Recount legal fight escalates
Politics/Elections Breaking News News Keywords: BUSH OPPOSES GORE HAND RECOUNTS
Source: Florida Times-Union
Published: 11/12/00 Author: From Times-Union staff and wire reports
Posted on 11/12/2000 09:57:31 PST by newsman
Republicans sent the 2000 presidential race into the federal courts Saturday at the same time election officials in one of Florida's 67 counties completed a hand recount sought by Vice President Al Gore. ''We're all in limbo,'' said George W. Bush at the end of a week of unprecedented political turmoil.
A federal judge set a hearing for Monday in Miami on the Bush campaign's request for a court order blocking the manual recount in Florida's improbably close vote. Palm Beach began its manual recount Saturday, while Volusia County delayed its until today.
The Texas governor holds a narrow lead after an unofficial recount, with an unknown number of overseas ballots yet to be counted. The winner of the state stands to gain an Electoral College majority and become the nation's 43rd president.
The GOP suit cited a need to ''preserve the integrity, equality, and finality'' of the vote. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker said in Tallahassee that with a manual recount, ''human error, individual subjectivity, and decisions to, 'determine the voters' intent,' would replace precision machinery in tabulating millions of small marks and fragile hole punches.''
Democrats responded forcefully a few hours later, calling for the withdrawal of the suit and expressing confidence they would prevail in court. ''The hand count can be completed expeditiously and it should be,'' said former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, speaking on Gore's behalf. He added that Bush, as governor of Texas, had signed legislation in 1997 specifying that hand recounts be used to settle certain disputed elections -- a position at odds with the current stated preferences of the GOP high command.
In West Palm Beach, where officials conducted a hand count of four precincts, the recanvass moved haltingly at first. Officials began the day saying a vote would count if they could see light through a punch hole. But then they changed to a different test, based on how thoroughly the voter had punched a hole in the ballot.
Meanwhile, in a warning to Florida's counties and the presidential candidates against prolonging the recount, the head of the state's canvassing commission said if a county fails to meet the deadline for certifying results, the county's entire vote will be thrown out.
"The statute is very clear that if a county's results are not to us by 5 p.m. Tuesday we shall ignore that county's vote, and the counties need to be very aware of that," said Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford, who replaced Gov. Jeb Bush on the state's canvassing commission. "Candidates asking for recounts need to be aware of that."
The unsettled situation in Florida held the candidates and their supporters in suspense and the nation in thrall, and sent the 2000 election on an unpredictable course.
Republican strategists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that pending the outcome of the legal challenge, they were considering challenging narrow Gore victories in Wisconsin, Oregon or elsewhere, or possibly seeking recounts in additional counties in Florida.
''All options are open, of course'' Bush told reporters at his ranch outside Waco, Texas, with running mate Dick Cheney at his side.
Christopher, asked later how far he was willing to go legally, offered a noncommittal response. ''We've been considering various other options,'' he said. ''No decision's been reached.''
The recount got under way at mid-afternoon in Palm Beach County, where some Gore supporters claim the ballot may have caused them to vote inadvertently for Pat Buchanan. In addition to the manual recount sought by the Democrats, county officials were also re-tallying by machine, this time at the request of Bush.
In Volusia County, officials put off a hand recount of 184,000 votes until today, saying they first needed to complete a review of write-in ballots cast Tuesday.
The canvassing board had reviewed about 140 write-in ballots by mid-afternoon, and county spokesman David Byron estimated as many still had to be reviewed. The process proved tedious, as the panel comprised of a county judge and two county commissioners reviewed each vote one by one, showing each ballot to a set of three Democratic and three Republican observers.
The write-in review had yielded four Gore votes, one each for Bush and Libertarian Harry Browne, and various rejected votes for rock musician Ted Nugent, Mickey Mouse and a county commissioner named Big John.
Byron said elections Supervisor Deanie Lowe estimated the manual recount would take about two days, with teams of up to 60 county employees working in each of two 7-hour shifts between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Both sides had brigades of political aides and lawyers in Florida, ready for any recount or legal skirmishing. The suit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, a Clinton appointee.
An unofficial tally by The Associated Press of an initial recount in Florida's 67 counties showed the Texas governor with a 327-vote lead over the vice president.
State officials said their recount showed Bush leading by 960 votes with 66 counties reporting. The 67th county, Palm Beach, is under a local court order not to certify results after a hearing on Tuesday. The order, handed down by Circuit Judge Kathleen Kroll, is the result of one of eight lawsuits filed by voters who say a faulty ballot design may have caused them to inadvertently vote for Pat Buchanan rather than Gore.
Not counting Florida, Bush carried 29 states for 246 electoral votes. Gore, who added Oregon to his column on Friday, counted 19 states plus the District of Columbia for 262 electoral votes, with 270 needed for victory. New Mexico remained too close to call, but its five electoral votes would not be decisive.
Baker's appearance in Tallahassee yesterday morning marked the first public salvo of the day by either side.
''The vote in Florida has been counted, and the vote in Florida has been recounted. Gov. George W. Bush was the winner of the vote, and he was also the winner of the recount,'' he said. He called once again for the Gore campaign to agree to accept the final result when overseas absentee ballots, which must be received within 10 days after the election, are complete Friday.
"We regret that we were compelled to take this action," Baker said. "At some point, however, Florida's voters -- indeed all Americans -- are entitled to some finality in the election process."
(Times-Union staff writers Diana Marrero, Steve Patterson and Randolph Pendleton contributed to this report.) |
