The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

coMMissioneR goRton 343
The commission did recommend it to the whole country. It also endorsed
making voting easier for members of the military and other citizens
living overseas, as well as the restoration of voting rights to felons
who had served their sentences. Election Day should be designated a national
holiday, the commission said, a “civic day” of participatory democracy.
It urged Congress to appropriate matching funds to help states upgrade
their registration systems and voting equipment. It asked the media
to hold off reporting results until polls were closed across the country.
The commission endorsed the adoption of computerized registration lists
and uniform standards for vote counting and recounting. One of the report’s
underlying themes, however, was that state-by-state election reform
was preferable to a larger federal role. 10*
The commission’s report was laced with Zelikow. His reputation for
abrasiveness had preceded him, but Gorton was impressed by his persuasive
diplomacy. “He did a marvelous job of deferring to everyone but leading
the commission in the direction that he wanted.” 11
After Lott appointed him to the 9/11 Commission, the first thing Gorton
did was call Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, its chairman and vicechairman.
“Your executive director has to be Philip Zelikow,” Gorton
said. “He is absolutely the smartest guy around.”
* Bush signed the Help America Vote Act in the fall of 2002. It created the U.S. Election
Assistance Commission and authorized $3 billion in grants to the states. Funds were earmarked
to buy out antiquated punch-card and lever voting machines. Statewide voter registration
databases were mandated, together with provisional ballots nationwide.