George W. Bush yesterday announced the creation of an independent commission, which will decide which votes should be counted in the next election.
The move follows increasing criticism in the wake of Michael Moore’s film Fahrenheit 9/11 which shows members of the Congressional Black Caucus protesting about exclusion of thousands of Black US citizens from the previous Presidential elections.
The independent commission, which will be staffed by Republican members of the senate, will attempt to do away with any claim that votes have been randomly denied during the next election. The Bush administration aims to do this by clearly defining categories to which voting will be denied as well as broadening the categories involved.
“Much of the criticism has come about because those unable to vote were exclusively black,” the President told CNN. “This has lead to claims of institutional racism, but that’s clearly not true; this is not about racism but about winning no matter what anyone else thinks.”
It’s believed that the commission will avoid future criticism by highlighting a number of non-black groups to be excluded from the voting process in 2004 including peace activists, anyone with Arab ethnicity, Asians, poor people or middle-class white Democrats.
