Chads for the Ages

Florida's highest court has now secured its state's vote-tabulating processes a place in American history. So it's only fitting that a curator from the Smithsonian should be down there making sure this one-of-a-kind election will be a tangible presence in the nation's archives.

He hopes to gather (in clear view of bipartisan observers, we assume) some of those critical bits of paper on which the election could turn. He'll also grab a butterfly ballot or two, and maybe even a punch-card voting machine (get 'em while they last!)

Our thanks to the Smithsonian for being fast to commemorate the slow election. It's a bit of history we'd just as soon not be condemned to repeat.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society