Read the key section from the now-infamous Newsweek report again.
[The Department of Justice] was specifically asked to review a recent letter to Ridge from DeForest B. Soaries Jr., chairman of the newly created U.S. Election Assistance Commission…. Soaries, a Bush appointee who two years ago was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Congress, wants Ridge to seek emergency legislation from Congress empowering his agency to make such a call. (emphasis added)
That’s really the bottom line here. It’s not up to the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the attorney general, or the Election Assistance Commission to postpone the election in the event of a catastrophe. Congress is the only body that can change the law that sets the date for federal elections. And as Kevin Drum noted yesterday, even if lawmakers wanted to take this up, there isn’t a lot of time to do.
The current target for adjournment of the current congressional session is October 1st.
In other words, supposing that the Justice Department actually decided (suicidally, in my opinion) to propose legislation to create an election commission with the power to reschedule elections, Congress would have a grand total of four weeks to debate and pass it.
This is impossible, of course, unless the bill had essentially unanimous bipartisan support. Which it wouldn’t.
And just to follow up on that last point, lawmakers on both sides clearly have no interest in taking this up. In fact, they’re outwardly hostile to the idea.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge drew fire Monday from Capitol Hill lawmakers who were upset to hear that the Homeland Security Department is examining whether Election Day could be postponed in the event of a major terrorist attack.
[…]
[Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers] took issue with reported moves by the Homeland Security and Justice departments to review a request by Election Assistance Commission Chairman DeForest Soaries, inquiring about a mechanism to change the date of the elections if a major catastrophe occurred on or near Election Day.
Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) described talk of postponing or even canceling the November elections as “unnecessary, and tempting to the terrorists.”
The committee’s ranking member, Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas), said such warnings could, among other things, create fear among voters that might suppress turnout at the polls.
“I think it would be a serious mistake to have the mind-set that al Qaeda is out to influence our elections,” Turner said.
I found another dozen similar quotes from lawmakers from both chambers and both parties. This idea, in other words, just isn’t going anywhere.
So, is this much ado about nothing? Yes and no. Panic that the White House will somehow throw the law aside and cancel the elections is almost certainly unjustified.
That said, it seems more than reasonable to be concerned that the Bush administration has taken it upon themselves to consider how the election procedures — which are supposed to untouchable — could be put in its hands under conditions of their choosing. That’s genuinely scary, and fortunately, unlikely to happen.