Media: Wait Until All Votes Are Counted

* The election fiasco we are witnessing shows the major flaws in the voting systems of many states. The state (or national) legislatures should enact legislation that clarifies the nature of ballot design, the method by which counting of the votes is undertaken and a time limit for the vote counting process.

It seems that in their rush for news, the media declared many winners in many states in which counting of absentee ballots could swing the popular vote either way. As you have reported, there are 1 million in California alone! Some of these totals could swing the election and even the national totals in either direction, so why the rush to declare a winner?

Let’s wait until all votes, absentee or otherwise, are counted, and then we can truly proclaim that the people of the U.S. have spoken.

KEVIN STEINMETZ

La Verne

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Hopefully, before another national election we can have weekend voting and touch-screen voting for all counties. I know those machines are costly but considering the billions in tax money sent to other countries, why not? All polls should close at the same time. It can be worked out among the time zones--even Hawaii.

ANN WRINKLE

Exeter, Calif.

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With the results of the Florida recount showing that original returns may be in error, this raises a couple of problems that may have to be addressed before any new election. How do we ensure that every ballot is counted, so that every person is counted in an election? What do we do about any close election that has occurred in the past, where it is legitimate to wonder if the correct person took office?

BARRY LEVY

Redondo Beach

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Putting petty politics and court mandates aside, I believe that this year’s election is the best thing that has happened to this country in decades. Not only did the broadcast media get mud on their faces for calling incorrect election results and the true inadequacies of our antiquated ballot systems become apparent, but the people of this country are seeing for the first time since 1960 that each person’s vote matters.

With over 100 million participating voters in this country, I think it is ridiculous to expect our election results on the same night the votes are cast. In 2004, the results of the election should be announced by the U.S. attorney general at a press conference held after all the votes have been cast. Streamlining and improving the ballot process is an important issue that needs to be remedied with available technology. It will be many years before people forget this election and the impact of a few votes. Perhaps in 2004 some fresh faces will enter the political arena and the days of voter apathy will be over.

PAUL G. TEAGUE

Lakewood

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Re Ronald Brownstein’s Nov. 14 appraisal of the next four years, “An Even Tougher Battle May Await Next President”: This could could portend a blessing in disguise. The past several years have been good economically with a “do-nothing” Congress and the Clinton administration at each other’s throats. With Washington engaged in an internecine war, the economy will be given a fair opportunity to function with only justifiable federal interference, thus continuing the good times we have been experiencing in recent years.

L.E. RISK

San Juan Capistrano

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What is all the fuss about chads on our punch-card ballots? We have used them for years. I learned long ago to turn my ballot over before stuffing it in the box and flick off the loose pieces, which I now know are termed “chads.” What’s so hard about teaching people to do that?

HENRY FISHER

Whittier

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Question: How many voters realize that if they make a mistake on their ballot they can ask for another ballot? I believe every polling place should require a sign to be posted making this clear. This, I am sure, would be the answer to thousands and thousands of incorrectly or inadvertently marked ballots being disallowed.

MILTON GROSS

Beverly Hills

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It is both legal and unfair that a disproportionate number of minorities are currently in our prisons. It is both legal and unfair that O.J. Simpson is walking the streets as a free man. It is both legal and unfair that married couples pay higher taxes than unmarried couples. It is both legal and unfair that a confusing ballot in Palm Beach County resulted in Vice President Al Gore losing thousands of votes intended for him. It is both legal and unfair that Democratic counties are being recounted by hand at the allowable request of the Gore campaign while the Bush campaign chose not to make such a request. Without a doubt, this presidential election will be as legal and unfair as many other results in our country, and we will move on accordingly.

DUAINE OSBORNE

La Mirada

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When a candidate for president can win the popular vote nationwide and lose the election because of a few hundred tainted votes in one state, there is something seriously amiss with the way we elect presidents.

JEROME S. KLEINSASSER

Bakersfield

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Before the election, experts predicted that the undecideds would be important. No one predicted that the undecideds would actually win.

BRAD GOLDBERG

Studio City