Redemption

The GOP has successfully delayed and bullied its way into the White House. The Supreme Court, in a cynical 5 to 4 ruling, essentially said that it is too late to count all the votes.

Yesterday, our system broke under the strain of a sustained partisan assault. We survived government shutdowns and impeachment. I believed until yesterday that cooler heads would prevail, and a fair result would be found. The tragedy of this election is not George Bush, it's the wreckage of our constitutional system.

Our country must redeem this act and put back together the pieces. Don't you dare give in to cynicism and passivity. Yes, the system is broken. We can take a moment to grieve. But then we must move on and fix it. To begin the process of redemption, MoveOn will be asking you to join in a Freedom of Information Act request to review the ballots in Florida. To start, we need to shine a light on the miscarriage itself. The votes must be counted.

Is there a silver lining? Perhaps one: the court's newly found obsession with "equal protection" in voting gives a real foundation for voting reform. We can and should push through an agenda of reform including uniform federal standards for voting systems and processes, for the maintenance of registration rolls, and for access to polling places. We must end exclusionary voting practices and official manipulation.

Now is the time to clean it up-once and for all.

Sincerely, ·
Wes Boyd
MoveOn.org

back