DEMOCRACY DEBATE

Jimmy Carter to chair Election Reform Commission

Former President Jimmy Carter will lead a bipartisan commission to examine problems with the U.S. election system, American University's Center for Democracy and Election Management said on Thursday.
Carter, a Democrat whose Carter Center has monitored more than 50 elections around the world, will co-chair the private commission with Republican James Baker, who served as Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush.
Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat who lost his seat in the 2004 election, will also participate.
'I am concerned about the state of our electoral system and believe we need to improve it,' Carter said in a statement. He said the group will assess 'issues of inclusion' in federal voting and propose recommendations to improve the process.

Disputes over recounts and voter eligibility marred the 2000 U.S. presidential election and concerns emerged in the November 2004 poll about exceedingly long lines that kept voters from the polls in several states including Ohio, whose 20 electoral college votes ultimately decided the election in President Bush's favor.