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Thursday, November 4, 2004

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2004 The Michigan Daily

Bush

agenda
un olded
for term
By Justin Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
Now that a majority of Americans
have given President Bush a second
term, it may be useful to know what he
says he plans for the next four years.
Bush has said he will continue
with his five-point plan to help "Iraq
achieve democracy and freedom" by
trying to ensure Iraqi elections this
January. But violence in Iraq threat-
ens the election, as some provinces
may be too violent to establish polling
places.
To help pave the way for these
elections, 142,000 U.S. soldiers - the
highest number since the end of major
combat in May 2003 - continue to
fight the insurgency and are preparing
to mount offensives in insurgent sanc-
tuaries like Fallujah and Ramadi, mil-
itary leaders in Iraq report, according
to the AP.
Bush said in his address to the
Republican National Convention in
September that the goal of elections
goes beyond simply creating a govern-
ment in Iraq.
"Free governments in the Middle
East will fight terrorists instead of
harboring them, and that helps us
keep the peace. So our mission in
Afghanistan and Iraq is clear: We will
help new leaders to train their armies,
and move toward elections and get on
the path of stability and democracy as
quickly as possible," he said.
Bush says he plans to use the U.S.
army and NATO forces to train about
260,000 Iraqi security personnel who
will eventually be able to fight along-
side coalition forces and later protect
the Iraqi government after American
forces leave. Americans and Iraqis
have already fought alongside each
other, as two battalions of Iraqi sol-
diers went into Samarra with U.S.
troops in October.
In neighboring Iran, the Bush
administration says it will try to stop
the Iranian nuclear program, which it
and the United Nations claim is being
used to build nuclear weapons. The
Iranians deny they are working on a
nuclear bomb, but they have entered
into talks with Britain, Germany and
France to freeze uranium enrichment.
"The international community must
come together to make it very clear to
Iran that we will not tolerate the con-
struction of a nuclear weapon. Iran
would be dangerous if they have a
nuclear weapon," Bush said to a meet-
ing of senators with both parties in
June of last year.
The threat of nuclear weapons
will also remain an issue with North
Korea, as the president says he intends
on pushing the communist nation to
rejoin disarmament talks with region-
al leaders.
Closer to home, the White House
says the next four years will see an
ambitious domestic policy agenda,
with Bush's "ownership society" as its
1 legislative centerpiece.
The plan aims to increase personal con-
trol of health care, education and saving
interests. It would use tax incentives and
structural changes to some programs. An
example of the program would be the so-
See BUSH, Page 7A

President
celebrates
win, Keny
concedes

..: By Farayha Arrine
Daily Staff Reporter
w WASHINGTON - President Bush accepted his
re-election yesterday by addressing the nation and
vowing, as he did in 2000, to unite a partisan popu-
lation.
"Today I want to speak to every person who
voted for my opponent," the President said, stand-
,, f. ing alongside his family. "To make our nation
' .stronger and better, I will need your support, and I
will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve
your trust."
After a night of vote tabulations and shifting
k ~predictions by pundits and political analysts, it was
largely conceded yesterday morning that by win-
.ning the crucial state of Ohio, Bush had won the
popular and electoral vote.
Acknowledging Bush's insurmountable lead in
Ohio, Democratic candidate John Kerry conceded
yesterday afternoon and pledged to do his part to
unite the nation.
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke briefly before
introducing the president at the Ronald Regan
building in Washington and thanked supporters for
allowing him to preside over a more Republican-
controlled Senate.
{ On stage, the President departed from his usual
approach by making almost no mention of terrorists,
GRAPHIC: LINDSEY UNGAR PHOTO: DAVID TUMAN/Daily homeland security or his commitment to continue
Re-elected President Bush and his family leave a roaring crowd after his acceptance speech at his victory celebration headquarters in the war on terrorism. He avoided these topics that his
the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington yesterday. See ELECTION, Page 7
Voters complain nation at pols

By Michael Kan
Daily Staff Reporter
DETROIT - In an election already marred by
provisional ballot challenges, numerous reports of
voter discrimination from nonpartisan poll monitor-
ing groups underline the possible flaws in the nation's
voting systems.
Further impeding the voting process were accounts

from student polling volunteers who said that ballot
challengers were intimidating voters, signifying how
fierce partisanship of the election permeated polling
sites.
Racial slurs from election workers, missing bilin-
gual ballots and unwarranted demands to check voter
identification turned away Asian American voters
across the nation, according to reports by the Asian
American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Learning from the lessons of the 2000 election,
Margaret Fung, executive director of the legal fund,
said the organization prepared for possible break-
downs at polling sites by taking measures such as
contacting polling sites with records of voter dis-
crimination to ensure they had language interpreters
and provisional ballots on hand.
Despite their efforts, Fung said their exit polls
of Asian Americans in eight states indicated wide-

spread instances of voter discrimination, leaving
many of the voters feeling disenfranchised. Refus-
als by election officials to provide provisional ballots
and voters directed to the wrong polling locations
were just some of the incidents that hampered the
Asian American vote.
"There were racist remarks in New York City
- poll workers were blaming them for holding up
See POLLS, Page 2A

Youth voter
turnout highest
since 1972

By Amy Kwolek
Daily Staff Reporter
Not since the 1972 presidential election
have more young people voted. Twenty-
one million people ages 18 to 29 voted in
Tuesday's elections, not including absen-
tee ballots, according to Holly Teresi of
the Youth Vote Coalition. According to
unofficial election results from seven main
polling locations on campus, nearly 9,000
University students voted. Overall, 120
million people voted in the election.
"We had a great turnout, and I think that
it showed how important this election was
to our generation," said Pete Woiwode, co-
chair of the Michigan Student Assembly's

Voice Your Vote Commission.
Voice Your Vote is a nonpartisan group
that focuses on registering new voters and
promoting political participation on campus.
"I am pleased with the turnout. I con-
sider it a success for the Voice Your Vote
Commission and the campus as a whole,"
Woiwode said.
Since the 2000 election, the number of
youth voters at the polls increased by 4.6
million. The turnout rate rose from about
42 percent to 52 percent.
"I think a lot of students were con-
cerned about who was going to be the next
president, which is unique. In years past
it hasn't mattered so much which actual
See YOUTH, Page 2A

Election official Edward Couture goes over a ballot with LSA freshman Alana Kantrowltz at Mary
Markley Residence Hall polling site on Tuesday.

Democrats to retain majority on

'U' Board of Regents