Crisis, What Crisis?

• Author: KELLEY, TIMOTHY
• Position: Aftermath of the elections - Brief Article

WHILE OTHERS SETTLE DISPUTED ELECTIONS WITH CLUBS AND TEAR GAS, AMERICANS GO TO COURT

It was the revolution that didn't happen. Mobs did not storm the U.S. Capitol, and tanks did not block traffic. For weeks after Election Day 2000, Americans split sharply over which presidential candidate had won the right to move into the White House. But--aside from a few demonstrators on both sides--they took their disagreements to courtrooms, not to the streets.

Other nations weren't so lucky. Countries on three continents--Yugoslavia in Europe, Ivory Coast in Africa, and Haiti in North America--also had disputed elections last fall. The first brought massive street protests; the other two, bloody violence.

Why did the U.S. keep its cool as others lost theirs? Experts say it's because even though many Americans may be cynical about politics, on some level they still retain a fundamental respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.

"We want to be in this for the long term," says Richard Fallon, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School, "and we're not going to tear it up because we're so angry about what happens in a particular case."

IT TOOK MORE THAN BALLOTS

In Yugoslavia on September 24, 2000, voters resoundingly chose Vojislav Kostunica (koss-TOO-nee-cha) over the incumbent President, Slobodan Milosevic (mee-LOH-suh-vitch), who had plunged the country into wars and ethnic strife. But Milosevic fudged the returns, claiming that neither candidate had a majority and therefore a runoff election was needed. So thousands of Yugoslavs, including many teenagers, took to the streets--getting tear-gassed in the process--to demand that Milosevic give way to Kostunica. Finally, the President got the message.

In Ivory Coast's October 22 election, officials required each voter to dip a finger in ink, then finger-stamp a paper ballot in a box next to the candidate's name and image. An ink-stained finger would be a tell-tale sign to guard against voting twice. And ballots were dropped into a glass box while representatives of each candidate looked on.

Sounds fair, doesn't it? But when President Robert Guei, who had called the election, lost by 59 percent to 33 percent, his managers suddenly discovered "massive fraud" and declared him the winner. His political foes resorted to bloody street fighting, in which an estimated 200 people died. Finally, the top vote-getter, Laurent Gbagbo (BAH-bo), was installed as President.

Bombings, drive-by...