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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

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To: PartyTime who wrote (65050)11/9/2000 2:37:40 AM
From: cAPSLOCK  Read Replies (4) of 769667
 
Given this backdrop, I don't see how anyone can question the will of the Floridians to have Gore carry Florida's 25 electoral college votes.

Our election CANNOT be decided on gut feelings or intuition. It cannot be decided on the basis of anecdotal events like the ballot issue.

Our election MUST be carried out as scientifically as possible under the rule of law. PERIOD.

It is a fact that the ballot in Florida may have changed the numbers of votes for certain candidates. This is a terrible thing, and we must improve our methods in the future. But if we choose to go down the "I think I may have voted for the wrong person" road then it is simply not fair to only consider the ballot issue in FL. I imagine we can find other places where similar errors have happened in the past and even in this election.

If these mistakes on the ballot were the result of fraud it would be a different story... but clearly this is not the issue.

The ballots may be bad.. the electoral college may be an outdated idea. But for this election these are the cards that are dealt.

Let me ask you a question:

First of all let's remove the ballot issue from this hypothetical for the sake of clarity (we could include it and make the same question but it would be more complicated mathmatically).

Let's say that Gore wins the popular vote in Florida by 200 votes after the recount. Then lets say that 500 ballots from overseas come in late (after the ten days allowed by law). Then let's assume that if these were counted Bush would again top Gore's total by a small margin.

Would you then suggest that Gore should concede to "the will of the people"?

I would not. Because the ballots that came in late should not be counted for the sake of the clarity provided by the rule of law. Gore should remain president elect in this case.

The reason we have laws for elections is the same reason we have rules for games. If you change the rules as you go along, you have made the game (or election) a fraud.

In my opinion... the person who wins the popular vote in FL at this point, and thus the electoral college votes from Florida SHOULD BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT regardless of the ballot issue.

regards,
cAPSLOCK
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