At first it looked as if the prize would go to Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach County elections supervisor, who designed the "butterfly ballot." Not content with that mark of distinction, she went on to help Palm Beach also miss the extended deadline for election totals. However, the question remains whether she worked purposefully or is one of the most incompetent people ever to disgrace an office. Alas, the Saddam Hussein Award does not go to incompetency.

Without any doubt, Katherine Harris is the first runnerup. As the Florida secretary of state she did her best at blocking any meaningful examination of the ballots. However, she fell short and disappeared from the media after her early efforts. It took the Florida legislature to maintain her act. The Saddam Hussein Award does not go to anyone willing to give up the fight.

This leads us to the clear and only winner worthy of the award: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia! Not only was he in the forefront of the effort to keep the ballots from the people, but Scalia declared that people do not have any right to vote for the U.S. President and that Gore had lost Bush v. Gore before the case was heard. Such balls make him more than worthy of the Saddam Hussein Award for Democracy, and we look forward to future years when he, as chief justice, will be joined by his sons and uphold the finest traditions of our award.

Hooray for Antonin Scalia, el presidente maker!