Continuing Incompetence

In Florida’s Broward and Miami-Dade counties, votes were miscounted—or sometimes not counted at all. The election system itself was part of the culprit; the complicated voting mechanism confounded voters and polling officials alike.

These scenes were commonplace in the aftermath of Election 2000 and caught the nation by surprise; few Americans had imagined that an election could be held hostage by such obvious mistakes. That these widespread errors and stunning displays of incompetence were repeated in Florida’s 2002 democratic gubernatorial primary—finally conceded on Tuesday evening by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno after a week of recounts—is nothing less than mind-boggling. It’s one thing to fail to anticipate a problem; it is quite another to be aware of a flawed system and replace it with something that might even be worse.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush failed miserably in his pledge to create an election system that was the model of the nation. Thirty-two million dollars later, the same type of problems plague Florida’s democracy.

—DAVID M. DeBARTOLO

DWI: Driving With Impunity

It seems as though our nation’s municipal officials, the men and women who spend their days crafting largely forgettable resolutions and annoying ordinances, have themselves decided to stop heeding their own rules. The members of the District of Columbia Council this summer voted themselves parking ticket exemptions from nearly all parking infractions. While members are already exempt from citations because of overtime meters, they decided—as a matter of ‘home rule’—to extend their privileges to match those of members of Congress, so that they would be able to park at crosswalks, bus stops and residential permit areas without penalty. The sponsor of the measure said that there was “something not right” about members of Congress having more privileges in this area than council members. The proposal, like most D.C. ordinances, is now awaiting Congressional approval. Don’t hold your breath.

But parking woes for municipal officials are not self-contained in D.C. Here in Boston, City Councilor Chuck Turner, who represents Roxbury, spent his summer try to stave off his seventh license suspension. Turner has been issued 31 parking tickets since January 2001. His RMV record runs five pages long. His most recent scuffle with law enforcement comes from the fact that he is driving a beat-up Chrysler that has failed its inspection. But this is nothing new for Turner, who has been known on several occasions to drive with an expired or revoked license. In addressing these violations to the Boston Herald this summer, the councilor, who bills himself as “Bald and Bold,” explained, “I have a strong moral sense but it’s not informed by American laws.”

However, those who are very well informed by American laws still had trouble abiding by them this summer. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist was issued a speeding ticket for breezing through the town of Sidney in upstate New York. The justice, who will pay the citation issued to him by the Oneonta Police Department, had little explanation for reporters when reached about the matter at his summer home in Vermont. “I plead guilty,” he said, and refused to say how fast he was going. Speedy Trial Act indeed.

—RONALDO RAUSEO-RICUPERO