Oklahoma lawmaker proposes presidential election-return blackout
By The Associated Press
11.14.00
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OKLAHOMA CITY — On the day Republican George W. Bush was
certified as the winner in Oklahoma, a GOP state senator yesterday proposed a 2 1/2-hour blackout on vote results in future presidential elections in
the state.
Sen. Grover Campbell, R-Owasso, also proposed legislation designed to
thwart exit polling.
"Basically, this proposed legislation would bar state election
officials from reporting any presidential election returns until 9:30 p.m.
Central Daylight Time," Campbell said. "Secondly, no pollsters would be allowed
to conduct exit polls within a certain distance of a political location."
He said the distance would probably be 300 feet, the same as the
current prohibition against electioneering.
Campbell said there are valid concerns that erroneous reports
predicting election results may have influenced last week's presidential
election.
He said Oklahoma could lead the nation in curing future problems by
passing his proposed legislation.
"Delaying the posting of presidential returns in Oklahoma by two and a
half hours will still allow the local media to report Oklahoma's results that
evening, while making sure Oklahoma does what it can to help prevent national
media reports from influencing voters in western states," Campbell said.
Campbell said he did not think his proposals would run afoul of the
U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantees because the responsibility for
the conduct of elections is left to the states.
"I think this is an idea that will catch on," the senator said.
However, Ray Marcano, president of the Society of Professional
Journalists, says the proposed legislation is "terribly misguided."
"The media is a convenient scapegoat for many people," he said. "We
will probably see similar attempts to put clamps on the media's ability to
report information."
Marcano predicts these attempts will fail.
"You cannot put these type of handcuffs on the press' ability to
report this type of information, at least not in this country," he said.
Update
Making the Sooner State the Later State
First Amendment Outrage The political adage, "As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation," could be rewritten to become, "As the nation goes, then goes Oklahoma" if a lawmaker in the Sooner State presses forward with a legislative proposal to delay the reporting of presidential election returns.
11.22.00
Previous
House panel to review news media's election calls
Rep. Billy Tauzin said early call of Florida for Al Gore may have deterred voters in Western states from going to the polls.
11.10.00
Newseum highlights media's history of election blunders
'These kinds of mistakes have always been made,' says news historian Eric Newton.
11.09.00
Florida election returns prove Achilles' heel for news media
Networks, newspapers backpedal after prematurely declaring George W. Bush winner of 2000 presidential race.
11.08.00
Related
Group with GOP ties sues TV networks over early call on Florida
Lawsuit filed in Okaloosa County seeks to prevent networks, Voter News Service from making similar projections in future elections before all polls close in a state.
11.16.00
Congressional Republicans charge networks with election-night bias
House Telecommunications Subcommittee chairman says early calls for Gore might have discouraged Republican voters, affected outcome in Florida and other states.
11.17.00
Networks should shun congressional hearings on election coverage
By Douglas Lee Voluntary participation by media in hearings would legitimize an illegitimate inquiry.
11.22.00
Senator considers resurrecting legislation to regulate election reporting
Meanwhile, Walter Cronkite suggests news organizations slow down in calling elections.
11.27.00
