WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not cancel or suspend the presidential election this November in the event of a terror attack or other catastrophic event, the government's top elections official said on Tuesday.

Individual states may suspend or reschedule elections if disaster strikes, but that would not change voting in other states, said DeForest Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
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"We should get the word out that if something happens in a state that is not yours, you should vote," Soaries added.

The commission also adopted a "tool kit" to help local officials avoid glitches [ed. like the fact there was an election at all -- how rude] on Election Day like those that led to a recount battle in Florida in 2000.

The 73-page document provides guidelines for minimizing problems with the punch-card machines that figured prominently in Florida, along with other vote-tallying machines, including the new touch-screen systems that have drawn criticism from [ed. freedom-hating pain in the butt] computer-security experts.

It should be available on the commission's Web site within the next week, Commissioner Paul DeGregorio said [ed. hoping everyone will forget about it by then and just shut up already].

- posted by Cynthia @ 5:48 PM | | | Link |