Close Election, Whoever Wins

* The election may take a while to untangle, but we Americans should feel so blessed. Despite the uncertainty, no shots were fired, no property destroyed, no people imprisoned, and there is no rioting. We continue to set an example for the whole world. We should all feel proud that we are citizens of a mature, responsible, law-abiding, caring, peace-loving nation.

GERALD C. SOZIO

Los Angeles

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Regardless of the party involved, I find the prospect of spending four years in the company of a president who did not win the popular vote but won the office appalling. We have long been quick to bash Third World countries, to penalize and punish, when elections and offices were denied to winning candidates through various means.

Why are we now applying a double standard and congratulating ourselves on our processes when, instead, we should be asking why our “democracy” is the only one among industrialized nations where a candidate can win the election but lose the office?

SUSAN ASHRAF

Claremont

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Whichever candidate wins this election, about half of us will feel disenfranchised. We must remind ourselves that the new president will not be able to have his way in all matters. With the almost equally divided Congress, the new administration will have to lead our country in a spirit of compromise.

This may be just the healing effect our votes were intended to have. The divisiveness in our country in the last decades may finally make way for cooperation and a sense of fellowship. Our voices were heard. We will have the best government for the next four years. We are the luckiest people on Earth.

JANET MARIE MICHAELS

San Gabriel

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Given the potential importance of absentee ballots in Florida, the fate of our nation may well be decided by how efficiently postal workers abroad and at home do the job of getting the ballots back to Florida in a timely fashion. Remind me to tip my carrier this holiday season.

ALISON CAREY

Los Angeles

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Because of the alleged balloting irregularities in Florida, even the recount will not be universally accepted as legitimately showing the will of the Florida electorate. A new Florida election is impractical. I propose a quicker, better solution. Let Florida finish the current recount; let the candidates agree to forget the balloting irregularities; and let the candidates and the Florida electors agree that Florida’s 25 electoral votes will be cast in proportion to the Florida election returns: 13 in favor of the winner of the recount, and 12 in favor of the loser. What could be fairer?

BRETT C. KLEIN

Los Angeles

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It now is apparent that fully a quarter of the voters of Palm Beach County were sufficiently confused by the arrangement of the ballot to have punched it incorrectly. Common fairness, not to mention the interests of democracy, dictate that Palm Beach County have a revote. Let George W. Bush wait. The inauguration isn’t until January.

KENT SOUTHARD

Dana Point

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I shudder at the possibility that we may choose our next president by giving a second vote to people who weren’t smart enough to cast their ballots correctly the first time.

MICHAEL WALSH

Santa Ana

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It should now be obvious that we need standardized, electronic voting machines throughout the country. And before the next election. Electronic machines would prevent duplicate selections from ever occurring and would tabulate quickly and accurately. A simple, tamper-proof unit can surely be devised that would be used everywhere. There’s no reason for 19,000 voters to lose their say because they may have been confused over a poorly designed ballot.

LARRY DAVIS

Torrance

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Bush made a huge campaign issue of character and integrity. Knowing that Al Gore has won the majority of votes in the country and that tens of thousands of likely Democratic ballots in his brother’s state have been disqualified, he should now show real character and integrity and concede the election.

HERB SCHIFF

Culver City

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Thank you, Ralph Nader, and those who voted for you. I’ll think of you every time a new oil well is drilled in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or old-growth forest is clear-cut or another logging road is cut through the wilderness or a strip mine rapes the desert. Great job. Thanks for striking that blow for the environment. You must be very proud.

JUDITH ZACHARIASEN

Pasadena

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The question Democrats should be asking is not whether Nader voters made the difference in Florida, but rather why Gore was unable to carry both Tennessee and Arkansas, his home state and President Clinton’s? If he had, the 17 electoral votes would have been more than enough to win the election, regardless of the outcome in Florida.

ARTURO ADAME

Redondo Beach

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I refuse to accept your assertion that Nader “spoiled” Gore’s presidential bid. Throughout the campaign Gore has not paid the least bit of attention to Nader. If Gore had successfully defended himself publicly against Nader’s attacks (perhaps in a debate?), the Nader factor surely would not have loomed so large. Gore’s blatant disregard of Nader’s campaign has come back to haunt him, and he has no one but himself to blame.

PARIS MINZER

Los Angeles

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The electoral college is an antiquated system born of issues no longer relevant to 21st century America. Our founding fathers devised this arcane system in response to logistical problems of their time (slow communication, bad roads, decentralization), a fear of a weak executive due to multiple regional candidates and, lest we forget, a distrust of the common people. World leaders are mocking our election.

When a candidate receives a plurality of the popular vote but loses the election, a change needs to be made. Either scrap the electoral college altogether or delete the “winner takes all” aspect--distribute the states’ electoral votes in proportion to the popular vote in each state.

RICHARD ANDERSEN

Los Angeles

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This election has proven what is mathematically obvious about the electoral college. Voters in less populated states have a greater voice in determining our president than we who reside in more populated states. For the same reason, I don’t expect to see the Constitution amended any time soon.

ART SPENCE

Beverly Hills

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Around $200 million spent on an election and nobody wins! Does it sound like time to change the electoral college system?

TOM REINBERGER

Glendora

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Our presidential elections are more important than TV ratings. When will restrictions be put on the networks for “calling the winners”? Enough, I say! Let the Hawaii polls close first.

NAN LEWIS

Los Angeles

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This 2000 presidential election is beginning to remind me of some homeowner association board elections.

ALISA ROSS

Irvine

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Can’t we just keep Bubba?

MERRY SHELBURNE

La Crescenta