NCE THE COUNTRY finally has a president, it may be tempting to cover this election's tracks. Better to move on, some will surely say, for the sake of national unity. This would be a mistake. Anything that appears to be dirty laundry should be aired. This is a step away from dark conspiracy theories and toward justice and a better voting system.
The US Justice Department is doing a bit of this work, investigating whether voting irregularities took place in Florida. But it was slow to respond to these complaints. And now it's a cautious, lame-duck agency that in the words of Attorney General Janet Reno is ''reviewing each matter to determine whether it would be appropriate for us to proceed... ''
If George W. Bush becomes president, Justice Department officials would probably have far less interest in such an investigation.
This could leave disturbing questions about reports of voter intimidation, inadequate staff and equipment at polls in minority neighborhoods, why some voters were denied translators and assistance, and why Florida's purge of felons from its voting rolls resulted in the removal of what's reported to be thousands of eligible voters' names.
This isn't simply partisan bickering - Democrats with bad attitudes picking fights because Al Gore seemed to be losing the election. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People started ringing alarm bills while the polls were still open - many hours before anyone could imagine what a battlefield sunny Florida would become.
An NAACP press release issued on Election Day warned of reports that voters in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida had received deceptive calls ''from persons claiming to be NAACP officials,'' soliciting votes for Governor Bush. The release also mentioned complaints from Florida ''of racial profiling of black males by police near polling sites.''
Some of the heavy investigative lifting will be done by the media and nonprofit and civil rights organizations. The NAACP has already compiled a 300-page document of alleged voting abuses in Florida. Such efforts should create a valuable public record that doubles as a blueprint for improvement. Law suits filed on behalf of voters may offer some remedies.
But there should also be some form of government accounting, a ledger of voting abuses balanced by a plan to clear up obvious problems in the national elections that will occur two and four years from now. Taking a step forward, the US Commission on Civil Rights will hold hearings in January where Florida citizens can testify about alleged abuses.
The country will need to unite and heal. The best way to do this - no matter who becomes president - is to deliberately expose dysfunctional voting systems and fix them.
