Alaska's odd voting returns present Palin with 'open door' to stand up for fair elections

It turns out that Campaign 2008 has its own variation of Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004: It’s Alaska.

Low voter turnout numbers and wide discrepancies between pre-election polls and Election Night results have set the blogosphere afire with all manner of speculation in hopes of explaining the contradictions.

Oftentimes, this e-chatter goes nowhere, but on Nov. 8, the online buzz bubbled up into the pages of The Anchorage Daily News. The state’s largest newspaper published a well-written article which raises questions about why so many Alaskans would have skipped voting when registrations are at an all-time high and one of their own was on the GOP ticket.

Since the ADN article’s publication, Alaskan officials said they found some 90,000 ballots that also need to be counted. The Alaska Division of Elections expects to have most of these ballots counted by Friday, although absentee ballots mailed from overseas have until Nov. 19 to arrive.

Regardless of the number of votes, the 62-36 percent victory for the GOP’s self-proclaimed pair of mavericks, Sen. John McCainJohn McCain and the state’s own Gov. Sarah PalinSarah Palin, was much higher than many polls projected. Ultimately, however, that is of little consequence. What matters is the result of the Alaskan Senate race.

Convicted felon Ted Stevens (R) was facing re-election (and trailing in most pre-election polls) against the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, Mark BegichMark Begich. As of Nov. 11, CNN was reporting that Stevens led Begich 106,594 to 103,337 in total votes. With at least a quarter of the total vote still to be counted, the race could go either way.

It is vital that the votes be counted accurately, and that all eligible votes are counted. This principle is something most Americans took for granted before the Florida debacle in 2000. Since then, voting “reform” measures – including heavier reliance on e-voting machines – have understandably failed to reassure the nation’s electorate.

This is where Palin could take the first step toward making herself a viable contender for the 2012 presidential nomination. A recent poll already shows that 64 percent of the Republican Party wants her to run in four years, but the results of the 2008 election show that she will need a lot more than two-thirds support in her own party to win.

In an interview with Greta Van SusterenGreta Van Susteren of FOX News, Palin indicated openness toward seeking the presidency in 2012. “I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is,” Palin said. “Even if it's cracked up a little bit, maybe I'll plough right on through that and maybe prematurely plough through it, but don't let me miss an open door."

The Punditty Project wishes to make it explicitly clear that it is not trying to “play God” with the following suggestion. What follows is mere punditry, but with a basis in what TPP believes to be an electoral reality: Palin’s “open door” needs to be a Big Cause, something tangible that would garner wide support across party lines.

Given the current situation in Alaska, that cause may well be Free and Fair Elections. Palin finds herself in the perfect place to take a stand for electoral integrity. If the results in Alaska remain this strange, regardless of who prevails in the Senate race, she could launch a full-scale investigation with a vow to prosecute under full penalty of law if corruption is uncovered.

How Palin responds to her state's electoral crisis will go a long way in revealing if she is a Real American Maverick (RAM) or a Maverick In Name Only (MINO). If Palin is going to convince Americans she’s more than just a one-hit wonder wronged by the McCain campaign and the press, restoring faith in the American electoral system is the perfect place for her to start.

The Punditty Project strongly recommends The Brad Blog at http://www.bradblog.com/ for coverage of issues related to the integrity of American elections.