Study of the 2004 election would separate fact, fiction

There is something reassuring about a public official who not only takes responsibility for a major foul-up, but then resigns his position when it becomes clear that his credibility has suffered irreparable harm.
James Bennington, director of the Mercer County, Pa., Board of Elections, is stepping down Dec. 31 in response to a request by county commissioners. Bennington could have sought to deflect blame, as too many other employees in the public sector are wont to do, or he could have forced the members of the board of elections to fire him, which would have generated newspaper headlines.
Instead, he acknowledged that he had erred when coding the computers used in Mercer County's voting system, which resulted in all 12 percincts in the 4th Congressional District experiencing computer malfunctions. He then tendered his resignation.
Perhaps Bennington will inspire other elections officials around the country to be as honest and forthright when it comes to dealing with the election irregularities in the Nov. 2 general election.
It isn't "absurd," as Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, contends for those raising questions about the election to expect answers.
Eye of the storm
Indeed, Ohio is in the eye of the storm because it ended up being the state that decided the presidential election. George W. Bush carried Ohio by about 19,000 votes and will be sworn in for a second four-year term in January. Had Democratic challenger John Kerry, U.S. senator from Massachusetts, won the Buckeye State, he would be preparing for the inauguration.
Thus, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others call on Congress to investigate countless reports of election irregularities in Ohio and elsewhere, it isn't an absurd request.
Even Kerry, who conceded the race election night after seeing the vote count in Ohio, believes that a thorough probe is warranted. And not because he is under any illusion of ultimate victory.
"It's critical that we investigate and understand any and every voting irregularity anywhere in our country, not because it would change the outcome of the election but because Americans have to believe that their votes are counted in our democracy," Kerry said last week.
And given that Democrats in Congress and Democratic Party leaders across the country are keeping the issue alive, Republican elections officials such as Blackwell have a responsibility to ensure that fact is separated from fiction.
Lawsuits have been filed in Ohio for a statewide recount of the presidential vote and also to determine why thousands of provisional ballots were rejected. Rev. Jackson has talked about a suit to focus on voting irregularities.
While Blackwell and other Republicans in Ohio might dismiss these moves as the actions of poor losers, there is enough uncertainty about what happened Nov. 2 to justify a formal inquiry.
In the end, Congress and the White House bear ultimate responsibility. After the 2000 election debacle, the country demanded regulations governing national elections and also sought a national voting system. But the legislation that came out of Congress fell short of those goals, and thus today, controversy continues to swirl.