Wednesday, November 29, 2000

By AMY RILEY
One Citizen's Perspective

The Florida election was certified on Sunday, Nov. 26. After an initial vote count, a recount, and in some cases, a third and fourth count, Governor Bush is still the winner in Florida and has been awarded the electoral votes.

It is time for the country to get on board with the winner of this election, and put Indecision 2000 behind us.

Public opinion has shifted dramatically from last week when most people indicated that they were content to see the process play out for the sake of a fair count. Now, most Americans believe there has been a fair and reasonable representation of voter will, and would like to see this matter resolved. By Monday, a C-Span poll indicated that 65 percent of those polled felt that Vice President Al Gore should concede the election to Gov. Bush.

I know we live in a Republican county, so we would be hard pressed to come up with lots and lots of people who felt that this whole process should continue in the judiciary, but I'm seeing virtually NO support for Gore to continue fighting this battle. Initially, I think there was widespread public interest in getting to the bottom of questionable voting issues in Florida. Now it seems that the scrutiny is beginning to resemble the theater of the absurd.

What is voter intent anyway? And who has the right to make that determination for anyone other than themselves?

In my mind, there is either voter action or voter inaction. You either did or you didn't. There is no legitimate way that a canvassing board can arbitrarily determine if a dimpled chad indicated the voter intended to vote for a specific candidate.

This whole farce of the past weeks, last week in particular, has become an insult to those voters who were serious, informed, and prepared when they entered the polling booth. It makes me thankful that in Fayette County, we have succinct little bubbles and number two pencils. At least there is no question here about what a voter intended to do.

The rules were set before the election. The ballots were approved by both parties before the election. Sample ballots were published. If problems emerged after the fact, then we must learn from our mistakes and seek to rectify these issues before another election rolls around. Changing the rules after the game in hopes of changing the score is completely inappropriate.

There are three things that bother me about this whole saga. One is that there seems to be something missing in both candidates involving character and the ability to gauge and hold sacred the overall welfare of the country in the case of such a close, close, disputed race. Both candidates seem too bent on winning at any cost.

Some really idealistic part of me yearns to see someone step forward and concede because this is hurting our country and chipping away at our very foundation, and yet each candidate truly believes that he has won. Why should either concede if each is so certain that he has been elected by the people? Isn't there just something fundamentally wrong here?

Another thing that REALLY bothers me is the casual way in which the votes of our armed service men and women have been considered. While we watched as the slackest standards were applied to voter intent in Florida, the strictest standards were applied to our military personnel. Through zero fault of their own, failure to stamp a postmark on overseas military ballots has, in some cases, caused them to be excluded from the count. This is disgraceful and dishonorable, and should not be tolerated.

The other things that bothers me is that "We, the people" seem at the same time numb and agitated. We seem to feel in equal amounts powerlessness and the overwhelming urge to do something. We seem to be set on simmer heading for a boil.

I applaud those who are protesting and intensely scrutinizing the events of the past three weeks, and yet I fear for those in the streets and what they might do. The worst thing that could happen is for the people to lose control and act on their frustrations.

We seem to be losing a fundamental trust here, and if the government can't trust the people to conduct themselves in an orderly and peaceful fashion, and the people can't trust the government's reaction to disorderly people, then we could find ourselves in real trouble here. It's time for closure.

Education First Watch: There are two preliminary and one final subdivision plat applications pending for land already zoned residential in Fayette County which are estimated to bring an additional 27 students in to our school system. There is a request to REZONE 34.806 acres in the north Fayette area from A-R to R-50 by Bertha Morris of Fairburn, which could bring an additional estimated 35 students. To comment, call the Fayette County Zoning Department at 770-460-5730.

[Your comments are welcome: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]

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