Rice Says 'No' to Plan for Delaying Elections

[Kadie]

Rice Says 'No' to Plan for Delaying Elections
Monday, July 12, 2004

WASHINGTON — The head of a new federal voting commission suggested to congressional leaders Monday that there should be a process for canceling or rescheduling an election interrupted by terrorism, but national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (search) said no such plan is being considered by the administration.

Federal officials warned last week that intelligence indicates Al Qaeda (search) wants to attack the United States to disrupt the upcoming elections.

"There does not appear to be a clear process in place to suspend or reschedule voting during an election if there is a major terrorist attack," DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, wrote in a letter to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the one-page letter.

Rice said the Bush administration, while concerned about the impact of terrorism, is not thinking of postponing the elections.

"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 said in a televised interview Monday.

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