My hometown paper, the Kalamazoo Gazette, has an editorial today about the controversy over whether or not the Nov. 2 election should be rescheduled if there is a major terrorist attack immediately before the election. But the editorial makes no sense since it is based on a ridiculous misunderstanding and rewriting of the controversy.
In the Gazette’s version, “[Homeland Security Secretary Tom] Ridge had asked DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, about whether it is possible to change the election date in the event of a national emergency. Soaries replied that no federal agencies has the authority to postpone an election. He asked Ridge to ask Congress to give the Election Assistance Committee the power to do so.”
This is factually incorrect on almost every point. As Newsweek, which broke the story, and other news outlets reported, the request for an opinion about who had the authority to postpone an election originated with Soaries who sent letters to Ridge and Condoleeza Rice.
Neither Rice nor Ridge ever responded to those letters and they were apparently ignored. As Soaries complained to the Associated Press this week, “I am still awaiting their response. Thus far we have not begun any meaningful discussion.”
So, contrary to the Gazette’s assertions, Ridge and other Homeland Security officials apparently haven’t been seriously looking at the example in Spain and contemplating how they would react if there was a major attack immediately before the election.
Of course, if there is a major attack say in the heart of New York late on November 1st, you can bet that papers across the country the next day will be demanding to know why the administration didn’t have extensive contingency plans in place to handle the inevitable disruption to the election.