Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (82841)	11/20/2000 5:41:59 PM
From: ColtonGang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

11/20 17:29 Justices Seek Deadline for Limiting Florida Recounts (Update2) By Greg Stohr and James Rowley Tallahassee, Florida, Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Florida Supreme Court justices suggested they might permit manually tallied presidential votes as long as the state can still meet a Dec. 12 deadline for having its results count in the U.S. election. With the presidency hanging in the balance, the seven justices heard more than two hours of arguments over a Republican election official's rejection of the recount results. Vice President Al Gore is banking on the recounts, taking place in predominantly Democratic counties, to overcome Texas Gov. George W. Bush's official 930-vote lead in Florida. By late afternoon, Gore had gained a net 133 votes based on a partial recount in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. While some justices pointed to a Florida law giving counties only seven days to complete recounts, others signaled they were willing to let the process continue at least for a little while. ``What's the outside date that we're looking at that puts Florida's vote in jeopardy?'' Chief Justice Charles T. Wells asked Paul Hancock, a lawyer representing the state's Democratic attorney general. Gore's lawyer, David Boies, suggested giving the counties an additional seven days to complete the recounts. He said that would leave Florida officials enough time to meet the deadline. ``I am not urging this court to do anything that would imperil Florida's electoral votes,'' Boies said. Florida's 25 electoral votes will determine who becomes the 43rd U.S. president. Under federal law, each state must appoint a slate of electors no later than six days before the Dec. 18 meeting of the electoral college. Bush lawyer Michael A. Carvin said Florida's ability to meet the Dec. 12 deadline was ``clearly in jeopardy now.'' He noted that Florida law also gives candidates a chance to lodge additional court challenges after results have been certified. Three Recounts Today's arguments come as Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties press ahead with recounts of 1.7 million ballots. Results so far indicate the Democrats might fall short even if the recounts are included. Most of the recount occurred in Broward, where counters have plowed through 497 or 609 precincts and Gore has gained 115 votes. Miami-Dade began its recount today and has finished 14 of 614 precincts. In Palm Beach, the county election board chairman, Charles E. Burton, said he saw no ``big swing'' in the county's vote since the Nov. 7 election. The key ultimately might be the standard used to assess improperly punched ballots. The Gore campaign wants the state Supreme Court to tell counties to accept so-called dimpled chads and those attached by three of four corners as valid votes. Chad Question Broward County is counting only ballots with at least two corners detached, while withholding judgment on other questionable ballots. County officials have said hundreds of additional votes might be added to the totals if the Supreme Court orders a more lenient standard. Both Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county officials said they do not expect to be finished with the recount before the weekend. Miami-Dade's recount could extend into December. Separately, a state judge this morning refused to order a revote in Palm Beach County, where Democrats claim that ballot confusion led to thousands of miscast votes on election day. Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga said he lacks the legal authority to order a new election in a single county. At the high court, Justice Leander J. Shaw Jr. questioned whether it was the role of the court system, rather than Secretary of State Katherine Harris, to set deadlines. Harris has refused to consider returns filed with her after Nov. 14. ``Why shouldn't the secretary of state be the person to set the date instead of the court?'' Shaw asked. Harris's lawyer, Joseph P. Klock Jr., said the recount process ``creates an enormous number of problems.'' Statewide Recount Wells suggested the court might create a ``window of opportunity so that both sides can request additional recounts'' in other counties, possibly statewide. Gore previously said he would abide by the results of a statewide hand recount. At least two other justices, Shaw and Barbara J. Pariente, seized on that possibility. Pariente asked Carvin, Bush's lawyer, whether the Republican candidate would accept a resolution that permitted both sides to request additional hand recounts. Carvin refused to agree to that suggestion. He said Florida election law places a high priority on a quick resolution and instructs election officials to ignore recounts that weren't completed within seven days of the Nov. 7 election. ``Anything that departs from the rules set before Nov. 7 would be a gross abuse of discretion and impermissible,'' Carvin said. Justice Harry Lee Anstead suggested that strict adherence to that seven-day deadline might make it impossible for large counties to complete hand recounts, particularly if the recount request comes late. A strict deadline might make the manual recount ``an illusory right,'' he said. ``If you're asked on the sixth day . . . in a large county it can't be done, Anstead said. Options for Court Officials on both sides expect a quick decision from the Supreme Court. The seven justices, all appointed by Democratic governors, have a range of options. The court could issue a broad decision determining whether the final vote tallies must include the results of the hand recounts. If the justices order inclusion of the recounts, they also might set the rules for assessing improperly punched ballots. Alternatively, the justices might take a more cautious approach. They could order Harris to reconsider the issue after the county election boards finish the counts. And even if they conclude that Harris was within her rights to exclude the recounts, the justices could leave open the possibility of a new Gore campaign challenge to the results after Harris certifies them. In rejecting the recounts, Harris said that state election law sets a Nov. 14 deadline for result submissions, permitting exceptions only in rare circumstances, such as natural disasters. The law says late-filed returns ``may be ignored'' and, at another point, ``shall be ignored.'' In a separate objection, the state's division of elections, which reports to Harris, says countywide manual recounts aren't appropriate at all unless local officials uncover a system-wide problem with the vote tabulation. The division says evidence of improperly punched ballots isn't enough.