Today's New York Times op-ed pages offered a wake-up call to anyone who's not aware of the high risk of another election day and post-election train wreck this year. David Boies and Ted Olson, the contending attorneys in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision that ended the 2000 election, both agree the risk is very high so long as the presidential contest is close. And both agree on two post-2000 factors that could contribute to chaos: Bush v. Gore itself, which arguably created a federal constitutional cause of action for anyone claiming intrastate electoral irregularities, and the inadequacies of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which left far too many election procedure decisions in the hands of state and local election officials.

The conjunction of these two factors virtually guarantees post-election litigation if the outcome might be altered by the qualification or disqualification of a few thousand votes in any state or any combination of states.

But worse yet, we don't have to wait for Election Day for the shenanigans to begin. As today's Washington Post explains, the Republican Party appears to have decisively committed itself to a strategy of wholesale harassment of minority voters in at least one battleground state, Ohio.

As New Democrat Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman put it, "A storm is brewing in Ohio."

Based on scattered and largely anecdotal reports of improper registrations in minority neighborhoods, the Ohio GOP, exploiting an obscure 1953 law, has already challenged 35,000 new voters in heavily Democratic areas, forcing already overwhelmed election officials to hold hearings on each challenge (ironically, given the Bush-Cheney campaign's efforts to convince voters that re-electing the president is essential for the morale of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, these challenges appear to disproportionately affect active duty personnel overseas). But the real Ohio outrage may occur on November 2 itself, when the GOP plans to send "volunteers" (reportedly being paid $100 for their time) into 8,000 (largely Democratic) precincts with instructions to challenge as many voters as possible. You don't have to be partisan or paranoid to suspect the aim is less about detecting ineligible voters than about making the experience of voting as slow and unpleasant as possible. That's "voter intimidation" by any definition.

It's all the more egregious because Republicans have already won a decision from the courts in Ohio and in Florida as well that the "provisional" ballots that HAVA requires for challenged voters can be thrown out by election officials if they turn out to be cast in the wrong precinct -- a technical violation of election laws at worst.

The coordinated nature of this effort, which is likely being replicated in other battleground states, is amply illustrated by the dire warnings of "electoral fraud" that have suddenly arisen from the lips of any pol or pundit with access to Bush-Cheney campaign talking points. Indeed, some pro-Bush voices -- most notably syndicated columnist George Will -- have articulated the outrageous idea that eligible voters have an affirmative obligation to detect and overcome official incompetence or malice in voting procedures. "Careless voters," says Will, should suffer the "punishment of an unrecorded preference."

This is the sort of thinking that not only justifies official incompetence and malice in electoral procedures, but far worse, justifies widespread partisan harassment and intimidation of American citizens in the name of "punishing" those "careless voters." When aimed at those minority voters who have so often been denied the franchise on specious grounds, it's far worse, in our judgment, than any of the incidental "fraud" that might be associated with a policy of giving willing voters the presumption of every doubt.

We believe two things need to happen to address these developments, one during the next seven days, and the other after the election is decided.

First, President George W. Bush himself should condemn, for his campaign, and for his party, any intention to single out minority voters for wholesale challenges and other harassment at the polls.

And second, no matter who wins this election, people of good will in both parties should undertake a definitive effort to fix HAVA and, once and for all, create an even playing field for the casting and counting of votes for the presidency of the United States.