(no subject)

[pauraque_bk]

I've just been told that the Department of Homeland Security is petitioning Congress for the right to postpone the coming election in the event of a terrorist attack.

Can someone please give me some solid information on this?

EDIT: A CNN article is here. Thanks, atdelphi.

EDIT2: There is also a BBC News article here. Thanks, muridae_x.

Comments

[chelsea-energy.livejournal.com]

Holy crap. I might have to seriously consider moving to Europe if that's true.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

This is the article I've seen cited: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/election.day.delay/index.html

[fernwithy.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, it's just an emergency measure if the day chosen for the attacks happens to be election day. (It was in New York City on 9/11, and they had a provision to have the elections later rather than not having them at all when the city was in such chaos.) I'm of two minds, the first of which is going, "AAAAAAARGH." The other of which is going, "Um, if terrorists blow up the Capitol on election day morning, am I really going to be in any frame of mind to get to my polling place after work that night?"

[tagore.livejournal.com]

Why am I not surprised? Just when you thought they couldn't go further beyond the pale...

[ellensmithee.livejournal.com]

That's just the creepiest thing ever. I'm wondering more and more what kind of government the US is going to have in a year and whether I'll be able to go home for my mother's 60th birthday celebrations at the end of 2005.

I hope I'm just paranoid.

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

Our take was kind of "Wait, they want to maybe postpone the elections, because everyone knows they're the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November? But... if you pick another new date, won't there kind of be the same fixed-time, fixed-place problem? What're they going to do, just have random, floating elections over like, six months' time?"

And then we pictured election volunteers randomly popping in at odd hours, leaving little "Sorry We Missed You" notes hanging from your doorknob, and our heads hurt.

.m

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

And if you'd like an outside perspective on the subject:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3885663.stm

Now, I'm planning on being in the US for a vacation in October, and it has crossed my mind once or twice that it's only a month before the election.

But still. The implications of what a move like this could mean in the long term give me the shivers.

[maidenjedi]

You know, I don't believe that the Bush administration is talking about this in order to try and increase Bush's chances of winning (though that seems to be a rather popular belief in certain circles), but I'm thoroughly against postponing the election unless and until circumstances arise that would make it necessary. A terror attack could legitimately thwart the electoral process. Vote count will be called into question if a major city is hit, and what if (God forbid) one of the *candidates* was hit? All in all, I'd like to see us have a contingency plan of some kind - some set of rules to go by in case of an attack. Will we extend polling hours, will we have a make-up day for those who didn't vote, will the city attacked have a chance to make up - these questions seem so ridiculous, and their answers even more so, but I want to be assured that someone in Washington is thinking about this. Not because of what the election's outcome might be, but because I do not want to believe that terrorists would be able to stop or thwart the most important thing about being an American.

However, if the administration bollocks this up and tries to force a postponement or cancellation without provocation, I'll be right with everyone banging down the White House door to demand my rights be given me.