Plam Beach County Judge May Hold Democratic Bias
Saturday, November 11, 2000
The Florida judge who decided to delay certifying the votes cast in Palm Beach County is married to a Gore campaign contributor, raising the question of a conflict of interest as the presidency hangs in the balance.
FOX News has learned that Circuit Judge Kathleen Kroll is married to Jonathan Low, who contributed $500 to Al Gore's campaign. The first $250 donation was made in February 1999, and a second $250 contribution was made in September.
Republican Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart said Saturday that Kroll should recuse herself from the case because of her apparent conflict of interest.
The news came Saturday, which was another day of punch-counterpunch in the Florida election recount to decide who would win Florida's 25 electoral votes, enough to deliver the presidential election to the winner. The Bush campaign filed an injunction to stop hand recounts from occurring, while the Gore camp claimed it is considering "other options" if the count doesn't go their way.
Former Secretary of State James Baker — representing George W. Bush's interests — said the injunction was needed to "preserve the integrity and the consistency and the quality and the finality of the most important civic action that Americans take."
Responding at a late afternoon press conference, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, representing Gore's campaign, criticized the move and called on the Republicans to drop the suit.
"If Gov. Bush truly believes that he has won the election in Florida, he should not have any reason to fear having the machine count checked by a hand count," Christopher said.
He added that contrary to his stance today, Bush signed a law as Texas governor that hand recounts are the preferred method for settling punch card disputes. And without divulging specifics, the Gore campaign said it would explore alternatives in tallying the Florida vote.
Filed Saturday morning in U.S. District Court for the southern district of Florida, the suit was assigned to a Clinton appointee, Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks. A hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Bush said the injunction was necessary. "It would be good for this country to have this election over so that the new administration can do the people's business," he told reporters at his Texas ranch.
Baker said a manual count is unfair, as human error becomes a factor. "Machines are neither Republicans nor Democrats and therefore can be neither consciously or unconsciously biased," he said.
The presidency hangs in the balance, with Florida's vote — impossibly close and fiercely contested — virtually certain to tip the scales.
A hand-count generally does change the vote tallies, and the counties in question tend to vote for Democrats.
But Democrats claim it is necessary in order to count votes that machines cannot read because the holes are not fully punched through. This leaves "hanging chads," which computers read as a "no vote." According to election officials in Tallahassee, approximately 3 percent of all punch card type ballots exhibit such a problem.
Some of the hanging chads likely fell off during the recount, which officials believe explains the net gains of both Bush and Gore. According to state law, chads that are partially punched through but left hanging may be counted as a vote, but those that are fully attached, with only an indentation, may not.
Florida: As it Stands
An unofficial tally by The Associated Press of the recount in Florida's 67 counties showed the Texas governor with a 327-vote lead over the vice president in the state whose 25 electoral votes will determine the next president. State officials said their recount showed Bush leading by 960 votes with 66 counties reporting.
With a handful of counties ready to recount at least some ballots by hand, Bush gave Baker authority Friday night to seek a court order barring the action.
"It is brought reluctantly because the election of the president is properly left to the people, not the courts," the suit said in part. "But it is necessary because the current course of events threatens to undermine the democratic process."
Despite the injunction request, counting got under way in Palm Beach County Saturday afternoon. Officials plan to continue until told otherwise by the court.
In Palm Beach County — where more than 19,000 erroneously marked ballots were discounted and several lawsuits have been filed by citizens who allege confusing ballots led them to mistakenly punch the hole for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan — elections officials agreed to recount ballots in four precincts by hand. A decision will to be made about the rest of the county pending the outcome.
The Bush campaign had asked for another machine recount in Palm Beach County.
In Broward County, officials also agreed to do a hand-recount of three precincts Monday afternoon, and maybe more depending on the outcome.
In Miami's Dade County, elections officials agreed to meet Tuesday to discuss a hand-recount.
While acknowledging that overseas votes mailed to Florida won't be counted until Nov. 17, Bush aides and supporters suggested that Gore concede the state and the White House if the initial recount and next week's certification show Bush ahead.
"We certainly hope that in the best interest of the country the vice president will think carefully about his talk of lawsuits and endless recounts," said Bush's spokeswoman, Karen Hughes.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report |
