Hey PT,
Speaking of recounts....
November 14, 2000
One-two punch knocked
out conservatives'
ballots, too
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Visit our Election 2000
page
for daily election news
and analysis
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — More
votes were disqualified in
conservative Duval County than in
the liberal Palm Beach County,
leading Republicans to believe
that double-punched ballots in
Florida hurt George W. Bush
almost as much as Al Gore.
But
Republicans opted
against requesting
a hand recount of
Duval and other
conservative
counties because
they were already
denouncing such
tallies as
unconstitutional in
Democratic counties
where hand recounts
were under way.
"They're
recounting in Palm
Beach, but of
course there's no
recounting going on
in the Republican
counties because the Bush folks
didn't ask for it within the
72-hour deadline," said a
Republican official in Florida's
panhandle.
"It wouldn't have been
statesmanlike for Bush to say,
'Hey, I want manual recounts in
the following counties,' "
explained the official, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
"Still, it doesn't seem fair that
they're only going to count the
Democratic counties."
Duval County election
officials disqualified 21,942
ballots because voters had chosen
more than one presidential
candidate. Since the Texas
governor won 59 percent of the
vote in Duval, Republicans have
extrapolated that he would have
netted another 3,730 votes if the
true intentions of the double
counters could be divined.
"Naturally, if you count
ballots that are thrown out, it's
fair to assume that he's going to
win by the same margin," said
another Florida Republican. "They
would both pick up votes, but it
would definitely help Bush more
than Gore — just like it helps
Gore more in Palm Beach. I mean,
I think that's a story that
nobody's talking about."
In Palm Beach County, 19,120
ballots were disqualified because
voters selected more than one
presidential candidate. Since the
vice president won 64 percent of
the vote in Palm Beach, he could
conceivably net as many as
another 5,277 votes there.
Such a gain is actually a
possibility for Mr. Gore because
a hand count is under way in Palm
Beach County. But since
Republicans decided not to ask
for a recount in Duval, Mr.
Bush's would-be gain of 3,730
seems unlikely to trim Mr. Gore's
Palm Beach pickup of 5,277 votes
to 1,547.
Although Democrats outnumber
Republicans in Duval County by
nearly 3-to-2, there are so many
Reagan Democrats that Mr. Bush
carried the county by 44,000
votes, out of more than 260,000
ballots cast, officials there
said.
"We have more Democrats in
Duval County, but registered
Democrats can vote the other
way," said Susan Tucker Johnson,
spokeswoman for the Duval County
Elections Supervisor.
Still, officials at the Bush
campaign and the Republican
National Committee said yesterday
they had little interest in
making an issue of counties like
Duval at the moment. That is
because they have pinned their
hopes on yesterday's ruling by
the Florida secretary of state
that might make hand counts in
Palm Beach and other Democratic
counties a moot point.
Citing Florida law,
Secretary of State Katherine
Harris ruled that the counties
must have all recounts completed
by 5 p.m. today. Election
officials are not expected to
meet that deadline with hand
counts in Palm Beach and Dade
counties, although a hand count
in Volusia County might be
completed in time.
Gore lawyers joined several
counties yesterday in a state
lawsuit that seeks to extend the
deadline. If that lawsuit fails,
Republicans believe they will not
have to resort to recounts in
Duval and other conservative
Florida counties — or other
states where Mr. Gore won
narrowly.
But if the lawsuit prevails,
Duval might get a closer look by
Republicans. Although the 72-hour
deadline for a hand recount
request has passed, Bush
supporters might be able to force
such a tally if they go to court
within 10 days of a statewide
certification of ballots.
"If the ruling by Harris
holds up, Bush wins," said the
panhandle Republican. "If it
doesn't, I have to believe that
they are just going to go in
there and seek a recount of Duval
and seek recounts everywhere in
the country.
"But I think for the moment,
they're holding their breath,
hoping this secretary of state's
decision stands," he added. "They
should win then."
Even if the ruling is
overturned and Republicans
succeed in obtaining a hand
recount in Duval, it might be
difficult to argue that
double-punched ballots were meant
for either Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore.
That's because unlike the Palm
Beach butterfly ballot, in which
presidential candidates are
listed on facing pages in a
format that Democrats called
confusing, voters in Duval County
had to turn a page to get to the
second half of the list of
presidential candidates.
"All of this is speculation,
but we think probably they
punched a hole on the first page
and then turned the second page
and punched again," Mrs. Johnson
said. "Who knows? It's one of
those things where you say, 'OK,
here's the instructions,' and you
hope people will pay attention to
those instructions." |
