UNC Faculty Delve Into Electoral Process

A panel consisting of several UNC educators - School of Law Dean Gene Nichol, law professors Buckner Melton and Melissa Saunders and political science Professor George Rabinowitz -held the forum in a town-hall-style format. About 100 people gathered to hear the commentary and ask questions afterward.

Melton, the first to speak, concentrated on the Electoral College's role in American politics. He said this year's presidential election proved the Electoral College needs to be changed.

"(The Electoral College) is out of step with America today," Melton said.

Nichol changed the focus of the forum to the nationwide consequences of the Florida ballot tabulation problems.

"We have entered a state of anarchy," he said, citing pending lawsuits, partisan accusations and rumors of election fraud.

Nichol also debated the abolition of the Electoral College. He said he doesn't know exactly what needs to be done but that he is convinced that some changes need to be made.

Saunders followed, explaining the ongoing developments in Florida's legal system and its effects on the election.

"I think we're expecting perfection from systems that aren't capable of it," she said.

Saunders also discussed the disputed ballots and pending civil lawsuits filed by disgruntled voters. But she said those suits probably won't hold much weight in court.

"Voter confusion, in general, is not a good claim," Saunders said.

Rabinowitz took a nonpolitical approach, explaining the mathematics of the election and the Electoral College.

He reviewed predictions, which pointed convincingly to Gore, and said the election would already be over if Gore had run a good race.

"Gore ran a really poor campaign," he said. "He was a really weak candidate."

Jon Klasfeld, a resident of much-publicized Palm Beach County was in town and attended the forum.

"I thought it was perfectly accurate," he said. "I was shocked they had everything right."

The panelists then fielded questions from the audience, many of which concerned the abnormality of the process in Florida.

But none of the panelists had a definite answer to most of the audience's questions.

Nichol jokingly said, "A lot of our electoral system works fine if we don't have close elections."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.