Re: OK. Throw out the few hundred votes Gore gained from the hand recount, and throw out the 5,000 votes Bush gained from improper absentee ballot applications, and Gore wins. Got the picture?
It turns out that the same thing was done in Martin County as in Seminole County. Though the Martin County margin for Bush was only 2,000 votes, it is still enough to sway the election.
Another case before another Judge. If the plaintiffs win in either Seminole County or Martin County, Gore takes it.
An additional issue that has been brought up is that the Florida republican party routinely used absentee ballots as a get-out-the-vote technique. They mass mailed tens of thousands of absentee ballot apps to registered republicans who would not have requested them on their own and didn't them. According to the suite, many of these absentee ballots were used despite the fact that they weren't really needed. But absentee ballots are illegal unless you are actually absent - if you are in town, by law you are required to vote at the polls. A case has been brought claiming that many absentee ballots were cast by persons who could have voted at the polls, and the case asks that those batches of ballots be thrown out. (personally, I don't care much for this last case, and don't see it going anywhere, but either the Seminole County case or the Martin County case could win it all for Gore)
Dan |
