Did you vote in this election? Was your ballot counted, challenged, thrown out? The voters in one county in Florida had no answers for this last question, and some of them took the matter to court. From that point on, everyone seems to have gotten into the act. If the results didn't matter so much, one might say this whole Florida debacle could be considered highly amusing. But the results do matter, and that is what the fuss has been about.
No one could have predicted the spectacle to which the whole world now bears witness. Citizens of the United States and the World sit back and watch as this messy system we Americans call "democracy" works itself out.
One might think that the framers of the U. S. Constitution could have come up with a better plan for an orderly transition of power. Their only problem was that they too couldn't agree. Many didn't feel the electorate could be trusted with the heavy burden of choosing a "President." Popular opinion is subject to whim. As they didn't want our government to be chosen on a whim, the framers looked for another way--one where they could be sure the whims of the populace wouldn't lead the nation into chaos. To allay their own fears, the framers got the States involved in the process by creating an
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Each State gets to present a slate of Electors to the Electoral College. It is these "Electors" who are allowed to cast their votes for President and Vice-President of the United States. The actual date set for that election is December 18, 2000.
Each political party presents a slate (list) of "electors" to State officials. These "electors" are usually the "party faithful," pledged to vote for their political party's candidates for President and Vice-President should they be called upon to cast their votes at the Electoral College
Each State determines whether its electoral votes are to be split according to the popular vote (Nebraska and New Hampshire), or the winner of the popular vote "takes all." In Florida, the slate of "electors" will either be "all" Democratic or "all" Republican, but that State is having trouble certifying its election, so who, if anyone, gets to cast those electoral ballots is up for grabs.
"Grabbing" for those electoral votes is just what both the Republicans and Democrats seem to be doing right now--with the whole world watching as our messy democracy sorts itself out.
Our system of government was deliberately designed with checks and balances so no one branch of government could overtake the other. No one said our democracy was perfect. No one says it works smoothly. Our system of government has been designed to be transparent, so the "rule of law" will prevail.
Right now, the struggle is to determine whose law prevails: Federal, State, county, other? We don't worry that there are no laws to cover this election. We just have to figure out which laws apply.
These are just some of the reasons we crazy Americans are sitting back with the rest of the world, reading, watching, and listening intently as the process goes on, and our system of government works out its kinks.
The United States Constitution has given its citizens an exact procedure to follow in the election of a new President, and that process is being carried out before the eyes of the world. The only thing we can't quite say with certainty yet is exactly who that "President" will be. If you can't stand the mess--or the suspense, why don't you just check back January 20, 2001. We'll have an answer for you by then.
