Im right.........here it is in black and white:
Don't interfere, Florida Legislature tells U.S. high court
By MARK HOLLIS, Sun-Sentinel
Web-posted: 10:33 p.m. Nov. 27, 2000
TALLAHASSEE -- The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Monday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stay out of the dispute over the contested presidential election, just as a special committee of state legislators prepared to meet today to look into "voting irregularities."
Lawyers hired by the Florida Senate and House of Representatives said in a 16-page brief sent to the high court that the questions regarding whether the electoral process in Florida has conformed with pre-existing law are not issues for the court to decide.
The lawyers said federal law makes clear that the political questions are to be resolved first by the Legislature or by the U.S. Congress.
A rare situation
"What's at stake here is, after all, a political determination of who shall be the next president," lawyers for the Legislature wrote. "In this rare circumstance, it is entirely appropriate to have it resolved by branches of government that are most responsive to the will of the people."
When a state's electoral process has failed to make a choice that is timely and conforms to pre-existing rules, the Legislature must appoint the electors, lawyers argued.
The Legislature, not the courts, must decide when a failure to make such a choice has occurred, they said.
GOP legislative leaders said the legal action is necessary because the state Supreme Court usurped the Legislature's powers when it allowed hand counting of ballots in several counties to be extended.
"I do not want to be the House speaker that presided over the undermining of the legitimate power of the Florida House," said newly chosen House Speaker Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo.
A GOP solution
Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, said GOP leaders "firmly and unequivocally believe the state Supreme Court overstepped its proper boundaries in an arbitrary manner."
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal Friday by Bush challenging a Florida high court ruling that extended the deadline for reporting hand-counted ballots in the state's final tally.
Worried that George W. Bush's narrow win in Florida, and the possibility that Gore's legal challenges could prevail, legislative leaders are moving the Legislature into position to decide the presidential contest.
Should the election remain deadlocked in the courts, the GOP-crafted legislative solution would be to convene a special session to either adopt a resolution or pass a bill that would choose electors who are pledged to vote for Bush.
Republicans insist that a decision about a special session hasn't been made.
But Democrats say it's almost a certainty that such a session will be convened -- over their objections and as early as later this week.
Partisan rancor
Electors must be chosen by Dec. 12, and they must vote on Dec. 18.
State legislators would likely have to convene at least a week prior to Dec. 12.
Today's joint legislative committee could lead to a special session even though the 14-member panel is officially charged only with looking at voting irregularities, including failure to count overseas ballots and inconsistent standards used by counties in tabulating the presidential vote.
But GOP leaders added that the committee also will review "the responsibilities and options" of the Legislature with regards to their potential appointment of presidential electors.
The partisan rancor created by a legislative endgame would be bitter and not quickly forgotten. Both Feeney and Senate President John McKay said they have both been told by Gov. Jeb Bush to be wary of the political fires they may ignite should the Legislature handpick Florida's 25 electors.
Complications
"This is not going to be exactly like walking through a rose garden," Feeney said.
The Legislature's maneuvers are also complicated by the fact that Florida's governor is trying to stay away from the controversy.
To avoid a conflict over his brother's candidacy, the Jeb Bush would likely not sign any bill passed in a special session.
Instead, he likely would wait the required seven days for it to become law without his signature.
Feeling powerless against the Republicans, Democrats complained angrily about the creation of the special committee and its apparent direction toward a special session.
"I just think we're going down the wrong road," said Rep. Lois Frankel, the House Minority Leader and a West Palm Beach Democrat. "It's just not going to look right to the county. I can't believe the American public would allow George W. Bush to have his allies in the Florida Legislature hand (the election) over to him."
Democrats said they would tout this week the idea of abandoning the winner-take-all-system of awarding electoral votes, replacing it with a method that splits electors according to the popular vote.
"The public voted 50-50 on this, and to have all the electors go to one candidate would be taking the votes away from the people," said Rep. Ken Gottlieb, a Miramar Democrat who will sit on the special committee.
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