America could well face a constitutional crisis this November over two back-to-back, discredited presidential elections.
Nightmare No. 1: Florida Again
We've already seen another round of crude efforts to purge the Florida rolls of felons, some of whom aren't felons at all. We will see a lot of intimidation of African-American Florida voters, too. Almost every Democratic operative I speak to takes it for granted that the Bushies, led in this case by Governor Jeb, will try to "steal" Florida. But that's only the first of the election nightmares.
Nightmare No. 2: Touchscreen Hell
Given the refusal of Republicans to allow federal legislation requiring verifiable paper trails for electronic voting devices that are still far too buggy, it's a near certainty that some will malfunction -- and that there will be no recourse. Moreover, a lot of older and less well-educated people have trouble comprehending touchscreens. It's also possible that there could be some deliberate tampering. But even if the process is totally honest, the margin of error could well be larger than the supposed margin of victory.
Nightmare No. 3: The Popular Loser Wins Again
Even if there is no theft of Florida and all the machines function, it's entirely possible that Kerry could win by 2 million or 3 million popular votes and George W. Bush could be re-elected president. Say, for example, that Bush narrowly wins Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania while Kerry piles up healthy majorities in New York, California, and much of both coasts and the Midwest. Now we have a true constitutional crisis.
Are there remedies?
Remedy No. 1: International Election Observers
Jimmy Carter should assemble a team of international human-rights observers to monitor our shaky democracy. At least the cruder forms of ballot theft and intimidation would be tamped down.
Remedy No. 2: Ballot Boxes
Until they get the bugs out of electronic voting, we should go back to old-fashioned paper ballots. Everyone can figure them out, and they leave a perfect paper trail for recounts. Much of the democratic world still uses them.
Remedy No. 3: Abolish the Electoral College and Be a True Democracy
Alas, fat chance.
Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect.
