November 25, 2000
Enter the Supreme Court
eaders of this page know we have been
doubtful that, as a matter of law, the
Florida election presented constitutional issues
that required the United States Supreme Court
to take the case after the rulings from the
Florida Supreme Court. That said, we also
noted that there could be a civic value in letting the nation's highest court
decide the case. With its decision to hear arguments next Friday, the court
has both put the Florida vote into a kind of suspended animation and
perhaps also set the stage for a clarifying conclusion.
As both the nation's highest judicial body and also the one most removed
from partisanship, the court can render a verdict that all parties would be
bound to respect as to how to resolve the Florida vote. It would then
proceed that Vice President Al Gore or Gov. George W. Bush of Texas
could take office without being under a cloud of suspicion and rancor. If it
rules wisely and promptly, the Supreme Court can shore up the legitimacy
of the presidency and also keep the nation on its electoral schedule.
•
Now that the court has taken the case, the candidates and Florida officials
need to adjust their activities to this new reality. That means that the
manual recounts should be completed in Palm Beach and Broward
Counties and also that the Gore campaign can press its efforts to get the
Miami- Dade County Canvassing Board to resume that county's
interrupted count. There is also time under state law to challenge any
results that are certified on Sunday or Monday by the Florida secretary of
state, Katherine Harris. In its ruling to allow the hand recounts in Broward,
Palm Beach and Miami- Dade Counties, the Florida Supreme Court
specified that losing candidates could be expected to follow the contest
procedure outlined in state statutes. Lawyers for both the Bush and Gore
campaigns reserved the right to lodge such contests.
In this interim, the Democrats will continue their criticism of the arbitrary
decision by the Miami-Dade Canvassing Board. It acted irresponsibly in
stopping a tabulation of great importance to getting the fairest possible
count in a critical county. It is especially troubling that the board may have
been intimidated by unruly demonstrations by Bush supporters. Senator
Joseph Lieberman, Mr. Gore's running mate, correctly condemned the
demonstrations as an orchestrated effort to "prevent a simple count of
votes from going forward."
At the time of the interruption, a recount of about a sixth of an estimated
600,000 ballots had produced a net gain of more than 150 votes for Mr.
Gore. We do not blame him for fighting to see a finished count. If
necessary, the state courts that hear that contest should order the count to
be resumed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore must provide examples of responsible
political behavior as they lead the nation down an unexplored political path.
The United States Supreme Court did not choose to hear the Bush
campaign's argument that the manual recounts violated constitutional
guarantees of equal protection, due process and freedom of political
association. Instead it will look at the question of whether the Florida court
changed the rules after the election or usurped the authority of the State
Legislature to direct the appointment of presidential electors. Since this
case will reach the highest court, Mr. Bush should demand that his fellow
Republicans give up any thought of taking action in the Florida Legislature
or Congress to declare him the victor. He should order an end to the
demonstrations being conducted by his party in Florida. Mr. Bush should
also resist the temptation to claim victory prematurely based on any action
by the notoriously partisan Katherine Harris.
Under the existing Florida Supreme Court order, the results of the hand
counts in Palm Beach and Broward Counties must be filed with the State
Elections Canvassing Commission by 5 p.m. tomorrow or by 9 a.m.
Monday morning if the state offices are not open on Sunday. That filing
will allow the secretary of state, Ms. Harris, to certify the results and
declare a winner. A hasty declaration of victory would put a new
presidency under a needless cloud.
The United States Supreme Court's role represents a different set of
problems for Mr. Gore. If the Supreme Court decides that including late
returns was improper, he might lose Florida's 25 electoral votes and the
presidency. But by decreeing an unexpected week's delay in the process,
the court has relieved Mr. Gore of the burden of convincing the public and
nervous Democrats in Congress that he should fight on a bit longer. At a
time when the Broward count looks promising for him, Mr. Gore has the
time to press Florida officials to deliver the fairest tabulation available in
these complicated circumstances.
We hope the Supreme Court will be mindful that the new president,
whatever his name, should go into office on the wings of a count that
includes as many valid absentee ballots as possible and also a completed
hand count from the disputed counties. While the nation awaits the hearing
next Friday, Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore should be aware that the American
people are watching them for steadiness and dignity and measuring each of
them against the scale of the job they seek. |
