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Politics : Why is Gore Trying to Steal the Presidency? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ben Wa who wrote (930)	11/18/2000 7:58:46 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 3887

Governors Rise to Defense of Bush and Election Official Source: New York Times Published: November 18, 2000 Author: By B. DRUMMOND AYRES Jr. Posted on 11/18/2000 04:27:08 PST The nation's Republican governors contended today that the Gore campaign was "brutally abusing" the good name of Florida's top election official and seriously threatening the foundations of American democracy by continuing to challenge the results of the state's presidential balloting. The governors, convened here at a golf resort near Tampa for their annual association meeting, argued that while the race was undeniably close, there was no credible evidence of any wrongdoing by Republican election officials, particularly in Florida. In a news conference, they demanded that Vice President Al Gore concede that Gov. George W. Bush had won fair-and-square and retreat from the field. "The Gore campaign needs to cease and desist," declared Gov. Bill Graves of Kansas. Mr. Graves then accused the Gore campaign of engaging in "character assassination to somehow undermine the public's confidence in the election process," with the effort, he said, aimed mainly at Florida's secretary of state, Katherine Harris, whom the Democrats say is behaving in a partisan manner. Ms. Harris is the top election official in Florida, and she has contended, and ruled, since the first round of ballot-counting was completed that Governor Bush appeared to be the winner, pending a count of some late- arriving absentee ballots. That contention has been the basis of much of the legal action questioning the results of the balloting. Almost all the 26 governors here campaigned hard for the Bush ticket throughout the summer and fall. Many — among them Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Bob Taft of Ohio, Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, William J. Janklow of South Dakota, Don Sundquist of Tennessee and the association's chairman and vice chairman, Edward T. Schafer of North Dakota and James S. Gilmore III of Virginia — eagerly joined Mr. Graves in his condemnation of the Gore recount efforts and of the attacks on Ms. Harris. Shortly before they criticized Mr. Gore and his supporters, the governors participated in a conference call with Bush campaign officials in Austin, Tex., including Karl Rove, the chief strategist. The possibility of such a counterattack came up in the call, governors' aides reported later, but it was not clear whether the Austin officials initiated the discussion or whether it came from governors who thought a more aggressive Bush defense was needed. Gov. George W. Bush's brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, attended today's meeting, which had been scheduled to be held in Florida long before the election season began. But he avoided all comment on the balloting except to interject that "if it hadn't been for the Republican governors and the help they gave my brother, the entire world wouldn't be focused on Florida and Tallahassee at this point." In accusing the Gore campaign of "character assassination," Governor Graves said that while Ms. Harris was a Republican and a leader of the Bush forces in Florida, she was unbiased when it came to vote counts. He insisted that she was guilty of nothing except a fair-minded effort to "uphold her state's laws." "I'm terribly troubled," Mr. Graves said. Governor Schafer said he, too, was "very concerned" about the attacks on Ms. Harris "because she stood up for the law." "They have been brutally abusing her," Mr. Schafer went on. "I find it very disquieting that the Gore campaign would do that to get where it wants to go." Governor Taft said that "as a fellow public official," he was "affronted by the partisan attacks on Ms. Harris." Governor Janklow called the Gore challenge "an outrage, incredible" and asserted that the attacks on Ms. Harris were "unimaginable." "This whole thing runs a grave risk to democracy," Mr. Janklow concluded.

To: Ben Wa who wrote (930)	11/18/2000 8:01:17 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3887

