DESPTIE THE DELAY, OUR SYSTEM WORKS

As the whole world watched the last votes being recounted in Florida, the marvel of the U.S. election system was under a microscope. Partisan observers were mostly interested in the final tally: Would it be Bush, or would it be Gore?

But step back, for a moment, from the strange sensation of not knowing for at least two full days after the election who the next president of the United State will be. Take a look at what's happening, and then thank your lucky stars that our nation's foundation, the U.S. Constitution, remains rock solid.

And despite the often misunderstood and puzzling role of the Electoral College, our system works. Even with such a close vote, there will be an orderly transition of government power come next Jan. 20. And it will be accomplished without military might. If there are disputes to be resolved, they will be contested in a court of law.

It was good to see representatives of both presidential candidates echoing the theme of constitutional process at the end of a hard-fought campaign and after such a close vote.

For potential voters who didn't go to the polls Tuesday because they thought one more vote one way or the other wouldn't make a difference, this election has been a forceful reminder of the power of just one vote.

As the Florida recount narrowed the margin between George W. Bush and Al Gore even further on Wednesday and Thursday, it became more and more apparent that, after more than 80 million votes were cast nationwide, the decision about our next president would rest on a mere handful of votes.

There are many reasons that the Electoral College performs an invaluable safety net for American presidential elections, not the least of which are a strong two-party system and a mechanism for avoiding the factional alliances of a parliamentary system.

If presidents were chosen by direct vote of the people, where do you think candidates would campaign and spend money? In population centers where more voters can be persuaded than in sparsely populated areas. How would residents of Southeast Missouri like it if their votes were pretty much ignored by presidential candidates who were only interested in the heavy voter turnouts in our nation's cities?

Today we still don't know for sure who the next president will be. But the system worked. All thoughts of tinkering with the process should be put aside.