On the next two pages, find the thoughts of our worldwide community. Responses are listed in the order in which they were received. --- RA]

1- Yes, I hope so.

2. Yes - should be a recount across the country!!

3. Yes

4. Yes, with a minimum threshold


FROM Joseph Fribley, (No City Provided,) USA:

1--I certainly hope it leads to a change in the Constitution. Will it? I don't know -- if the Republicans feel they benefitted from this terrible result, they probably will resist efforts to change it -- but the public surely wants it changed.

2--Absolutely yes. The pre-published ballot didn't show the placement of the "holes" and that makes the entire matter much more misleading and confusing. It is ludicrous to believe that when 20,000, much less 15,000, voters have had their ballots rejected that the authorities still haven't acted to clear up this type of confusion. You really get the idea that Florida officials don't really care!

3--It isn't up to Gore-- it isn't his right that has been effected [only peripherally]; it is the voters' rights that have been taken away by an almost comic result. If it weren't so serious, you would believe that the State of Florida was a "banana republic!"

4--Yes. And, there should be a minimum threshold of 51% -- if not reached, then a runoff between the two highest vote-total recipients.


FROM Hideo Tsuji, (No City Provided,) JAPAN:

1 - Do you think the flap over the Electoral College - v - the popular vote will lead to a change in the US Constitution?

No, I don't think so.

2 - Should there have been a recount in Palm Beach because of the massive confusion over the ballot?

Yes, they shoud recount the results of Palm Beach voters. I guess most of people voted to Buchanan in their mistakes.

3 - Is Gore right in supporting legal action for contested Florida contests?

Yes, Gore is right.

4 - Should Presidential elections be based solely on the popular vote? If so, should there be a minimum threshold for victory, for example 51% of the popular vote?

Yes, I think the Presidential elections should be based on the popular vote. So the Winner should get 51% of the popular vote.

Hideo Tsuji
a freelance journalist from Japan


FROM L. Larson, (No City Provided,) USA:

I understand the Bush campaign has begun the process of assuming the presidency, by putting his transition team in place. Given that the Florida vote is so close, that the final vote is not certified, and that the courts of the land are still weighing the validity of the Florida vote, this seems to me an almost treasonous act.

Until the people have spoken, nobody assumes the presidency in this nation. Period.

Both candidates should back off and let the people speak and the courts decide. The people and the rule of law are supreme, not spin doctors and politicians.

Sincerely, L. Larson


FROM Jock Fenster, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA:

People all over the world have said for years that the US elections are too costly and too long. This just underscores that fact, in my mind.

The "Greatest Nation in the World," as you would see yourselves, has been making itself a laughing stock for years now. I could do a litany from your government shutting down under Newt Gingrich to the Clinton impeachment over a shag to this latest mess, but why bother.

Maybe it time for you Yanks to accept that you are not the center of the world...


FROM Peg Thomas, St. Paul, MN, USA:

What a fabulous day for democracy. Thanks to George W. Bush and Al Gore the world gets to scrutinize every discriminatory and racist practice throughout the entire state of Florida whether state officials want them to or not!

In fact, state officials cannot even intervene. The Southern Law and Poverty Project, Jesse Jackson, the NAACP have been trying to bring attention to these atrocities of discriminatory voting practices for years with incremental success. Suddenly, even the Cuban government has officially come forward to volunteer to be poll watchers and ballot counters.

I think that many states where black people have been terrorized, intimidated, and forced to leave the polling places as a matter of course are changing their systems as we speak. In one fell swoop George W. Bush and Al Gore have created the social justice issue for the next several years: voter reform, a call for universal ballots, appropriate voter registration systems, and stellar voter tabulation systems.

Going forward, it should be harder to "lose" the votes from an entire precinct, or to get 7,000 mail ballots postmarked at 11:00 p.m. the night of the elections, 3 hours after the polls close!

Excellent equipment for all precincts will no doubt be furnished through Federal Funds, which of course is completely appropriate--the government has suddenly realized that ensuring a vote for each and every adult is the premise of our system. Who knows, with all of us now fairly well versed in the electoral college, perhaps that will be significantly changed as well.

Of course, no one has addressed the fact that the electoral college is made up of PEOPLE, elected or appointed in each state, who TYPICALLY vote party lines but who are not mandated to do so. I wonder what will happen when the electors change their votes? Now that will be interesting!

In the meantime, my progressive friends should be singing in the streets! Stunning social justice victories have been achieved this week.

Peg Thomas

Continue to Page TWO of the Survey. -->