. . . At Least Not Yet.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Voting: What really threatens American democracy? Fraud and error are problems, but the pursuit of perfect elections through the courts only makes matters worse.

By now, with more than two centuries of practice, one would think the U.S. has earned the right to hold a vote without second-guessing from foreign busybodies. Americans have a solid electoral system, if not a perfect one. But it's not immune from damage due to bad luck and bad judgment.

The bad luck could come in the form of an extremely close vote in one or more swing states. The latest polls suggest this could happen in several states at once, and thousands of partisan lawyers are ready to rumble if it does. That's where the bad judgment comes in.

Anyone with the good of the country at heart would do everything possible to avoid a repeat of the 2000 long count. But that fiasco left grudges to be settled, and it taught lessons that are hard to unlearn.

Democrats are convinced they were cheated out of power by Republican Supreme Court justices. They also learned that judges on their side (the Florida Supreme Court) were more than willing to change legislated election rules after a vote to produce a desired result. They have already laid the groundwork for lawsuits by claiming the GOP is trying to rob minority voters of their rights.

Republicans have marshaled their own legal army. Each party now has its distinctive complaint. Democrats are ready to pounce on any tight vote with the charge that some votes were unfairly excluded. The GOP will allege fraud -- that some votes were illegally ...