Bush admin. considers postponing election if US attacked
Posted by
Mon. Jul 12, 11:22 AM
Float postponing elex if U.S. attacked
Staff Report, New York Daily News
July 12, 2004
Counterterrorism officials have asked the Justice Department to determine if the November presidential election could be postponed in the event a terror attack occurred at that time, Newsweek reported yesterday.
The prospect that Al Qaeda might seek to disrupt the U.S. election was a major factor behind last week's terror warning by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, the magazine said.
Ridge and other counterterrorism officials concede they have no intelligence about any specific plots. But U.S. officials are fearful because of the success of March's Madrid railway bombings in influencing the Spanish elections.
In addition, intercepted "chatter" among Al Qaeda operatives has led analysts to conclude "they want to interfere with the elections," one official told Newsweek.
As a result, sources told the magazine that Homeland Security last week asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to analyze what steps would be needed to permit the postponement of the election were an attack to take place.
Also, DeForest Soaries, chairman of the newly created U.S. Election Assistance Commission, wants Ridge to seek emergency legislation from Congress empowering his agency to postpone an election in the event of a national emergency.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/211426p-182100c.html
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