Apparently the Law(bold) needs only be followed when it is in Gore's interests.....apparently the 5PM deadline is not part of the Law.....this is utterly disgusting Duval votes from abroad spark battle Source: Florida Times-Union Published: 11/18/00 Author: Marcia Mattson / Times-Union staff writer Posted on 11/18/2000 04:23:45 PST A daylong debate between Republicans and Democrats about whether to count almost 200 overseas absentee ballots in Duval County pushed tallying into the early morning hours. The count was not complete by 1:15 a.m. The debate was a scenario that played out in many other counties as elections officials statewide began counting crucial overseas ballots yesterday, and advocates for both George W. Bush and Al Gore immediately raised challenges. Bush, who started the day with a 300-vote lead, had gained 460 votes in the overall count with 65 of 67 counties reporting. Duval County, which had the most overseas ballots in the state, was still counting at press time. Statewide, more than 1,100 ballots were rejected. In some counties, half or nearly all of the ballots were thrown out. Republicans complained of a coordinated challenge by Democrats, particularly against ballots from military personnel. "Our goal was to challenge every vote that didn't appear legitimate," said Mike Langton, Northeast Florida chairman of Gore's campaign. Langton said Bush was expected to pick up a significant number of votes in Duval County because of its heavy Navy presence. Counties have until noon today to report their results to Secretary of State Katherine Harris. In Duval County, representatives of both parties spent most of the day reviewing 618 ballot envelopes under the watchful eye of Supervisor of Elections John Stafford. Canvassing board members and elections office staffers started counting the ballots about 10:30 p.m., more than nine hours after the scheduled start time. The main issue debated was the envelopes' postmark -- or lack of one. State law says the ballots must have an overseas postmark, according to Ben McKay, chief of staff for the Florida secretary of state. Democrats said ballots without a postmark should be thrown out. But Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Tillie Fowler, said military ballots should be counted even if they lack a postmark. They argued the military doesn't always postmark its mail and the federal government does not require it. "The message that sends to our military is: 'We're trying to prevent your vote from counting.' In a sense, they're being discriminated against," Fowler said. "It is ironic that the party of the man who wants to be the next commander in chief wants to throw out the ballots of the men he would command," said Jim Post, a lawyer who addressed the canvassing board last night on behalf of the Republican Party. At one point, nearly 200 ballots were being contested by one side or the other. The county's four-member canvassing board heard arguments from each party before determining which ballots to count. Democrat Leslie Goller said when it comes to the "purity of overseas absentee ballots," the law is clear. "Statutory law needs to be followed. Those requirements need to be met." The secretary of state had planned to certify the election results today, but the state Supreme Court said Friday afternoon that Harris may not certify a winner until further notice from the court. Before the Democrats and Republicans in Duval began making their cases Friday, Stafford's office had identified about 100 ballots believed to be invalid because they did not have an overseas postmark, were duplicate ballots or did not have a proper signature by the voter or a witness. The GOP asked that 45 of those ballots be ruled valid; Democrats challenged 147 of them. As the debate continued, Republicans produced an affidavit from the postal clerk on the USS John F. Kennedy, saying it is not unusual for mail sent by Navy personnel to lack a postmark and for mail to be sent late. "The ballots of military men and women should not be disqualified because of some technical issue arising under state law," the affidavit signed by Chief Petty Officer Edgardo Rodriguez stated. Canvassing board member Rick Mullaney, who is City Hall's top lawyer, said local attorneys tried all day to get guidance on the postmark issue from the state Division of Elections. The board had not received an answer as of Friday night. Thomas Spencer, a Miami attorney for Bush, said the GOP legal team would weigh whether to sue this weekend over the tossed ballots statewide. ''One of the problems with those ballots is it is so difficult under Florida and federal law that you almost have to be a rocket scientist to comply,'' he said. Democrats dismissed the GOP suggestions of a coordinated campaign. ''Rushing to a hasty conclusion and making partisan accusations is exactly what we don't need right now,'' said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jenny Backus. Earlier this week, Mark Herron, a Tallahassee lawyer helping shepherd Democratic presidential election lawsuits through local courts, sent a five-page letter to Democratic attorneys throughout Florida giving them tips on how to lodge protests against overseas ballots. Herron said in an interview that his five-page letter ''went to the folks we had in the field that were out there monitoring absentee ballots, just like the other side was out there. Our memo was intended to express the law of the state of Florida as we understand it and provide direction and guidance to the people who were in the field." State law allows candidates or political parties to request to see the envelopes before ballots are counted. The law allows for a "reasonable" amount of time to do this, said Susan Tucker Johnson, spokeswoman for the supervisor of elections. Three representatives of each party -- plus Stafford and an aide -- spent the day crowding around a computer in Stafford's office and calling up the voter's signature on the computer screen. Mullaney later said it probably wasn't a good method to satisfy the parties' request. "We thought it would save time. I'm not so sure that's proved to be the case," he said. (Times-Union staff writers Lindsay Tozer, David DeCamp and Jessie-Lynne Kerr contributed to this report, which also contains information from The Associated Press.)