Claims of election conspiracy are nuts

Jimmy Carter wasn't much of a president. He's even worse as an ex-president. Carter told the international community this week that he fears the upcoming elections here will be flawed and do not meet "basic international requirements." He says the elections could be undermined.

Carter fancies himself as a self-styled election observer having served in that capacity in several countries in the past. But his partisan politics came to the surface with his attack on the upcoming elections. He should be held accountable for his despicable comments.

Carter and former President Gerald Ford were asked three years ago to come up with recommendations to improve the elections following the fiasco in Florida in 2000. Carter says none of his recommendations have been followed.

He accused Florida election officials of helping Ralph Nader get on the Florida ballot this year because his candidacy might siphon votes from John Kerry. And he accused Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of you-know-who, of being part of the election conspiracy. And he says more black felons have been barred from the polls in Florida than Hispanic felons. Blacks traditionally support Democratic candidates and Hispanics are increasingly pro-Republican.

He calls the Florida election a "suspicious process".

Now let's get one thing straight.

The federal election commission named to study the 2000 vote in Florida concluded that voters there were NOT disenfranchised. The confusion came from a Democrat party-designed ballot that resulted in many ballots being rejected. Those rejections came in a heavily Democratic county where members of the Democratic party held control. But Carter - in most partisan fashion - made no reference to the thousands of military ballots that went uncounted because of delays. By all reckoning, the overwhelming majority of those votes were Republican.

Jimmy Carter has joined the legions of Democrats who are setting the stage for a post-election court battle. St. Louis Democratic leaders concede they are already preparing for court battles there in the wake of the chaos of 2000. If you are legally registered, if you vote in the proper location and if you have no criminal record that would prohibit your vote, you will have no problem voting anywhere in this nation. The horror stories that followed the 2000 vote were each proven false and Jimmy Carter knows that. But if you can't win one way, win by any means. Or that's the thinking of some.

Jimmy Carter should be ashamed of broadcasting to the world the same garbage that has been proven false in this country. He gives good politicians a bad name. And even for a Georgia peanut farmer, that's not easy.