I agree that challenging the butterfly ballot after the final recount would be going too far. However, the numbers of missed ballots is simply too high to ignore.
>> If Punchcard has problems that should have been resolved before the elction
The fault for the faulty punchard ballots lies with the administrators, not the voters, so a recount is necessary to rectify this and not punish the voters for this mistake.
Contrary to your opinion that the Gore team "look for exactly the number they are looking for in a manual count" I see the situation as trying to get a higher percentage of votes counted in a close election.
Is it "nice or gentlemanly" to try to squash all hand recounts, which are a recourse allowed by Florida law...indeed, Texas law as well, Bush's home state. The federal court that Bush's team appealed to ruled that they had no jurisdiction over a state matter. GOP has now moved on to the 11th circuit court of appeals. All of this has had the effect of delaying the hand recounts in several areas, which the GOP took advantage of by attempting to cut the recounts off for being late.
When the count is in after the hand recounts, if Gore is still behind, I would not support any further action. Unfortunate occurrences such as the butterfly ballot and the early network call probably cannot be undone without a complete revote. Here in California, we have had the same thing happen many times, when the winner is called while the results are projected from all of the activity further east. |
