FOXNews offers this report. Of course, we know that many of the problems cannot be fixed by 2004. In Illinois, for example, punch cards will be used in 2004; under a recent settlement of a lawsuit challenging the use of the cards, the state agreed to eliminate them, but not in time for the next election. Indeed, Democrats almost passed legislation allowing a “dimpled chad” to count as a vote in a punch card recount—the legislation was blocked by Republicans, though it passed in the Illinois lower house as part of a bill that would have allowed President Bush’s name to appear on the ballot despite the late date of the Republican convention.
So despite the optimistic “vow” in the title of this article, I know of no one who believes the serious problems will be eliminated in 2004. Instead, we must rely on the election officials’ prayer that the election not be close.