It lacked the intense, heightened atmosphere that surrounded the last election in 2005, when the long-drawn-out agony of John Paul II had suffused the Catholic world in grief and gratitude.

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Instead, Article II of the Constitution empowers each state (and the District of Columbia) to conduct its own election, which is why there are variations in voter registration laws, early voting, the use of voting machines, etc.

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Since his election as Pope seven years ago, Benedict has consistently tried to correct what he regards as a misinterpretation of Vatican II, insisting that it did not mark a revolutionary break from the past, as liberal Catholics would have it, but rather a renewal of the best traditions of the ancient Church.

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