November elections not likely to be postponed, experts say
By Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press, July 13, 2004.

WASHINGTON ? Even if terrorists were to attack on Election Day, it is highly unlikely that voting could or would be halted across the United States, lawmakers and scholars said yesterday.

Congress could postpone a federal election, but only by passing a law to do so, while the Bush administration has no legal authority to act on its own.

The question arose after Newsweek magazine reported in its July 19 issue that counterterrorism officials were reviewing a proposal that could allow for postponing the election. Federal officials warned last week that intelligence indicates al-Qaida wants to attack the United States to disrupt the upcoming elections.

But the Department of Homeland Security said yesterday it has no plans to seek such a contingency plan.

National-security adviser Condoleezza Rice was even more emphatic. "We've had elections in this country when we were at war, even when we were in civil war. And we should have the elections on time. That's the view of the president; that's the view of the administration," Rice told CNN yesterday.

The Homeland Security Department has been researching laws and precedents to gather information, but it is not drafting a plan. An official said the research was prompted by inquiries from the Election Assistance Commission, a little-known federal advisory body whose chairman, DeForest Soaries, pointed out in a letter to the department and to Congress that no federal agency has the authority to postpone an election.

Several senior lawmakers forcefully rejected the suggestion that this fall's elections might be postponed.

"We should be an example for democracies around the world, and that means holding our elections as scheduled," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

"Were we to postpone the elections, it would represent a victory for the terrorists," said Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "The election is going to go forward."

Added Cox: "I personally wouldn't want to give anybody in Washington, least of all people who are running themselves, authority to reschedule an election."