Carter fears 'vote cheating'
2004-10-18 22:18
Washington - Former United States president Jimmy Carter expressed fears on Monday there could be vote cheating in battleground states in the US election on November 2.
"I'm still a little bit concerned there might be some improprieties on election day, as there was in Florida" in 2000, said Carter, who regularly takes part in international electoral observer missions, to ABC television.
"If it's a very close election, then the improper actions of powerful political leaders who happen to be partisan could shape the election one way or the other, particularly in Florida or Ohio, say" said the former Democrat president.
Carter highlighted lawsuits that had been filed in key states, where Republican president George W Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry were in a close battle.
He said that in these states "there was some doubt that the election would be honest and fair and open and transparent".
Carter, who led a commission that proposed changes to the US election system after the 2000 vote debacle in Florida, said the best way to avoid fraud was to ensure "intense scrutiny from the very beginning".
Bush won the 2000 election after securing Florida by just 537 votes.
The US supreme court finally rejected demands for a complete recount in the southern state.
- AFP