In his January 23, 2002 column titled "Playing by the Rules," George Will suggested to readers across the country that widespread voter fraud occurred in St. Louis on November 7, 2000. In doing so, he implied that similar fraud was committed across the country and that congressional Republicans consider it an outrage.

I agree with Mr. Will, however, we differ as to the nature of the outrage. The only election-related crime that was committed in the City of St. Louis on November 7, 2000 was that thousands of qualified citizens were denied their fundamental, constitutionally protected right to vote.

Though Mr. Will pointed an accusatory finger in my direction, he never bothered to call me and unfortunately ended up writing a column that was not only factually inaccurate but succeeded in damaging the very issue it tried to address: election reform.

As I said the day after the election, I have zero tolerance for vote fraud. Anyone who attempts to commit fraud should be subject to swift prosecution and severe punishment. However, elected officials also have the duty to make certain that every eligible voter has the same access to the ballot box. That did not happen on November 7th.

For decades, conservative forces have rallied for individual freedoms. And yet, they make excuses to defend the system that robs some American citizens of the right to vote. Could it be that the real threat that conservative activists fear most is an influx of energized, progressive voters?

For example, Mr. Will's column implied that thousands of people in St. Louis registered to vote from fake addresses, voted under the names of dead people and generally took part in some "carefully planned operation."

But an independent investigation by the St. Louis Post Dispatch refuted many of those claims. Last November, the newspaper revealed that because of inaccurate property records posted by the City of St. Louis and then used by the election board, "…many of those properties' occupants have been wrongly tagged as registered to vote from fake addresses."

The report further stated that "most of the…people on the state's suspect voter list from last fall probably shouldn't be on it."

But people like Sen. Kit Bond - whom Mr. Will quotes profusely throughout his column -- never mention the report's findings in public. Likewise, they don't point out that hundreds of qualified absentee voters who tried to cast ballots before November 7, found that the election board had placed their names on an "inactive voter list," which meant they weren't allowed to vote.

In the days before the election, I repeatedly tried to convince the election board to correct the problems with the "inactive voter list." They did not act, and on the night before the election, I made it clear that if qualified voters were not allowed to vote, a lawsuit would be filed if necessary to keep the polls open. There was no preconceived conspiracy. It was a simple promise on my part to protect the voting rights of the citizens I represent.

On Election Day, our worst fears came true. As predicted, huge numbers of legally registered voters were turned away at the polls resulting in a near-riot at the election-board offices. When officials of the Missouri Democratic Party asked the election board to take emergency steps to alleviate the problem, it again refused to act. As a result, a lawsuit was the only remaining option.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was a colleague of mine, Robert Mark Odom. And contrary to what people like Sen. Bond keep erroneously repeating to the press, Mr. Odom is not dead, and he is not a living person who attempted to impersonate a dead one.

Quite simply, Mr. Odom's middle initial was jotted down incorrectly on the emergency petition - Robert D. Odom was written rather than Robert M. Odom. There was absolutely no reason for Mr. Odom to misrepresent himself, because under Missouri law, any registered voter may file a petition challenging voting procedures. It was scrivener's error pure and simple, but rather than talk responsibly about the facts, Sen. Bond and others continue to pound their podiums hysterically and scream "Conspiracy!" and "Voter fraud!"

It might be further interesting to note that the Republican Director of Elections in the City of St. Louis, the very man who initiated these baseless conspiracy theories in the first place, was himself criminally charged with violating both federal and state law. So instead of doing his duty to protect the integrity of the ballot box, he allegedly used public resources during working hours to pursue degenerate extracurricular activities.

Any honest attempt at election reform should not be based on partisan political nonsense. If need be, we can sling mud too, but it will do nothing to change the situation. To reform our electoral process, we need to focus on only two things: Making it easier to cast a ballot and harder to cast an illegal vote.

In the meantime, I intend to vigorously defend the voting rights of citizens whom I represent. That is what I did on November 7, 2000, and if necessary, will not hesitate to do it again.