Endangered elections?

According to Rev. DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of a new federal voting commission, "the government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again," reported the Associated Press on June 25. Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in 2003 by President Bush, who, as the incumbent, would have the most to gain in such a dire contingency. The EAC, a bipartisan, four-member panel, is preparing to offer recommendations to Congress.

Soaries expressed his concerns last April in a letter to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Secretary Ridge, of course, is in charge of raising or lowering the national terrorism threat level.

Referring to Rice and Ridge, Soaries told the AP: "I'm still awaiting their response. Thus far we have not begun any meaningful discussions.... I'm hopeful that there are some pro posals already being floated. If there are, we're not aware of them. If there are not, we will probably try to put one on the table."

"Look at the possibilities," Soaries elaborated. "If the federal government were to cancel an election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election it has political implications.... Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are the constitutional implications?" Under the Constitution, elections fall entirely under the purview of the states. "The states control elections, but on the national scale where every state has its own election laws and its own election chief, who's in charge?" asks Soaries.