voting, a suggestion that arose from complaints in Florida that some voters, many of them black, were wrongfully turned away from polls. With provisional ballots, people who don't appear on election rolls but say they are eligible could vote. Election officials would determine later the validity of those ballots.
Congress should set up a new Election Administration Commission to establish and test voluntary standards for state systems. The standards should include allowing voters to correct errors and ensuring that disabled voters can cast ballots in secret.
News organizations should refrain from calling presidential elections until 11 p.m. EST. If news organizations were not to comply, the report says Congress should consider enacting legislation.
The 13-recommendation report also urges Congress to offer $1 billion to $2 billion over two or three years in matching grants to states willing to upgrade their elections systems. That's considerably less than many proposals now in Congress.
On perhaps the most difficult issues concerning election reform - whether Congress should set specific election standards for states - the panel was divided.
Commission member Christopher Edley Jr. said he and five members - all Democrats - wanted "a stronger federal role." The report says the "commission as a whole takes no position."
Most state and local officials vehemently oppose any federal mandates on how to run elections.
The private commission, a project of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, began its work this year after the disputes over Florida's ballots last year.
The Senate Rules Committee is to consider on Thursday a measure offered by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., that would provide $3.5 billion to help states adopt uniform standards for voting machines by 2004. It is one of several bills pending in Congress on the issue.>> |
