Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Unnecessary problems

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000 | 9:47 a.m.

Every state has election problems, but most gain little national attention unless a vital U.S. Senate seat or the presidency is affected. Florida is an extreme case that has been made worse because of Katherine Harris, who is both secretary of state and Gov. George Bush's Florida presidential campaign co-chairwoman. As Florida's top election official, she became an immediate target, and in a matter of hours she took partisan action to enlarge her role as a legitimate target. This, in turn, made her an unfair target when making routine decisions.

What has happened in Florida should be a warning for other election officials. Very simply, don't ever become actively involved in any election you may be called upon to oversee and arbitrate. In the case of Harris, immediately upon the rise of big problems she should have taken herself out of the role of chief arbiter. This she didn't do and went ahead to exacerbate an already bad situation.

Did it have to be this way? No. Here in Nevada, Secretary of State Dean Heller, also a Republican, oversaw the full recount of votes in problem counties following the 1998 voting for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Sen. Harry Reid and sought by Republican Rep. John Ensign. The integrity of Heller and District Court Judge Janet Berry was never questioned. Also, three times when Ensign's counsel wanted an extension of time for recounts, his requests were not challenged by Reid and were granted by Berry. The issue wasn't settled until December. Recounting ballots in Nevada succeeded because of the integrity of the people making decisions.

Oh, there have been other lesser voting conflicts, with the Nevada Supreme Court forcing a new election in one Assembly district and the Assembly deciding another election. Both took place in 1971 and 1972 and the results were accepted for government to move forward. Even the Republican-dominated Assembly calling a Republican candidate the winner was accepted by both a Democrat Senate and governor.

Political contests are exactly that -- they are contests. Like any contest or campaign there is need for an impartial referee. This is a person or group of people who make decisions based on fairness and what is best for the voters and fair for the contestants. How we see people is often based on our own values and knowledge of the referee's impartiality. If the referee of an NFL football game is wearing the uniform of one of the teams, there is good reason to question his ability to be impartial.

Calling an athletic contest and knowing all of the rules is very difficult. Overseeing a political contest and voter recount is even more difficult, and the results can make a difference in the lives of large numbers of people for several years. Adding to this, a distrust of the referee only complicates the entire procedure and casts a shadow over the end results.

As a monitor of two voter registrations, campaigns and elections in Nicaragua; one election for the Kurds in Northern Iraq; and one for the Cherokee Nation, I have come to learn how it's done in other places. Add to this my role as a writer and observer of Israeli and Palestinian elections make several similarities and differences become apparent.

In 1989 I was extremely suspicious of the president of Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council, Mariano Fiallos Oyanguren, because of his Sandinista background. During the following months he showed me that his personal integrity was more important to him than partisan politics. The Supreme Electoral Council consisted of Fiallos, a vice president, three magistrates and a secretary. This group oversees registration, campaigns, voting and vote counting, and they are closely watched by every competing political party, the voters and outside monitors.

About the closest entity we have to a final electoral council is our courts, because personal integrity is vital to almost every judge I have come to know. Putting too much electoral-decision power in the hands of an elected political partisan in Florida has been recognized by Americans as creating unnecessary problems. Kathryn Harris isn't Dean Heller and, thank heavens, Florida isn't Nevada.